Question

Discuss and gather insight and feedback on the importance of data models and how to discover business rules and interpret them as an information resource.

Answer 1

#Importance of data models

Data models can facilitate interaction among the designer, the applications programmer, and the end user. A well-developed data model can even foster improved understanding of the organization for which the database design is developed. In short, data models are a communication tool.

Data constitute the most basic information units employed by a system. Applications are created to manage data and to help transform data into information. But data are viewed in different ways by different people. So that there is a huge importance of data modeling in DBMS. For example, contrast the view of a company manager with that of a company clerk. Although the manager and the clerk both work for the same company, the manager is more likely to have an enterprise-wide view of company data than the clerk. Applications programmers have yet another view of data, being more concerned with data location, formatting, and specific reporting requirements.Basically, applications programmers translate company policies and procedures from a variety of sources into appropriate interfaces, reports, and query screens.When a good database blueprint is available, it does not matter that an applications programmer’s view of the data is different from that of the manager and  the end user. Conversely, when a good database blueprint is not available, problems are likely to occur.For instance, an inventory management program and an order entry system may use conflicting product-numbering schemes, thereby costing the company thousands of dollars. The data model is an abstraction; you cannot draw the required data out of the data model.

#How to discover Business rules

Step 1 How: How should the business rule work?
This first step is to gather the relevant knowledge sources that can help specify how the decision is made and how the business rule should work.

Step 2 Where: Where does the business rule apply?
The second step is to define where the business rule applies. This question should be answered from a business perspective. Therefore, the best way to determine this requirement is to indicate as part of which business process (step) the business rule needs to be described. Business processes define the order of activities that are executed to produce a result to the customer. A business rule can often be assigned to a single activity or set of activities. Reference material like existing business process models from the organization, high level business function models, or business process reference models from the industry can all serve as a starting point.

Step 3 What: What information is necessary to execute the business rule?
The final step is about data. A business rule is based on a combined set of information or data elements. For example, the business rule for whether an insurance claim is accepted, depends on the amount claimed and the payment behavior of the customer. Part of the set of requirements of a business rule, is to define the essential data elements that are necessary as input to the business rule.

• Separating rules from other system artefacts.
• Tracing rules by relating them to business context (organisational policies, strategies, tactics, goals, objectives).
• Externalizing rules by expressing them in natural language, naming them and classifying them.
• Positioning rules for change by given them well-defined jurisdictions and establishing business consensus.
• Positioning rules for change by associating them with the knowledge they reference and the knowledge they .

#Interpret as an information resource

Business rules guide information system development and maintenance in the organization. The issue of business rules for enterprise information systems has recently received considerable attention. However, as yet little research has been reported on a systematic approach to business rules management. This paper proposes a business rules management model. In this model, business rules are supported by three types of independent information system components: system setting, database, and procedural module. A business rule can be formalized into one or more elementary rule, and a formalized elementary rule is associated with one and only one information system component. Business rules, system components, and their interconnected relationships can be organized into an XML enabled repository for the system development, customization, and maintenance. An example of artifact of business rules management system can be found in an apartment rental management system. This example is used to illustrate the concept of business rules management.