In the Business Intelligent (BI) world we often find ourselves developing and discovering tech terms and buzz words that are sometimes not easily explained or relatable to the next person – due to the nature of what we do and the technical ‘know-how’ we are exposed to daily. Metadata, for instance, is one such term.
Metadata can be better understood as the data about the data. It is the information (subject, date and time sent, from who to who etc) on the email to the supplier about the year-end function menu change required, to put it simply. And, in this context, the term strategy is generally accepted as a plan of action that is decided upon based on the analysis of the information (the data about the data). So, for this blog post, I want to examine two ways in which organisations can implement a metadata strategy that will not only demonstrate the value of the data, but also benefit the business.
I have noted, following the article I read that the data about the data strategy has become a point of interest for many organisations who have heard that it’s the ‘next big thing’ which can do wonders to the bottom-line. I must admit though that, while compiling this blog post, I had the Chief Data Officer and Data Analytics team in mind, as I knew these tips would be well received, however, I do want to stress that any organisations with a team that understands data and has the ‘know-how’ can implement these processes effectively.
According to research, less than half of an organisation’s structured data is actively used in making decisions — and less than 1 percent of its unstructured data is analysed or used at all. This is a problem, considering that many organisations I have come to contact with are spending a substantial amount of their budget to Big Data. However, what I have come to realise is that – there is no active strategy to leverage metadata. And, while metadata may be one of the many reasons why organisations are spending on Big Data, it is worth noting that metadata in itself is not new, but how it is leveraged today is. So, how can organisations go about implementing a metadata strategy to their favour? The metadata strategy can be used in the two following ways:
It can be used as a solution
This means your metadata strategy can be used to solve problems the organisation has, for example, if an organisations is struggling with openness of data, and culture, metadata can play a key role in providing solutions. In the context of openness, the metadata strategy should follow suit. Meaning whatever may be included in the strategy, it must align well with the organisation’s data usage and business processes, where allowance of control to the data is granted. In terms of the culture of the organisation, the metadata strategy can assist business users to do their job better (i.e. organising their work duties in a way that works for them), which is great – as productivity is the lifeblood of any organisation.
It can be used as a new way of doing things
A few years back, metadata strategies could address only one issue and understandably so. The influx of data generated today as compared to a few years back is not the same, hence how you think about where to implement metadata strategy will go a long way. This can address organisational and software issues – which sometimes may result in a culture shift or organisational agility – which, if the change is embraced, from top to bottom can prove to be quite beneficial.
Concluding remarks
Considering this, it is safe to say that a metadata strategy can be used for many things within the organisation, such as the above and a prevention, opportunity to score and a game changer strategy. However, the metadata strategy is not one to produce overnight results – and organisations may need to be understanding that results may come after some time. In fact, the results may present themselves during a time when the organisation needs transformation and for some organisations, it may take longer than others, based on what the identified overall goal is.
