This was an opportunity I could not miss – a 2-hour presentation on modelling to an audience of database experts!
Starting with a brief look at using Visio and/or Excel for data modelling and governance, I talked about the extras we can gain by using PowerDesigner to design databases.
Of course, it’s not ‘just’ databases we’re concerned with, the relationships those databases have with our business and technical architecture is also important.
The next key topic is the role of Data Models and others (such as the Requirements model) in Governance and Design.
Next it’s mapping data sources and targets to demonstrate and create data lineage, showing how PowerDesigner supports multiple DBMS Versions (and what you can do to change how it does that), creating a CUBE for Business Objects, finally (almost) focusing on the support provided for SAP IQ.
Finally, I described some real-world uses of PowerDesigner.
Requirements
April 28th Sandhill webinar – What’s new with SAP #PowerDesigner Latest Edition V16.6
Join us for a webinar on Apr 28, 2016 at 2:00 PM EDT.
Register now!
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3620953847587697409
Strategic decisions are based on data. The quality of your data will greatly effect the quality of your decisions. A well informed decision, requires a 360º view of an organisation’s information assets.
Sandhill Consultants in conjunction with SAP will be hosting a webcast on the latest features and functionality within SAP PowerDesigner R16.x, including the most recent Edition R16.6.
Sandhill Consultants will also review the different Editions (Data Architect and Enterprise Architect) and the process of upgrading to the latest editions.
Key topics discussed in this Webinar
1. Understanding the differences between Data and Enterprise Architect Editions
2. Visualize the different model types, features and functionality
3. Review of the SAP PowerDesigner Repository
Don’t miss this opportunity to see SAP PowerDesigner in action and learn how SAP PowerDesigner can help your organization achieve a 360° view of its information assets
For more information on SAP PowerDesigner click on the link below:
http://www.sandhillconsultants.com/powerdesignereditions.asp
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
#PowerDesigner track at ISUG-TECH conference in April 2014
ISUG-TECH is an annual conference for users of ex-Sybase products – this year we expect more than 500 technical attendees.
This year’s conference will take place at the Hilton Atlanta, Georgia, United States, from April 14th to April 17th, with additional workshops on the 18th. This year there is a dedicated PowerDesigner track, so there’s even more reason for people to attend. Details of sessions are currently being posted online, and the agenda builder will be available on or about February 1st, 2014.
I’m running an all-day workshop on the 14th – Building the Data Model Pyramid with SAP PowerDesigner, and Martijn Evers is running one on the 18th – SAP PowerDesigner Power Programming: The Road to Automation.
You can register for the conference here – http://my.isug.com/techwave2014/register.
Looking for PowerDesigner Training or expertise?
As the author of “Data Modeling Made Simple with PowerDesigner”, I am in a unique position to provide your organisation with the insights and knowledge you need to understand PowerDesigner, and how to make best use of it.
I can deliver off-the-shelf PowerDesigner training in the tool’s capabilities, as well as training geared towards data modellers and data architects, which can be tailored to suit your environment if you choose. If you need training geared towards other users of PowerDesigner, please contact me to discuss your needs.
Please click on “Tool Training/expertise” at the top of this page to find out more.
Death by Spreadsheet
I reckon most of us have heard the phrase ‘death by PowerPoint’, referring to those moments when you’d rather just give up than see yet another slide stuffed with burping, animated clip-art. There is another phrase some of us are also familiar with, that’s probably more pernicious – ‘death by spreadsheet’.
Imagine the scenario – a team of analysts and business experts are putting together the requirements for a complex new application. Will they model their business processes using a process modelling tool? They might, but let’s say they don’t in this case, because they don’t have a process modelling tool, and they’re too expensive. Do they use a UML modelling tool, producing activity diagrams and use cases? Probably not – isn’t UML for system designers and developers? How about producing high-level data models in a data modelling tool? I doubt that very much – I haven’t met many business analysts comfortable with producing data models. Okay, what does that leave? By the way, did I mention the need to manage and compare versions of those requirements, and allow several people to update them at the same time? Oh, don’t forget that we need to link those requirements to design artefacts and other stuff, like data models and processes.
Of course, why didn’t I think of it? The perfect solution – let’s use a whopping great Excel spreadsheet, and use SharePoint to manage versioning and sharing. Even better, we’ll develop a set of linked spreadsheets, each one designed for a special task. That’ll do the job, for a while at least, but for how long? What about when person B wants to edit a spreadsheet that person A is working on, so person B takes a copy to work on. Then they store it in their own SharePoint folder. Eventually, there are ten copies spread around various SharePoint folders. Never mind, the cost is still low, isn’t it? We already have licences for Excel and SharePoint. Anyway, I’m sure we can use hyperlinks to connect requirements to other documentation, models, etc. It’s easy to link to another file, and maybe to a bookmark of some kind within a file. But (there’s always a ‘but’) what happens when the name of the file or bookmark changes, or you want to link to more than one of them? Can we see the link from the ‘other’ end? Of course not, that’s not how hyperlinks work. No problem, what we need is another spreadsheet where we duplicate this rats’ nest of connections in a searchable manner.
It’s pretty low maintenance, just a few hours needed each week, making sure everything connects, and updating that other spreadsheet. After all, it must be cheaper than spending all that money on tools mustn’t it? In one way, it is cheaper – we haven’t spent any money on software. However, we do have a large overhead maintaining all this stuff. Still, we won’t need to maintain it for ever, will we? Once we’ve gone live with the second or third release, we can afford to chuck away all that work, can’t we? It doesn’t matter if we can’t answer future questions like “why did we do it this way, when that isn’t the way the package does it out of the box?”.
It’s ironic, isn’t it? The organisation is in a pickle because we’ve built all these data and process silos over the years, and the solution is to simplify things using a complex package, service-oriented architecture, a combination of both, or something else. So, we’re replacing the organisation’s process and data silos with something that integrates much better, reduces effort and cost, and is less liable to lead to confusion, error, or even jail sentences for those held responsible. How do we manage the design and implementation of this new nirvana? We build our own metadata silos (multiple spreadsheets, data models, etc) which don’t link together, each group develops their own deliverables, and little effort is spent on making sure all these silos connect with each other. I forgot, that’s what spreadsheets are good at, isn’t it? Nope, that’s what integrated tools are good at. After all, isn’t that what we’re giving the business people, a set of integrated tools for managing their business, often to replace their own version of ‘death by spreadsheet’?