University of Missouri - St. Louis INFORMATION SYSTEMS ANALYSIS Data Modeling for System Analysis IS 6840 By: Varuni Mallikaarachchi Data Modelin; A data model is a description of how data should be used to meet the requirements given by the end user (Ponniah). Data modeling. helps to understand the information requirements. Data modeling differs according to the type of the business, because the business processes or each sector is different, and it needs to be identified in the modeling stage. Initial step is the analyzing the situation, gather Gata, Data modeling process starts with requirement gatherings. When developing the proper data model it is important to communicate with the stakcholders about the requirements. Data modeling is the act of exploring data oriented structures. This ean be used for variety cof purposes. One of the important functions of data modeling is tha, it helps to understand the information requirements. Especially this makes both developers and end users lives easier, As mentioned above, data modeling helps the end users to define their requirements, and the developers are able to develop a system to meet those specified requirements, Proceasinout + tema faccebneces| | Sectional © SETS ¥ Funetonal anaiveerocstion age rena a ha Ls Requramars BMRA Et sec amity egatemasrcre nao Aches ‘Sytteae Toesen tears tina» Pea 1 Shh Som Caape cgeren 1 Goalie yet arses est tare) eed Eee Renae Rested ere: piitaaoaanad futners Grants sync Hay funsine aioe wits piv poonsSepar orig De TReantineaser Figure 3-1. The Systems Engineering Process Figure 1: The Systems Engineering Process - [7] Data model isa conceptual representation of data structures required fora database and is very powerful in expressing and communicating the business requirements (Learn Data Modeling). It visually represents the nature of data, business rules that are applicable to data, and how it willbe organized inthe database. Thee are three main design forthe data model, namely conceptual design, logical design and the physical desi (tl Education Solutions Limited). Data mode! is used by both functional team andthe technical team ina project. Functional tcam consists of the business analysts and the end users, and the technical tam consists of the developers and the programmers. There are data modelers who are responsible for designing the data model which mects theexpectations of the Functional team, and provide requirements for the technical team (Chuck Ballard, Dirk Herreman, Don Schau, Rhonda Bell, 1998). Levels of Data Models ee Fenrir P “Audience = Business Users and Analysts “cee ig Suowcrwctretg, 2 PO Figure 2: Levels of Data Models [22] History of Data Models In 1970s, Peter Chen invented and introduced the entity-relationship modeling technique. In 1980s the object modeling techniques started applying to representing information requirements of an organization. Then the unified modeling language (UML) was introduced to replace the object modeling methods. (Hay, Requirements Analysis; From Business Views to Architecture) Data Modeling Process Data modeling process starts with analyzing the situation, Here the analysts are able to gather requirements, when designing a proper data model it's important to communicate with the stakeholders about the requirements, Data modeling is the act of exploring data oriented structures, which can be used for multiple purposes. Mainly data modeling is a communication tool among users, which considers as the blue print of the database system. (Merson, Paulo F.) Data Analysis The techniques of data analysis can impact the type of data model selected and its content, For example, i the intent is simply to provide query and reporting. capability, a data model that structures the data in more of a normalized fashion would probably provide the fastest and easiest access to the data. Query and reporting capability primarily consists of selecting associated data elements, perhaps summarizing them and grouping them by some category, and presenting the results. Executing this type of capability typically might Iead to the use of more direct table scans. For this type of capability, perhaps an ER model with a normalized and/or denormalized data structure would be most appropriate,Figure 3: Several methods of data analysis [5] A data model consists of three different phases. (West)Those are: ‘Structural part - Consisting a set of rules Manipulating part ~ Types of operations allowed, such as updating, retrieving, and changing the database Integrity part - which validates the accuracy of data, Business sos Oprentiny ces isk moreasod ffectveness A Reduces Responsive oe taChange Minmum ‘Syetems integration Reauodancy of ata ‘Sipe Inertoeas erp Dana Figure 4: West & Fowler has identified many benefits of a data model. Above figure depics the details of these benefits of using a data model. [25] ‘There are four types of data models identified: ‘+ Conceptual Data Models — Highest-Ievel relationships between different entities + Enterprise Data Models ~ Addresses unique requirements of a specific business. However this is similar to conceptual data, modeling, ‘+ Logical Data Modeling - Ilustrates the specific entities, attributes, and relationships involved in a business function. This serves as the basis forthe creation of the physical data model. ‘+ Physical Data Modeling - Represent an application and database-specific implementation of a logical data model. (ScarchDataManagement.com Definitions) Conceptual Data Models According to Hoffer etal. Conceptual data model isa representation of organizational data. The purpose of a conceptual data model is to show as many rules about the meaning and interrelationships among data as are possible. Conceptual data modeling is typically done in pparallel with other requirement analysis and structuring steps during system analysis. This is carried out throughout the systems development process. This is useful for both planning and analysis phases in the systems development life cycle (Valacich). Conceptual data model contains about10 - 20 entities and relevant relationships known as group entities. Conceptual data modeling is the most crucial stage in the database design process, Peter Chen states entity relationship model as a “Pure Representation of reality”Urey Seo Py Figure 5: Conceptual Data Modeling Process According to Jarrar, Demey, and Rober, identifies two main differences of conceptual data schemes and ontologies which should be taken into consideration when reusing the conceptual data modeling techniques for building ontologies. Paper further discusses that the successful conceptual data modeling approaches, such as ORM (object role modeling) or FER (Enhanced entity relationship model) ‘became well known because of the methodological guidance in building conceptual models of information systems, (M Jarrar) Enterprise Data Model (External Data Model ‘An Enterprise Data Model isan integrated view of the data produced and consumed across an entire organization, It incorporates an appropriate industry perspective. An Enterprise Data Model (EDM) represents a single integrated definition of data, unbiased of any system or application, It is independent of “how” the data is physically sourced, stored, processed or accessed. The model unites, formalizes and represents the things important to an organization, as well as the rules governing them. (Ponniah) (Noreen Kendle) Enterprise Data Model Figure 6: Enterprise Data Modeling Structure [19] Logical Data Model ‘The logical data model is an evolution of the conceptual data model towards a data management technology such as relational databases. Actual implementation of the conceptual model is called a logical data model. To implement one conceptual data model may require ‘multiple logical data models, Data modeling defines the relationships between data clements and structuresEnterprise Logical Data Model Tee) Mery IVETE mY felelacy tmernrse |} business) || tveeration |] ,ourines |) unstructured Integration |] Application || Metadata |] 'relltence |) “Metadata Data Models || Data Models crn ey conn Figure 7: Logical Data Model Physical Data Model Physical data model is representation of a data design which takes into account the facilities and constraints of @ given database ‘management system, Physical data model represents how the model will be builtin the database. A physical database model shows all table structures, including column name, column data type, column constraints, primary key, foreign key, and relationships between tables. Message Format + Standeras Reference sage Fees with Re lone, + Mostege FSGS van Representa File Structure + Standards Reference rl Record and File Descriptions . ‘+ Map from LOM to Record Fields ‘Options: Physical Schema "36S! Seon tn een stat - HETEESAS ati Other Options Figure 8: Physical Data Model Multidimensional data modeling Multidimensional structure is defined as “a variation of the relational model that uses multidimensional structures to organize data and. express the relationships between data. According to Jensen ct al. multidimensional models view a central data element for the given domain, which uniquely defined by a combination of dimension values (Christian $. Jensen) ‘Newspeak — Tower of Babel Dilemma in Data Modeling ‘This is the fundamental design problem for information systems. Creating a standard model for the whole company with different data interpretation of an organization, this is known as the Newspeak solution. Allowing multiple and incompatible models to coexist ean lead to Tower of Babel problem. Because of the conflicts the system designers can either create an enterprise wide data model or create ‘multiple models to meet each requirement (Federico Fonseca), Problems can arise due to miscommunication, and when the information system is not working the way it was designed. Agent based modelAn agent-based model (ABM) (also sometimes related to the term multi-agent system or multi-agent simulation) is a lass of computational models for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous agents (both individual and collective entities such as organizations or groups) with a view to assessing their effects on the system as a whole. It combines elements of game theory, complex systems, emergence, computational sociology, multi-agent systems, and evolutionary programming. Monte Carlo Methods are used to introduce randomness. ABM's are also called individual-based models. Nigel Gilbert has defined Agent-based Modeling as a new analytical method for social sciences which is quickly becoming popular. Further, agent based modeling is a computational method that enables a researcher to create, analyze, and experiment with models composed of agents that interact within an environment. ‘There ate nine techniques will help to model a agent based system, these techniques include, Preciseness, accessibility, expressiveness, modularity, complexity management, excitability, refinability, analyzability, and openness (Gilber) In the paper by Osinga, states how an agent-based model has used as a modeling method to investigate the relationship between system. level and agent level behavior. ‘There are three business modeling types: ‘+ Business Process Modeling + Process Flow modeling + Data Flow modeling Agile Modeling and Analysis Techni Agile Modeling: Agile modeling is a collection of values, principles, and practices for modeling software that ean be applied on software development project in an effective manner, Agile modeling includes creating several models in applying right artifacts for the situation, and continue to move forward. 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