Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Frequently, action items come out of the review and confirm step, causing you to go back
to Step 2 and refine your concepts. Expect iteration through these steps. Let's talk more
about each of these five steps.
STEP 1: ASK THE FIVE STRATEGIC QUESTIONS
Ask these five questions as early as possible in the application development process:
1.
What is the application going to do?
Precisely and clearly document the answer to
this question in less than three sentences. Make sure to include whether you are re-
placing an existing system, delivering new functionality, integrating several exist-
ing applications together, etc. Always “begin with the end in mind,” and so know
exactly what you are going to deliver. If there is a detailed requirements document,
mention this, too. This question helps determine the scope of the application. You
can return to the answer of this question during your development to make sure
you are staying the course and sticking to the agreed upon scope.
1.
“As is” or “to be”?
You need to know if there is a requirement to understand and
model the current business environment (that is, the “as is” view), or to understand
and model a proposed business environment (that is, the “to be” view). Sometimes
the answer might be both, which means you first need to understand how things
currently work before building something new. This question helps ensure you are
capturing the correct time perspective.
2.
Is analytics a requirement?
Analytics, in informal terms, is the field of playing
with numbers. That is, taking measurements such as
Gross Sales Amount
or
In-
ventory Count
and viewing them at different levels of granularity such as by day
or year. If there is a requirement for analytics, at least part of your solution needs
to be dimensional. Relational modeling focuses on business rules, and dimensional
modeling focuses on business questions. This question will determine whether a
relational or dimensional solution is needed.
3.
Who is the audience?
That is, who is the person or group who is the validator and
can confirm your understanding of the CDM, and who will be the users of the
CDM? It is a good policy with anything you produce to determine early on who
will check your work (the validators) and who will be the recipient or users of your
work. This question will ensure you choose the ideal display format for your con-
