Casewise-Evolve becomes Metadata Management

IT Services is excited to announce a transition in our enterprise architecture systems. After seven years of using the Casewise-Evolve system, we are now moving towards a more advanced and integrated solution: Metadata Management, hosted on SharePoint.  

What is changing? 

The Casewise-Evolve system has been a cornerstone of our enterprise architecture, helping us manage and model our data and applications. However, as technology evolves, so must our tools. The new Metadata Management service will partially replace Casewise-Evolve, offering enhanced capabilities and improved user experience. 

Key features of Metadata Management 

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  Centralised metadata storage: The new service will store metadata related to integration, application, and data models, increasing insight and visibility across the University. 

• Enhanced tools: Using Microsoft Purview for automatic network and application scanning, and Visio for diagramming, the new service ensures comprehensive and up-to-date metadata management. 
• Improved accessibility: This SharePoint-based service includes an auto accessibility checker, ensuring that our metadata is accessible to all users. 

Focus on data 

The primary focus of this new Service is data and to achieve this we hope to use Microsoft Purview (TBC) to automatically scan and update data where possible, ensuring that our metadata remains current and accurate. A proof of concept with Purview has just been completed.

Transition details: 

• Data migration: Most data previously held in Casewise-Evolve has been migrated to the new Metadata Management site. A key part of Casewise and now the Metadata Service is to make available existing work so that people don't have to start from scratch each time they investigate a system. These project-based diagrams have been migrated and have been time stamped as they may still be useful but, depending on their age, may no longer be accurate.    
• Service continuity: Our Casewise-Evolve license will end in July 2025. All data updates are now taking place only in the new SharePoint service. 
• Support and resources: For any questions or support during this transition, please contact us at metadata@it.ox.ac.uk. 

Why the change? 

Casewise was an excellent and complex tool, but its slowness, difficulty in navigation and inability to work with our SSO meant it simply wasn’t being used to its potential. As part of the University’s digital transformation, the new Metadata Management service aims to simplify the data we hold, provide a more robust method of data updates and offer a more user-friendly platform for managing our enterprise data. 

Further information

For more information, please visit the Metadata Management SharePoint site, our Service page or contact metadata@it.ox.ac.uk.