John Singer is a 26-year veteran information systems professional who has focused on data management activities including data administration, database administration and enteprise architecture in both staff and management roles. Currently working as a data architect at MasterCard Worldwide, he is focusing on metadata management and corporate taxonomy management. In prior positions, Mr. Singer is a former MetaGroup industry analyst, and also has experience with pharmaceutical, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and criminal justice systems. John teaches graduate level courses as an adjunct faculty member of Webster University.
Summary: Part 1 examined the phenomena of meta data repositories, identifying common patterns of process and technology. Part 2 defines a strategy for successfully implementing an IT knowledge management program based on meta data repository concepts.
In Part 1 of this article, we explored the concepts of detail and diversity in meta data. We noted that meta data projects tend to cluster into three distinct groups based on their mix of meta data detail and diversity. These three use cases can be described as "control," "inform" and "plan."
The "control" use case typically involves an individual IT technical service provider group (e.g., DBA, security, network, systems management) working within its domain. Existing system management tools are leveraged as collectors of meta data for better control, reporting and analysis of the environment being managed. Data is captured at the most detail level possible; however, including only that meta data directly controlled by the technical domain (i.e., low diversity). Virtually every technical service department in your organization has a homegrown database to track and manage IT assets, yet none of them are integrated or even known outside their department. These efforts are typically run as system management improvement projects and not necessarily recognized as meta data projects at all. Unfortunately, these projects also represent the source system or the system of record for all other meta data related efforts.