David Marco is President & Executive Advisor of EWSolutions and chairman of the Enterprise Information Management Institute. A recognized authority on metadata management and data governance, he is the author of Building and Managing the Meta Data Repository and coauthor of Universal Meta Data Models. Read more about his books and recent writing.
The purpose of this eight part series on Enterprise Information Management (EIM) is to help Global 2000 companies and large government entities understand the EIM field and to provide them with the ability to…
Meta data management and its use in enterprise information management has become one of the critical information technology (IT) focuses for both global 2000 corporations and large government agencies. As these entities look to…
In my last column I discussed the issue of disparate meta data repositories and the four most common problems created by this phenomenon. Last month, I discussed Missing Meta Data Relationships and Typically Built…
Over the years, we have performed dozens of datawarehousing assessments. During these assessments, clients are routinely asked how much they spend annually on data warehousing. Most cannot accurately estimate what they actually spend. In…
One of the most vital functions of any MME is to provide the technical architecture and processes to manage corporate knowledge. All corporations strive to become more intelligent. To attain a competitive advantage, a…
Without an enterprise-wide MME, your organization does not have a common understanding of the data across its systems. How do you build an enterprise-wide application (that is, a customer relationship management (CRM), a data…
Service oriented architecture (SOA) is one of the hottest buzzwords in information technology (IT) today. Indeed, it is difficult to pick up any IT related magazine and not discover three, four or more articles…
Enterprise Information Management (EIM) is a very large, complex and diversified field. One company may be working on master data management while another may be embarking on a data quality initiative. Both of these…
In part one of this series I discussed the importance of managing data as a corporate asset and the vital role that meta data management plays. Over the next several months I will present…
The balance sheet of most any Forbes Global 2000 company would show entries for assets such as property, cash, equipment, and accounts receivable. Unfortunately, one item that is not seen in the asset section…
In our industry we consistently hear about some new technology that will absolutely revolutionize the way we build systems. After watching enough of these technologies come and go I’ve noticed that, without exception, all…
In my last EIMInsight column I started walking through the key functions and features that my optimal meta data tool would have. In order to categorize these functions and features I am utilizing the…
Often times these same organizations want to know what types of functionality and features they should be looking for in this tool category. Unfortunately, this question becomes very complicated as each tool vendor has…
In last month’s column I discussed the importance of data governance for the Enterprise Information Management (EIM) program. In this article I will discuss the first tasks that the data governance team must address…
In order to have a successful Enterprise Information Management (EIM) program companies need to ensure that they are properly executing the fundamental building blocks of these initiatives. The basic building blocks of EIM are…
Computer aided software engineering (CASE) tools, introduced in the 1970s, were among the first commercial tools to offer meta data services. CASE tools greatly aid the process of designing databases and software applications; they…
Enterprise Information Management (EIM) projects are some of the most challenging initiatives that an organization can undertake. Not surprisingly they also provide some of the greatest value when properly executed. One of the common…
I am honored to be the chairman of the Enterprise Information Management Institute (EIMI) and to have the opportunity to write this monthly column for EIMInsight Magazine. This is my first column so I…
There is a severe disease that has spread to epidemic proportions throughout our society. This disease is particularly dangerous as it effects are not readily identifiable at the time of infection. However if this…
Independent data marts have spread like a disease through many of today’s best and most advanced corporations. The devastating nature of this disease is that it is not easily detected in its initial stages…
Independent data marts have spread like a disease through many of today’s best and most advanced corporations. The devastating nature of this disease is that it is not easily detected in its initial stages…
Benjamin Franklin once said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." Something tells me that Ben didn’t have knowledge management on his mind…but Ben was a pretty smart guy so maybe he did.…
Corporations are demanding more and more functionality from all of their IT (information technology) systems and meta data repositories are no exception to this rule. In previous articles I have discussed the architectural concepts…
Over the last 10 years decision support has evolved from the "hottest" new industry buzzword to a technology that has demonstrated that it can provide significant value to a corporation. Now as decision support…
Many government agencies and corporations are currently examining the meta data tools on the marketplace to decide which of these tools, if any, meet the requirements for their meta data management solutions. Often times…
In part one, I started walking through the key functions and features that my optimal meta data tool would have. In order to categorize these functions and features I am utilizing the six major…
In part one and two, I started walking through the key functions and features that the optimal meta data tool would have. In order to categorize these functions and features I am utilizing the…
Today with so much emphasis being placed on empowering the business users to do more with less Information Technology (IT) help and enabling the IT organization to produce better results faster, it is no…
A special thanks to Mike Jennings for his invaluable contribution to this month’s column How are you addressing the single most difficult problem facing data warehouses today? Data Quality. When the quality of data…
A special thanks to Mike Jennings for his invaluable contribution to this article This article is the concluding portion of a two-part series on implementing data quality through meta data. The first installment examined…
This article is adapted from the book " Universal Meta Data Models " by David Marco & Michael Jennings, John Wiley & Sons Over the last seven columns I have been presenting the six…
This article is adapted from the book " Universal Meta Data Models " by David Marco & Michael Jennings, John Wiley & Sons. Almost every corporation and government agency has already built, is in…
This article is adapted from the book " Universal Meta Data Models " by David Marco & Michael Jennings, John Wiley & Sons In part one of this series, I presented the Managed Meta…
This article is adapted from the book " Universal Meta Data Models " by David Marco & Michael Jennings, John Wiley & Sons In part 2 of this series, the Meta Data Sourcing Layer…
This article is adapted from the book " Universal Meta Data Models " by David Marco & Michael Jennings, John Wiley & Sons In part 3 of this series, the Meta Data Sourcing Layer…
This article is adapted from the book " Universal Meta Data Models " by David Marco & Michael Jennings, John Wiley & Sons. Over the last several parts of this series, I presented the…
This article is adapted from the book " Universal Meta Data Models " by David Marco & Michael Jennings, John Wiley & Sons Over the last several part of this series, I have been…
This article is adapted from the book " Universal Meta Data Models " by David Marco & Michael Jennings, John Wiley & Sons In part 6, I presented the Meta Data Management Layer of…
Over the next few years many companies will have the unenviable task of completely rebuilding their decision support systems. This is occurring because many of these systems were built with flawed architectures. The architecture…
Almost every large government agency or Global 2000 company is struggling to properly manage their enterprise information technology (IT) architecture. This difficulty is the direct result of the highly distributed, disjoined and overly expensive…
I thought that it would be valuable to take a look back and see where meta data management and repositories have come from and where the meta data management and repository industry are headed.…
As the meta data repository industry continues to grow the myths and misunderstandings around this market segment also continue to grow. I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet and speak to…
This column is the fifth installment in a walk through of the five fundamental phases of a project plan to build a meta data repository: Orientation, Feasibility, Design, Construction, and Rollout. This month we…
This column is the third installment in a walk through of the key tasks in each of the five fundamental phases of a project plan to build a meta data repository: Orientation, Feasibility, Design…
This column is the fourth installment in a walk through of the key tasks in each of the five fundamental phases of a project plan to build a meta data repository: Orientation, Feasibility, Design…
The key to your company’s prosperity is how well you gather, retain and disseminate knowledge. To this end the meta data repository is the key gathering, retaining, and disseminating knowledge. This column is the…
In this article series, I will be walking through the key tasks in each of the five fundamental phases of a project plan to build a meta data repository: Orientation, Feasibility, Design, Construction, and…
This column marks the sixth and final installment of the five fundamental phases of a project plan to build a meta data repository. This month we will complete the Rollout phase. The rollout phase…
If you were to look at the balance sheet of most any Global 2000 company, you would see many different and varied entries for such assets as property, cash, equipment, accounts receivable and my…
This article is adapted from the book " Building and Managing the Meta Data Repository ", John Wiley & Sons, ISBN # 0471-355232 Chapter 1 “Introducing Meta Data and it’s Return on Investment” provides…
This article is adapted from the book " Building and Managing the Meta Data Repository ", John Wiley & Sons, ISBN # 0471-355232. Chapter 1 “Introducing Meta Data and it’s Return on Investment” provides…
In the August column I discussed the technical and business challenges that corporations are experiencing. These challenges include: In this our third and final installment on meta data return on investment (ROI) we will…
This article represents the third and concluding portion of my three part series on defining the return on investment (ROI) that a meta data repository can provide to your company. The formulas that I…
This is the first part of a three part series on meta data return on investment (ROI). In order to fully understand the value that meta data provides it is critical to by clear…
In order to fully understand meta data’s value it’s imperative to identify the changes impacting businesses today. Last month we examined the three key areas impacting today’s corporate landscape. These three areas are: In…
Meta data management and its use in enterprise data management have become one of critical information technology (IT) focuses for both global 2000 corporations and large government agencies. As these entities look to reduce…
In the first part of this series, I discussed the issue of disparate meta data repositories. During this column I listed the four most common problems created by this phenomenon and I discussed, in…
This article marks the first monthly column dedicated to meta data and data administration. During the coming months we will examine such topics as meta data ROI, architecture (distributed vs. centralized vs. decentralized), data…
Building a meta data repository is no longer an option for corporations, but an absolute requirement. One of the most important tasks in the development of a repository is the construction of the meta…
In 1999 I wrote a two-part column for DM Review (March and April 1999 editions) on the top ten mistakes to avoid when building a meta data repository. Now that we are in 2002…
This article marks the second part in a two-part series revisiting the top ten mistakes to avoid when building a meta data repository. This month we will examine the final five mistakes on our…
More companies than ever before are reducing their IT (information technology) costs and delivering a competitive business advantage by building successful meta data repositories. The companies that are building these repositories are faced with…
Building a meta data repository is critical for accessing, maintaining, and controlling the vital information stored in our decision support systems (DSS). While meta data has always been a central covenant of data warehousing…
Many companies are realizing the invaluable role that the meta data repository plays in any successful data warehousing effort. This conclusion has occurred as corporations came to the discovery that a data warehouse implementation…
XML and data warehousing are hotter than the beer commercial that spawned the wasszzup catch-phase. Data warehousing is a proven technology, while XML offers the hope of making the Internet a much easier world…
Which application did most companies build first, the data warehouse/data marts or the meta data repository? The obvious answer is the data warehouse. Most Global 2000 companies have a data warehouse (typically several) conversely…
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is one of the hottest areas in all of technology today. In fact it’s difficult to find a magazine that doesn’t have one or more articles addressing this topic in…
Over the past 10 years, data warehousing has proven to be a highly valuable technology that the vast majority of corporations have leveraged to provide them with a competitive edge in the marketplace. As…