JCK - Excellence in Data Architecture

EXCELLENCE IN DATA ARCHITECTURE

since 1989

4348 Pine Grove Ave
Fort Gratiot MI USA
48059-3732
V: 810 982-8639

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The Weakest Link in Business

Data Structure and User Reality

Business Events and Mathematical Modeling

What is User Focused Data Architecture?

So what’s the problem? You’ve probably guessed – there’s a weak link in the chain. Between the user side and technical side, there’s a "link" that isn’t getting the attention it should. It has many names, or none: user/technician communications, user specification gathering, systems analysis. Whatever its called, you’ll find almost universal agreement that this aspect of systems design is the least successful.

The Mystery

Why is this? One would think that this link would get the most attention. Users should understand that there’s no such thing as modern business without sound IS support. IS surely knows that supporting users is their entire reason for existence. Connecting the "user side" to the "technical side" should be of foremost concern to both parties.

But that isn’t how things are. Users focus on their business pursuits and dread "those meetings with IS". Technicians want to get their hands on the latest technical toys, then wonder why the users aren’t impressed with their technical achievements.

Perhaps it’s because this middle ground, this weak link, doesn’t really belong to either side. The users think this role is a technical one and therefore the responsibility of the technicians. But the technicians aren’t comfortable with it because it doesn’t fit into their categories. It’s not software, hardware, or network related, so in what way is it technical?

Attempts have been made to strengthen this link, but they continue to fall short. Users try to explain their reality so it can be translated into a technical framework, but often lack the understanding to do it well. Technicians, comfortable with abstraction, have answered by creating elaborate and esoteric methodologies with cryptic symbols and terminology so obscure that even most technical folk can’t penetrate them. The result is a muddle that frustrates both sides.

Not that the link always breaks. Systems do get developed eventually. When the link does hold, it is often because of "crossover" – perhaps a technician who learned enough business to understand the users, or a user who "went technical", and brought along the understanding of the user’s side. Large businesses have gone so far as to make liaison positions or departments, with employees assigned to strengthening the link, to bridging the gap between the user and technical side. This has met with mixed success, and where it succeeds, it is all too often random, making it difficult to repeat. The success of one project doesn’t guarantee the success of the next. The strengthening of the link, and thus of the whole chain, depends on luck and chance.

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Since 1989, JCK has been devoted to teaching and implementing the principles of User-Focused Data Architecture. UFDA is based on the principle that the users are the data experts in any organization. Sound data architecture should focus on extracting the user's knowledge, clarifying ambiguous defintions, and building understandable data structures. These definitions and structures serve as the basis for system development. The first and most well known UFDA technique is Extended Relational Analysis ™ (ERA), which has been proven for decades. More recent techniques include Business Event Analysis & Modeling ™ (BEAM), which is useful for both Transactional Systems (BEAM TSS) and Decision Support Systems (BEAM DSS).