The journal of the Enterprise Information Management Institutehttps://www.eiminstitute.org/https://www.eiminstitute.org/938-2/https://www.eiminstitute.org/938-2/When I first entered into the world of data modeling, after several years of being a programmer and computer operator, there was a paradigm shift required to embrace the concepts behind structuring data to…Tue, 26 Apr 2016 12:35:07 GMThttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-6-august-2007-edition/seven-critical-questions-to-ensure-master-data-governance-success/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-6-august-2007-edition/seven-critical-questions-to-ensure-master-data-governance-success/Typically, in large organizations data governance and its practice germinates either from a top-down approach led by a key executive– say a Chief Financial Officer, or from a bottom-up approach driven by business unit stakeholders who understand the importance of data ownership and data management to their success.Tue, 26 Apr 2016 10:37:58 GMTRavi Shankarhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/current-magazine/volumn-4-issue-5-october-2010/is-it-a-data-warehouse-or-a-replicated-data-store/https://www.eiminstitute.org/current-magazine/volumn-4-issue-5-october-2010/is-it-a-data-warehouse-or-a-replicated-data-store/I am fascinated by the wide variety of database solutions in place across all industries that are referred to as data warehouses. It seems that any time data is placed in a database, whether from one source system or from multiple sources, it can be referred to as a data warehouse. In healthcare in particular, the concept of a replicated data store is a common occurrence (unfortunately, few actually call it this) – this is probably due to the complexity and depth of healthcare data in combination with the massive number of source systems. These complexities make true integration of data a significant challenge and providing a Replicated Data Store on one platform at least provides a one stop shop. Replicated data stores can be invaluable for any number of purposes, but they should definitely not be confused with a data warehouse. In this article we are going to investigate some of the characteristics and values of each of these architectural approaches.Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:49:03 GMTBruce Johnsonhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/current-magazine/volumn-4-issue-5-october-2010/intellectual-capital-a-human-resources-perspective/https://www.eiminstitute.org/current-magazine/volumn-4-issue-5-october-2010/intellectual-capital-a-human-resources-perspective/The term “Intellectual Capital” collectively refers to all resources that determine the value of an organization, and the competitiveness of an enterprise. Understandably, the term “intellectual capital” from a human resources perspective is not easily translatable into financial terms. For all other assets of a company, there exists standard criteria for expressing their value. Perhaps, this term could more appropriately termed a “non-financial asset.” In an article written by Paolo Magrassi titled "Taxonomy of Intellectual Capital”, 2002, Mr. Magrassi defines human capital as “the knowledge and competencies residing with the company’s employees” and defines organizational intellectual capital as “the collective know-how, even beyond the capabilities of individual employees, that contributes to an organization.”Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:45:17 GMTSid Adelmanhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/current-magazine/volumn-4-issue-5-october-2010/the-semantic-web-and-eim-part-3-2013-meta-data-management/https://www.eiminstitute.org/current-magazine/volumn-4-issue-5-october-2010/the-semantic-web-and-eim-part-3-2013-meta-data-management/This is the third in a series of articles on the Semantic Web and EIM. Click here for the second installment. In this article I will discuss how the Semantic Web and semantic technologies can be used for meta data management and meta data analysis.Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:40:58 GMTPete Stiglichhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-10-december-2007-edition/now-you-see-it-the-vanishing-user-interface-and-the-ubiquity-of-information/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-10-december-2007-edition/now-you-see-it-the-vanishing-user-interface-and-the-ubiquity-of-information/As information technology matures, the tools needed to provide knowledge workers with relevant information are becoming more enmeshed in the day-to-day activities of the knowledge workers themselves and, therefore, transparent. As we continue to develop the knowledge-based economy, the user interfaces for tools that knowledge workers use to acquire the information they need are becoming so transparent as to be almost invisible, ambient aspects of the knowledge workers’ environment rather than visible, discrete elements. This process has profound implications on knowledge workers, the information in which they trade and the approaches that IT must take towards providing knowledge workers with relevant, valuable information.Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:08:35 GMTIan Rowlandshttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/gaining-executive-support-for-data-governance/probable-cause-of-religious-wars/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/gaining-executive-support-for-data-governance/probable-cause-of-religious-wars/I’m talking about the occasional religious wars we wage in IT. Here are some examples: What type of requirements modeling is better – data flow diagrams or entity relationship diagrams (circa 1976)? What type of DBMS is better – hierarchical or relational (circa 1982)? What type of data warehouse design is better – relational or multidimensional (circa 1996)? What type of methodology is better – waterfall or agile (circa 2001)? What type of agile methodology is better for DW/BI – software-centric Scrum/XP or data-centric Extreme Scoping[TM]? The latter appears to have been triggered by my last article Beware of Scrum Fanatics on DW/BI Projects."Wed, 27 May 2009 11:07:50 GMTLarissa Mosshttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/developing-lifecycle-management-plan/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/developing-lifecycle-management-plan/Healthcare is moving at the speed of thought and this includes plan operations, defining the right products in today’s economy for the consumer, and the technology to support the rapid changes needed to remain competitive. In this article I want to share with you what I believe to be the best Technology lifecycle management (TLCM) plan.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:27:11 GMTRon Schrimphttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/EIM-Focus-Area-Process-Management/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/EIM-Focus-Area-Process-Management/This month I will be discussing the Process Management Focus Area. Of the eight Focus Areas, Process Management is the most neglected throughout our industry even though it is a necessity for many companies' objectives. For example, why do we look to remove redundant data? Typically it is to simplify, limit and optimize our processes. These very same companies that are looking to remove their redundant data do not always realize that they are doing Process Management.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:21:40 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/EIM-Maturity/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/EIM-Maturity/The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) developed a “Capability Maturity Model” (CMM), based on the work of Watts Humphrey at IBM. A maturity model strives to assist organizations in improving the quality of their software development through implementation of processes that are “mature”, meaning that these processes have a high predictability of results and low risk of encountering unknown variables or situations. The model takes an organization through five scales, from Level 1 (Initial) through Level 5 (Optimizing), and measures the operation’s effectiveness at each level based on assessment of certain areas.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:17:22 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/data-mining/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/data-mining/Data mining is often confused with “writing lots of SQL queries and reports,” when in fact data mining activities do not involve any traditional report writing or querying at all. Data mining is performed through a specialized tool, which executes predefined data mining operations based on analytical models.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:09:30 GMTLarissa Mosshttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/show-users-data-status/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-1-january-2009-edition/show-users-data-status/Analytics solutions require many different efforts, tools, and components in order to be successful. Good data capture and validation, sound integration practices, and an appropriate front end user tool that is set up and deployed successfully. It also takes a valid business need and a user that is willing and able to receive value out of the resulting solution in order for the organization to realize value.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:06:10 GMTBruce Johnsonhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-2-february-2009-edition/curing-bad-performing-warehouses/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-2-february-2009-edition/curing-bad-performing-warehouses/With the number of unsuccessful data warehouse projects in the last several years reaching significant numbers, more and more organizations are becoming frustrated with a return on value of analytics solutions. Recently there has been a wave of unpleasant reminders of how significant amounts of money and time can be spent, only for an organization to receive little value and have to start over or abandon their efforts.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:50:04 GMTBruce Johnsonhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-3-march-2009-edition/beware-of-scrum-fanatics-on-dw-bi-projects/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-3-march-2009-edition/beware-of-scrum-fanatics-on-dw-bi-projects/You may be wondering what in the world are “Scrum Fanatics?” And why should you beware of them? And what is Scrum anyway? Scrum is an agile software development method. What’s so bad about that? Nothing, as long as you use it for software development projects and not for business integration projects. Isn’t a data warehouse a software development project? No, it isn’t. It’s a business integration project. Scrum, or any other feature-driven software development method, is not the right methodology for data-driven business integration projects.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:38:05 GMTLarissa Mosshttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/gaining-executive-support-for-data-governance/the-forgotten-key/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/gaining-executive-support-for-data-governance/the-forgotten-key/Databases are the root of the success for the applications that they support. Creating an effective database for any need requires understanding the business needs you are trying to fulfill, the data that is encompassed in it, and the people who are going to use it. Getting the business resources together to gather the information needed to build the data model is the first step.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:01:37 GMTBruce Johnsonhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-8-august-2009/centers-of-excellence-rationale/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-8-august-2009/centers-of-excellence-rationale/As information management becomes more important to organizations, many are struggling with coordinating the components of EIM (meta data management, data governance, enterprise data management and architecture, data and information quality, data warehousing and business intelligence, etc.). Many of these components are practiced in different departments or divisions and the staff that support them may reside in the business areas or in the information technology unit. How can the activities of all these components be coordinated and the best practices be disseminated and replicated across an enterprise? One successful solution is the creation and sustainment of an Information Management Center of Excellence.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:36:28 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-8-august-2009/making-your-data-customer-centric/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-8-august-2009/making-your-data-customer-centric/How Data-Driven Marketing Can Fix A Broken Business Model Your customer interactions are increasingly affecting your brand. As a marketer, what kind of control do you have over these touchpoints and should you allocate marketing funds to improve the customer experience? Your company as a whole needs to take a step back and (re)evaluate its measures of success. Considering your customers’ newfound leverage, Lifetime value (LTV) should be at the top of the list.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:32:31 GMTSid Adelmanhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-8-august-2009/business-warehouse-oversight-2013-part-ii/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-8-august-2009/business-warehouse-oversight-2013-part-ii/Last month I introduced one part of analytics governance – the high level concept of providing business warehouse oversight to the content stored in a data warehouse, mart, or other analytical database. Key areas of business content oversight included: data mapping and profiling, meta data content, data acceptance, meta data acceptance, data quality assurance, and organizational alignment.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:28:08 GMTBruce Johnsonhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-10-november-2009/meta-data-silos-part-2/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-3-issue-10-november-2009/meta-data-silos-part-2/In my last column I discussed the issue of disparate meta data repositories and the four most common problems created by this phenomenon. - Missing Meta Data Relationships - Typically Built By Non-Meta Data Professionals - Costly Implementation and Maintenance - Poor Technology Selections Last month I discussed Missing Meta Data Relationships and Typically Built By The Non-Meta Data Professional. In this month’s column I will address the final two problems and discuss why they exist.Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:40:28 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-8-december-2008-edition/proactive-performance-for-the-data-warehouse/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-8-december-2008-edition/proactive-performance-for-the-data-warehouse/Diseases are named either after the doctor who discovers the disease (Alzheimer’s, Crohn’s) or after the unfortunate patient on whom the disease or disorder is diagnosed (there is an Eastern European curse, “May you have a disease named after you.”). Baron von Munchausen was unfortunate enough to have given his name to a debilitating disorder. His disorder was psychological. He believed he had a variety of diseases and in fact displayed the symptoms of those diseases but with no underlying illness. His legacy is the Munchausen Syndrome.Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:15:02 GMTSid Adelmanhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-8-december-2008-edition/iterative-data-governance/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-8-december-2008-edition/iterative-data-governance/Many organizations are examining the concepts of data governance and planning to implement a data governance program. Some organizations are concerned that a formal enterprise data governance program will take many months to implement and may not deliver tangible business value quickly enough to satisfy leadership. Other organizations may be troubled by the problems reported with large governance programs and would like to implement a more tactically focused data governance process. A new approach that addresses both these sets of concerns could be called “Iterative Data Governance”.Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:09:28 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-8-december-2008-edition/comparing-warehousing-toolsets/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-8-december-2008-edition/comparing-warehousing-toolsets/Are you looking at purchasing or selecting a data warehouse related toolset – BI, ETL, Data Profiling, etc…? Organizations often burn lots of time and energy trying to figure out what tools, software, and hardware they want to run their data warehouse and analytics on. Most of the various tools and components can be quite expensive to build and support, so I can understand the concern that they feel for making sure they spend their money wisely.Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:03:14 GMTBruce Johnsonhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-7-november-2008-edition/data-strategies-2013-data-management-strategies/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-7-november-2008-edition/data-strategies-2013-data-management-strategies/A data strategy is a data management strategy – choices we make about how to manage data assets.Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:47:07 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-11-january-2008-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-it-portfolio-management-part-3/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-11-january-2008-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-it-portfolio-management-part-3/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 order to manage these and any other costly IT initiatives, it is critical to measure each one, but it is impossible to measure them when most companies do not understand them. This is where IT portfolio management enters the picture.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:12:05 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-12-february-2008-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-knowledge-management-and-regulatory-requirements-part-4-of-5/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-12-february-2008-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-knowledge-management-and-regulatory-requirements-part-4-of-5/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 business needs its IT systems to manage more than just their data; they must manage knowledge (that is, meta data).Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:38:06 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-12-february-2008-edition/data-governance-assessments-2013-an-opportunity-to-discover/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-12-february-2008-edition/data-governance-assessments-2013-an-opportunity-to-discover/Organizations considering a new approach to enterprise data management frequently wonder about the current state of their data management efforts. They don’t know where to start, what should be repaired, what should be left intact, and how to align the changes and continuing tasks into a cohesive practice. In this confused state, organizations embark on less productive and sometimes conflicting paths, making data management improvement a synonym for “failed initiative”.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:23:14 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-13-march-2008-edition/a-rose-by-any-other-name-2013-titles-in-data-governance/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-13-march-2008-edition/a-rose-by-any-other-name-2013-titles-in-data-governance/For many organizations, titles are one of the ways that performance is distinguished or acknowledged, while in other organizations there is no coherence in how different people’s activities are classified. In many efforts, a title does not “mean” anything outside the particular environment, but in the world of data governance, a title can convey deep meanings.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:06:39 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-13-march-2008-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-enable-enterprise-applications-part-5-of-5/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-13-march-2008-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-enable-enterprise-applications-part-5-of-5/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 warehousing, or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system) without an enterprise-view understanding of the data? The answer for most companies is that they can’t.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:03:28 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-13-march-2008-edition/the-data-warehouse-database-explosion/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-13-march-2008-edition/the-data-warehouse-database-explosion/At a recent data warehouse (DW) conference, the discussion centered on the incredible explosion of the size of DW databases. Many companies are already implementing in the multiple terabyte range and it’s almost a macho boast that “my DW database is bigger than yours.” There seem to be few who question the unbridled growth or ask if all that data is really needed or if the data will even be accessed.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:54:52 GMTSid Adelmanhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-2-may-2008-edition/soas-and-meta-data-management/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-2-may-2008-edition/soas-and-meta-data-management/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 on this topic. However, while a good number of senior executives are clamoring for SOAs, I find that there is a great deal of misinformation on this topic and even less knowledge on what it truly takes to implement this environment.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:16:03 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-2-may-2008-edition/enterprise-data-modeling/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-2-may-2008-edition/enterprise-data-modeling/Models are created not only to represent the business needs of an application but also to depict the business information needs of an entire organization. An enterprise model, which is comprised of one or more subject area models, is used to document the process and data for an organization, business or enterprise and serves as the point of planning and integration for all information systems management.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:01:40 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-3-june-2008-edition/bi-with-or-without-dw/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-3-june-2008-edition/bi-with-or-without-dw/I recently host edited an issue of the Cutter IT Journal (Vol. 21, No. 4, April 2008), a magazine that publishes debates on controversial issues. As I was thinking of a topic, I thought what could be more controversial than asking the question whether business intelligence (BI) should always be done based on a data warehouse (DW) or if BI can be done directly against operational source data without a DW. My lead into this topic included the following arguments for both camps:Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:42:24 GMTLarissa Mosshttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-4-july-2008-edition/data-strategy/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-4-july-2008-edition/data-strategy/A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) was approached by the CEO and asked for an accounting of the company’s financial assets. The CFO gave a vague response indicating a lack of knowledge of the corporate bank accounts, had little idea what was in each account, and had no idea about the status of accounts receivable. The Board of Directors asked the CEO about the intended use of the corporate assets and they were told “there is no plan for their use.” The CFO and the CEO were soon pursuing new personal interests.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:05:22 GMTSid Adelmanhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-4-july-2008-edition/the-eight-focus-areas-of-enterprise-information-management-data-management-part-1-of-8/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-4-july-2008-edition/the-eight-focus-areas-of-enterprise-information-management-data-management-part-1-of-8/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 organizations are doing EIM. One is focusing on master data management and the other on data quality. What is critical is that both realize that these are EIM initiatives and that they need to adhere to the best practices of EIM.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:46:18 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-4-july-2008-edition/business-requirements-as-part-of-data-stewardship/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-4-july-2008-edition/business-requirements-as-part-of-data-stewardship/Requirements gathering (data, meta data and process) are a vital part of successful project management and information management —well-known and publicly available research, such as the Standish Group’s Chaos Report, has shown this to be true. Even though there is growing recognition of the importance of requirements gathering, not enough has been done to explain the underlying need for a requirements gathering process or to develop methods to improve the process. The emergence of the function of data stewardship can bring attention to the need for clear business requirements. Stewards can guide their clients / users through a process that elicits their business requirements and facilitates good information management, but the steward must be well versed in both understanding the concepts of business requirement gathering AND the process that will best document them.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:45:42 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-8-december-2008-edition/the-challenges-of-healthcare-information-management-in-2009/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-8-december-2008-edition/the-challenges-of-healthcare-information-management-in-2009/In today’s world of information overload, finding the right data strategy can be a critical and daunting task; for health plans, the challenge balloons. More so than other types of business, managed care organizations collect massive amounts of information. With that challenge, comes a commensurate opportunity to organize and use the data constructively.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:07:55 GMTRon Schrimphttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-6-september-2008-edition/lessons-learned-avoiding-the-debate-201cwho-is-the-customer-201d/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-6-september-2008-edition/lessons-learned-avoiding-the-debate-201cwho-is-the-customer-201d/There has been ongoing debate exacerbated by the emergence of Database Marketing and its evolution into what is now called Customer Relationship Management (CRM) around the necessity to define who the customer is. Many organizations have had great difficulty answering this question. But as an EIM professional does it matter? - unless EIM is responsible for determining business policies then probably not. What EIM needs to deliver to the business is the capability to define a customer however they like, and to change the definition as often as they please.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:22:58 GMTAndy Fieldhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-6-september-2008-edition/the-role-of-politics-in-data-governance/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-6-september-2008-edition/the-role-of-politics-in-data-governance/As the United States (USA) selects a new president and chooses from candidates for other offices, many thoughts may turn to the role of politics in data governance.Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:12:38 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-6-september-2008-edition/data-warehouse-cost/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-2-issue-6-september-2008-edition/data-warehouse-cost/Not every data warehouse project will initially be cost justified. Many have been implemented without really knowing how much they will cost. Many will be authorized without even estimating the potential benefits. Projects are often started because a sponsor has the need for information and has the budgetSat, 26 Apr 2008 11:02:16 GMTSid Adelmanhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/is-microsoft-an-architecture/https://www.eiminstitute.org/is-microsoft-an-architecture/The other day I was at a review of a company’s plan for DSS and analytical processing. I heard something that piqued my interest. When the question was asked – “what architecture do you…Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:02:00 GMTBill Inmonhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-10-december-2007-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-reducing-it-redundancy-part-2-of-5/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-10-december-2007-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-reducing-it-redundancy-part-2-of-5/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 several common business challenges and how a managed meta data environment (MME) addresses themWed, 12 Dec 2007 11:23:44 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-9-november-2007-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-part-1-of-5/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-9-november-2007-edition/managing-meta-data-for-the-business-part-1-of-5/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 of the balance sheet is data.Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:21:38 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-7-september-2007-edition/new-technology2019s-3-phased-life-cycle/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-7-september-2007-edition/new-technology2019s-3-phased-life-cycle/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 of them experience a 3 phase life-cycle. Understanding where a technology is in this life-cycle will help you in determining how it may or may not help your company. Let’s look at the stages.Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:29:29 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-7-september-2007-edition/data-warehouse-failures/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-7-september-2007-edition/data-warehouse-failures/This article will present the types of failures that have been experienced by various data warehouse projects. There is disagreement over the failure rate of data warehouse projects. Rather than contribute to the debate we will detail the types of situations that could be characterized as failures, and leave it to the reader to decide if they truly constitute failure.Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:24:14 GMTSid Adelmanhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-6-august-2007-edition/designing-the-optimal-meta-data-tool/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-6-august-2007-edition/designing-the-optimal-meta-data-tool/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 six major components of a managed meta data environment (MME)Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:04:05 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-5-july-2007-edition/designing-the-optimal-meta-data-tool-part-one-of-two/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-5-july-2007-edition/designing-the-optimal-meta-data-tool-part-one-of-two/Many government agencies and corporations are currently examining the meta data management tools in the marketplace to decide which of these tools, if any, meet the requirements for their meta data management solutions.Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:54:25 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-5-july-2007-edition/measuring-the-data-warehouse/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-5-july-2007-edition/measuring-the-data-warehouse/Running a data warehouse without the advantage of metrics is like trying to navigate a ship without a chart, compass, or sextant. Without metrics, we have no way of knowing if we have delivered a data warehouse that anyone could consider to be successful.Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:49:58 GMTSid Adelmanhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-4-june-2007-edition/a-brief-history-of-data-warehousing-from-the-vendor2019s-perspective-part-ii/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-4-june-2007-edition/a-brief-history-of-data-warehousing-from-the-vendor2019s-perspective-part-ii/In the previous article we discussed the data warehouse marketplace from the perspective of history and vendors. The discussion continues with ETL products.Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:53:21 GMTBill Inmonhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-4-june-2007-edition/the-building-blocks-of-enterprise-information-management-part-3-2013-data-governance/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-4-june-2007-edition/the-building-blocks-of-enterprise-information-management-part-3-2013-data-governance/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 and the typical data stewardship activities that they will be involved in.Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:22:58 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-3-may-2007-edition/a-brief-history-of-data-warehousing-from-the-vendors-perspective-part-i/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-3-may-2007-edition/a-brief-history-of-data-warehousing-from-the-vendors-perspective-part-i/If you just happened to enter the data warehouse profession, you will find an almost bewildering choice of technologies, all of which purport to be data warehouse technologies. Indeed, the world of data warehousing is complex and there are many facets. And it seems that each facet of data warehousing has its own technology.Fri, 18 May 2007 09:40:10 GMTBill Inmonhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-3-may-2007-edition/the-building-blocks-of-enterprise-information-management-2013-data-governance-part-2/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-3-may-2007-edition/the-building-blocks-of-enterprise-information-management-2013-data-governance-part-2/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 Meta Data Management, Data Governance and the EIM Organization.Tue, 15 May 2007 16:07:55 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-1-march-2007-edition/what-is-the-price-of-data-protection/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-1-march-2007-edition/what-is-the-price-of-data-protection/Everyone has heard or followed the stories about phishing, data collection, hacker intrusion, data carelessness, virus attacks, denial of service attacks, employee data pilfering and the myriad of other ways data “escapes.” It is…Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:44:54 GMTBill Burkehttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-9-november-2007-edition/mining-and-refining-metadata-exploitation-to-increase-the-real-value-of-information/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-9-november-2007-edition/mining-and-refining-metadata-exploitation-to-increase-the-real-value-of-information/A number of significant trends are reshaping the metadata management landscape of the very near future. The changing nature of work itself is changing the metadata landscape. The rise of the knowledge worker and the emergence of new style collaboration tools will change deployment of metadata management and use of technologies. Increasing integration between IT and the enterprise will change the way metadata is used for the dynamic sharing of information. The emergence of metadata-driven business service management will add a new collection of sources to the metadata universe as well as new use cases.Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:10:59 GMTIan Rowlandshttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-2-april-2007-edition/the-building-blocks-of-enterprise-information-management/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-2-april-2007-edition/the-building-blocks-of-enterprise-information-management/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 mistakes that project managers new to the EIM space make is that they neglect to realize that THE two key building blocks of EIM are meta data management and data governance. Meta data management provides the technical infrastructure necessary to support the EIM objectives. On the other hand, data governance instills the people and processes that will work with the meta data and data to support the EIM program.Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:13:35 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-2-april-2007-edition/all-the-reasons-why-you-cant-do-architecture/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-2-april-2007-edition/all-the-reasons-why-you-cant-do-architecture/I recently received a letter from a friend of mine who was valiantly trying to initiate some architectural activity in a very large Enterprise within a very important industry sector. The note outlined all of the objections to doing architecture that my friend was encountering. The note is not significant because of one particular Enterprise, nor of one particular industry. The note is significant because these are the kind of objections I hear day after day from many Enterprises in many industries and the objections are coming from IT, not the Enterprise!Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:08:38 GMTJohn Zachmanhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-2-april-2007-edition/benefits-of-an-eim-initiative/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-2-april-2007-edition/benefits-of-an-eim-initiative/More and more companies are coming to the realization that an Enterprise Information Management (EIM) initiative provides a critical foundation that is essential to meet today’s many business challenges. A fundamental asset of any organization is data – it is a critical resource that should be managed. Many organizations must transform from their current practice of creating isolated islands of data, that only satisfies individual programs or business units, and begin to manage data at the enterprise level.Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:03:35 GMTMike Jenningshttps://www.eiminstitute.org/data-governance-maturity-overview/https://www.eiminstitute.org/data-governance-maturity-overview/Generally, governance is a long-term strategic initiative, but data governance can also deliver short-term, tactical benefits. The need for both strategic and tactical approaches to data governance contributes to an organization’s confusion on where…Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:23:30 GMTAnne Marie Smithhttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-1-march-2007-edition/enterprise-information-management/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-1-march-2007-edition/enterprise-information-management/Enterprise information management is one of the hottest topics in information technology (IT) today. We have several clients that we are working with on meta data management efforts that are well beyond the scope of data warehousing and instead are targeting the entire enterprise. This is vital as these organizations have realized that in order to compete in the “Information Age” that they had better manage their information a whole lot more effectively than they have up to this point. These are the organizations that will really have a definitive advantage over their competition in the coming years.Sun, 18 Mar 2007 11:32:55 GMTDavid Marcohttps://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-1-march-2007-edition/enterprise-information-management-primer/https://www.eiminstitute.org/library/eimi-archives/volume-1-issue-1-march-2007-edition/enterprise-information-management-primer/Many organizations have begun to realize that the data and information they create every day is a valuable enterprise asset. It is difficult to imagine any enterprise achieving its goals without pertinent information. Those with accessible and higher quality information will make more informed and more effective business decisions. This is as true for all organizations since all enterprises need quality information to guide their decision-making and to provide optimum service to their customers. For organizations whose primary asset is information, this need is even more critical.Sun, 18 Mar 2007 11:14:09 GMTMike Jennings