MetaData!

What is metadata? Simply put, it is data about other data. There is business metadata and there is technical metadata. Now, if you have undertaken an informatics initiative, you will have technologists all over you telling you how important metadata management is! Well, here is where I am going to draw the wrath of all technologists! "We created this problem"!!. Yes, time to own up to it. Technologists, like us, decided that we were going to call a part numer "part#" in one database and "part_number" in another! Now, when you are creating a warehouse and analytics platform, this becomes an issue. Data mapping ensues. Other smart technologists decided that they can make money "fixing" this problem and created "metadata repositories" and voila! Millions of dollars out of your pocket!

So, is there a way out of this mess? Well, not really. But don't lose heart. There are things that you can do, to not break the bank. First, decide what metadata you really care about. Apply the same thinking you used to decide on what to measure. Again, the more you plan, the better off you are. Don't worry about the technical metadata right now. Define the business metadata you care about. Let the technologists figure out how to get the supporting technical metadata. Basically what you have done here is reduce the amount of metadata that you want to store for your informatics initiative. Downstream effects? Less mapping, faster delivery and "CHEAPER"!

Now that we have established that you, as the business owner, should care about your metadata (because it has a direct effect on your wallet, if you still don't believe me), there is one more thing you should care about. How do you "use" the metadata that you have collected? Here is where some old fashioned "discipline" comes handy. Ingrain into your informatics team that any and all data elements that are considered candidates for your data mart, first be rationalized with this metadata repository. In simple terms, check to see if this is something you really need.

Now that you have defined your metadata and had that talk with your informatics team, boldly go where no business owner has gone before...choose the technology! (Not so fine print: strongly suggest involving your technology team here ). There are expensive repositiories out there and there are inexpensive ones. If it makes senses, use your existing database platform as a repository. Your smart data modeler/architect can design you one in no time.