The Road to Creating a Workable Enterprise Data Model

The moment your EDM, so far merely a paper reference model, is finally approved to be implemented, an interesting journey has started. You will soon realize that promoting and defending your EDM is peanuts comparing to the real implementation.

As soon as the rubber meets the road, suddenly everyone has an opinion, especially the business unit that is first impacted. They feel like guinea pigs and are likely to question the added value of your initiative. You need to convince everyone, time and time again, about the importance of your EDM.

Therefore, don’t forget the purpose of your EDM: an enterprise wide approach to bridge the gap between business and IT, faster time to market, and reducing cost and risks.

A number of key deliverables are essential to become successful:

Use versioning conscientiously
Staff up the data modelling team
Use your initial projects as a guide for impact analysis
Consider both short and long term planning
Training, training, training...
Use design workshops to create your first production version

With over 30 years of experience in various data warehouse and data governance programs across multiple industries, Ivan Schotsmans serves as Data Coordinator in an Agricultural corporation, one of the largest in Western Europe. After two decades working on international data warehousing programs as developer, analyst and project manager, Ivan evolved to a data governance role. In this role he is responsible for the strategy and architecture of several data migration programs. Ivan is a pioneer in turning business intelligence environments into agile projects. Recently, he has brought to bear important data governance concepts into big data initiatives. Ivan is (co-) founder and member of several global organizations (TDWI Benelux Chapter, DAMA, IAIDQ, etc.) and frequently keynotes at international conferences.