When two systems disagree about a supplier, technology cannot decide which record the organisation should trust. That is an ownership decision.
Master data programmes often start with a tool and stall when teams disagree about definitions, authority and correction. A technically central database does not automatically become the organisational source of truth.
What good engineering looks like
Name an accountable business owner for each critical data domain. Define which system is authoritative for each attribute, who may change it, how conflicts are resolved and how downstream corrections propagate.
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Domain owner with decision authority.
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System-of-record map at attribute level.
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Validation and duplicate rules.
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Correction, approval and exception workflow.
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Quality measures connected to operational impact.
A practical starting point
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Select one domain with frequent reconciliation work.
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Trace three disputed fields across systems.
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Assign decision rights for those fields.
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Fix the correction path before buying another data tool.
The decision to make
The source of truth is not only a database location. It is a governed promise about meaning, authority and change.