The Knowledge-Model Driven Enterprise

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Requirements
. . . We argue that a centralized metadata repository offers the best way to bridge this information gap and to provide a consistent, reusable model of the external perspective on an enterprise. What are the principal technical requirements for the repository? . . .

Another potential stumbling block is the challenge of gaining consensus on very basic issues. At our first customer, for example, we were surprised to learn that there was no single, clear answer to the question “What is the structure of the company’s product line?” Project managers should factor in the time and effort required to put issues like these to rest, and should ensure that the right resources (in terms of facilitators, subject matter experts, and executives) are available to guide these efforts.

Reuse is fundamental to obtaining return on metadata projects. After all, a robust metadata model is inherently complex when compared with classic relational database techniques. In many cases, any single element of the metadata model could be represented more simply in standard normalized tables. It is only when models can be reused and integrated with other elements of the data model that the greater complexity of the metadata approach is warranted. Plans to acquire metadata should be made with a view towards the support of multiple applications that will use it.

From a modeling perspective, the basic concepts of the object-oriented paradigm have become familiar and instinctive to most end users. The use of taxonomies to organize and classify objects has also become intuitive, probably through the standard computer file-system interface. We have found that modeling techniques based on these elements are easily learned by non-technical staff. However, more advanced concepts from the world of knowledge representation are not comprehensible to the non-specialist. If non-experts are expected to maintain the metadata model over time, their skill levels and availability must be considered in choosing modeling tools. . . .