A New Idea?
•Importance of resource management in general:
–Unlimited supplies of resources are expensive!
–To maximize the value and minimize the cost of resources
–To anticipate and meet the requirements of resources
–To ensure that resources are used prudently, efficiently, effectively, and securely
•Data resource management: data as important organizational asset
This notion of metadata management is not new. Indeed, there are a number of reasons for an organization to efficiently manage any of its resources; these include:

1. An organization must optimize its resources because it can’t afford an unlimited supply of everything
2. An organization must share and leverage a resource as much as possible to maximize its value and minimize its cost
3. An organization must anticipate a resource’s requirements and meet them proactively, and it can’t effectively do this unless its resources are well-managed
4. For all these reasons, organizations must manage their resources carefully to ensure that they are used prudently, efficiently, effectively, and securely

The discipline of data resource management views data as an important organizational resource that should be treated like any other resource. According to the Data Management Association, data resource management “facilitates the stewardship of data” and recognizes that data (or metadata) is an important asset to an organization and is made more valuable through “planning, communication, control, coordination, and management.”