Getting your meta-data layer right is a key step to enabling business user self-service, generating automated analysis and speeding up the creation of all of your content. Spending a little extra time on creating a great meta-data layer is highly recommended, as it will pay huge dividends later on. The 4 key outcomes of your metadata layer include:

1. Increased usability for end users
2. Improved Automated Analysis through Assisted Insights and Signals
3. Secure access to data 
4. Easier to maintain in the long term

Anything that you can do to reduce the amount of steps it takes to create and format a report by end-users is worthwhile.  This section covers off the best practices for the creation of meta-data and preparing data for analysis.