About Data GovernanceData Glossary - M
Maintainability
A characteristic of data. The probability that a given maintenance action for an item under given usage conditions can be performed within a stated time interval when the maintenance is performed under stated conditions using stated procedures and resources. (ASQ definition)
Many-to-Many Relationship
see Relationship
Mapping
see Data Mapping
Master Data
Master Data are the "nouns" upon which business transactions take action. Master Data describes core entities of an enterprise that are used by multiple business process and IT systems. Examples are parties (e.g., customers, employees, vendors, suppliers), places (e.g., locations, sales territories, offices), and things (e.g., accounts, products, assets, document sets). See also Reference Data.
Master Data Management (MDM)
A structured approach to defining and managing an organization's Master Data.
Match
see data matching
Merge
see data merging
Merge/Purge Processing
see Deduplication
Meta Data Repository
A system containing metadata. See also Metadata.
Metadata
Data about data. The definition and scope of metadata depends upon context. In the context of Information Management, metadata is generally thought of as providing information (what database stores it? what data type is it? how long is the field? etc.) about a data element. Within the context of Data Governance, the term also includes "business" metadata such as the names and roles of Data Stewards. Metadata repositories are employed to store and report on metadata.
Metadata Administrator
An IT professional responsible for the control and maintenance of metadata and the metadata repository.
Methodology
A collection of methods, procedures, and standards that defines an approach to something.
Metric
Something that is measured and reported to help manage a Process, IT Service or Activity. (ITIL definition)
Middleware
A communications layer that allows applications to interact across hardware and network environments.
Migration
see Data Migration
Milestone
A milestone is an activity with zero duration. It is normally used to note progress, or mark the end of a period.
Mirroring
Replicating data on different computers or devices to provide backup or improved performance. In a storage sense, "mirroring" refers to duplicating data on multiple disk storage devices to provide backup in the event of a system failure. In an Internet sense, "mirroring" refers to replicating the contents of a Web site at another site to minimize load on the main server, or to speed up connectivity in a specific geographic region. (Gartner definition)
Model-Driven Architecture
Model-driven architecture is a registered trademark of the Object Management Group (OMG). It describes OMG's proposed approach to separating business-level functionality from the technical nuances of its implementation The premise behind OMG's Model-Driven Architecture and the broader family of model-driven approaches (MDAs) is to enable business-level functionality to be modeled by standards, such as Unified Modeling Language (UML) in OMG's case; allow the models to exist independently of platform-induced constraints and requirements; and then instantiate those models into specific runtime implementations, based on the target platform of choice. (DMReview definition)
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