New Book Review: "The Data Model Resource Book Volume 2 (Revised Edition)"
Recently posted book review for The Data Model Resource Book Volume 2 (Revised Edition): A Library of Universal Data Models by Industry Types, by Len Silverston, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2001, reposted here:
Although there are quite a few positive reviews for this series of three texts by Silverston, there are also a nontrivial number of dissenters as well, who cite use of Barker's notation rather than Crow's Foot notation (i.e. Information Engineering notation) as well as unexpected contents within the accompanying CD. When first introduced to Richard Barker's "Entity Relationship Modeling" text during graduate school, this reviewer does admit that becoming familiar with his notation did take some time to become familiar with it, but all told it does not deviate significantly from Crow's Foot, and after a short amount of time the reader will actually notice some advantages in using it, one of which is the reduced space that substantive models need to consume. Sure, additional information not available with the CD can be purchased on Silverston's companion web site at Wiley, but it really is not necessary. Not only are these downloads not necessary, these may detract from the process of understanding the material that Silverston is attempting to present. And Silverston presents very well.
As Silverston explains in Volume 1, clients have inquired on numerous occasions where they can find texts showing standard ways to model data constructs, and "based on numerous experiences of using template or 'universal data models' and customizing them for various enterprises, we have concluded that usually more than 50 percent of the data model (corporate or logical) consists of common constructs that are applicable to most organizations, another 25 percent of the model is industry specific, and on average about 25 percent of the enterprise's data model is specific to that organization. Of course, as John Zachman indicates in this text, "Let's get pragmatic. Starting with a universal data model does not absolve anyone of the responsibility of knowing his or her own enterprise intimately, at even an excruciating level of detail! Nor does it absolve anyone from the responsibility of learning how to build data models! What you have to do is start with the universal model, and then understanding data modeling and understanding your own enterprise, make the necessary modifications to make the universal model your own."
After presenting Barker's notation and basic modeling, the author presents models for the following industry areas in separate chapters: manufacturing, telecommunications, health care, insurance, financial services, professional services, travel, and e-commerce (the name of this last area is obviously a bit dated, since this book was published in 2001, but it does not detract in any meaningful way from the message). For each industry area, the author discusses issues of concern. For example, Silverston poses the following questions for the insurance industry: "How can we support the insurance coverage needs of our customers?", "How can we best sell products and services to meet those needs while maintaining proper risk levels?", "How can we improve customer service and maintain our customer relationships?", "How can we maximize revenues, minimize costs, and still maintain excellent service levels?", and "How can we ensure that our systems are flexible enough to allow us to change our business models quickly and easily?". And after explaining that information needs to be tracked in order to answer these types of questions, the author literally walks the reader through people and organizations in insurance, insurance products, insurance product coverage, insurance policies, premium schedules, and policy claims.
Well recommended text, even if the reader is already familiar with the industry areas in which they are interested, because it can never hurt to get additional insight from other industry practitioners, and compared to other available resources the cost of this text is trivial.