If you are a business process analyst, you need to print out the image above and stick it somewhere visibile whenever you are building process models.
Process analysts often forget that business processes (certainly in the context of software development) work by moving data around an organisation. If the business has not modelled its data, point out that it should. If you are unfamiliar with its data model, ask about it. If you don’t know the basics of data modelling, learn.
Process names typically evoke business entities: “Take Order”, “Add Customer”, “Update Account”.
You cannot be sure everyone involved in analysis the process is talking about the same things unless these entities are defined in a data model and that definition is understood by all.
Moreover, you cannot accurately define data requirements if they are not based on a robust data model.
Yet I continue to be surprised at the number of companies that do not have a model of their business data.
Now read these earlier posts:
Kind regards,
Declan Chellar
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