Metadata is commonly defined as 'data about data'. It includes information about the business usage of the data, about the population and storage of the data and the interrelations, and about people who own and manage the data. Metadata can be broadly classified into the following categories: Business metadata which includes Business attribute definitionsBusiness rules and transformations used to populate the business attributeSystem of record and the source attributesData lineage including all intermediate data pointsValid values and their definitionsTechnical metadata which includes Databases, reports, table name, column nameNames of jobs and applications producing and consuming the dataData types, nullability, primary keys, foreign keys, indices, etcOperational Metadata which includes Audit controls and balancing informationExceptions and errorsData refresh time and scheduleData backup and recovery scheduleOrganizational metadata which includes Business and IT ownersData Stewards This information is scattered throughout the enterprise and is not accessible. A metadata management solution facilitates the collection, dissemination, and management of metadata. Metadata management like most Data Management disciplines requires support, and commitment from corporate leadership. It requires the definition of a robust process and organization structure to make it happen. It is usually implemented along with or after a Data Governance program.