1. Checkers To Chess:Time To Step Up Your InformationManagement
Game?A White PaperbyIan RowlandsTECHNOLOGY TO RELY ON
2. Checkers To Chess: Checkers (English Draughts): a simple
game played on an eight-by-eight squared board (with sixty- four
total squares) with twelve pieces on each side. The pieces move and
capture diagonally. They may only move forward until they reach the
opposite end of the board, when they are crowned or kinged and may
henceforth move and capture both backward and forward. Chess: a
game of skill for two players using a checkerboard on which
chessmen are moved. Initially each player has one king, one queen,
two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns, which have
different types of moves according to kind. The object is to
strategically move the chessmen to checkmate the opponents king.
Introduction Im sometimes fascinated by the thought that before the
1950s, there really was no such thing as Information Technology (or
Data Processing, as it was often called back then). How did
businesses manage to handle their operational activities or make
big decisions without the support of a data warehouse? How could
there be anyA lot has been assurance that the financial information
reported was accurate? (Well, perhaps we should skip that one!)
written about It is evident is that there is a lot of money spent
on information its creation, management, protection, andthe
definition ofexploitation. It is also evident that there is a lot
of discomfort about whether that investment is wise, and whether
the IT function is using the investment as efficiently as possible.
At least as far back as the 1970s, significant work wasmetadata
muchbeing done to address the question Do Computer Systems Really
Pay-off? (Lincoln, 1986). One way or another, the of it accurate
butquestion of the value of information technology wont go away.
More recently, in 2004, Nicholas Carr caused a furor when he asked,
Does IT Matter? (Carr, 2004). It is also clear that some
significant share of IT investment is wasted.uninformative.
According to a respected industry source,1 firms use only five
percent of the data available to them; however, created Here, we
define data is growing 40-50 percent annually, and only 25-30
percent of that is being captured! metadata as any Theres a lot of
risk around information. In their excellent book, IT Risk
(Westerman & Hunter, 2007), George supplementalWesterman and
Richard Hunter lay out a framework that categorizes information
risk in terms of availability, access, accuracy, and agility. IT
risk, as it relates specifically to information assets (as opposed
to infrastructure or people), information might be probed using the
following key questions: that assists in Do our information systems
allow the right people to use the right information in the right
way and prevent all understanding the other usage?structure,
meaning, Can people get to information as and when needed? Is the
information correct and can users use it correctly?provenance Can
information systems adapt to changing requirements in a timely and
cost-effective fashion?or usage of an information asset.Because the
answers to these questions are essentially metadata, it has become
accepted that metadata management is as a way of mitigating
information risk. Unfortunately, although the premise that metadata
is the key to unlocking information success is a fair one, it would
be a large claim to say that experience so far has fully supported
it. This paper sets out to address the gap between expectation and
experience. What is happening in the world of information
management is changing the game I think of it as shifting from
Checkers to Chess. It requires a shift from tactical to strategic
thinking from playing a simple childs game to establishing yourself
as a Grandmaster. Rather than using a standard set of pieces to
make some simple moves to2Forrester Research Inc., quoted in CIO
Magazine, November 2011 1
3. Time To Step Up Your Information Management Game?get to a
clear objective, successful information requires the deployment of
a range of assets with different skills andabilities in more or
less elegant combinations to reach one of several goals that might
be defined as success. Itsdeceptive the board looks the same, but
the game has definitely changed!2Enterprise Metadata projects fail
Its an ugly truth. After more than 35 years of working with
enterprise metadata management technologies, andnearly 15 years of
involvement with managing two of the best-known solutions, I have
to recognize that not manyenterprises create sustainable enterprise
metadata management programs. This white paper sets out to explore
someof the issues underlying that uncomfortable fact, and to offer
some suggestions as to what Information Managersshould do to avoid
the disappointment of short-term success turning into long-term
disillusionment.Manage the ExpectationsTraditionally,
metadataMetadata is everywhere and all sorts of people can benefit
from it. As enterprise dependence on information grows,that
proposition becomes easier and easier to defend. At the same time,
its not always easy to acquire metadata and managementto manipulate
it and present it to support every possible use case. For these
reasons, we suggest that you need to has focusedmanage expectations
at strategic and tactical levels. on operationalManaging
expectations at a strategic level has two elements the first is
establishing a corporate commitment systems and relatedthat the
only metadata management that will take place is metadata
management with payback, and thesecond is a governance framework
that allows delivery on that commitment. Failing to be clear about
the specific information.and measurable benefits of the metadata
management program, and to track the benefits, creates a threat to
Demand issustainability. When executive leadership changes, the
perceived value of soft benefits changes. Failing to put inplace an
agreed framework that defines how benefits will be captured and
measured leads to constant debates as to expanding rapidlyreal
value. Where the metadata program manager is a persuasive advocate,
this may not matter but we have seento encompassmany programs
decline because there is no clear framework to define what metadata
should be managed, and why. documents andManaging expectations at a
tactical level is about communication. What can users reasonably
expect from thetext, social media,metadata access capabilities you
provide, how can they provide feedback, and what reaction can they
expect whenthey do provide feedback? Even a simple annotate
capability allowing users to comment on the accuracy and mobile
data, image,usefulness of metadata will make a valuable difference.
In an environment in which every user of information systems audio,
video, andhas access to personal technology offering access to
deceptively simple and valuably apps, metadata needs toprovide
value, yet be unobtrusive. infrastructure. Managing scopeMoving
From Checkers To Chess as business needsRecognizing the issues that
have delayed the arrival of pervasive and sustainable enterprise
metadata management ischange is extremelyinteresting, but how
should a CIO or VP of Data Management respond? This is where the
Checkers to Chess analogycomes in. Many metadata management
implementations share the following characteristics: important.
They are focused on improving the efficiency of information
management professionals. They targetmanagement of applications,
data models, DBMSs, and data warehouses. They require any business
users to learn specialized user interfaces and navigate their way
around complexinformation structures. They struggle with the
difficulty of managing the capture and synchronization of metadata
from many complexsources.2 I was tempted to say, as we see the
emergence of big data and the need to manage unstructured content
in all its glory, that the game has 3changed from one-dimensional
to three-dimensional chess!
4. Checkers To Chess:Creating a long-term approach to making
metadata valuable imposes some key requirements. Most
importantly,there has to be a recognition that metadata management
is not a project but a program, based around a verysophisticated
infrastructure. Information Management chess requires the ability
to combine tactics and techniquesto solve business problems over a
long period.Watch for the Technology DisconnectCorporate IT and
Information Management in particular has an awkward paradox to deal
with. IT people have atendency to understand their value in terms
of the features and functionality they deliver to the business.
Businesspeople, however, have no real interest in bells and
whistles. They simply want to access information to get theirjob
done they need to get at a necessary and sufficient level of
supporting information as easily as possible. This In a
recentparadox has been creeping up on IT and software vendors for
quite a while. Businesses are increasingly unwillingsurvey, to
waste talent on understanding and using complex capabilities while
applications and supporting softwarebecome ever more sophisticated
and consume greater levels of talent to be fully exploited.
Recently, the dilemma36 percent of has become painfully pointed as
phones and tablets have introduced an app for every task, creating
a discontinuity senior businessthat I call the iGAP! leaders noted
the risingexpectations Willingness to of younger useTechnical
Resources The iGAP workers was pressuring tmenIT to
keepRequiretechnology current (Forrsights Business Decision-Makers
Survey, Q4 2011,Business / IT Management Application
ComplexityForrester Research Inc., 2011)Figure 1: The Challenge Of
The iGAPThis disconnect is one of the deepest underlying causes of
the inability to sustain metadata managementenvironments. To try to
narrow this gap, its becoming best practice for smart Information
Management professionalsto deliver metadata through simplified
mechanisms portals, specialized search engines, and applets. Even
moreencouraging, some clever solutions are emerging that allow
users to point at a piece of information and havesupporting
information pop up on demand. When combined with other platform
capabilities, what emerges is anenterprise information management
platform that provides a step change in usability.There is a second
aspect to this technology disconnect issue. Enterprise applications
have been difficult toimplement and manage (anyone who has been
involved in an ERP implementation will vouch for it!).
Unfortunately,this has also become true of metadata management
applications. The new breed of solutions, however, now do amuch
better job of managing the metadata collection and integration
process, and require fewer advanced skills toinstall, customize and
extend.4
5. Time To Step Up Your Information Management Game?Watch for
the Cultural DisconnectTheres a cultural disconnect that
accompanies the technology disconnect. Technology leaders are just
that technology leaders. They are rarely business leaders. Some
enterprises have sought to address the issue byimporting business
counterparts to manage information technology functions. The
experiment rarely succeeds.Its like trying to take a checkers
player and asking him to play chess . This is a very difficult
challenge. A metadatamanagement program really needs a leader with
the ability to understand a wide range of complex technologiesas
well as the empathy to understand what a broad user community
requires to be successful in using informationto develop, operate,
and govern the business. The metadata management programs that
thrive and make a realdifference to the business they support are
blessed by a leader who can form and communicate a vision that
spansbusiness and technology domains. And sadly, when such leaders
move on, all too often, there is no successionplanning and the
program loses momentum and eventually ceases to deliver value.What
Will A Best Of Breed Metadata Management Solution provide?Metadata
Management solutions have evolved over many years. Originally,
metadata management was a singlesolution applied to a specific
technical challenge. This evolved into the mega repository a one
size fits all thatrarely satisfied anyone. The next phase and one
still embraced by some was to provide islands of metadata sothat
each user was provided with facilities that were fit for purpose.
The challenges with such an approach are thatmetadata is often
duplicated and users dealing with multiple roles may have to learn
multiple different approaches toachieve all of their information
management tasks.A new solution is emerging that synthesizes the
best characteristics of its predecessors. Figure 2 (see page 6)
providesa broad schematic. They key characteristics are: An ability
to access any exposed metadata, using a variety of transport and
federation mechanisms. Reconciliation and integration of metadata
across all metadata sources to provide a consistent view of all
aspects of information assets. Integration and management of
semantic, syntactic, structural, and administrative metadata. Data
management capabilities, allowing for an understanding of how
information assets have changed over time, and protection of
metadata for recovery and audit purposes. Management of the
technical information life cycle is a key element in information
governance programs. Management capabilities ensuring that everyone
has access to capabilities and information as required (and which
they are authorized to access). Workflow tools to automate
collaboration. Developer capabilities providing extensibility as
needed. An organic user interface which adapts to each users roles
and authorities so that all available facilities are presented in a
seamless set of access modes pop-up, web-based portlet, web service
, etc. 5
6. Checkers To Chess:The last point is the key. The notion of
user/function-specific applications as not a bad one but in
practice thecreation of separate capabilities for business user
access, application management, data warehouse management,master
data management, and so on, leads to the creation of complex
management processes and many separaterepositories. This, in turn,
leads to a requirement for bridges between repositories and the
environment becomesunmanageable. The requirement now being
addressed is for an integrated metadata world with a master
modelmediating access to all metadata and an organic user interface
that adapts to provide each user with a unifiedview of information
assets. The best of breed solution presents a very clean and simple
browser-based interface forthe business or technical user, and
allows information assets to be discovered and explored without
requiring anyunderstanding of such complexities as metadata or
metamodels. Model Definition andManagementMetadata MartsApplication
ProgrammingSecurity and WorkflowMetadata Integration and
Reconciliation Role DefinitionSemantic metadataInterfaces Metadata
TransportRole andStores MechanismsFunction Classic metadata
Sensitive UserInterfacesConfiguration and Version Control, Archive
and BackupFigure 2: The Best Of Breed Metadata WorldThe Information
Management Grandmasters ChecklistSo whats the player to do?
Certainly, switch from checkers to chess but what does one need to
consider in orderto win at chess? The best chess players are
honored as Grandmasters. What makes an Information
ManagementGrandmaster? Its certainly an important question. A
recent analyst survey (Forrsights Business Decision-MakersSurvey,
Q4 2011, Forrester Research Inc., 2011) makes the point that nearly
half of all business leaders have had theirexpectations of
enterprise IT changed by their use of consumer technology, and IT
is expected to keep up.We offer this Grandmaster checklist to help
you create and execute a successful metadata strategy and raise
yourgame. Beware! Some of the items are deceptively simple to
describe, but may require considerable skill to achieve: Recognize
and continually market the need for pervasive sustainable metadata
management. Those we have seen be most successful have branded
their metadata management initiatives (usually not saying metadata)
and sold and resold it as business management changes. Make the
financial value of metadata visible. Grandmasters have an annual
metadata business plan that describes proposed initiatives with
costs and benefits for the next year and review results against
predictions every year with business management.6
7. Time To Step Up Your Information Management Game? Manage
expectations. Tell consumers this is what you are going to get.
Provide what you promise. Allow feedback when expectations are not
met, and take corrective action. Deal with the technology
disconnect. The iGAP is real and getting worse. Look for a metadata
management platform that can manage all types of metadata, and
dynamically adapt to the needs of changing user communities. Find
metadata management approaches that minimize dependence on scarce
technical skills. Recognize the cultural disconnect. Commit to
putting in place Information Management leaders who combine
technical expertise with the ability to see the business users
point of view. Make sure that all user communities are provided
with built-in mechanisms that allow them to influence the evolution
of metadata management facilities (without expecting them to know
thats what theyre doing!)Changing your game is not easy, so why
bother? At a personal level, it comes down to asking how you want
to beperceived. Are you a utility player with a limited set of
moves that serve a limited range of objectives, or are you amaster
strategist who can be relied on to come up with the right creative
Information Management moves to addvalue to your business? From a
business perspective how do you view your investment in
information? Is it anunmanaged cost of doing business or an
investment in optimizing use of people and money, accelerating
time-to-market and minimizing information-related risk? A well
thought out and well executed metadata managementstrategy ensures
that every person in your organization can make the best possible
use of information. Businessprocesses are operated more
efficiently; decisions are made more quickly and accurately.
Business changes are madeas rapidly as possible. Information is
protected from misuse and improper exposure. Information
Grandmasters aregame-changers for their enterprises. Isnt that what
you want to be?BibliographyCarr, N. G. (2004). Does IT Matter?
Information technology and the corrosion of competitive advantage.
Boston,Massachusetts, USA: Harvard Business School Press.Drucker,
P. F. (1969). The Age of Discontinuity. Harper Collins.English
Draughts. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_draughtsForrester Research
Inc. (2011). Forrsights Business Decision-Makers Survey, Q4 2011.
Cambridge, Mass.: ForresterResearch Inc.Lincoln, T. (1986). Do
Computer Systems Really Pay-off? Information and Management , 11
(1), 25-34.Toffler, A. (1970). Future Shock (First ed.). Random
House.Westerman, G., & Hunter, R. (2007). IT Risk: Turning
Business Threats into Competitive Advantage. Boston,
Massachusetts:Harvard Business School Publishing. 7
8. A recognized innovator in enterprise IT software solutions,
ASG Software Solutions has been optimizing 85 percent of the worlds
most complex IT organizations for more than25 years. We create and
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comprehensive solutionshelp you solve todays challenges, such as
Cloud Computing and big data, while driving your business forward
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andmainframe environments. ASG is a privately held global company
based in Naples, Florida, with more than 70 offices worldwide.
www.asg.comASG Worldwide Headquarters | 1.239.435.2200 or
1.800.932.55361333 Third Avenue South Naples, Florida USA
34102Copyright 2012 Allen Systems Group, Inc.All products mentioned
are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
holders.ASG_Checkers_to_Chess_White_Paper_20120403en
