June 26, 2007

DMreview: Three Little Cores

When Herb Kelleher was asked how long it would take to train his successor, he replied, "About five minutes," which is about the length of time it would take to explain the importance of making decisions at Southwest based on the core concept of being the lowest-cost provider. Is it really that simple? Why not fire the flight attendants and maintenance personnel? This would certainly lower the costs of doing business. However, in the long term this would increase the costs of the business and force Southwest to increase prices. This is an oversimplification of an obviously successful business model, but think about the message this sends to the employees.

Read Article

Posted by Todd at 12:24 AM

May 25, 2007

New Collaborative Weblog

Collaborage is a railing against the forces that stand in the way of complete re-invention of how business gets done in a large organization. This re-invention will be defined by the new collaborative and social applications including Weblogs, Wikis, Profiles, Collaborative Environments, RSS, and many others. Hopefully, you will find these implementation observations of value in your implementation of Web 2.0 technology.
View Collaborage

Posted by Todd at 10:16 PM

It's Your Metadata

An enterprise asset is a technical resource that can be used across business units and/or across applications. This definition includes assets such as Web services, shared components, systems, interfaces, data definition and schemas. The idea is that an enterprise repository should contain any asset regardless of type. That being said, most organizations have a collection of repositories to fulfill the service of metadata delivery. One common theme is that if you don't share the asset, then why would you catalog it? What would you do if a business unit approached your metadata organization with a truckload of data assets but wanted to lock access down so that no one could access the information? Worse yet, these data assets are not enterprise level and can't be shared with other business units.
View Article

Posted by Todd at 10:10 PM

May 9, 2007

Governance and the Open Source Repository

The Handbook of Research on Open Source Software: Technological, Economic, and Social Perspectives is one of the few texts to combine OSS in public and private sector activities into a single reference source. This authoritative publication examines how the use of open source software (OSS) affects practices in society, business, government, education, and law. It provides a balance of theoretical perspectives, experiences, and cases in relation to these key areas. This thorough collection includes an overview of the culture from which OSS emerged and the development practices though which OSS is created and modified. The Handbook of Research on Open Source Software: Technological, Economic, and Social Perspectives is an international collaboration including authors from six continents and more than 12 countries. This multinational and multicultural perspective becomes crucial when making effective decisions about software in todays global policy and business environments. This text is an essential reference to business persons, policy makers, educators, and private citizens who are curious about how factors related to OSS may affect different aspects of their lives.

Buy at Amazon.com

Posted by Todd at 1:46 AM

April 17, 2007

Patent Granted 7,206,785

Impact Analysis of MetadataMethods and systems for estimating impact between metadata descriptors are provided. A software program compares a first metadata descriptor with a second metadata descriptor and determines an impact rating between the metadata descriptors. The impact rating may be used to map metadata descriptors or as an indication of how a change in one database will effect other interrelated databases.
View Patent

Posted by Todd at 11:03 PM

April 15, 2007

DMReview: Data Quality: The Price of Entry

What exactly is data quality? The most obvious answer is that data quality represents the validity of the information. But that doesn’t really tell the whole story of data quality, take a look at the following dimensions as describes by the United States Accountability Office: Accuracy, Validity, Completeness, Consistency, Timeliness, and Ease of Use.
View Article

Posted by Todd at 7:32 PM

April 7, 2007

Patent Granted 7,200,820

A system and method for viewing search results is disclosed. A method of communicating a search result according to various views is disclosed. A method of displaying metadata associated with content of websites is disclosed. A method of displaying metadata associated with relationships of websites is disclosed. A method of displaying metadata associated with images of websites is disclosed. A method of displaying metadata associated with seals of websites is disclosed. A method of displaying metadata associated with one or more websites in a view, receiving a request to change the view, and displaying metadata associated with the one or more websites in a second view is disclosed.

View Patent

Posted by Todd at 1:46 PM

March 10, 2007

Life without Metadata

Have you ever thought about what life without metadata would be like? Not the traditional database metadata, but retail metadata - the kind of metadata that appears on every product inside Wal-Mart, Kroger and Publix. For example, consider a simple bottle of aspirin, where the metadata on the box includes the manufacturer, ingredients, volume, quantity, directions and safety warnings. Open the box, and there is an insert with even more metadata on how and when to use the product. Not to mention the bottle itself, which repeats much of the metadata that was on the box, only in smaller print.
View Article

Chris Saad has followed this article up with some delightful insight into the needs of metadata in the 2.0 world.

When we come across a blog, I think that most people look for the subscriber count and consider (at least at the back of their mind and as part of a larger value judgement) whether or not they should add the author to their subscription list based on how authoritative that number makes them. Adding someone to your feed list is a relatively big decision. So the 'subscriber count' metadata is important

Read His Comments Here

Posted by Todd at 12:39 PM

February 2, 2007

Metadata's Demand Side Economics

Last month, I took a deep dive into the supply-side economics of metadata. While the supply of metadata is important, the demand or usage of the information is an imperative for long-term success. Ideally, you would have both a solid demand and supply, but if you had to choose between one or the other, take the demand. Demand is much harder to create, develop and sustain over an extended period of time.
Read Article

Posted by Todd at 12:16 AM

January 15, 2007

More Metadata 2.0

Overview
A few months ago, I have the privilege of attending a data conference in Denver, CO. The conference was held at one of the Hyatt Regency Hotels located downtown. What sparked my curiosity was a small kiosk located next to the Concierge desk that allowed you to check in with your airline and print your boarding pass.

Historical Transformation
Traditionally, airlines forced you inside the terminal where you waiting in a very long line so that you could talk to the agent who printed your boarding pass, took you luggage, and ensured you were the ticket passenger. Several years ago, the airlines in Atlanta added a collection of Kiosk machines that allow you to walk up, enter your credit card or frequent flyer number and print your own boarding pass. If you had luggage, you only needed to step over to the counter where the agent was waiting with your baggage tags already printed. This was an enormous convenience and really speeded up the process. Not too much later, they airlines allowed you to print your boarding pass yourself from a home computer. Without a doubt, the fastest way through any airport is to print your own boarding pass and drop your bags outside where for a couple of bucks you can skip all of the hassle inside the airport. What Hyatt did was recognize that most people don’t travel with a printer and the business office wasn’t worth the prince of entry. The concierge kiosk allows customers to check in without requiring a computer or a printer.

If we step back a moment, we can see a transformation happening where the ownership and control is transferred to the customer irregardless of location. The web has opened up, created and destroyed businesses by moving control to the consumer. The Internet enhances the consumer power by exposing more information, more options and simpler transactions. Consumer power tends to be higher in industries where the information is easier to compare and easier to understand. In these cases, information can be easily accessed through the Internet and assimilated by less informed consumers, allowing them to make better and more transparent decisions (MIT, 2002). Not only has the kiosk machines simplified the process, they have eliminated the requirement of equipment; access is universal as long as you have a connection.

Read More About the Transformation of Metadata

Posted by Todd at 10:34 PM

January 8, 2007

No Comments

One thing that has changed is the blocking of end user comments. The spam has just gotten to be too much for me. Almost 300 spam messages per day and I can’t figure out how to stop it from happening. Email me if you have something you want posted and I will post without editing…..

Posted by Todd at 12:27 PM

Happy New Meta-Year

Happy New Year! This is going to be a great year, certainly with several new beginnings. In many ways I am sad to see BellSouth go, this company was very good to me personally and professionally. The best way for me to describe it is that that allowed us to take risks; not just to deliver a metadata solution but create a metadata experience. Not just to create a metadata environment that was considered a cost center or even to deliver business value. Rather, they allowed us to build a business model for metadata as well as online ordering, repository delivery, and collaboration technologies. Who knows what the future brings…

Posted by Todd at 12:25 PM

January 3, 2007

Book Available: Chapter Two Enterprise Metadata

Architecture of Reliable Web Applications Software presents new concepts regarding the reliability, availability, manageability, performance, scalability, and secured-ability of applications, particularly the ones that run over the Web. Buy Online

Posted by Todd at 12:26 AM

Metadata's Supply Side Economics

The traditional supply curve indicated the lowest price at which suppliers were willing to sell their product. As prices rose, the seller was willing to sell more of the product. The seller in the world of metadata is the producer of metadata information. Those individuals who work tirelessly to create assets and define the metadata information produce the value-add for metadata. Traditional supply curves put price on the vertical axis and quantity on the horizontal axis. Price doesn't make much sense in our world, where we provide products and services inside the organization. However, we can exchange the price component with a cost or value-add one. Does this pass the common-sense test? Let's see; the more value the metadata effort creates, the more producers are willing to turn over the responsibility of metadata management. In a world where business units have the choice of building distributed metadata management environments versus utilizing a centralized metadata management group, the value-add must be substantial.
Read Article

Posted by Todd at 12:24 AM

December 21, 2006

Not Worthy

I am not sure I am worthy of such praise but... I like the sound of it:

R. Todd Stephens is probably the most singularly cogent proponent of the role of Metadata in the field of Business Intelligence, who possesses an innate ability to communicate in a clear metaphor summing up the BI zeitgeist scarily well...

You can read the complete post here

Posted by Todd at 11:27 PM

Business Trilogy

Have you ever sat down and thought about the different frameworks for metadata delivery? The first and most common method is that metadata fulfills a Business Need. Now, this may very well be a technology need associated with a data warehouse. In fact, I would actually refer to this a secondary or related business need but I do not want to split hairs. Fulfilling a business need is not the same thing as metadata delivering Business Value. Business value has a price tag, a cost structure, and a calculated Return on Investment. Having a Business Value is far better position than just fulfilling a Business Need. That being said, what would be the next step? What would be better than having delivered business value? The answer is turning metadata into a Business Model. A business model does not just deliver value once, but as an ongoing effort. A business model is like running a small business including profit and loss. A Business Model delivers work worth paying for, work that the business is willing to fund over an extended period of time.

Posted by Todd at 8:35 PM

December 14, 2006

Business Model versus Business Value

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to address the DAMA San Francisco user group and discuss various ideas around the Web 2.0 and applying business models to enterprise metadata. One idea that occurred to me was that there is a big difference between delivering business value and establishing a business model. You can create business value by satisfying a need or fulfilling a demand. Some consideration for ROI but generally very little time is focused here. On the other hand, a business model looks at the long term profit and loss and makes decisions based on the viability of sustainable value. This is an important distinction between value vs. model. Many data warehouse environments implement metadata because thats what we always have done or thats what the business placed in the requirements. But, what was stated about the long term growth in data assets and the growth in usage of this metadata which would drive a business model? Would you open up a drink stand just because one person wanted a Diet Coke or would you try to understand the complete picture of supply and demand?

Posted by Todd at 12:33 PM

December 12, 2006

DAMA Day San Francisco

This week was my first trip out west to visit the San Francisco DAMA group. They made both myself and my family feel welcome. The guest speakers included Graeme Simsion and Danette McGilvray, both of which are excellent speakers. As usual, Graeme was as funny as he was delivering valuable messages on both hard and soft skills of data management. Danette delivered a wonderful message on data governance which is lacking in most major organizations. My two sessions focused on the business strategies of implementing enterprise metadata and integrating web 2.0 technologies. Both messages seemed to be well received and hopefully several people will alter their career planning in the near future.

As far as San Francisco goes, we had great food and despite the weather and Packer fans, the trip was perfect. Actually, both the San Francisco and Green Bay fans were cordial. Unlike I would have been if Dallas was in town and the Cowboys held Football 101 classes.

Posted by Todd at 11:27 PM

December 2, 2006

Metadata 2.0

Have you read or seen much on the next evolution of the Web called Web 2.0? Web 2.0 is a collection of technologies and frameworks that enables collaboration from a social perspective. We can see this transformation from Web 1.0 to the more collaborative Web 2.0 all around us. The success of Wikipedia, Folksonomies, RSS and Weblogs are undeniably changing every aspect of our lives. The Internet and associated technologies are constantly evolving. Within the world of metadata, we have seen three such transformations. After studying the Web 2.0 environment, I believe the next transformation is clear.
View Article

Posted by Todd at 1:42 AM

November 17, 2006

Podcast: The Metadata Experience

Delivering value for metadata over the long term requires a transformation from a focus on raw materials and products to a focus on services and solutions. While this seems easy to do, IBM spent billions to transform themselves from perhaps the greatest product company to the premier services organization of our time. Long term metadata vale will not come from the products but rather the metadata experience.

Listen to Audio Podcast

Posted by Todd at 11:54 AM

Life without Metadata

Have you ever thought about what life without metadata would be like? Not the traditional database metadata but retail metadata; the kind of metadata that appears on every product inside Walmart, Kroger, and Publix. Imagine a simple bottle of Bayer aspirin where the metadata includes the manufacturer, ingredients, volume, quantity, instructions, safety warnings, UPC codes, etc. Imagine walking into your local Kroger grocery store and as you enter the store all of the traditional taxonomies have been removed since product classifications are a form of metadata. The isle signage has been removed and replaced with emptiness. The only things you can see are the blank containers designed for the products themselves. Let’s suppose you need a can of soup to go with Saturday’s dinner. You grab a can and begin to shake it in hopes that the weight and movement can provide you some indication of the contents. Is it tomato soup or a can of beans? Perhaps, this is a can of peaches or mixed vegetables. Ok, maybe you’re an experienced shopper who can distinguish between soup and other products; is it chicken noodle soup, vegetable soup, or clam chowder? Frustrated, you head over to the dried goods area but your problems don’t seem to fade away. This time you pick up a box which may contain laundry detergent, dish washing cleaner, or cereal. Of course, these uncertainties have little impact as compared to the pharmacy where you may be taking Viagra or Tylenol for your now, splitting headache. Can you imagine any business that would actually run their store in such a manner? Can you imagine any retail environment without the information or information architecture required?

While the retail world cant imagine life without metadata, the technology still remains Oblivious...

Posted by Todd at 11:52 AM

Question of the Day

Question of the day! Article after article has been written about the explosion of data coming due to technologies like Web 2.0 and RFID. The strain on our system is said to be enormous with large investments required. Yet, the experts say that 40% of this data will be metadata. So, wouldn’t one assume that metadata would get 40% of the investment dollars? Unlike today, where we get 1% on a good day.

Posted by Todd at 11:51 AM

November 16, 2006

Enterprise Metadata PodCast

We are adding a new feature to the rtodd.com site; Podcasts. Please forgive me for the poor quality but I am learning as I go with this communication medium. The first podcast will discuss the Long Tail of Metadata which runs about 6 minutes. Included in the Podcats are executive overviews, associated slides, and related content that you can read to support the discussion. Please provide your feedback. My plan is to try to add one per week for awhile.

Overview
Assets, assets, assets; Technology assets are everywhere and number in the millions. How can we defend an investment to manage these assets and what strategy should we use to support the investment decisions. The Podcasts will review the Long Tail of Metadata and describe environments where value can be obtained and delivered to the enterprise.

View Podcasts

Posted by Todd at 4:58 PM

November 14, 2006

Fish Eye Effect

The fish hook effect is the natural progressing of information exchange when something is published. Imagine a chart with the number of downloads on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis. When you initially publish something there is a small hit with your loyal readers or visitors. Then viral marketing or simply word of mouth spreads and the number of downloads increases up to a point where access levels off. Then, like all content that isn’t regularly updated the usage begins to tail off and drop. This will continue unless additional marketing or advertising is done. However, this drop in usage will also level off to a point of minimal access which holds steady for the duration of the existence of the content. What’s really interesting we see the fish eye phenomenon with every type of content published including Intranets, documents, and weblogs. This is the exact reason that we need to ensure that out content continually expands or gets updated or the usage will flat line.

Posted by Todd at 1:33 AM

November 8, 2006

Forthcoming Book: Enterprise Metadata

Architecture of Reliable Web Applications Software presents new concepts regarding the reliability, availability, manageability, performance, scalability, and secured-ability of applications, particularly the ones that run over the Web. Architecture of Reliable Web Applications Software examines the causes of failure in a Web-based information system development project, and indicates that to exploit the unprecedented opportunities offered by e-service applications, businesses and users alike need a highly available, reliable, and efficient telecommunication infrastructure. Architecture of Reliable Web Application Software proposes a scalable QoS-aware architecture for the management of QoS-aware Web services to provide QoS management support for both Web services’ providers and consumers. It also introduces Hyper-services as a unified application model for semantic Web frameworks and proposes Conceptual Model Driven Software Development as a means of easy adoption to them.   Chapter Two: Enterprise Metadata for Reliable Web Applications This chapter examines the critical task of governing the web application environment with enterprise metadata methodologies. As organizations move to higher levels of maturity, the ability to manage and understand the entire environment is one of the most critical aspects of the architecture. Metadata can be defined as information pertaining to the web application environment that the organization defines as critical to the business. Successful metadata management requires a comprehensive strategy and framework which will be presented through historical, current-state, and future perspectives. The author expects that by understanding the role of metadata within the web application environment, researchers will continue to expand the body of knowledge around asset management and overall architecture governance. Book Overview | Table of Contents | Chapter Sample

Posted by Todd at 9:06 PM

More Metadata

Well, I have been replaced as the own of enterprise metadata. For about two years now when you searched for this phrase, my site and blog would be first. Well, it looks like BEA and IBM and moved ahead of me. This is actually a good thing since it shows that more and more companies are waking up and seeing the light. The light? The fact is that 40% of all of the data that will be generated over the next five years will be metadata. One would think that metadata would get 40% of the investment but no, try 1% on a good day. That’s too bad since the organization will demand great metadata solutions as this continues to evolve.

Posted by Todd at 3:38 PM

November 6, 2006

DMReview Article on Metadata

In 2002, my organization took home the High Accommodation award from Wilshire Conferences, and the following year, we were awarded the "Outstanding Enterprise Metadata Award." By anyone's standards, we had created a competitive advantage that very few organizations could match. Within two years, our implementation looked like child's play when compared to the metadata success of Intel, Allstate Insurance, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and many others. Our competitive advantage was gone; a new, improved strategy was needed. Read More of the Article

Posted by Todd at 10:56 PM

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 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

September 29, 2006

Intelligent Metadata

What the most annoying think about online forms? It is the silly use of dropdowns for state and country codes. From the programmer perspective, this is a great idea since we are limiting the domain of choices for the end user and ensuring data quality. Well, we keep telling ourselves that anyway. Dropdown are great for those that live in Alabama and Alaska but not for Utah and Vermont. Yes, you can type the first letter and jump to the first state which is great for Georgia but crappy for Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and North Dakota.

It get worse for country domains; Albania and Aruba are the fortunate ones. United State is near the bottom, right next to the United Kingdom and United Emirates. Don’t get into a hurry or your package will be sent to Victoria Station in London.

Why can’t we have open text fields that have some intelligence in them? If I order a product to be sent to Atlanta, HI with zipcode 30308 then clearly I mistyped the state code. That could be automatically corrected and presented to the user for confirmation. Computers are getting fast enough to be able to handle this type of transaction, it is we the designers that are the problem.

Posted by Todd at 1:49 PM

September 28, 2006

Key Components of Metadata

We have many information and knowledge stores around the organization. I ran across this last night in regards to the criticality of the information collection and metadata.

You HAVE the Information
You must actually collect the information and store that information within the some technology or knowledge store. Ensure that you have solid RIM standards and processes to ensure quality.

Metrics: Content, Inventory Turnover

You KNOW that you have the Information
Having collected the information, you must know that you have collected it or someone else has collected it. Storing information that no one has knowledge creates an environment that produces limited reuse. Key to this is integration into the current information architecture, search utilities and marketing the store itself.

Metrics: Brand Visibility, Marketing

Understand How to ACCESS the Information
You must make the information understandable and easy to use. Information must be placed into context in order to create knowledge. All information stores should be based on usability principles in order to ensure that everyone can get some degree of value.

Metrics: Usability Studies,

USE the Information in Value-Add Processes
Information must be used in order to create value. The usage can be an information exchange or full scale reuse. While information associated with risk control may not be used, over the long haul exchange and reuse rule.

Metrics: Usage Metrics like Information Exchange, Reuse and Risk Assessment

You must TRUST the Information
Information must be as accurate as possible. Trust takes time to build but only a few laps to destroy.

Metrics: Data Quality, Trust Survey

What about the Value of Information. Perhaps a topic of another entry.

Posted by Todd at 1:12 PM

September 25, 2006

Real Estate Sites

Over the past couple of years I have been looking at buying some land. Actually, the idea is more of a dream than a reality but without dreams who are we? The point is that I am utterly amazed at how poor the metadata and search utility is out there for real estate.

For example, lets suppose I wanted to buy 20-50 acres of land within 2-3 hours of my current residence and a specific price range. Sounds simple, right? The largest real estate site Realtor.com forces you to enter a city with no indication of distance. They don’t allow you to enter key elements of such as acres, lakes, or terrain. They force you to locate 10-20 major zip codes or cities, and do the scroll battle. Scrolling though hundreds of results is a major pain in the meta-butt.

Land specific sites are not much better. Although the functionality varies by site, the majority fail to offer a solid search utility. Have we drifted to the other end of the spectrum by controlling the end user experience so much that we alienate many?

Posted by Todd at 1:50 PM

September 19, 2006

Bad for Business

Recently, it was pointed out that our organization does not always win the repository battle. Metadata can be something very personal that people are not willing to turnover to another group. We see this many projects that do not want to utilize enterprise services. Instead, they would prefer to purchase or build their own software specifically tailored to their program. In their shoes, I would want the same thing since the success of the metadata can improve the success of the entire program. This particular person seemed to suggest that this was a blow to our organization and a negative indication. As in most cases, I try to take the high road and accept their opinion in hopes to learn and grow from it. So, is this a negative for our group? Of course not; the success of metadata, as an architecture, can come from centralized control or a decentralized autonomy. The principles, frameworks, and patterns are shared and supported by our group. I try not to look at metadata management as a fixed pie where there are winners and losers. Rather, the entire organization wins when we manage the metadata and utilize it for the enrichment of the business.

Posted by Todd at 1:03 PM

September 11, 2006

Singularity

The Singularity is a term used to describe an evolution of technology, biology, and our own capacity of understanding. On several occasions I have discussed the cycle of change in the world of technology. Specifically, how technology changes are coming faster and faster. At some point in time, we will be able to create change at the molecular level and basically do away with the physical creation of everything. The reality is that once you get to the molecular level, physical existence is simply a recipe; much in the same way our DNA is an instruction set for the creation of you. Convergence is inevitable and we already witnessed metadata moving away from the traditional database function to the content based value add. Specifically, organizations are beginning to utilize metadata for describing the full spectrum of assets within the organizations. New standards like ITIL are emerging to solidify the importance of tracking every asset; Asset Lifecycle Management. This convergence is only the second chapter of the entire novel of metadata.

Posted by Todd at 7:33 PM

New Customer or New Products

For any organization that reaches out to the global economy, you spend an enormous amount of time pondering how you can get more customers. We have this great metadata application and how can we get more people involved in the production and consumption of the metadata. The biggest issue is that you don’t know your current or potential customer base. What would happen if you turned this around? Within a corporation, we can do just that by asking what products can we deploy for the customers. This is more than a semantic twist; this is a strategic question.

Posted by Todd at 3:30 PM

August 23, 2006

Challange Your Assumptions

We all make assumptions; we use them to guide our thinking and the way in which we view the world. The problem arises when our assumptions start to limit our thinking and our ability to see a vision of something different. We don't have to look far to see where people missed the boat with their miserable assumptions.
View Article

Posted by Todd at 11:11 PM

August 16, 2006

Known by many names; the Repository

When people think of metadata and the supporting application, they commonly refer to it as the repository. However, there are really four different classes of repositories that can be cross referenced against the various information states. First, a knowledge store that only contains structured information is a registry. Nothing wrong with registries, the SOA world loves their Web Service Registry built on the UDDI standard. If you add unstructured information, then you have a repository. In the web service world, we might want to add UML diagrams, configuration instructions, SLA, etc. Both the registry and repository are considered passive knowledge stores until you add automation and business process. Automation like impact analysis, subscription services, automatic loading and metrics is really a repository application.

Is there a fourth level? What comes after an active repository with advanced automation? The answer is collaboration. Transforming your active repository into a collaborative environment is the ultimate solution for the world of metadata.

Posted by Todd at 7:23 PM

August 15, 2006

Technologys Cockroach, Metadata

Metadata is truly the cockroach of technology. Metadata has been around since the early 1970s where it described databases and systems. I still remember the IBM System VTOC (Visual Table of Contents) from the early 1980s. Metadata was highlighted during the late 1980s with the success of the data warehouse. Today, metadata is everywhere in Grid Computing and SOA environments. One IBM fellow (Bob Zurick) said this is the year of metadata. Funny how a technology that very few people think about seems to have the longest life. Anyone seen a Fortran program or Commodore 64 lately? 20 Years from now, we will still be utilizing metadata to manage our environments; hopefully, we will get much better at it.

Posted by Todd at 12:43 PM

July 27, 2006

Information Architects

What is an information architect? For that matter, what the heck is a metadata architect? After a little thought, I am thinking that Information Architects and Metadata Architects create order from informational chaos. Hey, its no worse than defining metadata as data about data.

When Information architects work within web environments, they utilize taxonomy methods, page design techniques, and other skills where they can create order and understanding. This order is based on the tried and true principles of Human Computer Interaction (HCI).

As we enter the collaborative environment, which is a wonderfully fertile ground where chaos rules. Our training in information and metadata principles create an enormous opportunity. Why? Because we can walk into a business situation or business process, take an inventory of the informational components and within a few moments have a basic understanding of the information flow and the knowledge touch points. From this vision, we can utilize the tools of our trade to create value.

Posted by Todd at 1:11 PM

July 21, 2006

Metadata of High Performance

All of us will face job transition throughout our careers, whether through new opportunities, buyouts, layoffs or the impact of globalization. In addition, most of us spend countless hours thinking and acting upon metadata in our jobs. But, how many of us think about our personal metadata? The metadata of you is critical to manage like any other metadata, and fortunately we already have a collection of repository meta-models to choose from: resume, curriculum vitae (CV), portfolio and extended online models. Like all other metadata efforts, personal metadata has an enormous ROI opportunity, when done correctly.
View Article

Posted by Todd at 12:23 AM

July 20, 2006

Debunking the Metadata Quality Myth

Of a period of years, one of the reoccurring statements from the so called experts is that if you allow multiple people update metadata content then chaos would follow. Very well known, authors even made the comment that if an end user comes to the metadata repository and finds poor quality they will never return. What these myths and expert opinions fail to see is the transformation of value based information. Perhaps in the past, it was acceptable for controlling the message by a few and disseminating to the masses but that no longer holds value. By the time the gate keepers allow the information the opportunities will be gone.

We have seen with Internet organizations like Wikipedia that chaos does not ensue with open access but the exact opposite. The quality of the information increases and eventually converges to a common point of view. Yet, we still hold onto the ideals that only a few people in the organization have the metadata knowledge. What’s worse is that not only do people believe they are the only source they still believe in the value of hoarding it.

I will steal a line from Batman I; this industry needs an enema.

Posted by Todd at 2:53 PM

July 18, 2006

Patterns of Metadata

When experts or professionals deal with problems they tend to approach the problem based on their past experience. They usually recall similar experiences and draw the best practices and lessons learned and then apply them over and over again. For most of us in information technology, the concepts of reuse are not new but few of us pay homage to Christopher Alexander and his original work on utilizing patterns in architecture. The object oriented crowd picked up on patterns and changed an industry. A recent book The Design of Sites (Van Duyne, Landay, Hong, 2002) describes a collection of patterns for building web sites. The book begins with a short chapter on the foundations of good design, which provides principles, standards, and focuses on customer-centric goals. The core of the book is the 12 design categories based on real examples which are described in detail. Clearly, the metadata repository vendors should all read this book and apply as many of the patterns as possible. However, is it possible to create patterns for enterprise metadata?

Posted by Todd at 6:43 PM

July 7, 2006

Simplicity in Design: A Metadata Imperative

Every year or so, I get on my soap box about the absolute horrid state of usability in the metadata repository space. The last time I took this stand, the hate mail came poring in about how our product was different. I suppose it’s easier to deny there is a problem than to actually fix the issue. I do understand that technology products are built for technologists and most implementations do not include a large number of business users. Why are metadata products built with a focus on functionality (complexity) versus usability (simplicity), because that’s where the money is! As Willie Sutton the bank robber said when asked why he robbed banks, 'because that's where the money is'.
Read Article

Posted by Todd at 12:53 AM

June 29, 2006

The Beauty of Information

It’s interesting that the majority of award winning sites are all Flash sites. Cool designs seem to focus more on the visual cuteness that actual customer value. Information Architecture is beautiful and when sites are well architected they scream value and utility. Perhaps, we should start an Information Architecture Site of the Day; dedicated only to those sites that are, in the eye of the beholder, beautiful.

Information architecture does not mean plain and boring; you can have great graphics but the generation of value is in the content and the IA. What makes a great meal? Is it the food, cook and recipe or the garnish weed that is placed on the plate. Ok, I am showing my lack of sophistication with the weed comment but you get the idea. Maybe we have too many designs and not enough IAs. Or have the visual graphics crowd bullied their way into the environment while we cower in the corner.

Posted by Todd at 12:00 PM

June 21, 2006

IEEE Article on Semantic Web

I had a chance to provide some information on the SOA movement to Greg Goth. The interview was published in the March Issue of IEEE DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS ONLINE. Additional comments provided by James Hendler, director of the University of Maryland's Joint Institute for Knowledge Discovery, Dave McComb, president and chairman of Semantic Arts, and Anne Thomas Manes, vice president and research director at the Burton Group technology analysis firm.
View Article

Posted by Todd at 12:03 AM

June 12, 2006

June Article on the Long Tail of Metadata

In 2004, Chris Anderson wrote an interesting article on a concept referred to as the Long Tail. The long tail is basically the products and services that have lost their sale ability within a geographical area. One of my favorite books on personal marketing was published in 1997 titled The Persona Principle: How to Succeed in Business with Image Marketing by Derek Armstrong and Kam wai Yu. You would be hard-pressed to locate this book in any bookstore, and even Amazon has it ranked number 1,140,052. Online retailers can carry a much larger inventory than physical stores, which allow them to generate more sales along the long tail of popularity.

Where does traditional metadata fit into this model? Traditional metadata focused on data and transformation-type assets with a few business rules tossed in on the side. Applying the "long tail" framework, we would include many of the enterprise metadata components as well as other data elements that might not be labeled as enterprise.

Read Article

Posted by Todd at 11:09 PM

May 23, 2006

Semantic Shifts

Suppose for a moment that your organization has deployed and is supporting a structured registry for the data layer within the architecture. This opens the door for three shifts: horizontal, vertical, and semantic. A vertical shift would move along the X-Axis according to the Zachman Framework and expand into the logical, conceptual or physical representations of data. A horizontal shift would move to another architecture layer and apply the structured principles to different asset types such as web services, interfaces, or open source components (A Zachman Column Shift). A semantic shift would occur when take the registry (structured content) and add un-structured content which creates a repository type layer on top of the registry. Shifting again along the semantic road again would drive you to build a collaborative environment on top of the repository. Hence, you would have all three: data, information, and collaborative knowledge within the same environment. If there is a fourth shift, the shift would create integration along all the dimensions of the Zachman Framework and Semantic Environments.

Posted by Todd at 3:25 PM

May 20, 2006

DMReview Article: Collaborate 451

If I were to ask you what Microsoft's fastest growing product is, which product would you choose? In 2003, The Register reported that SharePoint was the fastest growing product with more than 30 million licenses. Collaborative products are not new, and the Lotus Notes folks will sing in unison been there, done that. However, 30 million licenses are nothing to sneeze at. The impact to traditional applications is enormous in the sense of how work is organized and value delivered. This month, I want to describe how many organizations are adding collaboration to their applications, registries and repositories.
Read Article

Posted by Todd at 12:50 PM

May 15, 2006

System Names

Interesting thing about names and more importantly system names. Suppose during the business requirements phase of a major project we decide to name the new customer management system SIMSYS or Simple Information Management System. When the requirements come to the IT and our infinite wisdom we decide that the system should be called SYMSYS since that sounds much cooler. We in IT like to think of ourselves as creative geniuses and you can see that in all of the dancing bunnies on our slide decks. Once the SYMSYS makes it into design, we need to break it up into four different system names: SYMSYS, SYMSYSWeb, SYMSYSView and SYSSYSDb. Of course, development, test and operations adds the different environments for SYMSYSDb-Production, SYMSYSDb-Test, SYMSYSDb-UAT, SYMSYSDb-Development (Multiplied four times). The different releases then come into play as we add updates and modivications: SYMSYSWeb v2.1, Production. Not to mention the mired assets that will need to be placed into the repositories and registries.

Look out, here comes the business user in a panic; the SIMSYS application is down? The what? Let me look that up in the system registry, Hmmmmm. How do you spell that? Is that production or test? Crap, I cant find SIMSYS anywhere. Frustration with IT follows.

The key here is recognize that multiple names are used depending on the context of the environment. System registries should have synonym structures in place.

Posted by Todd at 11:40 AM

May 11, 2006

Data Professionals

Collected a small group of data professional that have an online presence where you can learn from thier publications or efforts to expand the body of knowledge.

Data Professionals

If there is anyone that I should add, please comment here and I will take care of it.

Posted by Todd at 1:35 AM

May 10, 2006

Does Heaven need metadata?

I suppose if one thinks about the job of St. Peter then the answer is obvious; yes. The simplest meta-model would be from the Baptist since all St. Peter would need is the name and Save Date or Save_Date or SAVDAT. Other religions that weigh your good and bad deeds would require a much larger meta-model and various unstructured type documentation. Assuming that the facts of the case will help decide the deed classification, then this type of information could be crucial. Other more complex religions that have Duty requirements would requie additional databases to help hold the prescribed tasks, times, and details of forgiveness. I suppose we could apply normalization of the tasks which would save space but they may not have storage or network issues.

Considering that there are around 106 Billion people that ever lived this could be the largest metadata store ever. The good news is that there does not seem to be a need to exchange metadata to the other place since souls are not exchanged. Maybe one can argue that if St. Peters says no, but I think if you show up at the other location they will accept you no what your metadata is. Some religions have holding locations where you spend time before earning your way to the pearly gates. So some level of business rule exchange may be needed to ensure the status is reported correctly.

Once inside then maybe additional metadata needs to be captured on just what heaven is for you or better yet what job function you will be performing. I have to assume not all of us can be Arc Angels or the helper type angels that we see on TV. Job functions, performance statistics, and schedules will need to be kept; all of which will require a heavy dose of metadata to keep straight. Of course, with the Gospel of Judas and the Da Vinci Code coming out more educational type jobs will be in order which might require additional data stores and integration feeds.

My answer, yes there is metadata in Heaven!

:-}

Posted by Todd at 6:17 PM

April 29, 2006

Digital Libraries and Metadata

In 1999, Marchionini & Fox published an article titled Progress toward digital libraries: Augmentation through integration in the Journal for Information Processing & Management. The authors lay out four dimensions of design space: technology, content, services, and community. Seems to me that we have progressed enough in the metadata and IA space that all four are not only possible but a requirement for doing business.

Because information is a basic human need, and libraries have evolved into an important institution to help communities of humans communicate in spite of differences in time and space, one key dimension of the design space is labeled “community” and reflects social, economic, political, legal, and cultural issues. This dimension includes the needs, information-seeking behaviors, and attitudes of the individuals within a community. This dimension is exceedingly complex and has to date received the least amount of attention.

Technology serves as an engine pushing the field, leading to continual shifts in solutions that coalesce around what is necessary, desirable, and feasible. DL researchers have leveraged technical progress in networking, storage and retrieval, multimedia representation, and user interface design to link people to DLs and DLs to each other.

Services reflect the functionality afforded by systems serving the community of users. Access services that facilitate search and browsing have been central to DL research thus far, but there is great need for attention to reference and question answering, on-demand help and fostering of citizenship and literacy, and mechanisms to simplify participatory involvement of user communities (e.g., contributions of time and materials).

Content is often what one thinks of first in a library – books, journals, maps, art, music, and innumerable other forms and genres of expression that may have representations either outside computers, inside them, or in both versions. DL research has made good advances in digitization and representing content, and considerable work is underway to leverage metadata to transparently connect people to content in different DLs.

Technology, Content, Services and Community are emerging under different terms such as Information Architecture, Content Management, Knowledge Management, Web Services, Collaboration, and many others.

Posted by Todd at 5:59 PM

DMReview Article

When experts or professionals deal with problems, they tend to approach the problem based on historical experience, current observations and future trends. They usually recall similar experiences and draw on best practices and lessons learned. For most of us in information technology, the concepts of reuse are not new, but few of us pay homage to Christopher Alexander and his original work on utilizing patterns in architecture. The object oriented crowd picked up on patterns and changed their industry. A recent book, The Design of Sites (Van Duyne, Landay, Hong, 2002), describes a collection of patterns for building Web sites. The book begins with a short chapter on the foundations of good design, which provides principles and standards and focuses on customer-centric goals. The core of the book is the 12 design categories based on real examples, which are described in detail. Is it possible to create patterns for enterprise metadata? The first step is to establish a collection of categories where we can classify the patterns of the organization. One such collection might include structure patterns, design patterns, process patterns, content patterns, service patterns and architecture patterns.
The Patterns of Enterprise Metadata

Posted by Todd at 1:33 AM

April 28, 2006

Metadata Conference

Returning a day early from the 10th annual Wilshire Meta-Data Conference
And the 18th annual DAMA International Symposium, I wanted to express a note on the quality of the presentations as well as the content. More and more case studies of metadata are emerging (Intel, Allstate) and folks are starting to expand the definition and impact of metadata to the corporation. There were plenty of success stories and more interesting were the failed attempts. One can learn a lot more from people that pushed the envelope and failed than from those simply implementing the same solution.

Posted by Todd at 11:49 AM

April 20, 2006

Metadata Conference

The 10th Annual Wilshire Meta-Data Conference and 18th DAMA International Symposium is coming up next week where all of the Meta-deadheads will assemble for the annual knowledge sharing of best practices. Some interesting sessions this year especially in actual implementations. I have noticed a nice trend over the past years where the sessions are focusing less on the what or whay and more on the how. KNowing how it is done is far more valuable. Hope to see you there and stop by and say hello...

Posted by Todd at 2:05 AM

April 4, 2006

TDAN Online Article on the MetaCard

Organizational information sources exist  throughout the enterprise and the vast majority of these sources are web enabled.  Integration with disparate web pages has traditionally been done by search engines that utilize the metadata or the embedded text within the content itself.  Unfortunately, more and more information sources are being built as dynamic applications versus static web pages.  Dynamic applications create a problem for traditional search engines due to the inability to spider the data. This requires new forms of integration technologies.  One such technology is the “MetaCard” which is built upon the library science card catalog model.  The MetaCard is based on the Dublin Core metadata standard and allows traditional search technology to work without additional layers of integration effort.  This article will review an implementation of the MetaCard technology in a Fortune 500 company to resolve the problem of universal asset integration
Another Meta-Data Secret: The Metacard

Posted by Todd at 11:42 PM

IA Long Term Viability

Are we heading toward the same fate as the data architect? I mentioned this warning a few days ago and I would like to follow that up with another observation: closed knowledge. While the basics functions and concepts of data architecture are well defined, the vast majority of current information is held for ransom to the highest bidder. In the form of consultants, we horde our best practices so that some one else can copy us or create a competitive advantage. I believe Paul Bear Bryant once commented that he would gladly share is playbook before each game. Knowing what and how doesn’t come close to actually doing it. I was thrilled to see that the vast majority of speakers at the IA Summit shared their slides with us. Again, only through a shared model will Information Architects create long term viability.

Posted by Todd at 7:10 PM

March 31, 2006

Preventing the Death of the IA

The one thing that we IAs need to remember is the long and painful death of the Data Architect. Very few will argue that with the advent of SOA, that Data Architecture is the last effort to get started and one of the first to get cut. Agreement of the validity of that decision would be another conversation. IAs need to be 100% sure they don’t get caught in the same egotistical trap that engulfed the DA’s. We must, repeat must not limit our definition or scope of IA to the obvious taxonomies and web content structures. Search, Collaboration, Ontologies, Intra and Internet, the left over remains of DA, Metadata, etc. Only by expanding and controlling the scope of IA will we be able to expand the role of the IA. The value-add and ROI of IA is everywhere once you begin to see it…

Posted by Todd at 9:20 PM

March 28, 2006

Exercise of Fools

One question that is asked over and over again is what is the difference between a Data Architect and an Information Architect. Of course, both are important and both are desperately needed in todays business environment. One obvious difference seems to emerge and that is that we data architects are hell bent on making things as complicated as possible. Perhaps thats our nature, perhaps thats our competitive advantage, or perhaps thats just how we see the world. And truth be known, information technology is complicated. Information architects focus on making things simple and easy to understand, find, and reuse. Tom Peters once commented on the complexities of business that we cannot help ourselves but to add confusion.

Addition is the exercise of fools, subtraction is the exercise of genius.

Posted by Todd at 11:57 AM | Comments (1)

Singularity of Metadata

The Singularity is a term used to describe an evolution of technology, biology, and our own capacity of understanding. On several occasions I have discussed the cycle of change in the world of technology. Specifically, how technology changes are coming faster and faster. At some point in time, we will be able to create change at the molecular level and basically do away with the physical creation of everything. The reality is that once you get to the molecular level, physical existence is simply a recipe; much in the same way our DNA is an instruction set for the creation of you. Convergence is inevitable and we already witnessed metadata moving away from the traditional database function to the content based value add. Specifically, organizations are beginning to utilize metadata for describing the full spectrum of assets within the organizations. New standards like ITIL are emerging to solidify the importance of tracking every asset; Asset Lifecycle Management. This convergence is only the second chapter of the entire novel of metadata.

Posted by Todd at 11:51 AM

March 20, 2006

Integrated Metadata Services

On my early morning run, ok more like a jog, ok more like a down hill walk with a back breeze, I was pondering what happens next. What happens when we finally agree on the standards of metadata and core mete-models for the various structures within the enterprise? This is already happening as our space matures and standardization infiltrates our daily work. Does the creation of value to move to the utilization, presentation, and value-add of the applications on the metadata? Well, what happens when that gets standardized and the value-add comes from the integrated services around the meta-models and applications. Hmm, perhaps we should move our value now before the pool gets too crowded: Integrated Metadata Services.

Posted by Todd at 11:53 AM

March 18, 2006

DmReview Online Column

Federated Agility is the natural progression of technology where everything is automated and every organization is integrated. This article describes the progression and the role metadata will play in this future scenario.
Federated Agility's Secret Ingredient

Posted by Todd at 1:10 AM

March 10, 2006

Semantic Technologies Conference

I find myself on a five hour flight reflecting on the Semantic Technologies Conference held in San Jose, CA. Clearly, I have seen a glimpse of the future where semantics drive business value and not just the core data. Like the early views of web technology, there doesn’t seem to be many true business cases for deploying semantic applications. The key user is still government agencies but other companies seem to be starting the process of technology review. Based on what I heard, the technology and conference has made great strides over the past year. If the next 12 months produce the same jump in maturity, we should see much more in the business value.

Posted by Todd at 11:33 AM

March 2, 2006

DMReview Magazine Article

The March issue of DMReview is in print and online. I was able to publish a view at how we can utilize the business strategies of others and actually implement them within our own metadata implementation. Specifically, I review the strategies of Dell, IBM, Harley Davidson, Lowes, Dutch Boy, Home Depot and many others. You might be amazed at what you can apply to the largest and smallest data management program.
Replicating the Business Strategy of Others

Posted by Todd at 1:36 AM

February 24, 2006

Passion and Metadata

I am passionate about design and all of the aspects that surround the process of design. The neurons begin to stir when I see excellent design in web pages, document templates, power points, search results, computer equipment, house decorations, and customer service. That was Cool is not said nearly enough in our world and thats a shame. I spend untold hours learning, applying and failing to deliver design value. Design isnt about runway models or building architecture, design is the essence of all things. Repositories, registries, business processes, and systems can have wonderful designs. I am willing to take this passion to the highest level and compete with the very best in the world. In most cases, get bruised, battered, and totally embarrassed from the experience; but I get better. I am willing to apply this passion with enthusiasm when it is invited and when its not; trying to bend the rules of engagement.

Information Design is my Passion!

What is yours? How are you applying that passion beyond the imaginary boundaries within the organization and creating demonstrable value from it? Are you waiting on permission, acknowledgement, or validation?

Fast Company published their 10th Anniversary this week and discussed a wide variety of visions of the future. The single most important theme that I walked away with is this. If you are not getting better then you are getting worse. We are entering into a global world where the skills of our trade can be found in India, China, Russia. Being the best is not good enough, you must be world class and that can only be obtained with passion.

Posted by Todd at 3:06 PM

February 21, 2006

Metadata's Value

I have been reading an interesting book by Ray Kurzweil on the convergence of nanotechnology, AI, robotics, computing technology, etc. The Singularity Is Near : When Humans Transcend Biology discusses the changes required to manipulate atoms and molecules. The book isn’t for the faint at heart but does make a fascinating statement about the future. When we can manipulate molecules, then the value of the physical will be limited and the value of information will be limitless. Wow! When I said Metadata Rules, I did not realize by how much…

Posted by Todd at 11:12 AM

February 20, 2006

Online Article: Metadata Strategies

During the past six years, our organization has focused on delivering enterprise metadata under a strategy that has served us well. This month I want to do the "Full Monty" and provide a deep dive into the specifics of our strategy. For many years, I struggled with just how to describe our model and many times failed to communicate it appropriately. In the December 2005 issue of Harvard Business Review, Geoffrey Moore describes two compelling business strategies that businesses such as IBM, Intel, Amazon, and many others perform. The complex solution model creates value by providing a custom solution while the standardized model creates value by serving a large population of users. Figure 1 provides a view of these two strategies with several modifications from the author's original article that make it easier to apply to the metadata world.
Two Compelling Metadata Strategies

Posted by Todd at 10:34 PM

February 8, 2006

Metadata Trash

I was recalling a story about Michael Eisner (CEO, Disney) where he was providing a tour of Disney World. On several occasions, the author described Mr. Eisner stopping to pick up trash. Should the CEO of a major corporation stop and pick up trash or is that someone elses job? Picking up trash does not show up on the balance sheet, yearly objectives, or commitments. Yet, the importance of this cannot be overstated. The details matter and what would happen if each of us made small incremental improvements in data quality, Intranet environment, documentation, metadata, etc. If we picked up the trash everyday, then we could make over 2,000 enhancements to our environment. Trash on the ground speaks loudly on the quality and expectations of the park. In our world the broken links, poor help text, poor metadata, poor usability, poor customer service, slow response, does the same thing. Any thoughts?

Posted by Todd at 1:49 PM

February 6, 2006

The MetaWeb

Interesting concepts developed by Nova Spivak (2004). The Metaweb will connect everything as opposed to the Internet that connects information, social software that connects people, and the semantic web that connects everything. For a picture of this do a search on google for the authors name and filetype:ppt.

Posted by Todd at 5:21 PM

February 4, 2006

Metadata Article: ACM Magazine

The current issue of The Communications of the ACM has a nice article on Metadata. More from the traditional perspective of database metadata, but it is still well written.

Posted by Todd at 3:23 PM

January 31, 2006

Book Review: The Design of Sites

Personally, I was only vaguely familiar with the use of patterns in web design. This book has opened my eyes not just on the use of patterns but seeing all of the patterns that I already use in my sites. More importantly, this books has opened my eyes on the use of patterns in a collaborative environment which is not really touched on but the correlation will be strong. The book itself begins with a few opening design chapters but the real value is the enormous collection of patterns ranging from temples, frameworks, navigation and even metadata patterns. The authors have done a great job at bringing the concepts of usability and HCI into a useful framework that can be used by anyone.
Read Book Review

Posted by Todd at 11:07 PM

January 20, 2006

Enterprise Metadata: First 100 Days

In the past six years, our organization has moved from ground zero to one of the most recognized metadata implementations in the world. In my educational sessions, one question comes up over and over again. What should you focus on in the early stages of delivery? Clearly, the answer is “it depends on the environment and requirements”. However, the vast majority of implementations will address and experience 80% of the same issues, challenges, and obstacles. The components described in this article will include the functions, activities, tasks, and deliverables that every implementation will come across. Read More...

Online Article

Posted by Todd at 6:18 PM

January 16, 2006

Metadata Rant...

Businesses have a Records Information Management Problem, not a Metadata problem
Businesses have a SOX Problem, not a Metadata problem
Businesses have an Information Domain, not a Metadata problem
Businesses have an Information Glut, not a Metadata problem
Businesses have a Search Problem, not a Metadata problem
Businesses have an Information Storage Problem, not a Metadata problem
Businesses have a Content Management Problem, not a Metadata problem
Businesses have a Knowledge Management Problem, not a Metadata problem

I could go on, but what we have is an Education Problem.

Posted by Todd at 3:40 PM

January 10, 2006

Communications - January Issue

Check out the January issue of Communications of the ACM. This issue focuses on Personal Information Management and the focus on metadata is critical to our ability to manage this information. Worth the read...

Posted by Todd at 1:40 PM

January 6, 2006

One Millionth Hit...

While most of us know that a web site hit does not reflect importance or value. That being said, the rtodd.com web site has hit a milestone of 1,000,000 hits since inception around 2002. From a high level, last year we quadrupled unique visitors, visits, hits, and storage. A positive sign for 2006.

Posted by Todd at 6:16 PM

January 4, 2006

Google at $600

Wow, another opportunity missed. What does google do and better than anyone else? They manage relationship metadata.

Posted by Todd at 1:41 PM

December 28, 2005

Where is all of my data?

Just pondering a small question that may have an enormous impact to our lives in the future. Where is all of my data?

My Personal Laptop
Old Desktop Presented to my Seven Year Old Son
Online Web Site
This Blog
Work Computer
Cell Phone
Pager
Magnetic Stips on Cards
PDA (Very Old One)
5 Email Accounts
Digital Camera
Burned CD Backups
Printed Information Content Laying Around Everywhere
Business Partner Information Systems
Concise and Sub-Concise Brain Parts

More importantly, how will all of this content be integrated or will these islands of information stay separate? Several months ago, I arrived at the Airport and attempted to check in but I needed my frequent flyer number. I dug deep into the memory cells and the trash bin was empty. I opened my PDA and unfortunately the battery had gone dead. I could have opened the laptop or simply utilize my credit card which is cross indexed. While my information containers may not always be reliable, they do provide some relief due to their redundancy. Will this get worse as time moves on?

Posted by Todd at 6:01 PM | Comments (2)

December 23, 2005

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to Everyone...

Posted by Todd at 3:06 PM

December 20, 2005

Metadata's Annual Plan

Each year, Information Technology projects move from integration or implementation to was is called ongoing. However, ongoing does not mean a lack of innovation, integration or growth. The annual plan communicates to the leadership your plan of attack for the coming year.
Metadata's Annual Plan

Posted by Todd at 7:01 PM

December 19, 2005

Search Sucks

The localized search engine sucks on most web sites including my own. I want to find information my way, your way, our way, not the web designers way. Grrrrrrrrrr. On several occasions this weekend I was searching for products and couldn’t find anything with the poor excuse for a search engine. For example, I wanted to get on Realtor.com and locate land that’s for sale with 2 hours of our current residence. Sounds simple: Show me all of the land only sales within 120 miles of my zip code. Nope, if you can get the Land Only option to work, your required to key in the city. But I don’t care what city. Actually, the realtor search engine was the best on out there which isn’t saying much. The search community needs an enema.

Note to self: When your search engine does not work, your revenue will be impacted.... Negatively

Posted by Todd at 12:43 PM

December 13, 2005

Welcome to the New View of Metadata

Excellent article in the Business Integration Journal (November/December, 2005) by Michael Blechar. The title of the article is What Metadata is and why you should care. Michael is the Gartner expert that works on metadata and until this article mainly focused on the traditional view of metadata. However seems to have seen the light since he defines metadata as:

Metadata is information regarding the characteristics if any artifact, such as name, location, perceived importance, quality or value to the enterprise, and its relationships to the other artifacts that an enterprise has deemed worth managing.

Bravo, I could not have said it better…

Posted by Todd at 11:38 AM | Comments (2)

December 12, 2005

Poor Internet Search Engines

Not sure why, but I have been frustrated with online search engines. I did a search on the Microsoft product site looking for the Mapping Software called Streets and Trips. I tried Map, Maps, Street, Streets, and nothing seemed to work. I finally used the hierarchal listing of the software to locate what I was looking for. We are also struggling to get search right at work and something needs to be done on the poor metadata and or poor search engines used within the web applications.

Posted by Todd at 12:26 AM

November 30, 2005

Semantic Zooming

Ok, so I got into Yahoo or Google Maps and search for an address. They position me at 10,000 feet only showing me the main roadways so I can get my bearings. Then I can drill down and as I move closer the map actually changes by adding the smaller roads, lakes, and landmarks. This is, of course, called semantic zooming. So, why can’t information searching work this way?

Posted by Todd at 6:45 PM | Comments (3)

November 19, 2005

DMReview Article on RSS Technology

RSS is a lightweight XML format designed for sharing headlines and other Web content. Think of it as a distributable "what's new" for your site. This article reviews the impact of RSS to the Metadata space.
RSS Technology - Evolution, Revolution and Extinction

Posted by Todd at 12:40 AM

November 10, 2005

Metadata Ciphering

Ok, I am slightly behind in my reading so this thought comes after reading the Information Technology and the Board of Directors by Richard Nolan and Warren McFarlan (October, 2005: Harvard Business Review). Overall the article is well written and well thought out. The four modes of operation within the IT strategic grid provide a foundation for the governance of information technology. One of the key components of IT oversight is the inventory of the Assets which applies to all four modes of operation.

The board needs to understand the overall architecture of its company’s IT applications, systems, components, and asset management strategy. The first step is to find out what kinds of hardware, software, and information the company owns so as to determine whether it’s getting adequate return on its IT investments. Physical assets are fairly easy to inventory while intangible assets are not.

The article goes own to tell the reader that the best way to estimate the value of intangible assets is to sum up all of the hard assets and then multiply by 10. You see, I didn’t realize that utilizing enterprise metadata repositories to actually track the inventory and develop ROI methodologies based on reuse, transaction volumes, etc. could so easily be done with a six grade education and advanced ciphering (Thank you Jethro B.)

Physical Asset * 10 = ROI (Enterprise Metadata)

Posted by Todd at 11:47 AM | Comments (1)

November 4, 2005

Metadata Types

Metadata can be stored and defined in multiple ways. Do you agree with these classes?

Context Metadata
Context metadata is embedded into the asset itself. Semantic metadata is hidden inside the document or database and in many cases must be interpreted by higher level solutions. Inside document or web pages, we can extract metadata like subjects, topics, keywords, titles, headers, and context. Analysis of databases create metadata such as data content, data types, BI, and statistics based metadata.

Embedded Metadata
Embedded metadata is attached to the asset and specifically designed for the business of metadata. Most desktop applications allow and utilize metadata that is updated in the file properties. Property metadata enables records management and search technologies. In the database world we can retrieve metadata embedded in the Oracle tables, field names, logical elements, etc.

Associated Metadata
Associated metadata attaches metadata to an asset outside of the asset. Library card catalogs collect, store, and deliver metadata to the end user but this metadata is not inside of the book. Many collaboration and document management applications allow you at add metadata fields that enable other services to be utilized. Many metadata repositories will associate structured and unstructured metadata to the embedded and context metadata.

Thoughts?

Posted by Todd at 12:01 PM | Comments (5)

November 3, 2005

INtegration of the Zachman Framework

James Melzer has published a interesting integration between his enterprise information architecture diagram and the Zachman Framework.

See Diagram

Zachman (1987) designed a two dimensional model that requires the integration of models for each of the functional components: data, function, network, organization, schedule, and strategy. Generically speaking, enterprise architecture has five major layers: (a) scope, (b) business model, (c) system model, (d) technology model, and (e) components.

Thomas Hokel provides a nice overview of the Zachman Framwork.

Posted by Todd at 11:40 AM

October 30, 2005

ICKM Comments

The ICKM Conference was last week in Charlotte, NC and what a wonderful city. Congratulations to the city planning officials for what they have done. We stayed at the Westin and the service and conference hosts were excellent. The conference itself was two days and was held in conjunction with the ASIS&T Annual Meeting. There was some really great research and the book is well worth the purchase price. A couple of sessions that I will highlight is the Trust and Knowledge Management Session and the one on formal knowledge repository. These two sessions really had me thinking about the application towards my own environment and how trust and collaboration can be connected. Certainly, a research opportunity that I hope someone takes to the next level. The research framework here was excellent, in which the author focused on the levels of trust, tools, and level of knowledge success. The repository session was good since it provided a cross reference from repositories, standard forms, models, and maps. This information was then cross-references with the who, how, why, and who knows points of knowledge.

Each of the sessions I attended provided nuggets of value and all of the research papers are included which is something you do not get from a professional conference. Hence, is why I like to attend both types to be sure I am putting KM blinders on.

Posted by Todd at 8:30 PM

October 29, 2005

ICKM Location

What a wonderful city: Charlotte, NC. I cant imagine walking through down town Atlanta with two children at 9Pm. Great Job to the city officials for making everyone feel safe.

Posted by Todd at 1:53 AM

October 26, 2005

New Implementation Strategy

If you want to build a great collaborative or metadata environment, simply follow the lead of others

Dell; Cut out all of the crap and eliminate the bureaucracy
IBM; Add Services and Solutions Galore
Harley Davidson; Brand Excessively, Tattoo’s for everyone
Home Depot; Customer Service: Hire for Knowledge and Service Attitude
Dutch Boy; Design: Don’t Be Better, Be Different
Lowes; Self Service: You can do it and we can help
Intel; Destroy your business before someone else does it for you
Ferrari; Perfection: 1971 Daytona Spyder (365 GTB)
Starbucks; Engage ALL of the Customers Senses
UPS: Growth Horizontally and Vertically, Evolve Diagonally
3M: Innovate or Die Trying
Disney: Service means Exceeding Expectations and Attention to the Details
GE: Online Integration with 75% Activities Digitalized in 3 years
Southwest Airline: Strategy: Dont just stand there, do something.
Progressive Insurance: It’s all about the Business of Speed

Posted by Todd at 7:34 PM

October 20, 2005

Lessons on Leadership

This month I want to bring to this column an awareness of the need in the hardest hit areas as well as lessons of leadership. Nothing we do in meta data can come close to the work done when others are in need but we can relate those observations and apply them to our own world. In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Maxwell (1998) comments that one of the best opportunities for leadership is in a volunteer setting. When you place people in situations where there are no financial rewards, true distinctions of leadership will emerge. The following components are my observations during this crises and the application to enterprise metadata.

Read Full Article

Posted by Todd at 8:19 PM

October 17, 2005

Open Source Chapter Accepted

A new book should be published next year on open source; focusing on the technical, economic, and social implications. My perspective will bring the concepts around the Open Source Repository and Governance of the environment. The goal is to ensure the basic concepts of metadata are included that make open source such a viable option in todays corporation.

Basic Rationale
This chapter is intended for individuals who will be faced with implementing and governing the open source environment in a large organization. Governing the open source environment requires more than the indemnification of the product. Open source governance requires that the organization establish architecture standards, centralized location for downloading certified open source products, tracking usage, ensuring compatibility between components, and metric applications that allow the organization to evaluate the business value to the company.
The business must drive the technology decisions and architecture should enable this activity by minimizing unintended effects on the business due to technology changes. Utilizing an Open Source repository for impact analysis will ensure that proposed changes will not create catastrophic events within the business itself. The repository provides the mechanism for inventory management which allows organizations to see what is already acquired, deployed, and supported within the environment. In addition, efforts like domain analysis, reuse, and release management are essential to the implementation of open source as an enterprise asset. When organizations embrace open source as a viable alternative to in-house or outsourced development, they must accept the responsibility and implications of transforming it from code to an asset of the corporation.

Posted by Todd at 2:34 AM

October 13, 2005

Dublin Core ROI Update

The Global Corporate Circle web page has recently been updated to include our new activities for the year, along with some new resources. We have posted our bibliography on the web page. There is still a bibliography on the corporate wiki, which you are all encouraged to add to. Since the wiki is password protected again unwanted spammers, we thought it would be a good idea to publish the bibliography to the regular working group page. We will update the bibliography quarterly so that any additions made to the wiki will be included.

We have also posted our generic presentation to the web site. This presentation, developed largely by Todd Stephens and Joseph Busch with input from Paula Land, Michael Crandall, Paula Markes, Igor Perisic, Kelly Green and myself, provides slides that you can customize for you own use in showing the ROI of Metadata in an organization.

http://dublincore.org/groups/corporate/

Posted by Todd at 1:46 PM

October 1, 2005

Limited Blogging

The first thirty minutes are the most difficult, that’s when the smell, devastation and enormity of the tasks at hand hit you. The stench is from the mold, mud, spoiled food, and rot that emerges. The devastation of a 20 foot storm surge resembles bomb blast with boats sitting on dry land, cars on top of cars, trees on top of houses, and houses that floated down the street. This past week, I headed to Mississippi to help those in need rebuild. I will post more on the trip later.

Posted by Todd at 10:49 PM

September 22, 2005

Metadata Dashboard

I have enjoyed reading the Harry Potter books to my son, who is now six years old. In truth, I think I get more enjoyment out of them than he does. Twenty five years ago, my childhood was consumed at night reading the Three Investigators”. The three investigators were three young boys (Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews) that got involved in many mystery adventures. The adventures of the Three Investigators were unique in that they had a real-life mentor with a national and international reputation already. Alfred Hitchcock was widely known for suspense and storytelling in his movies and other books; so a built-in audience of fans was just waiting for something else to read. One added bonus of having Hitchcock as a mentor was that it gave a good opportunity for the authors to tie up loose ends at the end of each story in a way that did not seem too out of place. In many mystery stories, the resolution at the end of the story can be awkward because all the clues have to be explained, and their relevance to the solution has to be justified. It can be quite a challenge. By giving the boys an opportunity to talk to Hitchcock, Robert Arthur (Author) set up an excellent vehicle to end each story with all the information we readers needed to understand how things were pieced together. What really got me was that every 30-50 pages they included a visual image of the action, which provided a foundation for the story and allowed us logical thinkers to see the scene.

In the world of metadata, we must also provide this form of visual support of the impact that the repository collection is having on the community at large. This impact or value has been one of the most difficult items to accomplish. The reason is that we have an implementation team that tends to focus on the qualitative value measures and not stay away from the quantitative. However, like the Three Investigator book series, a combination is really required. A metadata dashboard can provide the name of the repository, description, content type, owner, contact information, date, and a status of the growth and trends. The content metrics can describe what assets are loaded, additions, updates, and percentage change. Usage has a very similar meta-model. The key is to get these high level metrics on a single slide which can be presented to management on a regular basis.

Posted by Todd at 1:38 AM

September 16, 2005

Metadata Metrics

This month we take a look at the various metrics that metadata should focus on within the enterprise. Metric management is like financial accounting for the technology asset inventory. Read why content and usage are key to the long term growth of the effort.
Metrics and the Source of all Knowledge

Posted by Todd at 1:49 AM

September 14, 2005

Valid Use of Metadata

Interesting business model that seems to be cropping up on the web. I was surfing the web looking for metadata information and came across a reference to some of my work that did not seem to fit the title. The basic search result described a site where you could find step-by-step instructions on how to write an executive summary. But why would my stuff show up on this site, since I am maybe the worse writer in the history. Well it turns out they are nothing but a search result aggregator that wraps a web site around a result set and my research showed because I had used the keywords Executive Summary. So the question is this a viable business model? Is this a valid use of Metadata?

Posted by Todd at 12:38 PM

September 12, 2005

Web Page Metadata Does Matter

So metadata no longer matters within the web page environment? Admittedly, I am a nobody in the giant arena of Information Technology. But with well managed metadata and information content, I have placed myself into an interesting position. In yahoo, here is where this site (http://www.rtodd.com) ranks based on the enclosed metadata keywords:

information technology author speaker: 9th
information technology speaker author: 184th
information technology author ph.d.: 5th
information technology speaker ph.d.: 3rd

One can argue that I am picking my keywords strategically and this is true. But the point is that Metadata still does matter. Oh yes, in Google I am so far down the list that you would get tired looking for it but Google utilizes links. So the next step form me is to increase linkage, any takers?

Posted by Todd at 6:45 PM | TrackBack

September 6, 2005

Semantic Technology Conference

For those interested in Semantics, this conference is a very good one that I hope to attend next year.

By Semantic Technologies we are including technologies and methodologies that have been used within leading enterprises over the last decade that leverage Semantics, such as Semantic Brokers, Semantic Modeling, Model Based Warehousing, Business Rules and many more. We are also including the Semantic Web and the technologies that make it possible, such as OWL, RDF/RDFS, DAML+OIL and XML.

Visit Web Site

Posted by Todd at 2:51 AM | TrackBack

August 31, 2005

Survey on Search, Metadata, and Taxonomy Practices

Ron Daniel of Taxonomy Strategies and Seth Earley of Seth Earley & Associates are running an interesting series of surveys to profile contemporary enterprise search, metadata, and taxonomy practices. Even if you don't have all the answers, you'll learn a lot from just reading through the questions.

This first survey should take people less than 15 minutes to fill out. In the future we will have surveys to find out about staff roles, team structure, metrics, tools, etc. It's a way to try and get some empirical data for a metadata maturity model.

The survey is at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=855891297190.

Posted by Todd at 2:00 AM | TrackBack

August 24, 2005

The Trouble with Topic Maps

We have got to get better and communicating technology to the masses. I posted a comment about topic maps yesterday where I got some great responses with links. These links and most of the other references on topic maps work very hard to make something as simple as a book index into something complicated. HTML succeeded because it was simple, easy to use, and tools emerged where a five year old could build a web page. So let us review; HTML, simple and easy equals mass adoption while topic maps, complicated and confusing equals death. Topic maps are a great idea and I can only imagine what it would be like to have an actual index of the web available but we had better start simplifying things so that the majority of people can understand the value and utility. Still disagree? Take a look at Google interface and try to describe the recursive search algorithm in a single sentence. The interface is simple while the complexity is taken out back to the shed…

Posted by Todd at 11:56 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

August 23, 2005

Hello? Topic Maps, Hello?

What ever happened to Topic Maps? In June of 2000, Gartner predicted that Topic Maps would be main stream by 2003. Clearly, that did not happen and we are now in 2005. A search for Topic Maps on Google with Filetype:pdf produces nothing new for 2004 and 2005. I only see one paper within the ACM library since 2002. Did this technology die a slow and painful death?

Posted by Todd at 12:01 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

August 22, 2005

Metadata and the Semantic Web

Excellent Research paper on the semantic web and metadata.

From the perspective of a librarian, cataloger, publisher, or content provider, the Semantic Web is a metadata initiative; at the heart of the Semantic Web is the assumption that adding formal metadata that describes a Web resource’s content and the meaning of its links is going to substantially change the nature of the way computers and people find material and use it. Because there are a variety of metadata efforts underway – that is, the Semantic Web is a metadata initiative among many – it is important to evaluate the Semantic Web in this context (Marshall and Shipman, 2003).

Marshall, C. & Shipman, F. (2003) Which Semantic Web? Proceedings of the 2003. International Conference on Hypertext. Nottingham, UK: The Association of Computing Machinery.

Read Research Paper

Posted by Todd at 4:44 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 19, 2005

Taxonomy Observations

Published article in DMReview on a few best practices in taxonomy development. Ok, not really best practices but more like observations.

Organization and Classification Begins at Home

Posted by Todd at 9:53 PM | TrackBack

August 3, 2005

New Search Methodology

Who or what will derail Google from the top spot in the internet search arena? Some will say no one, but you don’t have to look far to see that the vast majority of businesses on the Fortune 100 did not exist a 100 years ago. Change and the basic business model continue to change at an alarming speed. The two obvious directions include the semantic web and a search engine based on the actual usage data. Since I have been a negative –nanny on the semantic web, I had better not say that they will be the next phase or solution. So, perhaps it will be an actual usage data algorithm versus a recursive link algorithm. But the data does not exist, you say for a large scale deployment or application. True, or is it? Today, most sites come with open source applications that provid