Centrally shared metadata, to provide a single point of administration and control over an organisation`s data, is an essential component of business intelligence (BI), says Carel Badenhorst, BI product manager at SAS.
"A single copy of metadata is important because it enables integrated authorisation and authentication within a role-based BI system," Badenhorst told attendees of an SAS Forum on data integration in Houghton, last week.
Presenting a case study on a performance management implementation at the head office and seven regional offices for Eskom`s distribution division, information integration company EIP`s services manager Paul Northrop agreed that metadata was crucial.
However, Northrop cautioned against decentralised metadata, saying a single, centralised metadata repository was recommended. The importance of taking time to master the metadata was also another important lesson learned, he said.
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