I work with some fabulous people! They are team players, motivated and ready to take on the world. These are the Millennial Generation or Generation Y. These people were born in the technology age and expect data to be at their fingertips, which gives information technology (IT) a bit of heartburn when it comes to orporate data.
Why the heartburn? Well, as fast as technology is, we in IT are slow at integrating data (that makes sense for corporate decision making) and upgrading the environments. Why is IT so slow? Because every year the IT budget gets cut and our resources (people, hardware, software) are downsized. New technology is not an option for most companies.
How can we help? Here are a few tips:
- Metadata is your best friend! Create a metadata strategy that pulls together information from the data model (relationships and definitions), from the ETL tool, from the databases themselves, and the reporting and analytics software. You'll create enough information to be able to assess the impact of change, as well as understand how objects are used. This should be a 90-day effort with a small team, and the benefits will be realized over time. New projects will need to include updating this environment (if you can’t figure out how to automate it).
- System inventories are COOL! Yes, we have to know what databases, software and platforms the organization uses. Add this information into the metadata strategy for more completeness.
Metadata environment for our Millennial Generation or our Boomers to query and quickly find information will speed up delivery of any new projects, as well as retire any old systems.
