Fundamentals of Metadata Management

Chapter 2. Metadata Repositories for the IT Landscape

In this chapter, we’ll explore the concept of metadata and metadata repositories. We’ll discuss how metadata repositories can depict the IT landscape within your company. Then, you’ll learn about metadata repositories for the IT landscape and their four characteristics: driver, structure, place, and purpose.

You’ll discover that metadata repositories can be divided into operation, regulation, and innovation drivers, although they often address multiple drivers simultaneously. You will learn that all metadata repositories have core capabilities as their primary purpose, along with peripheral capabilities that can extend into external functions. You’ll understand that metadata repositories have a specific structure called a metamodel, which often overlaps different repositories. Finally, you’ll become aware that metadata repositories can exist in various forms, ranging from simple spreadsheets to complex platforms.

As you will see, things can start to get complicated. But fear not! Once we understand metadata repositories, we can begin to control them and reap great benefits.

What Is Metadata?

When explaining what metadata is, most technological literature falls into the trap of focusing too much on the different types of metadata. Instead of defining what metadata actually is, the literature lists various subcategories of metadata that exist, such as operational, technical, analytical, and so on. These subcategories are important, ...