LDM Webinar: UML for Data Modeling – When Does it Make Sense?

UML & Data Modeling: When Does it Make Sense?
Donna Burbank, Global Data Strategy Ltd.
With Guest Presenters:
• Norman Daoust, Daoust Associates
• Mike Blaha, Modelsoft Consulting Corp
Lessons in Data Modeling DATAVERSITY Series
September 22nd , 2016

Global Data Strategy, Ltd. 2016
Donna Burbank
Donna is a recognised industry expert in
information management with over 20
years of experience in data strategy,
information management, data modeling,
metadata management, and enterprise
architecture. Her background is multi-
faceted across consulting, product
development, product management,
brand strategy, marketing, and business
leadership.
She is currently the Managing Director at
Global Data Strategy, Ltd., an international
information management consulting
company that specialises in the alignment
of business drivers with data-centric
technology. In past roles, she has served in
key brand strategy and product
management roles at CA Technologies and
Embarcadero Technologies for several of
the leading data management products in
the market.
As an active contributor to the data
management community, she is a long
time DAMA International member and is
the President of the DAMA Rocky
Mountain chapter. She was also on the
review committee for the Object
Management Group’s Information
Management Metamodel (IMM) and a
member of the OMG’s Finalization
Taskforce for the Business Process
Modeling Notation (BPMN).
She has worked with dozens of Fortune
500 companies worldwide in the
Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa and
speaks regularly at industry
conferences. She has co-authored two
books: Data Modeling for the
Business and Data Modeling Made Simple
with ERwin Data Modeler and is a regular
contributor to industry publications such
as DATAVERSITY, EM360, & TDAN. She can
be reached at
donna.burbank@globaldatastrategy.com
Donna is based in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
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Follow on Twitter @donnaburbank
Today’s hashtag: #LessonsDM

Norman Daoust
Norman Daoust helps organizations produce better project results by utilizing data modeling and
UML modeling. Clients of his consulting company, Daoust Associates, www.DaoustAssociates.com,
include healthcare provider networks, healthcare software vendors, large national government
organizations, and a large international software company. His book on UML modeling is UML
Requirements Modeling for Business Analysts. He was a major contributor to the healthcare industry
standard data model, the Health Level Seven Reference Information Model (HL7 RIM). Norman is a
frequent speaker at national and regional conferences including the Data Modeling Zone. He has
served on the board of directors of the New England Chapter of the Data Management Association
(DAMA) for more than ten years. For some reason Norman thrives on modeling and integration
projects and tasks that most other people avoid!
3

Michael Blaha
Michael Blaha is a consultant and trainer who specializes in conceiving, architecting, modeling,
designing and tuning databases. He has worked with dozens of organizations around the world. Blaha
has authored seven U.S. patents, seven books, many articles, and two video courses. His most recent
publication is the Agile Data Warehouse Design video course from Infinite Skills. He received his
doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis, and is an alumnus of GE Global Research in
Schenectady, New York. You can find more information with his LinkedIn profile or at
superdataguy.com.
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Lessons in Data Modeling Series
• July 28th Why a Data Model is an Important Part of your Data Strategy
• August 25th Data Modeling for Big Data
• September 22nd UML for Data Modeling – When Does it Make Sense?
• October 27th Data Modeling & Metadata Management
• December 6th Data Modeling for XML and JSON
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This Year’s Line Up

Agenda
• ER vs. UML: When to Use Each?
• Real World Case Studies for Data Modeling with UML
• UML for the Business Audience – Pros and Cons
• UML for Database Design – Pros and Cons
• UML in the Industry: Where It’s Been and Where It’s Headed
• Summary & Questions
6
What we’ll cover today

E/R vs. UML: When to Use Each?
7
Find a Fit for Purpose Solution
work for /
employ
Employee Department
Full Time Staff SubcontractorPart Time Staff
• When most data architects think of data modeling, they think of Entity-Relationship modeling.
But other notations exist for data modeling, and the UML has for many years been used by
application developers and enterprise architects to describe data-centric systems.
• Is the divide simply a cultural one, then, with the E/R and UML “camps” choosing sides? Or are
there key technological difference to choose one notation over the other?
* From Data Modeling for the Business, Steve Hoberman, Donna Burbank and Chris Bradley, Technics Publications, LLC

Levels of Data Modeling
8
Conceptual
Logical
Physical
Purpose
Communication & Definition of
Business Terms & Rules
Clarification & Detail
of Business Rules &
Data Structures
Technical
Implementation on
a Physical Database
Audience
Business Stakeholders
Data Architecture
Business Analysts
DBAs
Developers
Business Concepts
Data Entities
Physical Tables

UML for the Business Audience – Pros and Cons
• Pros
• More concise data model
• Includes more than data models (e.g., state models, process models and use case
diagrams)
• Easier to understand notation for business stakeholder without previous exposure
• Can bridge the gap between different audiences
• Business experts, database staff, programmers
• Can defer database details
• This leads to a simpler data model
• Can summarize complex technical functionality such as SOA services
• Good for both abstract and complex models
• Cons
• Not intuitive for all business users – can be seen as too technical
• Requires a UML tool (e.g. rather than PowerPoint)
9

Examples of UML for Business Audience
• Enterprise data model for Avelo (a UK financial software vendor)
10
class Top-Level Enterprise Data Model
PartyLedger Activity
ProductHolding
Document
FinancialScenario
*
0..1
*
*
*
*
*
* *
*
*
*
* *
* 0..1
*
0..1
* *
*0..1
* 1

• Model for evaluating the economics of different kinds of vehicle propulsion
11

• Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (from sparxsystems.com)
12

Examples of UML for Business Audience – Class Diagram
• Model for US healthcare insurance
(Class diagram)
13
class US healthcare insurance
US healthcare insurance
UML class model fragment
analysis model
healthcare
benefit plan
name: name-other
member policy
member number: id
start effective date: date
end effective date: date
employer group
plan
name: name-other
payor
name: name-org
national payor
name: name-org
is affiliate of 0..1
has affiliates 1..*
is instance of 1
has instances 0..*
is instance of
1 is marketed as
0..*
is offered by 1
offers 1..*

Examples of UML for Business Audience – Object Diagram
• Model for US healthcare
insurance
(Object diagram)
14
object US healthcare insurance
US healthcare insurance
UML object diagram
analysis model
Green Star: national payor
name = Green Star Insurance
Green Star - CO: payor
name = Green Star of Colorado
The Best: healthcare benefit plan
name = Best Benefits - Platinum Plan
:employer group plan
name = Hiccup Hostels
:employer group plan
name = Heavenly Hotels
Helen: member
name = Helen Hottentot
member number = 53216
Hillary: member
name = Hillary Hinkle
member number = 27689
Helen's: healthcare insurance
policy
start effective date = 1/1/2015
end effective date = 12/31/2015
Hillary's: healthcare insurance
policy
start effective date = 6/1/2016
end effective date = 5/30/2017

Real World Uses for Data Modeling with UML
• What are some additional real-world scenarios where UML can be used
successfully in an organization?
• For Business Users?
• For Technical Users?
• What is the business value that can be shown?
• Any industry verticals that are more suited than others?
15

UML for Database Design – Pros and Cons
• Pros
• When using UML for other model types, you can also use it for database design
• Many UML tools have database capabilities
• Cons
• The database capabilities of UML tools are much inferior to conventional database tools
• Inflexible designs
• Lack of DBA functionality
• UML tools do not address the needs of DBAs
• The UML notation is foreign to some database developers (although their numbers are dwindling)
• The UML overemphasizes programming jargon which is off-putting to many database staff
• The UML standards community paid little attention to database needs
16

Examples of UML for Database Design
• Excerpt of a data model for syndicated loans
17

Examples of UML for Database Design
• Air traffic design (from sparxsystems.com)
18

UML in the Industry
• Where do you see UML headed in the industry?
• New applications emerging?
• Traditional uses continuing?
• New users?
• Are there guidelines for what’s a suitable vs. non-
suitable application?
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Where It’s Been and Where It’s Headed

Summary
• Use UML for business analysis purposes
• Use UML when appropriate for the model’s target audience
• Use UML when that is the preferred notation of the organization or tool available
• Use E/R notation when the target audience is database administrators and for physical data
models

References
• A UML Profile for Data Modeling, Scott Ambler,
www.agiledata.org/essays/umlDataModelingProfile.html
• Data Modeling for the Business, Steve Hoberman, Donna Burbank and Chris Bradley, Technics
Publications, LLC
• UML and Data Modeling: A Reconciliation, David Hay, Technics Publications, LLC
• UML Database Modeling Workbook, Michael Blaha, Technics Publications, LLC
• UML Requirements Modeling for Business Analysts, Norman Daoust, Technics Publications, LLC
• UML tools list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UML_tools, list of UML modeling tools

About Global Data Strategy, Ltd
• Global Data Strategy is an international information management consulting company that specializes
in the alignment of business drivers with data-centric technology.
• Our passion is data, and helping organizations enrich their business opportunities through data and
information.
• Our core values center around providing solutions that are:
• Business-Driven: We put the needs of your business first, before we look at any technology solution.
• Clear & Relevant: We provide clear explanations using real-world examples.
• Customized & Right-Sized: Our implementations are based on the unique needs of your organization’s
size, corporate culture, and geography.
• High Quality & Technically Precise: We pride ourselves in excellence of execution, with years of
technical expertise in the industry.
22
Data-Driven Business Transformation
Business Strategy
Aligned With
Data Strategy
Visit www.globaldatastrategy.com for more information

Contact Info
Donna Burbank
• Email: donna.burbank@globaldatastrategy.com
• Twitter: @donnaburbank
@GlobalDataStrat
• Website: www.globaldatastrategy.com
• Company Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-data-strategy-ltd
• Personal Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnaburbank
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Mike Blaha
• Email: blaha@computer.org
• Twitter: @michaelrblaha
• Website: www.superdataguy.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeblaha
Norman Daoust
• Email: NormanD@DaoustAssociates.com
• Website: www.DaoustAssociates.com

Lessons in Data Modeling Series
• July 28th Why a Data Model is an Important Part of your Data Strategy
• August 25th Data Modeling for Big Data
• September 22nd UML for Data Modeling – When Does it Make Sense?
• October 27th Data Modeling & Metadata Management
• December 6th Data Modeling for XML and JSON
24
Join us next month

Questions?
25
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LDM Webinar: UML for Data Modeling – When Does it Make Sense?

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