www.sas.com > SAS UK > In the Know Homepage Search | Contact Us    
SAS UK Newsletter Banner SAS - The power to know(tm)  

Integrated Metadata


Business metadata gives non-technical users the power to exploit business intelligence tools more quickly, boosting end-user productivity, improving return on investment, freeing-up IT resources and reducing training costs.

Here's an illustration: an analyst at a large retailer wants to explore why sales are down in a particular region. He's unable to start quickly because he can't easily translate the complex data model into business terms, and the data isn't in a form that can be readily used - or even understood.

He also knows the data sources are large and processing time is expensive: poorly written queries that slow service levels will incur the wrath of IT. So the analyst ends up consulting the IT department regularly, which causes frustration on both sides: as they are distracted from vital strategic and operational activities.

An integrated approach to metadata is the solution, empowering business users by making them more self-sufficient (and taking them closer to their 'own' data). There are three simple steps that are illustrated in the diagram below:

Integrated Metadata
1. Get the data right: data is prepared using the ETL process, with input from the sales and marketing databases merged with other data. Data is cleaned, duplication removed, data may be summarised, and new business-related columns are created. Throughout, technical metadata is generated and stored in the metadata repository.

2. Make the data understandable: this involves translating the technical data model into a business asset. SAS is used to: hide tables and columns with no meaning or value to business users; provide business interpretations to IT naming conventions; categorise columns into logical groups; apply logical business hierarchies to columns; create business-related columns; and more. This process generates metadata that's also stored centrally: business metadata.

3. Analyse and visualise the data: the analyst can now use a business intelligence tool to explore the data; he has logical, business-oriented information with unambiguous terms and all the columns he needs for analysis.

This integrated process - which uses technologies such as SAS ETL Studio, SAS Information Map Studio, SAS Web Report Studio and the SAS Management Console, along with SAS Metadata Server - is just part of the SAS Intelligence Value Chain.

To learn more download our free White Paper on 'The Value of Integrated Metadata: SAS Open Metadata Architecture' (2,481 KB PDF file)