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October 26, 2006

Imposed Structure and Chaos

Fellow metadata professionals keep asking me why the Web 2.0 environment is so important for us to begin to think about. Maybe it is just a feeling or a prediction, but the evidence is clear and confusing. Harvard Business School professor Andrew McAfee commented:

The opposite of an imposed structure is not chaos. With these tools, the opposite of an imposed structure is an emergent structure, one that forms over time based on the interactions of a lot of people

The opposite he is talking about is metadata, taxonomies, and hierarchal structures that have driven our organizations into the SME command and control. The world seems to be saying that with enough people, we do not need you information / metadata architects to tell me how to manage my information. More importantly, at some critical mass your traditional methods fail.

We have long held that inside the corporation, we can control the amount of content and even classify that content as Enterprise in order to place constraints around the definition and usage of our assets. Unfortunately, that model is heading south as we open up the organization and industries. Standardization, open communications, and integration will continue to break down the walls that have served us so well. Hence, why Web 2.0, Library 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 and yes, Metadata 2.0 is the future.

Posted by Todd at 1:40 PM

October 25, 2006

Collaborative Metadata

Traditionally, metadata repositories are built for the data warehouse environment which by definition creates an environment where only a few people control the inflow of information. Contrary to lofty expectations, the majority of users of the repository fall short of expectations. When we have a knowledge store where the information is controlled by a few and utilized by a few then we have created a channel communication.

Ideally, the repository would be utilized by the masses within the organization which would indicate we have a communication platform. Now, the definition of a few and many can be debated but the harsh truth is that getting metadata information for the business end user is a huge challenge. Take a simple example of a logical model. How many average business users are going to be able to understand “Crow’s Foot” notation?
Therefore, a repository built so that a few people can communicate with a few people is called a channel and one built so that a few people can communicate with many is called a platform. How about one built in such a way that many people can contribute and many people can utilize? Wouldn’t that be a better method of distributing data architecture information? I believe so and the emerging software tools may very well deliver the metadata revolution.

Posted by Todd at 11:50 AM

October 19, 2006

Getting Promoted

Interesting article in this weeks Information Week by Dan Tynan: 20 Tips to get you promoted. Of course, one must assume you actually want to get promoted in the first place but that may be a subject of another conversation. The thing that struck me with this list is the difference in the long term and short term impact of the activities. For example, doing the crappy jobs in order to demonstrate your abilities seems like a short term value equation. There are always a ton of crappy jobs to be had in any organization but getting on one of these projects just for the notoriety seems to have a limited payoff. Has anyone actually entered their crappy job on their resume or CV? Of course not, otherwise you would be asking future employers if you could sweep the IT floor. It is always a good idea to let leadership know that you are willing to do what ever it takes but this is a poor long term strategy. Number 14, which focus on building your own portfolio, is a far better long term strategy. Here you are adding components that you can reference for years to come. Other tips focus on habits that need to be developed irregardless of your level or position. The article is a great read and worth the time.

Posted by Todd at 1:47 PM

New Amazon Functionality

In most cases, when I see a book I want to purchase, I do a Nike and just do it. Recently, I noticed some new functionality on the Amazon.com web site. First, is an author interview that is included for books like Tough Choices: A Memoir by Carly Fiorina. Not only is the text included but a video of the author as well. This is really interesting and a great new service that exposes the author in a different way. The second component is the book search utility that actually searches the full text of the book and not just the metadata. This was very useful when trying to find a page number for a reference that I forgot on a recent paper. I searched the text and the page popped right up. Of course, I tried it again on Seth Godins book: The Purple Cow. I searched for househusband that appeared on page 90. Sure enough, the search utility found the correct page and showed me a partial sentence where the word was found. Unfortunately, the entire page couldn’t be seen due to copyright issues. Still, this is an innovative use of the technology and content you already have.

Posted by Todd at 11:55 AM

October 6, 2006

Simplicity Rules

The world is made up of 3 colors, 10 numbers, 4 chemical components of DNA, and 26 letters in the English language. Seems like the world is actually fairly simple but humans tend to build upon this simplicity until complexity rules. This complexity builds until only a few people can understand or remember why. None the less, this complexity tends to create habits, processes, and culture which so very few are willing to challenge. That’s the way we have always done it rules the day.

Why do we implement metadata in the same old way? Why do executives continue to listen to the same story over and over by consultants? Even though, they know failure is eminent. Metadata must be agile to the business environment in order to provide long term value to the organization. As we continue to lose jobs, we had better stop defining our value on how complex we can make our solutions. The days of being the smart geek in the back office are over. The smart geek is now a smart village located a 100,000 miles away.

Posted by Todd at 2:18 PM

October 5, 2006

New Opportunities

Well my days of writing the DMReview online column have ended. My goal was to deliver as much insight into an enterprise metadata program as possible. In total, I was able to publish over 30 editions over the past three years. DMReview will be moving the online column to the print magazine as of November 2006. This is a great opportunity for me to expand this message and deliver metadata value to a broader audience.

Another opportunity that has presented itself is a contributed chapter on Web 2.0 technologies. We will take a look at how collaborative applications can be integrated into enterprise knowledge stores. An upcoming article “Metadata 2.0” will provide some highlights and insights into this topic; scheduled publication in December.

Finally, I will be attending DAMA Day in San Francisco in December. The two sessions will include a similar topic of Metadata 2.0 and a focus on utilizing business models of other organizations to deliver long term value in metadata.

Posted by Todd at 2:17 PM

October 2, 2006

The Fishhook Effect

Since we just finished the third quarter, we are taking a close look at our usage metrics. Once again an interesting phenomenon can be seen that we termed the fishhook effect. What happens is that when content, like a document, is published then you see an entry level of usage. Over a very short period of time, this usage increases just like the barb of a hook. This usage cannot be sustained and the metrics begin to fall. Fall is an understatement since the fall is usually more dramatic than the early rise. Finally, the usage metrics level off and flat lines over a long period of time. This observation does assume that you don’t publish a new version or some unnatural event occurs.

What would happen if you had a repository and removed every element of content? According this theory, usage would never go to zero since there would always be somebody reviewing the content. We have such a repository where two years ago, every asset was removed due to legal constraints. While there was a drop due to the unnatural event of removing the content, it has leveled off at around 78 page views per month.

I have witnessed this effect with blog comments, repositories, documents, and just about every other content artifact within the organization. The impact is two fold. First, the more you can update and add content, the greater number of barbs you can have at the same time. In addition, you can sustain a certain level of usage irregardless of your content.

Posted by Todd at 5:03 PM