Abstraction is all about designing your data model to support changing requirements. In this IDERA Live session, learn about abstraction through examples such as “Party” and “Document”. Determine whether or not to abstract or leave the terms in a more concrete state by applying the three critical questions covering: (1) Commonality, (2) Value, and (3) Effort. Learn the good and the bad of abstracting, and of course, the Star Wars connection. Lastly, see how IDERA’s harvesting tools can pull newly created terms and relationships between Terms from Logical Data Models to seed Business Glossaries, kick starting the creation of the Data Governance project. About the presenter: Steve Hoberman has been a data modeler for over 30 years, and thousands of business and data professionals have completed his Data Modeling Master Class. Steve is the author of nine books on data modeling, including The Rosedata Stone and Data Modeling Made Simple. Steve is also the author of Blockchainopoly. One of Steve’s frequent data modeling consulting assignments is to review data models using his Data Model Scorecard® technique. He is the founder of the Design Challenges group, creator of the Data Modeling Institute’s Data Modeling Certification exam, Conference Chair of the Data Modeling Zone conferences, director of Technics Publications, lecturer at Columbia University, and recipient of the Data Administration Management Association (DAMA) International Professional Achievement Award.

1. IDERA LIVE 2021 The Power of Abstraction
© Steve Hoberman Page 1
© 2021 IDERA, Inc. All rights reserved. IDERA LIVE 2021
The Power of Abstraction
Steve Hoberman
me@stevehoberman.com
www.DataModelingInstitute.com
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2. IDERA LIVE 2021 The Power of Abstraction
© Steve Hoberman Page 2
Party
Role
Play
What is abstraction?
The process of redefining attributes, relationships, and entities into more generic
structures
Customer Competitor
Supplier
Government agency
Partner
Employee
Student
Consumer
Dependent
Abstracting these attributes
● Customer
○ Number
○ Name
○ Weekday phone
○ Weekend phone
○ First order date
○ Tax ID
○ DUNS #
• Supplier
– Number
– Company name
– Contact first name
– Contact last name
– Primary phone
– Secondary phone
– Credit rating
– First PO date
– DUNS #
• Employee
– Number
– First name
– Last name
– Work phone
– Home phone
– Email address
– Hire date
– Social Security #
– HR system ID

3. IDERA LIVE 2021 The Power of Abstraction
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And these business rules
• An Employee can be assigned to many
Customers
• A Customer can contact many Employees
• An Employee manages the relationship with
many Suppliers
• A Supplier can contact many Employees
Where abstraction fits
1. Normalize
2. Apply the Abstraction Safety Guide in this order:
a. Attributes
b. Entities
c. Relationships
3. Document in detail
+ +
Thing

4. IDERA LIVE 2021 The Power of Abstraction
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1. Normalize
Supplier
Supplier Number
Supplier Company Name
Supplier Contact First Name
Supplier Contact Last Name
Supplier Primary Phone Number
Supplier Secondary Phone Number
Supplier Credit Rating
Supplier First PO Date
Supplier DUNS Number
Employee
Employee Number
Employee First Name
Employee Last Name
Employee Work Phone Number
Employee Home Phone Number
Employee Email Address
Employee Hire Date
Employee Social Security Number
Employee HR System ID
Customer Assignment
Employee Number (FK)
Customer Number (FK)
Supplier Assignment
Employee Number (FK)
Supplier ID (FK)
Customer
Customer Number
Customer Name
Customer Weekday Phone Number
Customer Weekend Phone Number
Customer First Order Date
Customer Tax ID
Customer DUNS Number
Have assigned
Have assigned
Be assigned
Be assigned
Thing
Thing
Abstraction Safety Guide (ASG)
No
No
No
Yes
Are there any matches on the model? (Commonality)
1.
Is it very likely that there are future requirements that
would benefit from this abstract structure? (Value)
Yes
2.
Is the extra development effort now, less than making
development changes later? (Effort)
Yes
3.

5. IDERA LIVE 2021 The Power of Abstraction
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ASG: Commonality question
• Does this attribute, entity, or relationship have
something in common with one or more other
attributes, entities, or relationships?
• Similar to game of Concentration
• Need to find a match
• The more you play, the better you get!
• It’s fun!
ASG: Value question
● If yes, is it very likely that there are future
requirements that would benefit from this abstract
structure?
● Most important question
○ Keeps our feet on the ground
○ Focus remains on business
● Always phrase in “Types”

6. IDERA LIVE 2021 The Power of Abstraction
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ASG: Effort question
• If yes, is the extra development effort now, less than making
development changes later?
• It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission
• Factors include
• True work effort
• Politics
• Current and future budget constraints
• Perception of abstraction
Customer
Customer Number
Customer Name
Customer Weekday Phone Number
Customer Weekend Phone Number
Customer First Order Date
Customer Tax ID
Customer DUNS Number
Customer attributes
● Value
○ Can we have additional TYPES of phone numbers?
○ Can we have additional TYPES of identifiers?
● Effort
○ If there is value, let’s go for it!
Commonality
Weekday and
Weekend are both
phone numbers Commonality
Tax ID and
DUNS are both identifiers

7. IDERA LIVE 2021 The Power of Abstraction
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Customer
Customer Number
Customer Name
Customer First Order Date
Customer Alternate ID
Customer Alternate ID Type Code
Customer Number (FK)
Customer Alternate ID Value Text
Customer Phone
Customer Phone Type Code
Customer Phone Priority Number
Customer Number (FK)
Customer Phone Number
Be identified by
Be contacted by
Customer attributes
Customer
Customer Number
Customer Name
Customer Weekday Phone Number
Customer Weekend Phone Number
Customer First Order Date
Customer Tax ID
Customer DUNS Number
Supplier
Supplier Number
Supplier Company Name
Supplier Contact First Name
Supplier Contact Last Name
Supplier Credit Rating
Supplier First PO Date
Supplier DUNS Number
Supplier Phone
Supplier Phone Type Code
Supplier Phone Priority Number
Supplier Number (FK)
Supplier Phone Number
Be contacted by
Supplier
Supplier Number
Supplier Company Name
Supplier Contact First Name
Supplier Contact Last Name
Supplier Primary Phone Number
Supplier Secondary Phone Number
Supplier Credit Rating
Supplier First PO Date
Supplier DUNS Number
Supplier attributes

8. IDERA LIVE 2021 The Power of Abstraction
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Employee Alternate ID
Employee Alternate ID Type Code
Employee Number (FK)
Employee Alternate ID Value Text
Employee
Employee Number
Employee First Name
Employee Last Name
Employee Email Address
Employee Hire Date
EmployeePhone
Employee Phone Type Code
Employee Phone Priority Number
Employee Number (FK)
Employee Phone Number
Be identified by
Be contacted by
Anything
else?
Employee
Employee Number
Employee First Name
Employee Last Name
Employee Work Phone Number
Employee Home Phone Number
Employee Email Address
Employee Hire Date
Employee Social Security Number
Employee HR System ID
Employee attributes
Communication Medium?
Employee Alternate ID
Employee Alternate ID Type Code
Employee Number (FK)
Employee Alternate ID Value Text
Employee
Employee Number
Employee First Name
Employee Last Name
Employee Email Address
Employee Hire Date
EmployeePhone
Employee Phone Type Code
Employee Phone Priority Number
Employee Number (FK)
Employee Phone Number
Be identified by
Be contacted by
Employee Alternate ID
Employee Alternate ID Type Code
Employee Number (FK)
Employee Alternate ID Value Text
Employee
Employee Number
Employee First Name
Employee Last Name
Employee Hire Date
Employee Communication Medium
Employee Communication Medium Type Code
Employee Communication Medium Priority Number
Employee Number (FK)
Employee Communication Medium Value Text
Be identified by
Be contacted by

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Now the entities!
Customer Assignment
Employee Number (FK)
Customer Number (FK)
Customer
Customer Number
Customer Name
Customer First Order Date
Supplier
Supplier Number
Supplier Company Name
Supplier Contact First Name
Supplier Contact Last Name
Supplier Credit Rating
Supplier First PO Date
Supplier DUNS Number
Supplier Assignment
Employee Number (FK)
Supplier Number (FK)
Employee
Employee Number
Employee First Name
Employee Last Name
Employee Hire Date
Customer Phone
Customer Phone Type Code
Customer Phone Priority Number
Customer Number (FK)
Customer Phone Number
Employee Communication Medium
Employee Communication Medium Type Code
Employee Communication Medium Priority Number
Employee Number (FK)
Employee Communication Medium Value Text
Supplier Phone
Supplier Phone Type Code
Supplier Phone Priority Number
Supplier Number (FK)
Supplier Phone Number
Customer Alternate ID
Customer Alternate ID Type Code
Customer Number (FK)
Customer Alternate ID Value Text
Employee Alternate ID
Employee Alternate ID Type Code
Employee Number (FK)
Employee Alternate ID Value Text
Be assigned
Be assigned
Have assigned
Have assigned
Be contacted by
Be contacted by
Be contacted by
Be identified by Be identified by
Introducing Party!
● Customer, Supplier, and Employee are all roles
that a Party can play
● What are some aliases for ‘Party’?
Party is a person or organization of interest to the
enterprise. It is similar to the concept of “Who?” That
is, who is important to the business?

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Adding Party and Role
Party
Party Number
Party Company Name
Party Person First Name
Party Person Last Name
Party Role Communication Medium
Party Role Communication Medium Priority Number
Party Number (FK)
Role Type Code (FK)
Party Role Communication Medium Type Code (FK)
Party Role Communication Medium Value Text
Party Role Association
Party A Number (FK)
Role Type A Code (FK)
Party B Number (FK)
Role Type B Code (FK)
Party Role Association Type Code (FK)
Party Role Alternate ID
Party Number (FK)
Role Type Code (FK)
Party Role Alternate ID Type Code (FK)
Party Role Alternate ID Value Text
Role Type
Role Type Code
Role Type Description Text
Party Role
Party Number (FK)
Role Type Code (FK)
Supplier Credit Rating
Supplier First Purchase Order Date
Employee Hire Date
Customer First Order Date
Be contacted by
Interact with
Interact with
Be identified by
Play
Be played by
Adding subtyping
Employee
Party Number (FK)
Role Type Code (FK)
Employee Hire Date
Supplier
Party Number (FK)
Role Type Code (FK)
Supplier First Purchase Order Date
Supplier Credit Rating
Party
Party Number
Party Company Name
Party Person First Name
Party Person Last Name
Party Role
Party Number (FK)
Role Type Code (FK)
Party Role Association
Party A Number (FK)
Role Type A Code (FK)
Party B Number (FK)
Role Type B Code (FK)
Party Role Association Type Code (FK)
Role Type
Role Type Code
Role Type Description Text
Party Role Communication Medium
Party Role Communication Medium Priority Number
Party Number (FK)
Role Type Code (FK)
Party Role Communication Medium Type Code (FK)
Party Role Communication Medium Value Text
Party Role Alternate ID
Party Number (FK)
Role Type Code (FK)
Party Role Alternate ID Type Code (FK)
Party Role Alternate ID Value Text
Customer
Party Number (FK)
Role Type Code (FK)
Customer First Order Date
Play
Be played by
Interact with
Be contacted by
Be identified by
Interact with

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“Abstraction is strong in this one”
Increases application stability
Increases application stability
Facilitates integration
Facilitates integration
Reduces design time
Reduces design time
Roles start and end, “things” always
there
Roles start and end, “things” always
there
Absolves the modeler from capturing
business rules
Absolves the modeler from capturing
business rules
The dark side of abstraction
Model becomes vague and imprecise
Model becomes vague and imprecise
Less rules in the database
Less rules in the database
Performance issues
Performance issues
Reporting tools struggle with abstraction
Reporting tools struggle with abstraction
Stewardship gaps
Stewardship gaps
Accidently expose PII
Accidently expose PII
Thing

12. IDERA LIVE 2021 The Power of Abstraction
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© 2021 IDERA, Inc. All rights reserved. 23
THANKS!
ANY QUESTIONS?
You can find me at:
● me@stevehoberman.com
● www.stevehoberman.com