RE: [xml-dev] [Summary] Should Subject Matter Experts Determine XML Data Implementations?
In my experience designing ontologies for different groups, one
thing that I find keeps cropping up is that SMEs tend to create data
structures that most closely approximate their understanding of a subject, not
necessarily that provides the most optimal representation of that data
model.
My experience is complementary: I usually find that different
business people have
different perspectives on the information, and your job as data architect is
to moderate / facilitate dialogue / knock heads together.
My first ever XML job was to design some application-interchange
messages for a cable TV company. Not seen by them as a data architecture job
let alone a business consultancy job; but within a couple of days I was
moderating an animated discussion between people from different divisions
of the company about whether or not their business plan included selling to
hotels or not. So: never assume that anyone you are talking to has the whole
picture.
In this particular company the business people were much more inclined
to think in terms of business processes than information assets, so the
business process tended to be the starting point. But they were a lot more
interested in processes that were useful to the business, like installing new
customers, than into "grudge processes" like disconnecting ex-customers. When
you started discussing how things like that were supposed to work, they would
quickly lose interest and say "just make it happen".
Michael Kay
