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Last month we took an in depth look at the first of two parts of this model. The model itself defines a support model that can be applied to any technology. We will focus on the lower section of the model this month and how these elements can be applied to the meta data services organization. Figure 1 provides an image of the model described here.

Figure 1: Meta Data Support Model

Focusing on the middle section, the meta data support model asks five basic questions of the technology environment:

• What meta data products and services are available to me?
• How can I utilize these products and services within my environment?
• Who can help me in case I need some professional guidance?
• Are the meta data applications ready for enterprise usage?
• How am I doing in comparison to others and against best practices?

Who Can Help Me?

The customer doesn't want to feel alone and without support. Many times consultants and IT projects come into the environment and leave without a trace of letting the customer know how they can get further help. The customer support model provides three specific areas where the support team can provide help and assurance. The areas include an online environment, subject matter expert (SME) network and external resources.

Online Environment

Everything is going online; all business and applications are going to be made available online in the near future. This same approach needs to be taken into account by the meta data support organization. The Web allows customers to access information at any time during the day or night. Automating processes by utilizing the Web creates an environment of self-service where the vast majority of business and application functions are accessible 24 hours a day. When you start a meta data business initiative you will need to review your business processes that impact customers. This is a great time to determine how you can simplify those processes or interactions and at the same time provide new services over the Web. This could include incorporating impact analysis programs and other customer-focused initiatives. The Internet lends itself to direct interaction with each and every customer. As your online environment design and development evolve, you will be continually refining them, expanding the programs that have been successful and curtailing your efforts regarding the ones that have generated little bottom-line return on investment (Ruud & Deutz, 2002).

External ResourcesThe Web is made up of 90 billion pages, and there are plenty of resources available to us on the topic of meta data. Bringing in external resources can add substance to your implementation. Many organizations utilize industry experts such as Gartner to simply verify their strategy or support the implementation plans. The academic world publishes an enormous amount of research as well; IEEE and ACM are great sites. Many conferences actually publish their work online or by a simple e-mail, you may be able to request the article from the author. External resources such as books, online articles, subject matter experts and industry leaders are excellent resources for the meta data implementation environment.

SME Network

User groups are independently run, volunteer groups that meet on a regular basis to discuss and share information on a variety of technology topics. Joining a developer or meta data user group is an excellent, inexpensive way to receive technical education and meet with your peers to get more out of the latest platforms, products, technologies and resources. Collaboration, blogs, Wiki, community of practice (CoP) and discussion groups are also forms of SME networks. The basic purpose of collaboration is the creation of value in a manner that involves shared efforts. In order for collaboration to be successful, it must address common objectives, shared resolve and partnership behaviors. This, for most companies, is much harder than it looks. Creating strategic and economic value through collaborative programs requires a balancing act of concepts, processes, resources and behaviors that are tendered by special leadership (Sloan, 2005).

The success of collaboration requires three primary elements. The first and most important is a collaborative culture that recognizes the value of collaboration and rewards those who model collaborative behavior. The second is the establishment of a solid collaboration technology foundation that minimizes choices among similar products but provides the widest range of channels to accommodate varying communication needs within and between business processes. The third is the presence of processes for aligning investments with the business, discovering collaborative opportunities, methodologies for modeling collaborative behavior and integration with planning, to provide perspectives and priorities for investments in collaborative work (Rasmus, 2003).

Is it Ready?

Information technology routinely engages in project work, skunk works and pilot type projects where the customer isn't really sure if the application is production ready. Meta data groups need to ensure that they communicate that the products and services are production ready, covered under service level agreements (SLA) and supported from a hardware and software perspective.

Operations

Operations consist of many different areas including hardware support, operating system support, licensing, backups, disaster recovery, application support, networking and even audits. The size of the repository application should not impact the operations, since processes and procedures should be standardized in such a way that we can add additional applications without reinventing the wheel. One area that seems to get overlooked is the program and data controls which ensures the quality and integrity of the meta data itself. Input controls should be reviewed on a regular basis as well as auditing the data itself in order to define any gaps in the system itself.