How to Model and Analyze Business System Data

Data represents reality and everything there is to know about it. Understanding the data dimension is critical for IT projects. The primary tool for communicating about data is the data model (business entity relationship diagram) which helps business systems analysts and data analysts discover the static structure and business rules of the data.

In a very real sense if you get the data right, the rest will follow. If you get the data wrong, the system may never recover. In order for the data to be right, it must reflect how the business thinks about and uses its data. This information exists in two primary locations; user views (reports, screens, etc.) of the system and in the minds of the business personnel who may not know that they have this knowledge. Therefore, it is up to business systems and data analysts to capture and document this ’data about data’ in a meaningful way.

Draw data model (entity relationship) diagrams
Build a data model based on existing system documentation
Analyze user views, (screens, reports, etc.) to modify a data model
Assign attributes to the appropriate entity on the diagram
Define data attribute’s characteristics (metadata)
Create a data model from requirements
Modify an existing data model based on new requirements
Evaluate a data model for full normalization and correctness
Critique and review an existing data model
Morph an existing data model into a future data model
Identify data (informational) requirements from the business perspective

ILT: 2 days
Virtual: 3 Mods

Business Analysts
Business Process Owners
Data Administrators
Data Analysts
Requirements Definition Specialists
System Analysts
Test Engineers
Anyone charged with managing, understanding and/or improving information use.