Towards next generation BI systems: The analytical metadata challenge

Abstract

Next generation Business Intelligence (BI) systems require integration of heterogeneous data sources and a strong user-centric orientation. Both needs entail machine-processable metadata to enable automation and allow end users to gain access to relevant data for their decision making processes. Although evidently needed, there is no clear picture about the necessary metadata artifacts, especially considering user support requirements. Therefore, we propose a comprehensive metadata framework to support the user assistance activities and their automation in the context of next generation BI systems. This framework is based on the findings of a survey of current user-centric approaches mainly focusing on query recommendation assistance. Finally, we discuss the benefits of the framework and present the plans for future work. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.