Data Modeling Case Study. The application was developed for a Financial services driven by financial applications with reliable, consistent data. The tool used was ER/Studio®. The Challenges were Continuous expansion meant the need for easy communication of data models, regardless of physical location. Planned desktop computers upgrade would not support legacy data repository. Needed to standardize on all metadata with a higher degree of consistency. Results were Better visibility to the models being developed within the system. More re-use of metadata to provide more accurate information. Easier to communicate the current state of data throughout the enterprise.

1. Organization
Barclays Bank
Success Story
ER/Studio
“Embarcadero clearly offered the best data modeling
solution to meet our requirements. ER/Studio matched
our high-priority functional requirements including
high-quality HTML, mapping functions, and good
metadata repository capabilities. Embarcadero
ER/Studio does exactly what it says on the tin, and
stood up against our high expectations.”
– Andy Davidson, Senior Designer, Data Management Services
Introduction
Barclays is one of the largest financial services
companies in the world. Based in the UK with
a large international presence in Europe, the
USA, Africa, and Asia, Barclays specializes in
banking, investment banking, and investment
management. In business for more than 300
years Barclays boasts 25 million customers and
118,000 employees in over 60 countries.
Challenge
The services offered by Barclays and valued by
their customers are primarily driven by financial
applications that deliver - and ultimately the
databases these systems are built upon. At
the very start of this development process,
data modelers need to understand what data
exists in the organization, where it resides,
and how it can be used. With this insight,
they can then create the company-wide data
models needed to efficiently design high
performance, high availability databases. Across
the organization, modeling teams refer to the
Barclays data repository as the central point for
communication, development, reporting, and
analysis of data models. Based at the company’s
Cheshire offices, Barclays’ data repository was
running on an old unsupported toolset. Working
with large-scale enterprise models on a day to
day basis, Barclays knew that the repository
was no longer addressing their requirements.
With the company’s continuous expansion it
was essential to have a single central repository
for the data to reside that enabled all parts of
the business to share access and communicate,
regardless of physical location. A planned
upgrade of all desktop computers across the
UK raised the urgency of this issue, as the
repository would no longer be supported by
the new installation. It was therefore decided to
find a solution to meet the compatibility issues,
while also going some way towards Barclay’s
vision of a single metadata repository on which
it could standardize on all metadata – providing
modelers with a higher degree of consistency
and more information on the data available.
Solution
Andy Davidson, senior designer in the data
management services team at Barclays, and his
team created a comprehensive RFP requirements
document and distributed it to all potential
suppliers to enable them to assess the ability of
these various solutions to meet Barclays’ needs.
Essentially the team was looking for multi-
platform support, improved delivery,
and enhanced functionality for business and
IT partners.
The Barclays team tested a number of data
modeling and repository solutions and evaluated
them in detail against the department’s specific
functionality requirements –comprehensive
database lifecycle support, forward and reverse
engineering capabilities, model management,
powerful communication functionality, and high
quality database design features. A proof of
concept project was then carried out between
the short listed vendors to further investigate
how their particular solutions addressed the
requirements.
Embarcadero’s ER/Studio was chosen for its
superior model management and integration
capabilities, cross-platform support, and high-
quality analysis and reporting. In addition, the
highly readable visual format made it easy to use
and communicate across functions.
Application
Financial services driven by
financial applications with
reliable, consistent data
Tools
ER/Studio®
Challenges
Continuous expansion
meant the need for easy
communication of data
models, regardless of
physical location
Planned desktop computers
upgrade would not support
legacy data repository
Needed to standardize on
all metadata with a higher
degree of consistency
Results
Better visibility to the
models being developed
within the system
More re-use of metadata
to provide more accurate
information
Easier to communicate
the current state of data
throughout the enterprise
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2. A ER/Studio Success Story
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“Embarcadero clearly offered the best
data modeling solution to meet our
requirements,” Davidson commented.
“ER/Studio matched our high-priority
functional requirements including high-
quality HTML, mapping functions, and
good metadata repository capabilities.
Embarcadero ER/Studio does exactly what
it says on the tin, and stood up against our
high expectations.”
Benefits
Operational Efficiency
With ER/Studio up and running, Barclays
now has better visibility to the models being
developed within the system and allows
them to be used and reused across the
organization, improving consistency and
saving both time and paperwork. Although
ER/Studio does not produce an easily
measurable ROI, the modeling process is
now more streamlined, with automated
information gathering and sharing of output
and models online rather than paper. The
administration costs of integrating data have
been reduced and the team can now better
estimate and deliver projects in a more
timely manner. Productivity has noticeably
increased, both internally and externally with
customers. Barclays has witnessed other
improvements such as delivering quicker
impact analysis, and the ability to find and
deliver data in less than an hour through
simply running a report rather than the three
weeks it previously took to source the same
information.
Increased Utilization of Data Assets
Although still in its early stages of
implementation, the data management
services team is also starting to realize
the benefits of the repository by re-using
metadata to provide more accurate
information, which helps communication
and interaction with its customers. The
MetaWizard feature within ER/Studio
allows users to import and export metadata
that may reside elsewhere such as
other modeling or business intelligence
applications. This enabled Barclays to
pull-in metadata from other sources
such as Business Objects, Cognos, IBM
Rational Rose and Terradata, for a more
comprehensive view of data assets.
Enhanced Communication
Streamlined navigational aids, diagram
layout utilities, and powerful report
publishing functions simplify the
communication of designs within and
beyond the data modeling group.
Automated web publishing has allowed the
team to generate HTML reports of complete
diagrams that can easily be shared across
an intranet making it easier to communicate
the current state of data throughout the
enterprise. This has all helped towards
marketing the team’s service to the wider
organization.
Conclusion
The rollout of ER/Studio was quick and
well received, with Barclays now looking to
publish the models on the intranet to get
other staff across the organization to use it.
Barclays has also had strong input in to new
features of ER/Studio, and the company will
be looking to extend its licenses based on
these enhancements.
“The two-way relationship differentiated
Embarcadero from other suppliers and
we value Embarcadero as a supplier that
listens to our needs,” Davidson concluded.
“Because of the open aspect to its products,
it enables us to move the solution along
in our desired direction. This has led to us
discussing the possibilities of extending our
Embarcadero portfolio to EA/Studio for its
integrated enterprise architecture features.”
Barclays’ Cheshire offices were the first to
‘go live’ with ER/Studio. After originally
purchasing seven licenses, the company now
has forty four and is looking at an expanded
rollout across offices in the UK.
“Embarcadero provided strong pre-sales support,
whilst demonstrating a flexible and consultative
manner. The whole team has witnessed the benefits
in ease-of-use, efficiency, and faster analysis of ER/
Studio, and it has become part of a real internal
marketing exercise for our department.”
– Andy Davidson, Senior Designer, Data Management Services