The document describes Trailblazer, Stibo Systems' new product release. Key benefits include accessing new features without upgrading, fast introduction of new improvements, and low risk testing of updates. Trailblazer uses a component-based architecture that allows individual components to be upgraded independently. It also enables custom extensions and an ecosystem for partners/customers to collaborate on extensions. Other features covered include improved user experience, golden record creation, product matching/linking, customer data integration, auto-classification, and tools for interactive experiences and personalized selling.

1. TrailblazerChange the way you work

2. STEP Trailblazer Overview
Key Benefits
• access new features
without the inconvenience
of upgrading
• fast introduction of new
improvements/features
• low risk and reduced effort
for testing new updates
STEP Core
Components
Extensions
access other components
through a new set of
component APIs. It is now
possible to keep the core
and other components
unchanged for a longer
period of time while
choosing to upgrade
selected components to
take advantage of new
features or important
updates.
advantage of new components or features.
New components can be installed on
its’ own and existing components can
simply be upgraded while keeping other
components as they are.
Each component is dependent upon other
components through principles of semantic
versioning; where a given component
version may depend on a specified range of
versions of another component.
New component APIs enable the writing
of custom extensions that allow for easier
upgrades. Deployment of the extensions
can happen simply by installing it on STEP
Trailblazer.
Access Innovation
STEP Trailblazer marks the inception of the STEP ecosystem,
where Stibo Systems, its partners, and customers work together in
developing extensions to the STEP system that can be distributed
to all Stibo Systems’ customers.
Upgrading to a completely new STEP
release is no longer needed to take
The STEP ecosystem is divided into
components and each component may

3. Key Benefits
• ease of use
• increase efficiency and
productivity
• individual user experience
Work Smarter
STEP’s web-based user interface puts the focus on the individual user
with a clean and simple workspace, easily configured to provide focus
on what matters most.
starting point of what the
user may want to do:
User Profile – change
settings, password, &
logout
Task List – go directly to
the list of tasks of a given
type
screens will have full screen editing and a
home button that will return the user to the
dashboard.
Browse through search results or task
lists with reduced number of clicks / effort
by using forward/back buttons instead of
having to go back to the original list and
choosing the next one.
Business rules are validated upon leaving
each field in the associated screen or portal,
thus letting the user know immediately if
there are inconsistencies.
Make valid choices easier with the filtering
of inter-dependent value lists.
Target high priority items by filtering and
sorting task lists and search results in a
manner similar to Microsoft Excel®; highly
scalable as filtering goes across all data in
the selection, not just the data shown on the
current page.
Easily style text attributes (e.g. bold, italic,
bulleted) with the use of the new rich text
editor component.
Search – initiate a simple search & reuse
a previous one
Data Quality Metrics – see selected
data quality metrics, drill down into the
objects behind the statistics, and even
generate a report
Hyperlink – access selected screens to
perform specific actions
Information – view specific information
made available by the administrator
Each app will take the user to a new screen
that focuses on that particular task. These
The customizable dashboard can be
configured with a set of apps that provide a

4. STEP Trailblazer Overview
Key Benefits
• assess potential for
positive impact in the
composition of golden
records
• ability to determine the
value a given third party
data set may contribute
Automated Match Actions
Automate match actions to execute
automatic link to Golden Record or workflow
driven clerical review depending on pre-
defined thresholds. Create multiple sets of
Golden Records from the same source data
(e.g. Household identification as well as
identification of individuals).
Survivorship Rule Editor
Ability to define a set of survivorship rules
that determine which source data (name,
attribute, reference) should ‘survive’ in the
Golden Record and is supported by two
different principles: most recent and trusted
source.
Additional Features
• Export Golden Records with source records
–the Golden Record and referenced source
records are output on different rows in order
to inspect if the match algorithm works
properly.
• Workflow driven clerical review of possible
matches –examine possible matches
and determine whether they are indeed
matches.
• Improved match pair review –evaluate and
adjust algorithm, criteria, and weights. The
comparison function now outputs individual
scores for each scored attribute (name,
address, birthdate, etc.) as well as the final
comparison score between members.
• Enhanced duplicate merge wizard –hide
rows with identical values so a user can
easily concentrate on the values that are
different in the analysis of potential record
matches.
Overlap Analysis
Analyze data that is not yet mastered by
STEP to assess whether and to what degree
the target data may contribute to matching
and thus ultimately to composition of
Golden Records.
the analysis reports:
• Number of records in the input file
• Number of records compared to in the hub
Match, Link & Identify
Existing features for matching and linking multiple records &
identification of duplicate objects have been augmented with out-
of-the-box features for composition of Golden Records, associated
survivorship rules, and messaging to other enterprise systems.
• Number of records in the
input file that matched
one or more member
records in the hub
• Number of records that
did not match to any
records in the hub
• Match percentage rate
• Non-match percentage
rate
• Number of records in the
input file that failed to be
compared
Look-Up-Before-Create Web
Service Call
Contributing to on-going data quality by
minimizing the risk of creating additional
duplicates, the STEP Web Services
API provides a ‘look up before create’

5. functionality that can be used by external
systems to check if the record they are
about to create is similar to existing records
or possibly already exists in STEP.
Product Sourcing
Product feeds from multiple suppliers can
be imported into STEP and are automatically
matched & linked into Golden Records that
represent the best data set for a product.
The resultant Golden Record contains a link
to the supplier record that typically contains
information about pricing, lead times, etc.
Key Benefits
• gain visibility of suppliers for a given
product and receive possible volume
discounts.
• reduce confusion from customers by
not seeing multiple similar products on
a website.
Key Benefits
• ability to choose supplier with the
lowest price or shortest lead time,
possibly offering both options to end
customers
• increase conversion rates and reduce
product returns by providing the best
product data available to end customers
• continuously feed product updates from
suppliers
• manual override changes can be
introduced through a manually updated
data source
Product Consolidation
Identify identical products from different
suppliers that have been created with
different objects in STEP.
Key Benefits
• high confidence in total number of
distinct customers
• ability to support customer-centric
analysis such as total Spend (revenue)
and total value (margin) across all
channels and touchpoints
• enables consolidated knowledge
about which products customers have
purchased and in which channels
• reduce marketing spend and increase
marketing effectiveness through
elimination of duplicate / redundant
contacts
• recognize household relationships to
improve marketing and analytics.
• prevent the creation of duplicate
customers
• enable transition from system-centric to
customer-centric engagement
MDM for Customer / Customer
Data Integration (CDI)
Using a combination of matching and
linking algorithms in association with
business rules, disparate customer records
that have been confirmed as referring to
the same party entity are merged together
to form accurate, high-confidence records
of resolved customer entities; also known
as Golden Records. Golden Record data
can be shared with consuming systems
and can be transacted against in real time.

6. STEP Trailblazer Overview
Commerce Made Easy
Auto-Classification
Remove the time-consuming reliance on manual intervention required
by traditional methods and easily classify product data automatically,
consistently, and accurately, across different brands and channels in
multiple hierarchies.
link rules
Key Benefits
• faster time-to-market of new product
introductions
• prevention of errors and
inconsistencies
• impact analysis
Retailers with multiple websites under
different brands that are supplied from the
same product set can automatically and
efficiently assign new products to these
websites.
Manufacturers and distributors who
produce electronic catalogs to their
customers where products are categorized
into many different standard hierarchies
can automatically maintain links within the
various hierarchies.
web hierarchy

7. Google Shopping Affiliate Feed
Google Shopping provides one of the
most popular affiliate platforms where
products from the affiliate data feed will
appear as Product Listing Ads in Google
search result listings as well as on the
Google Shopping website.
Easily generate feeds for Google Shopping
while maintaining its specified hierarchy
using the new auto-classification
component.
A number of different rule sets may be
defined and edited in STEP Workbench.
Each rule is specified in terms of conditions
on object type, attributes’ values, or the
hierarchy position of the product.
Rules may also specify exceptional
conditions. Rules may be automatically
applied by business rule actions at different
points in time. Authorized users must
approve rules before they can take effect.
Running an impact analysis on a rule before
activating will produce a report listing
detailed changes as well as statistics.
Key Benefits
• easily promote and sell products on
google shopping
• faster time-to-market
full rule editor

8. STEP Trailblazer Overview
Create Interactive Experiences
Create interactive tablet based publications with dynamic page
contents so that pages can be augmented with related information
(e.g. specifications on a product, additional detailed pages, sound, or
videos) via touch.
The result is an attractive combination of visually appealing pages and
dynamic content.
Creative users can accelerate the creation of such dynamic tablet
publications while continuing to use their familiar Adobe InDesign
platform.
Key Benefits
• easily create dynamic pages
• quickly create template based publications
• increase conversions

9. Personalize Selling
The new Print On-Demand Catalog Portal in STEP allows users to
create pre-defined templates that adhere to corporate branding
standards for sales representatives or managers that wish to create
brochures or promotions to use for customer meetings, local area
promotions, direct mail, etc.
Three easy steps to print customer/product specific brochures or
promotions:

10. STEP Trailblazer Overview
About StiboSystems
Stibo Systems is the global leader in multidomain Master Data Management (MDM)
solutions. Industry leaders rely on Stibo Systems to provide cross-channel consistency by
linking product and customer data, suppliers and other organizational assets. This enables
businesses to make more effective decisions, improve sales & build shareholder value.
During the last 30 years, Stibo Systems has helped hundreds of companies to develop a
trusted source of operational information. A privately held subsidiary of the Stibo A/S group,
which was originally founded in 1794, Stibo Systems’ corporate headquarters is located in
Aarhus, Denmark.
For more information, visit www.stibosystems.com.
Key Benefits
• quickly create location-specific marketing circulars
• increase revenue
• greater productivity
• improve customer service