This Page defines a General Approach to the design of an integrated Data Model from a number of different 'Data Islands'
or Applications.
This Approach is based on a sequence of Steps in a structured method to establish the FACTS :-
- Review of individual Data Models and establishing any overlap,
- dentify any inconsistencies and areas where data mapping needs to be defined.
- Define the Area of Interest,(e.g. CRM).
- Define the "Things of Interest",(e.g. Customers), in the Area of Interest.
- Analyze the Things of Interest and identify the corresponding Tables.
- Establish the relationships between the Tables.
- Determine the characteristics of each Table,(e.g. a Customer has a Date-of-Birth).
- Obtain a small set of Sample Data,
e.g. "John Doe is a Maintenance Engineer and was born on 1st. August, 1965 and
lives at 22 Woodland Street, New Haven.
- Confirm the first draft of the Database design against the Sample Data.
- Obtain from the users some representative enquiries for the Database,
e.g. "How many Calls did John Doe make last month ?"
- Review the Results of Steps 1) to 7) with appropriate people, such as Users, Managers,
Development staff, etc. and repeat until the final Data Model design is reached.
