John Owens

Have some Data Quality practitioners lost the plot? When recently reading an article by a DQ practitioner I was tempted to think so. “You have amassed all of this master data and you must now make sure that you totally organise your whole business around feeding and maintaining it.” It’s a bit like all of the bees in a hive being expected to be totally dedicated to feeding and protecting the queen bee; to be an unquestioning and dedicated collective. Data is everything! Data must be served! Well, and this may shock some people, data is not everything!

I have put together a quick two minute video to explain how to remove duplicate functions from a Function Hierarchy.  This technique, although very simple, will work for a hierarchy of any size and will always give the correct results.

Click to access the video on Removing Common Functions from  Hierarchy.
If you like this video or [...]

At first glance the subject and practice of Data Quality can seem hugely complex and about as difficult to unravel as the Gordian Knot. The main reason for this is that most of the current efforts in this area go into trying to clean up the data quagmires that are created daily because the [...]

I am passionate about bringing power and clarity to the worlds of Business and Data Modeling.
The Integrated Modelling Method (IMM) combines a complete set of modeling techniques in a uniquely integrated manner that no other method does. This will enable you to consistently deliver high quality products, first time, every time.
This website explains all of [...]

The current “after the fact” approach to data quality around the world has turned enterprise data not a “wreck” at the bottom of a deep ocean. Efforts to refloat it are about a realistic as trying to raise the Titanic.

Do We Need a Data Quality Profession?
In a recent article on Data Quality Arkady Maydanchik was suggesting that a key solution to the current data quality issues that plague business everywhere is the creation of a dedicated Data Quality profession.
In a reply to the article I suggested that, far from solving the problems, the creation of [...]

Postal addresses present data database developers with a constant challenge. Traditional approaches fail, either because they hard code in inadequate structures, or they provide the chaos of no structure at all. Generic data modeling can overcome both of these shortcomings and enable to expand and grow into multinational markets.

Is This a Silly Question?
Before we can say what business process modeling is we need to know what a Business Process is! This may seem like stating the obvious, however, “process” is one of the most widely misunderstood and misused terms in business and business modeling! Managers and analysts alike often use the term “process” [...]

Most Process Improvement Projects Fail.
Around the world businesses spend vast amounts of time and money trying to tune their existing processes and procedures in order to make their businesses more efficient.
Sadly, in far too many instances their efforts result in no improvement at all or, worse still, in an actual degradation of performance - and always in a huge bill.
All of this can be avoided by first building a Function Model for the business.

Each business model helps portray a different aspect of a business.
For this reason it is important to select the most appropriate business model to portray the specific facet in question.

Far too many people confuse ‘Function’ and ‘Department’

The confusion that exists in many peoples minds over Business Function and Business Department is one of the greatest barriers to successful business modelling. Because they confuse “function” with “department”, they start in the wrong place.

The Function Catalogue will enable you to model up to 85% of your business with what is perhaps the simplest, yet most powerful, means of modelling business activity.
Using the Function Catalogue as your primary modelling technique for business activity will greatly reduce the number of models that you need to produce, yet will enable you [...]