Table of Contents
What is Data Analysis?
With the increasing integration of processing in different parts of the organisation comes the realisation that data is the glue which holds organisations together. Thus data is an important resource in its own right.
Why is it Needed?
As a consultant you may be the link between your client and the technical solution providers. There is plenty of scope for going wrong.
- You might not understand the user’s real needs,
- You may diagnose them incorrectly and propose inappropriate solutions
- You may fail to communicate the requirements to the designers.
The Data Model is a representation of the together with definitions and descriptions of the data maintained or used in the business.
A Model will help you collect information your client visualise a solution. As you will often review business processes during an assignment, data analysis can help you examine the data elements and their relationships. This will help you gain a good understanding of most key areas of the business area.
The two main techniques for data analysis are Entity Relationship Analysis (ERA) and Third Normal Form Analysis (TNF). The details are way beyond the scope of this section however ERA is useful if you want to:
- conduct initial high level or feasibility studies;
- look at interfaces with surrounding business areas;
- provide a broad understanding of data requirements.
An entity is something of significance to the organisation about which data needs to be held. A relationship between two entities is a logical connection between them which arises from the part they play in the organisation. It can normally be expressed in a straightforward way e.g.
- CUSTOMER places an ORDER;
- ORDER consists of Products;
- AREA contains Customers.