In today’s digital landscape, manufacturing organisations need to manage vast amounts of product data—and they need to do so in a way that ensures both accuracy and adaptability. Enter ShareAspace, a software platform designed to strike the right balance between a Single Source of Truth (SSOT) and Multiple Versions of the Truth (MVOT). By combining a robust core dataset with flexible, tailored views, ShareAspace offers teams the clarity, consistency, and customisation they need to collaborate effectively across the product lifecycle and across organisations.
Single Source of Truth (SSOT): Authoritative, assured data
At its core, ShareAspace functions as a federated integration hub, a marked departure from the monolithic databases typical in large organisations. By linking together data from various sources, it creates a dependable SSOT that can be accessed across the value chain. This is achieved through:
- Authoritative lifecycle data: ShareAspace captures and structures essential product information—such as Engineering Bills of Materials (EBOM), Service Bills of Materials (SBOM), and Integrated Product Support (IPS)—so that every department relies on the same baseline information.
- Standards-based data models: By leveraging ISO 10303-239 PLCS and ISO 10303-242, ShareAspace establishes a standardised semantic framework. This ensures seamless interoperability among engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, and other stakeholders.
- Robust governance: Version control, access controls, and detailed change logs maintain data integrity and traceability, enabling stakeholders to trust in the reliability and current status of product information.
“With ShareAspace, your product data is contextualised and trusted across its lifecycle.”
Multiple Versions of the Truth (MVOTs): Purpose-built views
While SSOT guarantees consistency, organisations often need specialised data views to meet diverse needs across functions like engineering, marketing, or maintenance. ShareAspace meets this need by allowing teams to create multiple versions of the truth—individualised views that do not compromise the accuracy of the core data. Specifically, it enables teams to:
- Create and adapt tailored data views: Each department sees exactly what is relevant to them, from marketing materials to engineering schematics or maintenance schedules.
- Preserve the authoritative dataset. Context-specific data stays linked to the SSOT, preventing contradictory or duplicated content across the organisation.
- Maintain clear traceability: By design, any MVOT can be traced back to its origin in the SSOT, ensuring that no context-specific adaptation loses its relationship to the authoritative source.
“A design team sees geometry and requirements; a maintenance crew sees spare parts and schedules—both sourced from the same truth.”
Balancing SSOT and MVOT in ShareAspace
ShareAspace stands out by seamlessly reconciling SSOT and MVOT requirements, granting organisations both the reliability of a single authoritative dataset and the agility to present data in purpose-built formats. A few features illustrate this balance:
- Version tracking
Supports SSOT: Maintains data integrity.
Enables MVOT: Ensures each team can manage precisely the correct version for their tasks. - Federated architecture
Supports SSOT: Directly connects to source systems.
Enables MVOT: Transforms data into targeted, functional views. - Standards-based data models
Supports SSOT: Promotes consistent semantics.
Enables MVOT: Accommodates flexible, domain-specific structuring. - Configuration & governance
Supports SSOT: Tracks authoritative baselines.
Enables MVOT: Allows controlled divergence where necessary.
Key takeaway
“ShareAspace supports a single source of truth—ensuring everyone works from reliable, governed data. Simultaneously, it enables multiple versions of truth, so each team accesses exactly the data they need, tailored precisely for their role, without ever losing control or integrity.”
The result? Organisations gain the agility they need to adapt data views for different stakeholders while still adhering to a consistent, trustworthy foundation. This equilibrium fosters enhanced collaboration, better decision-making, and ultimately, more efficient product lifecycle management.
By embracing an SSOT-MVOT strategy through ShareAspace, businesses can confidently share, transform, and refine product data, reducing errors, improving communication, and ensuring every team member has the precise data they need—no more, no less. It’s a future-proof approach to data management that puts clarity and flexibility in perfect harmony.
