Fundamentals of Metadata Management

Chapter 9. The Data Discovery Team

In this chapter, we introduce a novel team: the data discovery team. Before exploring this team’s functions, we must address a common issue with metadata repositories for numerous teams: the proliferation of conflicting “single sources of truth” regarding the IT landscape. Hence, the necessity of the data discovery team emerges: to harmonize these divergent truths. We will address this as a Conway’s Law for metadata.

In this chapter, we focus on the repository level, treating it as a cohesive technical entity. Subsequent chapters will delve into the repositories more deeply, examining specific metadata components. However, before venturing into that territory, it’s crucial to grasp the necessity and functions of a data discovery team.

Let’s dive right in!

Our Problem: Managing Multiple Truths Across Teams

The problem with all of the metadata repositories that I described in Chapters 3, 4, and 5 is that they all depict the IT landscape—and they all do it differently, each with its own focus, each from its own position in the organization, each by teams with different agendas.

As I previously emphasized, this is not a book about a specific type of technology designed to solve all issues with understanding the IT landscape, managing metadata, and creating the infamous “single source of truth”—which is a typical selling point for metadata repositories. Quite the contrary: this book argues that using a single technology to understand the IT landscape ...