Having Customer and Supplier as Master Data Entities is about as sensible as having Creditor and Debtor. Why? Because all of these terms refer to derivable relationships and implementing them as Master Data Entities is both a modelling and business error. If this is true, why are they so often modelled as such? It all [...]
Will Best Practice Keep Your Data Quality Boat Afloat?
Some of attendees at a recent workshop that I ran told me that data quality was assured in their enterprise because they always followed industry best practice. On the surface this seems to be a compelling argument. If you are following best practice all must be right with your data quality. Or is it? If [...]
Data Quality: Driven by Function and Form or Glue and String?
Is the data quality in your enterprise driven by function and form or held together by string and glue? How did you map and build the data structures required to support the functions of the enterprise? Did you start with Business Functions, build a fully normalised, convergent Logical Data Model (LDM) and then base all of [...]
Data Quality: Dead Crows Kill Customers!
Dead Crows also Kill Suppliers! While recently doing a webinar on with Dylan Jones, of Dataqualitypro, I was the describing the essential role of Logical Data Model plays in Data Quality. During our discussions, Dylan asked me to give examples of how the Model helped and, of course, I had to tell him how Dead [...]
The Pitfalls of Data Re-Use
The reuse, though seemingly an eminently sensible practice, is fraught with danger. The only data that is truly safe to re-use is genuinely raw data. All other data should carry a health warning.
Read on on to find out what these dangers are and how to avoid them.
Name That Place
There is one aspect of Data Management and Data Quality that causes the greatest proliferation of duplicates across the globe, is the confusion that exists regarding the Unique Identifiers (UIDs) of data entities. I previously addressed UIDs in the posts such as One Version of the Truth. and The Power of QUACKs and UIDs However, last week [...]
Data Quality – One Version of the Truth?
The concept of “one version of the truth” is possibly the most widely discussed (and disputed) topics in Data Quality. Some say that it can never exist, others, that it must always exist or there is no quality. There is one version of the truth but, perhaps, not the truth as you know it! Know the Unique Identifier (UID) and the truth becomes blindingly obvious!
Click on “Read More” to see how.
There Are No Such Things as Data Rules!
This may come as a surprise to many involved in Data Quality but, wait for it, there are no such things as data rules! By looking at data you can never deduce or define a rule that dictates that one entity should be related to another or that a value of an attribute of an entity has to be, in a certain format and have limits to its value. So what does dictate data content, structure, format and constraints?
Click on “Read More” and find out why….
There's No Such Thing as a Customer!
“Customer” is one of the Data Enitities that lies at the heart of most MDM practices in enterprises around the world and it is not in fact a Data Entity at all! This situation has arisen because far too much “data quality” work is done without the use of a properly structured Logical Data Model. This work then serves to perpetuate rather than remove fragmented data structures.
Business Modelling Architecture
All good analysis and modelling is achieved by starting in the right place, and that place is with the core activities of the enterprise – the Business Functions. If you have not started in the right place, then you need to know how to get back there. The Hierarchy of Models shown in the diagram in this post will enable you to do this.
If you are working on any model and have not built the preceding model(s) then you are not going to achieve a Quality outcome. For example, if you are modelling Processes and have not yet built your Function Model, then you are in trouble. This failure to first model Functions is one of the main reasons why most BPM projects fail to deliver.
-
John Owens Hi Julian Assets in the contexts that you outline
-
-
Julian Schwarzenbach John, For many asset intensive organisations (p
-
-
Joe Interesting article. I would just be curious on ho
BAFFE Silver Package
BAFFE Gold Package
BAFFE Platinum Package
Information Flow Modelling eBook
Business Process Modelling eBook
