How do I connect meta data to generate insights and visualise data? Is there a way to do this which will help us to better understand our dependencies across disparate technologies and the organisation they provide services for? 

From working with customers over the last 10 years, one area that stands out as a challenge that customers face is knowing what meta data to collect about their IT service. Often, this is because, when it has been done, it's often technology-led and doesn’t include the business context. This limits IT’s ability to make business cases for change and makes it difficult to articulate in non-technical language how technology hits an objective within the organisation. It can also make it difficult to get any sort of collaboration with non-technical leadership or management, who become apathetic to IT and bring in consultants or define their own solutions, resulting in shadow IT. 

This is where a data taxonomy can help.  

What is a data taxonomy? 

A data taxonomy is a hierarchical structure and classification of data that enables analysis. It also enables cross-discipline understanding of a particular subject through the definition of the different parts of the taxonomy. It means that different people from different disciplines can interact with the same data model but in different ways, whilst generating mutually beneficial insight. 

So how is this useful when understanding IT service performance? 

IT services can be very complex and for this reason, can lead to highly siloed departments and services. In effect, this can also lead to domain experts being grouped into IT 'towers' that operate and manage the different IT services required by an organisation. 

These siloes can create data boundaries which means that understanding domains can then be difficult to form an understanding of if they aren't delivering the value that the organisation expects. In turn, organisations can find it difficult to relate these services and issues to external factors i.e., constraints placed on that service by the organisation. This can then lead to transformation blockers or worse, negative value generators for IT. 

On the flip side, there is a terminology used by the organisation that IT doesn't necessarily fully relate to, which can cause confusion and misunderstanding in the provision of IT services or limiting opportunity for greater effective working when using technology e.g., in data integration and reporting. 

So having a way of talking about IT services and a way of talking about the organisation we believe is incredibly important. By having a taxonomy, it can align all sides of the organisation. And, when understanding the relationships between meta data throughout an organisation, taxonomy can create opportunities for change that maybe wouldn't have been uncovered. In particular when modelling costs or revenue opportunities across this business taxonomy it can create very lucrative financial savings or opportunities for growth. 

If you would like some support instilling more data taxonomy within your organisation, get in touch with the CoPerceptuo team today to find out how we can help.