August 16, 2010
Many people have trouble understanding why metadata management should be executed to exacting standards—or even executed at all. This is natural, because metadata—as managed by most organizations today—has been kept invisible to all but data specialists and a few business people. Up to this point, it has not been the actual deliverable the way that solutions for data integration, data quality, master data management, and operational applications are. These applications and others wouldn’t be possible, much less successful, without metadata. But the assistance provided by a quality metadata management solution is masked because it is embedded within a larger solution, or it has been a degree or two of separation from the business processes it enables.
Pinning a dollar value or other metric to metadata’s contribution is problematic—but it can be done. Even when the metric is fuzzy, metadata’s influence on IT and business success is evident. And you need metrics to provide a credible business case that justifies further investment in metadata management.
This TDWI Checklist Report explains how to provide justification for time and money invested in metadata management solutions. The report points out a few ways to quantify metadata’s contribution to IT projects and business initiatives. It also discusses numerous benefits and how they further justify the development of a modern metadata management solution.