Data Modeling and Analysis (continued)
This week you are building on the previous week’s activity. Please make sure to review the Milestone 4, Part I Solution (located in Doc Sharing) before continuing with the Milestone 4, Part II activity. The synopsis below is the same as the synopsis for Week 4. It is shown below for your convenience.
The requirements analysis phase answers the question, “What does the user need and want from a new system?” The requirements analysis phase is critical to the success of any new information system! In this milestone we need to identify what information systems requirements need to be defined from the system users’ perspectives and draw graphical, logical models to document the data requirements for a new and improved system.
Data modeling is a technique for organizing and documenting a system’s data. Data modeling is sometimes called database modeling because a data model is usually implemented as a database. Data is viewed as a resource to be shared by as many processes as possible. As a result, data must be organized in a way that is flexible and adaptable to unanticipated business requirements – and that is the purpose of data modeling.
In this milestone, you will first discover those entities in the system that are or might be described by data. Then you will define each entity you identify in respect to the business in an Entity Definition Matrix. Then you will do the data model tutorial in doc sharing that will prepare you for doing the Fully-Attributed data model (Physical ERD) for EBS.
Objectives
After completing this milestone, you should be able to:
• Understand and perform the techniques for entity discovery.
• Define each entity with respect to the business and complete an entity definition
matrix.
• Perform the necessary data modeling techniques to organize and document the
data requirements for the proposed system.
• Construct the Fully Attributed data model.
Prerequisites
Before starting this milestone, the following topics should be covered:
• Data modeling – Chapters 8 and 14.
• Milestone 1-3 Solution – provided by your instructor
• Milestone 4, Part I Solution – provided by your instructor
Assignment
Now that we have studied the current system and analyzed some of its problems and opportunities, plus gained approval to proceed, we can now start to identify the business data requirements and graphically model them. In this assignment, we will use our results of the previous milestones, samples of forms we have collected, and the preliminary data analysis. The results of this activity will identify the business data requirements for the proposed system.
Activities
Deliverable format and software to be used are according to your instructor’s specifications. Deliverables should be neatly packaged in a binder, separated with a tab divider labeled “Milestone 4-Part II”.
References
• Preliminary data analysis (see Milestone 4, Part I Description)
• Exhibit 4.5 (see below)
