IBM Manages Metadata

June 29, 2007: IBM has given its business intelligence capabilities a much needed boost this week, improving its Information Server software’s management and reporting capabilities via a new metadata management extension.

Metadata Workbench aims to illustrate the complex relationship between different types of business data and how users interact with it via a range of visualisation tools.

Where Information Server builds a metadata repository, Workbench enables access to visualisations via the web. IBM claims that by providing decision makers with visual aids to the relationships among data sources and data users along with proof of data lineage it creates stronger business intelligence systems while fostering increased compliance levels.

“With web-based visualisation and navigation of metadata, IBM Metadata Workbench is the first software to provide this level of design and operational metadata visibility and management across all aspects of the data integration process,” said Michael Curry, director of product strategy and management for IBM's information platform and solutions division. “[This includes] data modelling, profiling, quality, ETL and information delivery.”

Along with improvements to compliance and business intelligence, IBM says service-oriented architecture and data integration projects will also benefit from Metadata Workbench.

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