Yana Zabolotna
01 / 09 / 26·12 Min read
Product Information Management
Many PIM project failures are not caused by the software itself. The problem hides in the conditions framing the entire system solution.
Unclear responsibilities, a project team without capacities and resources, IT is brought on board much too late, and change management is only introduced once the first resistance surfaces: all this cannot even be championed by a PIM of the strongest tech prowess.
This is why it pays dividends to settle the decisive questions first, prior to the first click within the system: With what method should we approach the PIM implementation? What model best matches our company? Who must be on board from day one? Which mistakes can be prevented before they even emerge in the first place? In this article, we cover precisely that.
The detailed technical process from data model to go-live is what we describe in our “The Successful PIM Project” article. Those who are still searching for the right system are best advised to first consult our “6 Expert Tips for PIM Selection”.
PIM implementation, also commonly referred to as PIM integration, defines the entire process of making a company go productive with a Product Information Management system: technologically, organizationally, and processually.
In other words: It is the royal road from a new system to its smooth use in daily business. And this path encompasses significantly more than technical installations. Processes must be defined, interfaces must be connected, and existing data must be migrated. At the same time, the people who will later work with PIM must be brought on board.
To get the order right: The PIM selection takes place before it. Daily operation is what follows from it. The implementation thus lies right in between. And it is here where it will be decided whether a good software system will also become a good solution for the company.
Every company is unique. And so are their system environments. The same goes for product data, processes, resources, and available know-how. This is why there is no predefined formula for surefire PIM success. In practice, three methods stood the test: Full Service, Do-It-Yourself, and the hybrid approach.
As part of the full-service method, an external partner such as the PIM software developer or a certified system integrator adopts the majority of the project responsibilities. The internal team accompanies the project while both concept and realization are predominantly driven by the external partner.
Pros:
Cons:
When it comes to implementing a PIM on your company’s own initiative, the internal project team assumes responsibility. IT, marketing, and product management collaborate. Software trainings together with the software developer’s manual provide the much needed assistance. This can work extremely well if sufficient resources and PIM experience are available.
Pros:
Cons:
The hybrid model connects external project knowledge with internal responsibilities. An experienced partner accompanies the implementation in a structured manner, provides best practices, and lends support for crucial decisions concerning system architecture, data model, or process. At the same time, the internal team actively participates in shaping things to assume increasingly more responsibility one step at a time. This comes with a decisive advantage: The project profits from external experience without knowledge leaving the company after go-live.
Your team familiarizes itself with the system, can understand the decisions being made, and can improve upon them independently later on. Inversely, the risks involved in learning-by-doing and making detours when it comes to foundational decisions are minimized. For most companies, the hybrid model is the most crisis-proof choice.
| Full Service | Do-It-Yourself | Hybrid | |
| Costs | High | Low | Medium |
| Internal Resource Reliance | Low | High | Medium |
| Permanent Know-how | Low | High | High |
| Input Project Experience | High | Low | High |
| Project Risks | Medium | High | Low |
The right method is crucial. Yet, by itself, it is still insufficient.
Whether the PIM implementation works out is primarily decided by how the project is introduced and lived in the company. The following four factors are what make the difference.
As small as possible, as big as necessary: A good PIM core team brings together decisive perspectives. Product management, marketing, and IT ought to be included from the very beginning. Depending on the organization, e-commerce, data management, or further business departments are to be added, too.
Especially the involvement of IT from early on is crucial. After all, the PIM is not the only component embedded in the system environment. ERP, shop system, DAM, marketplaces, and many more platforms must work together seamlessly via interfaces. Those who make integration decisions without IT will often times only postpone the actual problem.
Of equal importance: a schedule for clearly defined capacities. Those who want to run a PIM implementation side by side with daily business will prolong the project runtime and increase the risk of error. Explicit responsibilities and strategically allocated resources are not an administrative matter but a project-framing condition.
The PIM implementation affects the processes of everybody involved. Excel lists are rendered superfluous, responsibilities shift, workflows evolve, and manual steps are automated. This means progress for the entire company. To individual employees, however, this means, before anything else, that things will change.
This is why transparent communication is not a soft skill at the margins of the project. It is an integral moment of the implementation strategy. Those who communicate early what will change and why will foster understanding. Even better: the users who will work with the system later on will already actively participate in shaping relevant processes. Acceptance is rarely established by a mere announcement, it is established through active participation.
When training comes too early: the lessons learned are already forgotten once it is time to put theory into practice. When too late: the team must learn under time pressure. A more meaningful approach is an entirely different principle: software trainings follow project progress.
What is needed in a given project phase is taught in preparation ahead of time. This is how newly acquired knowledge can be directly applied and, therefore, solidified. A one-time product training turns into a learning process that guides the team step by step towards independent software use.
Even those who commit to the do-it-yourself method profit from external observations when requested at the right time. Data model decisions, interface architecture, rollout planning: these are points where project experience from experts can save months. Not as a permanent guide but as a targeted impulse.
Accordingly, the deciding question is not: internally or externally? But: Where can external expertise bring in additional value and where should our own team explicitly adopt responsibility?
The answer may not be flashy, but it expresses the truth: it varies. Deciding factors include the complexity of the product assortment, the quality and structure of already existing data, the number of to-be-connected systems, individual requirements, as well as the chosen implementation method.
Based on our years’ worth of experience, what slows down projects can, in contrast, be clearly identified:
Most of the time is saved by good preparation. Those who settle requirements, data structure, responsibilities, and the system environment prior to the first configuration step will reduce feedback loops later down the line and, thus, produce results that stand the test much faster. We can work on a realistic estimate of your concrete project in discussion together or with a certified implementation partner.
Three factors drive the cost budget:
The license costs depend on the respective system, editions, or price model together with the scope of use. This is why you cannot simply name flat-rate figures. The implementation costs depend on the method. Full service is the most expensive, do-it-yourself the most cost friendly. But cost-friendly does not equal free. Internal project hours do have their cost even though there is no explicit price tag attached to them. Internal resources are underestimated on a regular basis: project control, IT capacities, software training expenses, etc. These are real costs that slowly accumulate one by one.
Additionally, expenses concerning data migration, interface development, and the running operation after go-live. For a realistic overall cost estimate, we recommend a direct discussion with us. This is because these variables are far too individual to be reducible to some generalized values.
The most common pitfalls are well known now. Unfortunately, merely creating a list of such issues is rarely sufficient.
Unclear Requirements: Those who do not know what the system ought to deliver do not know how to configure it appropriately.
IT Onboarded Too Late: Integration problems can be costly. In particular when foundational decisions are made before the system environment has been fully taken into account.
Data Quality Underestimated: A PIM can structure data, support processes, and improve quality systematically. But low-quality input data is not simply resolved by introducing a new piece of software. Data analysis and refinement are part and parcel of an early project phase.
Change Management Neglected: Making a system go live thanks to technology is one thing. Firmly embedding it in daily business another. Processes only function when the human in the loop understands and utilizes them.
A successful PIM integration does not start with the first configuration. It begins with the right decisions: Which method is most adequate for our resources? Who are the members of the core team? Where do we require external expertise? And how do we guarantee that the new software will truly create better processes?
Those who answer these questions early on create a solid foundation for the technological implementation and avoid feedback loops that would render PIM projects unnecessarily long and expensive.
This is what matters:
These are exactly the points that ATAMYA tackles head on. Our PIM was designed from the ground up with the user’s perspective in mind: its cloud-native platform is quickly set up instead of first having to be brought into form through tedious adjustment cycles.
This becomes visible even as early as in the beginning of the PIM implementation. With ATAMYA, we can quickly create a proof of concept (PoC) together so that you can evaluate the system not only theoretically but by experiencing it first-hand: How do the processes feel in everyday work? How does the interplay between existing systems function? And how do productive workflows emerge out of all this? Thanks to our API-first architecture, you can connect relevant systems at an early stage to test your real use-case scenarios.
It shortens the time-to-value: Instead of waiting months to fully complete a grand project, teams will see concrete results from very early on, allowing them to make well-founded decisions on how to proceed even further.
A high-performance workflow engine automates and guides all product data reliably through the right processes. Integrated AI agents take this even one step further: they can independently process and work on Product Information Management tasks. This is because AI is not merely a plugin added after the fact in ATAMYA, it is an integral component of the platform by design since its very conception.
ATAMYA can be flexibly integrated into existing system environments to create the technological basis for scalable and automatable product data processes. This makes a visible difference even during the PIM implementation: you will get to test things fast, integrate early, directly see concrete results, and go productive just as quickly.
Updated version of the original publication dated December 5, 2023
Author:
Yana Zabolotna
Copywriter
ATAMYA
How Long does the PIM Implementation Take?
This varies based on project scope, data quality, and method. Simpler projects are completed within a few months; complex rollouts with many systems and languages take longer. What is decisive is thorough preparation from the get-go.
What does a PIM Implementation Cost?
The costs can be compartmentalized into license, implementation expenses, and internal resources. For calculations that stand the test, we recommend a personal conversation together with us since the variables involved are too individual to be reducible to some flat-rate figures.
Do I Require an Implementation Partner?
Not necessarily. Do-it-yourself is a valid option, but it presupposes sufficient internal capacities. The hybrid model is a more meaningful middle path for most companies: external know-how, internal property.
What is the Difference between PIM Implementation and PIM Integration?
There is none. Both concepts refer to one and the same process. These and related terms such as PIM introduction are used interchangeably in English-speaking regions.
How do I Compose the Right Project Team?
Product management, marketing, and IT form the core team. What’s important: include the IT well ahead of time and schedule capacities. No PIM project runs successfully on the side.
How do I Boost the Acceptance Rate among Users?
Through early on-boarding, transparent communication, and software training matching the course of the project. Acceptance is not created by verbal announcements but by hands-on involvement.
Get Started on Your PIM Project: A Successful PIM Implementation Begins Before the Project Even Starts
You want to know what a PIM implementation can look like with ATAMYA in more detail? Let’s have a talk. We can have a look at what the most meaningful approach for you should look like together
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