Wednesday, April 4, 2007

DAMA Dictionary of Data Management

The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management is a companion volume to the DMBOK© Guide. Originally developed as an extensive Glossary for the DMBOK© Guide, DAMA is publishing it separately due to its size and business value. Definitions for terms found in the Dictionary are consistent with their usage in the DMBOK© Guide. DAMA expects to publish the Dictionary of Data Management in 2007.

What's a DMBOK?

DAMA International and the DAMA Foundation is developing A Guide to the Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBOK© Guide) document (pronounced Dee-emm-bock). A DMBOK Editorial Board has been formed as a working committee to guide development of the DMBOK© Guide and related publications, including a DAMA Dictionary of Data Management. The Editorial Board includes participation from local DAMA chapter members. DAMA members have volunteered to contribute and review drafts.

The entire body of knowledge about data management is quite large and constantly growing. DMBOK© Guide will provide a definitive introduction to data management. It will present a standard industry view of data management functions, terminology and best practices, without detailing specific methods and techniques. The DMBOK© Guide will not attempt to be a complete authority on any specific data management function, but will point readers to widely recognized publications, articles and websites for further reading. The DMBOK© Guide will introduce valid alternative views and industry accepted approaches where clear differences of opinion exist.

The goals of the DMBOK© Guide are:
1. To build consensus for a generally applicable view of data management functions.
2. To provide standard definitions for commonly used data management functions, deliverables, roles and other terminology.
3. To identify guiding principles for data management.
4. To overview commonly accepted good practices, widely adopted methods and techniques, and significant alternative approaches, without reference to specific technology vendors or their products.
5. To briefly identify common organizational and cultural issues.
6. To clarify the scope and boundaries of data management.
7. To guide readers to additional resources for further understanding.

Audiences for the DMBOK Guide include:
· Certified and aspiring data management professionals.
· Other IT professionals working with data management professionals.
· Business data stewards at all levels.
· Executives with an interest in managing data as an enterprise asset.
· Knowledge workers developing an appreciation of data as an enterprise asset.
· Consultants conducting assessments of client data management functions and helping to implement and improve data management at these clients.
· Educators responsible for developing and delivering a data management curriculum.
· Researchers in the field of data management.

DAMA foresees several potential uses of the DMBOK© Guide, including:
· Informing a diverse audience about the nature and importance of data management.
· Helping build consensus within the data management community.
· Helping data stewards and data professionals understand their responsibilities.
· Provide the basis for assessments of data management effectiveness and maturity.
· Guiding efforts to implement and improve data management functions.
· Pointing readers to additional sources of knowledge about data management.
· Guiding the development and delivery of data management curriculum content for higher education.
· Suggesting areas of further research in the field of data management.
· Helping data management professionals prepare for Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) exams.
· Assist organizations in their enterprise data strategy

The reference models for the DMBOK© Guide are the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) [1] document published by the Project Management Institute, and the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) [2] document published by the IEEE.

DAMA believes the DMBOK© Guide will be well received by managers, executives and the higher education community DAMA expects to publish the DMBOK© Guide in 2008.
[1] Trademark of the Project Management Institute
[2] Trademark of the IEEE

DMBOK Framework Paper, Version 2

Version 1.0 of the DMBOK© Functional Framework was approved by the DAMA Executive Board in April 2006, and posted on the www.dama.org website in July 2006. Over 1000 people from around the world have downloaded the Framework paper over the past eight months.

During that time, changes have been made to the framework in the course of developing the DMBOK© Guide.

In particular, the following data management functions have been renamed:
* Data Stewardship & Governance has been renamed to simply Data Governance, in recognition of data stewardship activities and responsibilities across all nine functions
* Data Architecture & Design has been renamed to Data Architecture, Analysis & Design, to more fully describe the data modeling and specification activities.
* Database Administration has been renamed to Database Management, to more clearly separate the function from the database administrator role, given other roles participate in the Database Management function.
* Data Quality Improvement has been renamed to Data Quality Management, reflecting the broader scope of the activities within the function.
* Data Warehousing & Business Intelligence has been renamed to Data Warehousing & Business Intelligence Management, to more clearly indicate the function includes the development and support activities that enable business intelligence and does not include the business intelligence activities performed by knowledge workers.
* Unstructured Data Management has been renamed to Document, Record & Content Management, in recognition that data residing outside of databases may still exist within some degree of structure.
* Metadata Management has been renamed to Meta Data Management, in respect to trademark restrictions.

The presentation sequence of these nine functions has been changed as well:
* Data Quality Management was moved before Reference & Master Data Management, recognizing Reference & Master Data Management as a specialized form of Data Quality Management.
* Reference & Master Data Management was moved before Data Warehousing & Business Intelligence Management, recognizing its focus on data integration for operational databases which then provide the sources for data warehousing.
* Meta Data Management was moved to the ninth position, reflecting its foundational role in providing the infrastructure for other data management functions.

The following environmental elements have also been renamed:
* Goals & Objectives has been renamed to Goals & Principles, recognizing
1) The DMBOK© Guide will offer directional goals for each function but not specific objectives. Objectives reflect the current measurable targets of a particular organization.
2) Principles have been included with Goals, moving up from Practices to an earlier presentation position
* Process & Activities has been renamed to just Activities, recognizing that functions and activities are two types of processes.
* Principles & Practices has been renamed to Practices & Techniques, reflecting the grouping of Principles with Goals.
* Organizational & Cultural Issues has been renamed to Organization & Culture.

In addition, more detailed activities, deliverables and roles have been identified. These details should prove useful to managers, data stewards and data management professionals while the DMBOK© Guide is under development.

Finally, much of the longer introduction to the first version of the paper has been removed. While appropriate in the paper’s original form as a proposal to the DAMA Executive Board, the longer introduction is no longer necessary for the current audience of this paper – DAMA members and other parties interested in the contents of the DMBOK© Framework, and in using it to guide their organization’s data management initiatives.

Version 2.0 of the DMBOK Framework paper will soon be posted on the www.dama.org website.

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Welcome!

Welcome to the DMBOK Development Diary blog. My name is Mark Mosley; I am the editor and project leader for a book being developed by The DAMA Foundation called The Guide to the Data Management Body of Knowledge -- otherwise known as the DMBOK Guide.

There are two purposes for this blog:
1) To serve as a newsletter about DMBOK development efforts, and
2) To elicit comments on development topics, issues and draft wordings.

The DMBOK project team and the DMBOK Editorial Board are using several Google services to foster collaboration.
1) Each chapter development team is using Google Shared Documents to collaborate as a small group.
2) The DMBOK Editorial Board has a Google (Discussion) Group limited to project participants and board members.
3) This blog, which invites comments from anyone in the blogosphere, particularly but not limited to DAMA members.

This is my first venture into the new world called Web 2.0. Thanks to Don Tapscott's inspiring keynote speech at the DAMA/Wilshire Meta Data Conference in Boston (March 2007), I recognized not only the power of collaboration, but also my own stubborn resistance. OK, I've been a dinosaur, or at least an ostrich with my head in the sand. They say that admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery ("Hi, I'm Mark and I'm a Luddite" "Hi, Mark").

This blog is really more about reader comments than the posts themselves. Time will tell how often I will find the time to read the comments, let alone respond. But I will read them all eventually -- it may not seem like it, but trust me, I am listening!!! And your comments will have an impact on the DMBOK Guide, making it a better product thanks to the combined brainpower of the data management community. Thanks for participating!