Best Practice: How to Create the Best Data Model Ever
A good data model, done right the first time, can save you time and money.
We have all seen the charts on the increasing cost of finding a mistake/bug/error late in a software development cycle.
Would you like to reduce, or even eliminate, your risk of finding one of those errors late in the game?
Of course you would! Who wouldn’t? Nobody plans to miss a requirement or make a bad design decision (well nobody sane anyway).
No modeler worth their salt wants to leave a model incomplete or incorrect.
So what can you do to minimize the risk?
Well, if you are designing relational database or data warehouse systems, you can do your part by implementing a best practice approach to developing your data models.
What you need is a simple, repeatable process for reviewing your models.
Conceptual. Logical. Physical.
Years ago, a client asked me to help them develop a review process for their new data architecture committee. One that even a non-modeler could follow.
It had to be easy to follow and repeatable.
A checklist of what to look for and what to ask the modeler to make sure they got the best possible model.
It worked like a charm.
I have been using and refining that check list ever since.
It is amazing how many issues I have found over the years using this approach.
And I usually found them in early stages. They were also usually pretty small issues that were easy to fix at that stage.
A missing attribute definition.
A missing business key.
Incorrect cardinality or optionality on a relationship.
Small, but they would have been costly to fix if we had built the database with the original design and started coding the application, then found the mistake.
I imagine that you could probably benefit from using my process and having this checklist handy to set up your very own data model design review process. Am I right?
So I decided to publish it and make it available to all my loyal readers and followers (even you lurkers out there!). 😉
As of today you can get your very own copy of the process details, pre-review questions, and the review checklist for both logical and physical models in the convenient Kindle format for a crazy low price.
This is way less than you would pay for me or any other data model consultant to build one for you.
Even better, if you have Amazon Prime you can get it for free via the lending library. So try before you buy (you really do want your own copy to keep, honest).
So head on over to Amazon and check it out.
Will you do me a favor?
If you like it and think it can help your friends and colleagues at other companies, then please post a review and be sure to tell them about over email, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
BTW – You don’t have to own a Kindle to get my book. You can download a FREE Kindle reader to your PC, MAC, iPhone, or Android device. So don’t worry…just get the book and tell your friends.
Happy Modeling!
Kent
P.S., If you have any ideas for other little reports I could provide, leave me a comment in the blog. Thanks!
The Data Warrior 