by Michael Brackett Following the discussion of Data Architecture and Data Structures, the next questions are What’s the difference between data schemas and data structures? and How are data schemas, data structures, and data models formally named?[i] Numerous attempts have been made over the years to formally name specific data structures and the data models […]
The Chief Data Architect
by Michael Brackett Over the years many titles have been proposed and used for primary data management positions, such as data administrator, data guardian, data czar, data custodian, and so on. A recent title is data governor, presumably to manage the data governance function. However, data cannot be governed—only people can be governed.[i] Another recent […]
Do You Know What a Year Is?
As the calendar year comes to a close, a new one begins, and the fear of a December 21, 2012, catastrophe fades away, the meaning of a year comes to mind. Data resource managers deal with a wide variety of different years, and those different years need to be formally named and comprehensively defined to […]
Three Aspects of Temporal Data
Temporal data are often treated lightly, and sometimes not at all, during data resource design and development. However, temporal data can be extremely important to an organization and must be considered in a well-designed data resource. The three aspects of temporal data that must be considered are briefly described below.* Temporal means of or relating […]
A Short History of the ER Diagram and Information Modeling
by Paul Williams Data modeling came into vogue in the 1970s driven by the need to properly model databases or even real-world business processes. Peter Chen, an attendee at this year’s Enterprise Data World conference, popularized the Entity-Relationship model in a paper published in 1976. The previous year, A. P. G. Brown, in a publication […]
A Short History of Data Warehousing
by Paul Williams The relational database revolution in the early 1980s ushered in an era of improved access to the valuable information contained deep within data. Still improvements were needed. It was soon discovered that databases modeled to be efficient at transactional processing were not always optimized for complex reporting or analytical needs. In fact, […]
Preventing Enterprise Software Failures
by Abayomi Oloko Businesses often run on database software applications and, in many cases, the software controls a machine or a process which provides a value or a service intended to aid the organization. Robots run the assembly lines of major automobile manufacturers and software packages communicate task-based instructions to those robots. Banking software helps […]
Assessing Data Management Maturity Using the DAMA Data Management Book of Knowledge (DMBOK) Framework – Part 2
Part 1 of “Assessing Data Management Maturity” discussed the primary elements of the Data Management Maturity Assessment (DMMA) conducted by April Reeve, an advisory consultant at EMC Consulting, for a mortgage bank. The primary elements of this maturity assessment were: The beginning of the DMMA process includes determining which business lines to assess. The mortgage […]
Five Technical Challenges of EIM
by Dave Reiner Holistic information for business processes Enterprise Information Management (EIM) is a strategic combination of components and services that weave together and deliver holistic information—consistent, timely, and meaningful—to business processes. From financial services, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing to retailing, telecommunications, intelligence-gathering, and the energy sector, dozens of industries regard EIM as central to business competitiveness […]