data storage and management

Universal Meta Data Models is filled with practical insights and world-class implementation guidelines gleaned from years of consulting on complex system integration and data warehouse projects. David Marco combines technical information with the bottom-line business case to roll it out.

Do you know where your data is? Meta data is structured knowledge management. It's about keeping track of what's happening in your IT systems -- databases, transformations, process flow, business rules, reporting -- and synchronizing that understanding across systems and teams. If you already know that and want to make it happen, this is the book for you.

If you are new to meta data, you will probably want to read Marco's prior work, Building and Managing the Meta Data Repository, first. Universal Meta Data Models picks up the meta data repository concept and extends it to the whole enterprise, in a Managed Meta Data Environment (MME). The MME has six components:

- Meta Data Sourcing Layer
- Meta Data Integration Layer
- Meta Data Management Layer
- Meta Data Repository
- Meta Data Marts
- Meta Data Delivery Layer

Marco describes each of these layers in detail, along with practical examples of how to roll them out in various industries. And just to spice it up a bit, he includes numerous morbidly humorous case studies illustrating the disasters that happen to companies that fail to properly managing their greatest asset: knowledge.