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Subject Area Models

The document discusses the importance of a Subject Area Model (SAM) in developing a successful data warehousing or data architecture program. It provides guidance on defining a well-structured SAM, including focusing on high-level business definitions understood by both business and IT, and containing 6 to 20 subject areas depending on data complexity. The SAM should be actively used and governed jointly by business and IT for various purposes like business planning, data governance, requirements definition, and data model development to maximize its value.

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mohnish
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115 views4 pages

Subject Area Models

The document discusses the importance of a Subject Area Model (SAM) in developing a successful data warehousing or data architecture program. It provides guidance on defining a well-structured SAM, including focusing on high-level business definitions understood by both business and IT, and containing 6 to 20 subject areas depending on data complexity. The SAM should be actively used and governed jointly by business and IT for various purposes like business planning, data governance, requirements definition, and data model development to maximize its value.

Uploaded by

mohnish
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Subject Area Model (SAM) is a key component of a successfully developed data warehousing or

data architecture program.  Oftentimes, when a subject area model is created, they are frequently

leveraged for only the purpose of segmenting a data model.  Whether you develop it yourself, or

purchase a vendor data warehouse solution, having a subject area model can assist your effort in

many additional ways.  If utilized effectively, it can also help in development, deployment, and

efficient usage.

Let’s take a deeper look at the concept of a subject area model and how to get the most out of it.

What Is A Well Defined SAM?


A subject area model is most efficiently defined as a breakdown of business definitions that

encompass the high level data areas of the solution you are trying to build.  While most often used

to define the data areas of a data warehouse solution, in a new organization or one developing a

formal data architecture program, it should be used as the basis for mapping all data across the

organization.  The key in any successful subject area model is to make sure that the terminology

and definitions associated with it are business focused and able to be understood at a high level at

a glance.  Varying requirements exist for how many subjects are effective or desirable, but

generally no fewer than 6 and no more than 20 is a starting guideline.  The greater the depth and

complexity of the data in your business, the larger the number of subjects you may need to define.

A general concept for the creation of a valuable model is that the subjects should not change.  As

your business evolves, it may increase in nature, but should not change significantly – if it did, one

could argue that the initial model was not done well.

The varying methods and approaches for defining a sound subject area model are too numerous

and lengthy to expound on in entirety here.

How Can You Use SAM?


A well defined SAM should not be something that is created and put on the shelf.  It is something

that should be integrated into the data architecture that fits the original reason for creating it in

the first place.  There is both business involvement in the ownership of the content of the model,

and data architecture support of the maintenance and publishing of the model.  Defining business

oversight and governance of the model insures that the business is not only actively involved, but

helps to drive and realize the value that can be achieved.  Much of the IT support following the

initial creation involves mapping and modeling of the detailed data model components that make

up the comprehensive model.  Creating the SAM it enables the various models that support it to be

developed in organized iterations that map to the business needs and drivers being addressed.

Get The Most Out Of SAM


Once you have the SAM created, there are several ways you can leverage it to achieve the most

value.  Here are a few categories of usage that you might find useful:

 Business Project Planning:  As business needs are prioritized and planned, a SAM can

provide a basis for linking projects and systems to be developed and deployed.  Business

leadership can help ensure that system planning and data activities are linked to provide a

common terminology that fits the nature of the business.

 Establishing Data Governance:  Defining how the business oversees the capture,

quality, and usage of data is a key benefit of a SAM.  Often dividing up the stewardship of data

is best done by each subject.  That could mean having formal stewards each responsible for a

subject or having some stewards responsible for multiple subjects.

 Data Capture Or Integration Planning:  In building a practice for data centric definition

of systems design or ETL/data integration frameworks, a SAM can help logically separate the

various components.  In doing this, it can provide a separation that allows resources to focus

on the quality and integrity of specific areas of data and link those resources to the

appropriate data stewards.

 Communications:  An effective communications plan often reduces the hurdles and

roadblocks that slow projects and delivery.  Sharing the overall treatment of data as an asset

to your organization can provide several advantages.  It may help alleviate fears over the

protection of the data.  It also can help resources see how the evolution of systems and data

relates to their individual roles/responsibilities and how it will impact overall business success. 

For those building data warehouses, it can be used to help describe why the data is necessary

to enabling analytical efforts.

 Requirements Definition:  When defining the data needs of an individual project or

effort, it is beneficial to have a high level model that can be used to quickly outline the data

components required.  In this case, a SAM is used to communicate and validate with the

business how the data needs of any effort fit into the overall data architecture.  In data

warehousing related efforts, it provides a basis for the sorting and ordering of source to target

mapping efforts.

 Data Model Development:  The most common usage of a SAM is to allow a data

modeling team to focus and prioritize the creation of a formal data architecture design.  It can

then be the basis for building your model a piece at a time, allowing multiple resources to work

on parts of the model without having to boil the ocean by building an enterprise data model all

at once.  Effective managing and progress is then reported at a level that both business and IT

can align with.

 
Summary
A Subject Area Model is a tool that once created can and should be used for a variety of purposes. 

Ideally, it becomes the cornerstone of a well defined data architecture program.  Most importantly,

it should be shared, governed, and used to build an integrated data architecture program. 

Aligning both the business and IT in development and oversight can help bridge the gap between

efforts and planning.

Prepare the Subject Area Model. It identifies the organization’s high-level


business entities. It documents:

· key business entities,

· key relationships between the business entities,

· key business entity to key business process relationships (i.e., map).

This deliverable is a component of the Data Warehousing Program


Strategy. The Subject Area Model is a supporting document, included as
an appendix. Once the strategy is completed, the findings and
recommendations are presented to the Acceptor.

Size and Format

The Subject Area Model is an informal document.

A high-level Entity-Relationship Diagram is used to graphically display the


business entities and their relationships. The entity-relationship diagram
should be a maximum of two to four pages.

An Association Matrix can be used to map the relationships between the


business entities and the business processes. The cross-reference matrix
should be a maximum of one page.

ACTIVITY - SELECT BUSINESS PROCESSES TO BE


ENGINEERED

This activity selects the business processes to be engineered. Specific


objectives are to:

· identify the organization's high-level business processes,

· outline the cost of the business processes,


· assess the health of the business processes,

· assess the feasibility of re-engineering the business processes,

· select the business processes to be engineered.

Tips and Hints

No organization is capable of engineering all its business processes at


once. Selecting processes to engineer is the most critical step in
the BPE project. This activity must answer three questions:

· What do we do?

· How do we do it?

· How good are we at it?

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