Download Microsoft BBB – Sales Strategy

Data Modeling for the BA
February 12th, 2014
Presented by Steve Strohl
About Steve
Steve Strohl is a Senior Business Intelligence Architect with over 25 years of IT database
experience and 15 years of BI experience. He has been with ICC for the past 5 years. He
started his career at Battelle where he worked on defense systems overseas, manufacturing
systems and environmental systems. He worked as a lead architect on the Exxon Oil Spill
damage assessment database and subsequently lived in Alaska for the next 7 years. Steve
worked for an environmental firm where he was able to marry his IT skills with actual field
work in Prince William Sound
“Alaska is where I learned how to ask the question Why instead of just What”.
Steve’s work as an adjunct professor at the University of Anchorage also taught him the importance of having a
complete view of a problem in order to design an appropriate solution.
Steve returned to Ohio where he began his consulting work in the Business Intelligence field specifically in the
Information Delivery field where he designed numerous solutions using Business Objects, Microsoft Analysis
Services, Cognos and Microstrategy.
His work in the information delivery field led him very quickly to realize that data quality was a major problem in
virtually all of the systems he had experienced.
This knowledge has resulted in his move towards data governance, master data management and the key role that
solid business analysis plays in a robust IT solution.
He is currently consulting with Nationwide as the NF program architect for a large master data management
initiative and is the Master Data Management Practice Lead @ ICC.
[email protected]
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It’s a B.A. “Thing” …
What does the business want ?
Have I captured “all” of the business requirements (even those they don’t know about) ?
It’s the Question that Drives Us …
Have I found all of the hidden complexities ?
How can I represent or relate those needs effectively to my developers ?
Did I take the trash out this morning ?
3
Introduction
The Goal
The
Steps
The
Outcome
• Establish a business modeling methodology
• Interface more effectively with developers and tester
• Create deliverables to use throughout the life cycle of the
project
•
•
•
•
Start with a Business Problem
Derive the Business Requirements
Derive the Business Rules
Generate a model that supports the business reqts and rules
•
•
•
•
Common language
Better interaction and communication with developers
Better interaction and communication with testers
Better understanding and control over the project
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A Simple Business Problem
The Client
Diversified Underwater Demolition Experts
•Very profitable privately owned company
•Dutch Langston is the owner of the company
•Getting a lot more orders and is outgrowing his original tracking system
•Thinks that spreadsheets are the answer to everything
The Problem
System to track order entry and shipping
•Duplicate customer entry
•Inconsistent representation of data
•Huge problem with returned mail
•Has tough time knowing what customers ordered in the past
Interview Summary
After interviews you have discovered that the client requirements are …
• to track customer orders more efficiently
•to track where orders are shipped
•to track mailing address of customer
•to clean up as many data quality issues as possible.
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Original Tracking System (Go Figure)
What are the problems with this solution ?
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The Two Major Issues
1. Difficult to trace solution back to the business
requirements
2. Impossible to establish and enforce business rules
to support those requirements
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BA’s Dilema
How do I …
Work with Dutch to discover the true business requirements
Derive the business rules that satisfy the business requirements
Vet my business requirements and business rules with the SME’s
Work with the developers to develop the right solution the first time
Work with the testers to accurately test the solution
Provide one set of documentation that can be used by all parties
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In the end …it’s all about ???
Address
Customer
Order
Product
Person
Organization
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The Modeling Methodology
Very High Level Model (VHDM)
(Scope)
Business Analyst
Stakeholders
High Level (Conceptual) Model (HDM)
(Business Need)
Business Analyst
Subject Matter Experts
Logical Model (LDM)
Business Solution
Physical Data Model (PDM)
Business Analyst
Architect
Technical Solution
Architect
Developer
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The Modeling Methodology
Very High Level Model (VHDM)
(Scope)
Business Analyst
Stakeholders
High Level (Conceptual) Model (HDM)
(Business Need)
Business Analyst
Subject Matter Experts
Logical Model (LDM)
(Business Solution)
Physical Data Model (PDM)
Business Analyst
Architect
(Technical Solution)
Architect
Developer
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Very High Level Model – Tool Box
Identify Subjects and Links Symbols
Subject Area or Business Area
Title
Description
Highest Level View of Business Area or Subject Area
Contains Title and Definition of Business or Subject area
Can be any shape
Connection Line (optional)
Highest Level View of connections or relationships
Arrows indicate flow to and/or from subject area
Dotted line indicates a “soft” relationship
Relationships definitions can be defined in a table (optional)
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Very High Level Model – How it Works
Identify “Subject” or “Business” Area and “Link (optional)” Symbols
Sales and Service
Department responsible for
all aspects of the sales and
service process
HR
Department responsible for
all internal employee and
benefits matters
Marketing
Department responsible for
marketing material and
marketing campaigns
Facilities
Department responsible for
all keeping the lights on
R&D
Department responsible for all
research and development of
new products
Engineering
Department responsible for
all design and development
of new products
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Very High Level Model – Our Context
Can be used to describe the “scope” of your project.
Customer
A person or organization who
purchases products from our
company
Address
A mailing or shipping address
for our customers
Product
A sellable product that is
manufactured by our
company for sale
Order
A contract to purchase one or
more of our products.
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Very High Level Model – How It’s Useful
How is this useful to me as a Business Analyst ?
Quick glance at the big picture of the project
Good reference for high level discussions with stakeholders
Feeds the high level (Conceptual) model
Feeds the business glossary
Focuses the scope of the project
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The Modeling Methodology
Very High Level Model (VHDM)
(Scope)
Business Analyst
Stakeholders
High Level (Conceptual) Model (HDM)
(Business Need)
Business Analyst
Subject Matter Experts
Logical Model (LDM)
(Business Solution)
Physical Data Model (PDM)
Business Analyst
Architect
(Technical Solution)
Architect
Developer
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High Level (Conceptual) Model – Tool Box
Entity
Abstract object (Noun) that describes a unique business meaning
Contains Title and Definition (optional) of that meaning
Can be any shape, but a box is standard.
Relationship Line
A line that indicates some type of relationship between two entities
Verb
Action Verb
A description of the type of relationship between two entities.
Cardinality Indicators
An indicator of the number of “instances” the relationship has
3 Types of cardinality
- 0: Indicated by a line with a circle
- 1: Indicated by a line with a smaller perpendicular line
- M: Indicated by a line with crows feet
Sub Class
A symbol that indicates that two or more entities are grouped.
17
High Level (Conceptual) Model – How it Works
Start with the Business Requirement
Need to track customer orders
Turn a business requirement into a model …
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
5 Tasks to Complete …
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify your entities
Identify your relationship lines
Identify the verb phrases
Identify the cardinality
Identify any super type/sub type groupings
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High Level Model – Define Entities
Turn a business rule into a model …
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
1. Identify the Entities (Find the nouns in the phrase)
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High Level Model – Define Entities
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
Customer
Order
1. Identify the Entities (Find the nouns in the phrase)
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High Level Model – Establish Relationship
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
Order
Customer
2. Establish Relationship Line
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High Level Model – Establish Relationship
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
Order
Customer
2. Establish Relationship Line
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High Level Model – Define Verbs
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
Customer
Order
3. Identify the Verb Phrase for both directions
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High Level Model – Define Verbs
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
places
Customer
Order
3. Identify the Verb Phrase from left to right
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High Level Model – Define Verbs
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
places
Customer
Order
3. Identify the Verb Phrase from right to left
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High Level Model – Define Verbs
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
places
Order
Customer
placed by
3. Identify the Verb Phrase from right to left
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High Level Model – Define Verbs
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
places
Order
Customer
placed by
3. Identify the Verb Phrase for both directions
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High Level Model – Define Cardinality
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
places
Order
Customer
placed by
4. Identify the cardinality from left to right
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High Level Model – Define Cardinality
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
places
Order
Customer
placed by
4. Identify the cardinality from left to right
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High Level Model – Define Cardinality
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
places
Order
Customer
placed by
4. Identify the cardinality from right to left
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High Level Model – Define Cardinality
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
places
Order
Customer
placed by
4. Identify the cardinality from right to left
31
High Level Model – Define Cardinality
Turn a business rule into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may place one or more orders.
An order must be placed by only one customer.
places
Order
Customer
placed by
4. Identify the cardinality from right to left
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How are we doing so far
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
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1st Quiz: Customer and Address
Establish the cardinality …
Define the business requirement …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
has
Address
Customer
had by
Identify the cardinality between these two entities
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1st Quiz: Customer and Address
What is the business rule …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may have more than one address.
has
Address
Customer
had by
Identify the cardinality between these two entities
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1st Quiz: Customer and Address
What is the business rule …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A customer may have more than one address.
An address can be had by more than one customer.
Is this true ?
has
Address
Customer
had by
Identify the cardinality between these two entities
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2nd Quiz: More Abstract
Turn the phrase into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A dog may eat several treats
If he does eat any treats he won’t share.
Dog
Treat
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2nd Quiz: More Abstract
Turn the phrase into a model …
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
A dog may eat several treats
If he does eat any treats he won’t share.
eats
Treat
Dog
eaten by
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High Level Model - Super Type/Sub Types
A Customer is a person or organization …
A sub type/super type is where you have a natural grouping of two or more
entities
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
Customer
is
Person
is
Organization
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High Level Model - Sub Types
A Customer is a person or organization …
A sub type/super type is where you have a natural grouping of
two or more entities
Super Type
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
Customer
Exclusive
One or the other but not both.
is
Sub Type
Person
is
Organization
Sub Type
40
High Level Model - Sub Types
A Customer is a person or organization …
A sub type/super type is where you have a natural grouping of two or more
entities.
A grouping of objects that share attributes, but also have different attributes
Super Type
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
Product
Non Exclusive
Can be one or more.
(No “X” in the symbol)
is
is
is
Amazon Product
Store Product
Ebay Product
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High Level Model – How It’s Useful
How is this useful to me as a Business Analyst…
Identify potentially undiscovered business requirements
Entities
Relationship
Verbs
Cardinality
Sub Types
Implement business rules to support business requirements
Clear understanding of the relationships of each entity
A working model of the business problem to give to the architect
A lot less churn !
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High Level Model– Putting it All Together
places
had by
Address
Customer
Order
has
placed by
contained by
is
contains
is
Product
Person
Organization
43
Questions
places
had by
Address
Customer
Order
has
placed by
contained by
is
contains
is
Product
Person
Organization
44