Data Modeler's Workbench: Tools and Techniques for Analysis and Design [Paperback]

Steve Hoberman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471111759 | ISBN-13: 978-0471111757 | Publication Date: December 7, 2001 | Edition: 1st

A goldmine of valuable tools for data modelers!

Data modelers render raw data-names, addresses, and sales totals, for instance-into information such as customer profiles and seasonal buying patterns that can be used for making critical business decisions. This book brings together thirty of the most effective tools for solving common modeling problems. The author provides an example of each tool and describes what it is, why it is needed, and how it is generally used to model data for both databases and data warehouses, along with tips and warnings. Blank sample copies of all worksheets and checklists described are provided in an appendix.

Companion Web site features updates on the latest tools and techniques, plus links to related sites offering automated tools.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"This book is chock-full of useful techniques and tips for improving data models and designs. And it's an entertaining read as well-a terrific combination!"
-Wayne Eckerson, Director of Education and Research, The Data Warehousing Institute

A data model is the heart and soul of any application, providing a foundation for efficient data entry and retrieval. It needs to be consistent with other models within your organization, accurately capture the current business requirements, and evolve to support changing business needs.

Data Modeler's Workbench contains more than twenty finely tuned tools aimed at improving the speed, accuracy, flexibility, and consistency of your database, data warehouse, and operational applications. Steve Hoberman explains each tool with the help of detailed examples, showing how to apply each tool and where in the operational and reporting environment each tool is most effective. You can customize the tools in this book for your particular industry, organization, or project.

The companion Web site features:
* Downloadable copies of the worksheets and checklists that modelers can use on their own projects
* Updates on the latest tools, techniques, and discussion forums
* Links to other data modeling sites

Advance Praise:

"Any data modeler should own a copy of Steve Hoberman's book on data modeling tools and techniques."
-David Marco, President, Enterprise Warehousing Solutions, Inc.

"Steve Hoberman has written a truly valuable book that is sure to advance the discipline of data modeling."
-David Wells, Founder and Principal Consultant, Infocentric

Wiley Computer Publishing
Timely. Practical. Reliable.

Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/
Visit the companion Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/hoberman
Visit Steve Hoberman's Web site at www.stevehoberman.com

About the Author

STEVE HOBERMAN is the Lead Data Warehouse Developer for Mars, Inc. He has been data modeling since 1990 for the telecommunications, financial, and manufacturing industries. He speaks regularly at The Data Warehousing Institute conferences on advanced data modeling.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1st edition (December 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471111759
• ISBN-13: 978-0471111757
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #925,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steve Hoberman is a trainer, consultant, and writer in the field of data modeling. He balances the formality and precision of data modeling with the realities of building software systems with severe time, budget, and people constraints. Steve focuses on templates, tools, and guidelines to reap the benefits of data modeling with minimal investment.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Queens College and completing a Master of Science in Information Networking at Carnegie Mellon University, Steve joined Bell Communications Research (Bellcore) in 1990 and started his data modeling career on an information engineering project. He was an analyst and data modeler on a team building an enterprise data model for the entire telephone industry. This project offered broad exposure to many cutting-edge disciplines of the 90's - object-oriented modeling techniques, Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools, and first-generation metadata repositories.

Building on the Bellcore foundation, Steve developed an interest in the human side of data modeling and the "next generation" techniques. In 1994 he went to work on Wall Street, performing data modeling work for many financial applications. Many of his "do it fast but right" modeling techniques came from the high pressure projects of Wall Street. In 1997 Steve joined Mars, Inc. as their Data Warehouse Architect. During his nine year tenure at Mars, Steve filled a variety of roles including Lead Data Modeler, Developer Team Lead, and SAP Functional Analyst. Each of these roles provided opportunities to grow and evolve his unique, experience-based approach to data modeling.

Steve taught his first data modeling class in 1992 and has taught over 10,000 people data modeling and business intelligence techniques since then. He has presented at over 50 international conferences in every format from short presentations to full-day classes, and has been selected to deliver keynote addresses at major industry conferences in North America and in Europe.

Steve is a columnist and frequent contributor to industry publications. He is the author of several data modeling books including Data Modeling Made Simple, Data Modeler's Workbench, and Data Modeling for the Business. With interest in building a data modeler's community, he founded the Design Challenges group, which today boasts more than 3,000 data management practitioners who tackle monthly data modeling puzzles. (Add your email address to join this group at www.stevehoberman.com.) Steve is an innovator in data modeling and the inventor of the Data Model Scorecard(R), which has quickly become the standard for data model quality.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best New Data Modeling Book in Years!, March 4, 2002

By 

D. Wells (Kirkland, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Data Modeler's Workbench: Tools and Techniques for Analysis and Design (Paperback)

Steve Hoberman has written a truly valuable book that is sure to advance the discipline of data modeling. The writing style make it a comfortable and interesting book to read, and the organization makes it useful as a reference. Steve's concepts, definitions, and classification schema help to advance data modeling as a learnable and repeatable process. Many aspects of this book added to my knowledge of data modeling. I learned some new techniques, and I've been a data modeling practitioner since the early 1980's. This is a must for every data modeler's bookshelf. I believe the single greatest impact this book will make is in its attention to data modeling as a human process as well as a technical one.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for data modelers, November 19, 2004

By 

Carla S. (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Data Modeler's Workbench: Tools and Techniques for Analysis and Design (Paperback)

I bought this book about a month ago based upon a recommendation from a colleague. Technical books don't tend to be the most interesting reading material, but this book with its practical and entertaining format kept me engaged. I have over 9 years of modeling experience (mostly transactional but getting more into data warehousing), and yet I picked up several new techniques. I have already created a Reality Check Subject Area Model of our data warehouse, and am currently working on a Family Tree of several operational systems.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A logical approach to logical data modeling, March 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Data Modeler's Workbench: Tools and Techniques for Analysis and Design (Paperback)

What I liked most about this book was that all the techniques were explained in the order in which they should be applied. For example the subject area analysis techniques were discussed and occur before the subject area modeling techniques. It was very clear how the techniques in the later chapters relied upon the results from techniques in the earlier chapters. I also found the introductions to each of the chapters very entertaining.