Metadata management describes the proactive use of metadata to govern data in a way that ultimately supports well informed business decisions and efficiency. 

What are the tasks involved in metadata management? 

An analog comparative for metadata management is the management of reference data in a library, such as a card catalog. By having high quality information that describes the information in data, as well as its storage and origin, humans understand what the information is, what you can learn from it and how to find it quickly. Thus, metadata management tasks involve ingesting metadata to learn about the data you own, the value it provides, and the optimization of its storage and retention. 

What are the benefits of metadata management? 

Metadata management is critical to the objectives of data governance, which include lowering the cost of data ownership, reducing legal and compliance risk, and improving business intelligence and operational effectiveness. The chief benefits are greater operational effectiveness, more insightful long-range planning, and greater ease to comply with legal discovery and regulations.