Metadata Modeling
August 21, 2008
Embarcadero, in my opinion, is a software tools company. The company’s products allows developers and database administrators to design, build and run software applications in the environment they choose. The company says it has more than three million users of its CodeGear and DatabaseGear products.
The firm announced on August 19, 2008, that it had rolled out its ER/Studio Enterprise Portal. As I read the announcement here, ER/Studio Enterprise Portal is a search engine for data. The system “transforms the way metadata, business rules and models are located and accessed in the enterprise.”
As I thought about this phrasing, it struck me that Embarcadero wants to piggyback on the interest in search, portals, and metadata–all major problems in many organizations. The news story released on Business Wire includes this statement:
‘We’re doing for metadata what Google did for Web search. Today’s enterprise data explosion has made collecting and refining information time consuming for the architect and hard to understand for the business user,’ said Michael Swindell, Vice President of Products, Embarcadero Technologies. ‘ER/Studio Enterprise Portal dramatically simplifies the process for assembling, finding and communicating technical metadata.’
A couple of thoughts. Embarcadero tools can assist developers. No question about it. I am unsettled by two points:
- The suggestion that ER/Studio Enterprise Portal is a search engine. Search is a commodity in many ways. The term is ambiguous. I find it hard to figure out what this “portal” delivers. My hunch is that it is a metadata management tool.
- The suggestion that Embarcadero, founded in 1993, is “doing for metadata what Google did for Web search” is an example of wordsmithing of an interesting nature. “Google” is a magic word. The company generates billions of dollars and unnerves outfits like Verizon and Viacom. The notion that a software tool for managing metadata will have a “Google” effect amused me.
I find it harder and harder to figure out what business a company is in (“portal”, “search”, “metadata”) and what specific problem an company’s product solves. I’m a supporter of reasonably clear writing. Metaphors like “addled goose” can be useful as well. But mixing a stew of buzzwords leaves me somewhat confused and perhaps a bit suspicious of some product assertions.
Other companies in the metadata game are Wren and Access Innovations. What do you think?
Stephen Arnold, August 21, 2008
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