Architecting Database and Data Warehouse Solutions

Worobec Consulting

Architecting Database and Data Warehouse Solutions

In many ways a facilitated session is simply a meeting.  It involves a group of people brought together to accomplish a specific agenda.  However, unlike most meetings, a facilitated session utilizes an individual trained in techniques for producing specific deliverables.  Also, a facilitated session is longer than most meetings, often lasting several days.

 

Facilitated sessions can be used for many purposes, from strategic planning to building consensus.  When used for business and data modeling, the approach followed during the session is based on the Information Engineering approach to systems development.  In this approach, systems are developed based on several models.  The two models of interest at the beginning of a project are the Business Function Model and the Logical Data Model.  This is true whether the objective is build a system, buy a system, or to decide whether to build or buy.

 

The reason these two models are important is that the Business Function Model defines the scope of application functional design while the Logical Data Model serves as the basis for database design.  Also, through the building of these models, the project will have the potential to gain efficiency by identifying data and processes that have crept into systems over time but are unrelated to true business functions. 

 

The first model to be produced during the facilitated session will be the Business Function Model.  This model will capture "what" your business does in plain English, but will ignore "how" things are done.  The distinction between “what” and “how” will be a theme repeated throughout the session.  By focusing on what the business needs to do, the group will not be limited by any individual's perception of how thing work today or how things ought to work in the future.

 

Once the Business Function Model is mostly complete, the focus will turn towards producing the Logical Data Model.  The technique used is to ask the following question for each of the lowest level functions in the Business Function Model:  "What data is needed to perform this function?"   The results are captured in an Entity-Relationship (E-R) diagram.  The E-R diagram, along with text descriptions for the entities, attributes, and relationships, then forms the completed Logical Data Model.

 

Because the data questions will usually uncover some changes or additions to the Business Function Model, considerable time can be spent refining both the models simultaneously.  Once complete, the two models can then be used as tools to address scope issues, examine technical alternatives, and to assure common understanding between Business Experts and Technical Experts from the beginning of a project.  The models also provide a solid foundation for physical data design.

Facilitated Sessions for Business and Data Modeling