On September 17, 1999, a joint submission in response to an OMG Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange (CWMI) RFP was received from Dimension EDI, Genesis Development Corporation, Hyperion Solutions, International Business Machines, NCR, Oracle, UBS AG, and Unisys [supported by Sun Microsystems and Deere & Company]. Within the submission are sample documents consisting of some thirty-two (32) IDL, XML DTD, and XML instance files. The principal document of interest from the XML perspective is volume 2 of the sumbission, Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWMI) Specification. Volume 2. XML, IDL and DTD. Proposal to the OMG ADTF RFP: Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange (CWMI). OMG Document ad/99-09-02, 761 pages.
Chapter 1 (CWM Rendered in XML) "contains the definitive CWM metamodel expressed in XML using the MOF Model document type as defined in the MOF 1.3 Specification. This is the normative metamodel used to define interfaces and XML document types. Each outer package of CWM is defined in a separate XML document in its own section below. The first package called CWM combines all the other CWM packages to define a complete CWM metamodel. The other packages can also be used individually or in other combinations. The CWM model refers to and extends the UML 1.3 model. The UML 1.3 Specification does not include an XML rendition of the UML packages so the XML for UML is included at the end of this chapter so that links from the CWM XML can be interpreted. The UML packages are named Foundation Model_Management and Behavioral_Elements." Chapter 3 (CWM Document Type Definition) "contains an XML document type definition (DTD) for CWM metadata. The DTD is generated from the CWM packages in chapter 1 according to Rule Set 3 of the XMI 1.1 Specification. Rule Set 3 produces the smallest DTD of the XMI rule sets. However this DTD is large even with Rule Set 3 because it incorporates all of UML. When the XMI Specification is revised to support namespaces UML will be removed from the DTD and the DTD will be split apart so that each of CWM's outer packages has its own DTD. The CWM.dtd that follows requires complete metadata. Another DTD called CWMRelaxed.dtd permits incomplete metadata. Both DTDs are provided as separate files.
An initial RFP (Request For Proposal) was issued by the OMG (Object Management Group) on September 18, 1998. The objectives were to "(1) Establish an industry standard specification for common warehouse metadata interchange; (2) Provide a generic mechanism that can be used to transfer a wide variety of warehouse metadata; (3) Leverage existing vendor-neutral interchange mechanisms as much as possible." The RFP requested proposals for a "complete specification of the syntax and semantics needed to export/import warehouse metadata and the common warehouse metamodel . . . [consisting] of a specification for the common warehouse metamodel, APIs (in IDL), and/or interchange formats. The main characteristics of the solution should be: (1) Stable, industrial strength, based on proven technology; (2) Generic, independent of any specific data warehouse implementation; (3) Portable, able to be used on computers anywhere in the world." Rationale for the CWMI was provided in the RFP document as follows: "To solve the data warehouse metadata problem, since every data management and analysis tool requires different metadata and different metadata model (known as metamodel), it is simply not possible to have a single metadata repository that implements a single metamodel for all the metadata in an organization. Instead, what is needed is a standard for interchange of warehouse metadata, hereby called Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange (CWMI), that is com-pliant with the MOF and the UML notation (if a graphical notation is required), and that can use the SMIF when it is standardized by the OMG."
About OMG: The Object Management Group (OMG) is the world's largest software consortium with a membership of over 700 vendors, developers, and end users. Established in 1989, its mission is to promote the theory and practice of Object Technology (OT) for the development of distributed computing systems. A key goal of OMG is create a standardized object-oriented architectural frame-work for distributed applications based on specifications that enable and support distributed objects. Objectives include the reusability, portability, and interoperability of object-oriented software components in heterogeneous environments. To this end, the OMG adopts interface and protocol specifications, based on commercially available object technology, that together define an Object Management Architecture (OMA).
References:
Common Warehouse Metamodel. "The Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) is a specification that describes metadata interchange among data warehousing, business intelligence, knowledge management and portal technologies. The OMG Meta-Object Facility (MOF) bridges the gap between dissimilar meta-models by providing a common basis for meta-models. If two different meta-models are both MOF-conformant, then models based on them can reside in the same repository."
[April 04, 2001] Common Warehouse Metamodel - CWM 1.0 Specification. From OMG. "This [.zip] file contains the two volumes of the CWM 1.0 specification and associated files. These reflect corrections of errata found since the spec/files were first published in February 2001." Includes: (1) Main specification with normative portions of CWM 1.0; (2) CWM 1.0 Specification, Volume 2 Extensions [The specification for the non-normative portions of CWM 1.0]; (3) CWM 1.0 Metamodel in XML [The CWM 1.0 metamodel defined using the Metaobject Facility (MOF) 1.3 Model. The XML document's type is defined based on the XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) 1.1 Specification]; (4) CWM 1.0 DTD [The XML document type (DTD) for the normative portions of the CWM 1.0 metamodel. The DTD is generated from the CWM 1.0 Metamodel per rules of the XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) 1.1 Specification]; (5) CWMX 1.0 DTD [The XML document type (DTD) for the non-normative portions of the CWM 1.0 metamodel. The DTD is generated from the CWM 1.0 Metamodel per rules of the XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) 1.1 Specification]; (6) CWM 1.0 CORBA IDL [CORBA IDL modules defining IDL interfaces to a CWM 1.0 CORBA facility. IDL is generated from the CWM 1.0 metamodel per rules of the Metaobject Facility (MOF) 1.3 Specification]; (7) CWM 1.0 Metamodel Diagrams - mdl [The CWM 1.0 metamodel expressed as UML diagrams using Rational Rose (nonnormative)]. With description of the documents in the README. [cache README, cache spec]
[May 09, 2001] "Data Warehousing Industry Weaves a Meta Data Standard. [Business Intelligence.]" By David Marco. In Application Development Trends Volume 8, Number 5 (May 2001), page 17. "The issue of meta data integration is one of the chief mitigating factors that have prevented most organizations from achieving successful data warehouse, e-business, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations. This column focuses on the Object Management Group (OMG) meta model standard Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM), the impact this standard will have on the industry and its promise to aid in this task of meta data integration... the OMG CWM is a standard that offers the promise of improving these meta data integration processes. But what is a meta model? It is a fancy phrase for a physical data model that stores meta data. The CWM has initially focused on the data warehousing arena and is broadly supported by the vast majority of data warehouse vendors, meaning that they have integrated CWM into their tools' meta model or they are looking to provide an interface that will transfer their meta data into CWM. This capability will allow data warehousing products from different vendors to share technical meta data. The CWM specification can be downloaded from www.omg.org. For many years all of us in the meta data arena have desired a global meta model standard. A year ago we had two competing standards, CWM and the Open Information Model (OIM), which was being moved forward by the Meta Data Coalition (MDC). Unfortunately for the industry, two standards were one too many. On September 25, 2000 the MDC merged with the OMG with the goal of consolidating the separate initiatives into one meta data standard under which all vendors can unify..." [From the OMG web site, 'Data Warehousing, CWM And MOF Resource Page': "The Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) is a specification that describes metadata interchange among data warehousing, business intelligence, knowledge management and portal technologies. The OMG Meta-Object Facility (MOF) bridges the gap between dissimilar meta-models by providing a common basis for meta-models. If two different meta-models are both MOF-conformant, then models based on them can reside in the same repository."]
[June 15, 2000] A recent announcement from the Object Management Group (OMG) reports on the OMG's expanded support for distributed metadata standards through the publication of a Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) Specification. From the text: "In these days of electronic business and marketing, an enterprise's accumulated data have become one of its most significant assets. Analysis of these data not only allows sales and production to be tuned for maximum profitability, but also allows entirely new and profitable products to be discovered and exploited. But it is difficult to merge data into a single warehouse when the originals are spread over a number of different databases, using not only different data models but different metamodels as well. The term 'metadata' refers not only to the set of definitions of the data in the warehouse products, parts, prices, and so on but also to its formats, processing, transformations, and routing from origin to warehouse: everything, that is, except the data elements themselves in the data warehouse. Metadata management, and reconciliation of inconsistent metadata when data from different sources are merged, are the biggest problems facing enterprises working with data warehousing today. OMG's Common Warehouse Metamodel or CWM provides a standard solution to this problem. Building on three existing industry standards the OMG's Unified Modeling Language (UML), the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), and OMG's XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) the CWM starts by establishing a common metamodel for warehousing but then goes beyond this to also standardize the syntax and semantics needed for import, export, and other dynamic data warehousing operations. Designed to work naturally with object, relational, record-based, multidimensional, and XML-based datastores, the CWM supports data mining, transformation, OLAP, information visualization, and other end user processes. Metamodel support encompasses data warehouse management, process, and operation. The CWM specification extends to application programming interfaces (APIs), interchange formats, and services that support the entire lifecycle of metadata management including extraction, transformation, transportation, loading, integration, and analysis. And, users can resolve specific integration issues by taking advantage of the CWM metamodel's built-in extensibility. CWM combines the power of enterprise data management and object modeling, making them available to data modelers, database designers, data warehouse users and administrators, and corporate portal developers and managers. The Specification was developed through the effort of Submitters including IBM Corporation, Unisys Corporation, NCR Corporation, Hyperion Solutions Corporation, Oracle Corporation, UBS AG, Genesis Development Corporation and Dimension EDI. Supporters included Deere & Company, Sun Microsystems, Incorporated, Hewlett Packard Company, Data Access Technologies, In-line Software, Aonix and Hitachi, Ltd. OMG's CWM Specification documents are available for viewing or downloading." There are four parts to the revised CWMI submission: PDF for Part 1, PDF for part 2, PDF for part 3, PDF for part 4. Contact: Dr. Daniel T. Chang. Cache version, .ZIP: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
"CWM: Extending UML for Data Warehousing and Business Common Warehouse Metamodel." A presentation given by Daniel T. Chang and John D. Poole. Presented at OMG's First Workshop on "UML in the .com Enterprise", November 6-9, 2000, Palm Springs, CA. 40 slides. "What is CWM? (1) A complete specification of syntax and semantics that Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence tools can leverage to successfully interchange shared metadata (2) A language or framework for specifiying the external representation of data warehouse metadata for purposes of interchange. CWM Provides... (1) A standard language for defining the structure and semantics of metadata in a formal way (MOF / UML / OCL) (2) A standard interchange mechanism for sharing metadata defined in the standard language (XML / XMI ) (3) A standard specification (interface) for access to, and discovery of, the metadata defined in the standard language (IDL for now, normative Java API with JSR-40). CWM Design Rationale: (1) MOF is the modeling language (syntax+semantics) (2) UML is the modeling notation (3) UML is the also the base metamodel (4) XMI is the interchange mechanism Extend the UML metamodel with Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence domain objects (5) Standardize on MOF semantics (6) Yields a MOF-compliant metamodel (M2 level) for constructing DW & BI models of data (metadata) (7) Effectively defines a UML-aligned notation for specifying DW & BI metadata..." [cache]
"CWM Enablement Showcase: Warehouse Metadata Interchange Made Easy Using CWM." By Dr. Daniel T. Chang (Member, IBM Database Technology Institute; Chair, OMG CWM Revision Task Force). April, 2000. "When IBM, Oracle and Unisys started the CWM (Common Warehouse Metamodel) standardization effort within the OMG (Object Management Group) in May 1998, metadata interchange had been identified for sometime as one of the most critical problems facing the data warehousing industry. No common solution, however, was available at the time or on the horizon. MDIS (Meta Data Interchange Specification) had been published by the MDC (Meta Data Coalition) and implemented by some vendors. However, it was getting little support in the industry because of its limited coverage of metadata types and the lack of open interchange format. As such, warehouse metadata interchange was limited to using a single vendor's proprietary format, such as IBM's Tag Language, or using MDIS between a very limited number of vendors, such as IBM and ETI. The OMG is an international standards organization with more than five hundred member companies. It is best known for its work on CORBA standards, which made many breakthrough contributions to distributed computing. Much less known, until recently, is its work on modeling and metadata standards that started around 1995. However, with its adoption and publication of UML (Unified Modeling Language) and MOF (Meta Object Facility) in 1997, XMI (XML Metadata Interchange) in 1999, and CWM last June (2000), it has become the premier standards organization on modeling and metadata. In a nutshell, UML provides a language for modeling metadata, MOF provides APIs for manipulating metadata, and XMI provides mechanisms for interchanging metadata in XML. CWM uses UML, MOF and XMI to model, manipulate and interchange warehouse metadata, including both technical and business metadata. ... The key to the success of CWM is UML and XML. UML provides a single and powerful modeling language for modeling all types of warehouse metadata; XML provides a simple and universal data format for interchanging all kinds of warehouse metadata. By nature, data warehousing deals with a very complex environment that involves many different types of data sources and targets (relational, record-based, object-oriented, multidimensional, and XML), various types of transformation and analysis tools (OLAP, data mining, information visualization, and business nomenclature), as well as warehouse process and operation management. UML is capable of modeling the metadata for all of the above entities, thus serving as the single modeling language and enabling a model driven approach for metadata interchange. Also by nature, data warehousing involves many different tools from many different vendors, big and small. Therefore, for metadata interchange to be successful and prevalent, the interchange format used must be universal and must be cheap to implement and support. XML is ideal for this purpose, being simple and universal. The CWM Enablement Showcase was a resounding success and a major breakthrough for warehouse metadata interchange. Nevertheless, this is only the beginning. With the decision by the MDC to fold its metadata standardization effort into the OMG and the fact that JCP (Java Community Process) is extending OMG metadata standards into the Java platform (e.g., JMI, JOLAP and JDMAPI), acceptance and support for CWM in the industry is rapidly growing. One should not be surprised to find CWM providing the common solution to warehouse metadata interchange problems in the very near future. Looking a little further into the future, as W3C adopts newer standards on XML (e.g., XML Schema and XML Query Language) and as CWM evolves to incorporate these technologies, warehouse metadata interchange using CWM should become even easier and more powerful." [alt URL]
[September 25, 2000] "Competing Data Warehousing Standards to Merge in the OMG." - "Today, the Meta Data Coalition (MDC) and the Object Management Group (OMG), two industry organizations with competing data warehousing standards, jointly announced that the MDC will merge into the OMG. As a result, the MDC will discontinue independent operations and work will continue in the OMG to integrate the two standards. Until this week, there were two major standards for metadata and modeling in the areas of data warehousing and component-based development. Data warehousing is a response to the enterprise need to integrate valuable data spread across organizations from multiple sources. Analysis of an enterprise's accumulated data not only allows sales and production to be tuned for maximum profitability, but also allows entirely new and profitable products to be discovered and exploited. However, it is difficult to merge data into a single warehouse when its sources are spread over a number of different databases, using different data models. The merger of MDC into the OMG marks an agreement of the major data warehousing and metadata vendors to converge on one standard, incorporating the best of the MDC's Open Information Model (OIM) with the best of the OMG's Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM). When the work is complete, the resulting specification will be issued by the OMG as the next version of the CWM. A single standard will allow users to exchange metadata between different products from different vendors freely. . . Founded in 1995, the Meta Data Coalition (MDC) is a not-for-profit consortium of 50 vendors and end-users, including BMC, Informatica, CA, NCR, Microsoft, and SAS, whose goal is to provide a tactical solution for metadata exchange. The Coalition developed the MDC OIM (Open Information Model), a technology-neutral and vendor-independent metadata standard that is comprised of the Meta Data Interchange Specification (MDIS) and the OIM, originally submitted by Microsoft. Since the MDC OIM 1.0 became available in July 1999, work has been under way to align the standard with the CWM developed by OMG. On August 31, MDC membership voted to formalize the decision to merge with OMG. The Object Management Group's Common Warehouse Metamodel builds on various standards, including OMG's UML (Unified Modeling Language), XMI (XML Metadata Interchange) and MOF (Meta Object Facility), and on the Coalition's OIM. The CWM was developed by a number of companies, including IBM, Oracle, Unisys, Hyperion, Genesis, NCR, UBS, and Dimension EDI, and is an adopted OMG standard." See "MDC Open Information Model (OIM)" and "OMG Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange (CWMI) Specification." See the announcement from OMG: "Competing Data Warehousing Standards to Merge in the OMG." [cache]
[June 19, 2000] "Is CWMI the Holy Grail of Meta Data Standards?" By Sridhar Iyengar [and Rich Seely]. In eAI Journal Volume 2, Number 6 (June 2000), pages 36-39. "The Object Management Group (OMG), headquartered in Needham, Mass., is close to adopting the Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange (CWMI) standard, which is touted as the Holy Grail sought by developers working on integration, data warehouse and e-business applications. OMG calls the specifications it has developed for the CWMI standard -- a landmark submission that follows the creation of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) and XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) by the OMG. Backed by industry leaders including Oracle, IBM, Unisys, NCR, and Sun Microsystems, CWMI is viewed as the next step toward establishing a standard for metadata interchange among all data warehousing, business intelligence, knowledge management and portal technologies. The proposed standard provides an object model with a set of Application Programming Interface (APIs), interchange formats and services for the wide range of metadata involved in the extraction, transformation, transportation, loading, integration and analysis phases of data warehouse projects. OMG also advocates CWMI as the standard which 'resolves potential integration issues by enabling users to extend the model to meet their specific needs.' The proposed standard is viewed as a boon to developers of Web-based projects. 'CWMI lowers implementation costs for our customers by extending metadata interoperability into the world of Web-based data warehousing environments,' said Sridhar Iyengar, Unisys Fellow, member of the OMG Architecture Board and architect of Unisys Universal Repository (UREP). eAI Journal recently spoke to Iyengar, who has been cast by OMG as the King Arthur in this quest for the Holy Grail of metadata. Iyengar discussed the potential for CWMI and how it will interact with XML, XMI, Meta Objects Facility (MOF), Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Java Beans and other existing standards." [cache]
[June 19, 2000] "Oracle Announces Product Support for the Industry's Newly Ratified XML-Based Metadata Standard. Unveils Plans for Metadata Management Products and Common Warehouse Metamodel Developer Kit for ISVs. Accelerates Customer's Ability to Move From 'Data To Decision' in Complex, Multi-Vendor Data Warehousing Environments." - "Oracle Corp., the largest provider of software for e-business, today announced its support for the XML-based metadata standard that was ratified and publicly unveiled today by the Object Management Group (OMG). Oracle, a primary originator and contributor to the Common Warehouse Metamodel, unveiled its plans for a new set of metadata management tools - called OneMeaning - and a Common Warehouse Metamodel-enablement kit for its independent software vendors (ISVs). Oracle has already taken major steps toward metadata sharing between their own products as part of the Oracle(r) Intelligent Webhouse, including Oracle Warehouse Builder. The Common Warehouse Metamodel standard is an important industry advancement for exchanging e-business information and accelerating a company's ability to move from "data to decision." It defines a metadata format for interoperability of all data warehouse, business intelligence and enterprise portal products. By reducing both the software compatibility testing time and the costs associated with standard warehouse implementations, the Common Warehouse Metamodel standard helps ensure that mission critical data required for business decision making can be shared among all internal and external systems including the Internet..."
[August 04, 2000] The Metadata War: Oracle vs. Microsoft." By Alicia Costanza. In ent Magazine (July 19, 2000). "The Object Management Group (OMG), supported by Oracle Corp. and a battalion of other companies, announced the ratification of a new XML-based metadata standard: the Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM). Approval of the standard is a victory for Oracle in the ongoing battle with Microsoft Corp. over metadata standardization efforts. CWM was developed because of the industry's need for commonly defined metadata. Right now, companies have many databases, many repositories, and many schemas describing the data, says Andrew Watson, vice president of technology at the OMG. By creating a standard, different data models can be integrated, plus there can be a standard basis for data mining and OLAP across the enterprise. Not only will a metadata standard enable integration throughout a single enterprise, but it will also enable data communication between different companies and their data applications. The purpose of CWM is to do just that: provide metadata with universal definitions so all data applications and stored data can be shared, integrated, and understood. . . The OMG approval of the CWM standard will undoubtedly lead numerous companies to adopt the Oracle-backed standard. Some companies, however, are members of both the Object Management Group and the Metadata Coalition. If two separate standards coexist in the same space, what does this mean for software vendors and IT managers? 'We ultimately expect the OMG and Metadata Coalition standards will converge over time as common partners of both Oracle and Microsoft will push for this and because of the simple fact that each organization -- OMG and MDC -- is a member of the other. Rather than one party surrendering the battle, we fully expect to see a compromise reached, and we eagerly await the Metadata Coalition's reaction,' Schiff says."
"CORBA & XML Resource Page" - Links to OMG's XML activities and references to articles on CORBA/XML.
[April 03, 2000] Document ad/00-02-07. (XML files out of ad/2000-01-11as well as ad/2000-01-02.) Contact: Dr. Daniel T. Chang. [cache]
[April 03, 2000] Document ad/00-02-06. (XML files out of ad/2000-01-11as well as ad/2000-01-02.) Contact: Dr. Daniel T. Chang. [cache]
[April 03, 2000] Document ad/00-02-05 (XML files out of ad/2000-01-11as well as ad/2000-01-02.) Contact: Dr. Daniel T. Chang. Convenience Document. XML, IDL and DTD files out of ad/99-09-02 to use directly without having to cut and paste from volume 2. [cache]
ad/98-09-02 - Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange RFP. See the PDF version. [local archive copy]
ad/99-09-03 - XML, IDL and DTD files. - XML, IDL and DTD files out of ad/99-09-02, being a "Convenience Document. XML, IDL and DTD files out of ad/99-09-02 to use directly without having to cut and paste from volume 2. See the .ZIP package. [local archive copy]
ad/99-09-02 - Joint submission in response to the CWMI RFP (volume 2). Contact: Dr. Daniel T. Chang. In PDF, Postscript, or .ZIP PDF file formats. [local archive copy]
ad/99-09-01 - Joint submission in response to the CWMI RFP (volume 1). See .ZIP package
[April 03, 2000] "OMG's Denver Meeting Drives Industry-specific CORBA Standards. Members Vote In Favor of Data Warehousing Specification." - "The Object Management Group (OMG) recently concluded its latest Technical Meeting week in Denver, CO, USA, sponsored by Hewlett Packard Company. About 500 member representatives met to work on the approximately 100 technology adoptions currently in process across a wide range of industries including Life Sciences, Finance, Manufacturing, Utilities, and Healthcare. The five-day meetings provide a forum for the OMG members and their guests to carry out the standards-setting process that extend existing Object Management Architecture specifications including CORBA and UML. New Standards Adoptions: Four new specifications started final adoption votes. First, a Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) for data warehousing will improve business decisions by facilitating access to timely data. To make best use of data warehousing, companies must integrate data from multiple warehouses across their enterprises, but inconsistencies in the data models from one warehouse to another make this difficult. Because these inconsistencies result from real differences in requirements from one business unit to another, it is not possible to standardize on a common data model for data warehousing. However, by defining a standard for interchange of information about data models, termed warehouse metadata in the specification, OMG's new standard for a Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) provides standard ways to run processes that integrate data from multiple warehouses, enabling on-the-fly business data transformation."
[April 03, 2000] "HP Powers New Internet Economy With Universal Information Exchange. Support of OMG Group's Common Warehouse Metamodel Enables Information Sharing for Enterprises, Exchanges and B2B Portals." - "Hewlett-Packard Company today unveiled its roadmap for unifying information exchange in the new Internet economy. HP's support of Object Management Group's (OMG) Common Warehouse Metamodel Interchange (CWMI) specification will help customers share information with customers and partners, creating customer intimacy and streamlining the supply chain. The CWMI standard is a landmark submission that follows the creation of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C), and XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) by the OMG. Marking the next step in the establishment of a metadata interchange among all data warehousing, business intelligence, knowledge management and portal technologies, the proposed CWMI provides a powerful object model with a set of application programming interfaces (APIs), interchange formats and services that span the spectrum of metadata relating to the extraction, transformation, transportation, loading, integration and analysis phases within data warehousing. CWMI resolves potential integration issues by enabling users to extend the model to meet their specific needs." See also the CWMI RFP main web page and Vote Status: CWMI RFPM.
[September 27, 1999] "Oracle, Unisys, IBM, NCR and Hyperion Lead the Effort to Standardize Enterprise Information Sharing. Industry Leaders Propose Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange Standard and Advocate XML-based Common Data Format." - "Oracle Corp., Unisys Corp., IBM Corp., NCR Corp. and Hyperion today announced the submission of the common warehouse metadata interchange (CWMI) standard to the Object Management Group (OMG). The proposed standard is designed to help companies integrate e-business systems quickly and easily by supplying a common format for enterprise systems to exchange data. Over 90 percent of Fortune 1000 companies either have deployed or are in the process of evaluating a data warehouse as the foundation for effective decision-making, according to META Group, a technology research firm based in Stamford, Conn. Today, the many software products used to create warehouses or other e-business systems are based on proprietary data formats, which often prevents information sharing between products and hampers access to the knowledge needed to make timely business decisions. The proposed standard, CWMI, defines a metadata format for all data warehouse and business intelligence products. By reducing both the software compatibility testing time and the costs associated with standard warehouse implementations, the Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange standard ensures that mission critical data required for business decision making can be shared among all internal systems. The Common Warehouse Metadata Interchange standard is a landmark submission that follows the creation of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) and XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) by the OMG. Marking the next step in the establishment of a metadata interchange among all data warehousing, business intelligence, knowledge management and portal technologies, the proposed CWMI provides a powerful object model with a set of APIs, interchange formats and services that span the spectrum of metadata relating to the extraction, transformation, transportation, loading, integration and analysis phases within data warehousing. CWMI resolves potential integration issues by enabling users to extend the model to meet their specific needs."
[September 27, 1999] "Software Companies Hope Standard Helps Joint Operation." By Erich Luening. In CNET News.com (September 27, 1999). "A group of leading software companies is pushing a new standard that would help businesses integrate e-commerce systems and exchange data. Oracle, Unisys, IBM, NCR, and Hyperion today announced the submission of the common warehouse metadata interchange (CWMI) standard to the Object Management Group (OMG), an industry consortium. The proposed standard, CWMI, defines a data format for all data warehouse and business intelligence products. By cutting both the software compatibility testing time and the costs associated with standard warehouse implementations, the CWMI standard ensures that mission-critical data required for business decision-making can be shared among all internal systems, supporters of the standard claim. The CWMI standard is a submission that follows the creation of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) and XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) by the OMG."
