A searchable master index is crucial to any data management solution but there are several approaches to implementation. These include static and dynamic indexing.
David Loshin on Knowledge Integrity Inc. explains why you need both indexing types in this report in SearchDataManagement:
This (static) master index solution works well, as long as there is an exact match for the attributes provided by the consumer seeking the data. The challenge is that even though this configuration is designed to link records in the presence of data variation, it does not support approximate searching, in which there is tolerance for variation in the presented matching values. In other words, unless you know the exact values for at least one of the indexed records, you won’t be able to find any matches.
This suggests the need for a second type of master data index that can be called a dynamic index. A dynamic indexing system uses the same two mapping tables, but it also relies on the same type of identity resolution techniques used to create the master data index in the first place.
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The response time for the static master data index is relatively fast, as it can be executed using a standard query and then table accesses using that query’s results. But although the searching process for dynamic indexing may take longer, the result is greater precision and accuracy in retrieving matching records, providing more complete visibility of information about the sought-after entity.
