Course Name: Business Intelligence
Year: 2009
Business Models and Information Flow
10th Meeting
Source of this Material
(2).
Loshin, David (2003). Business Intelligence:
The Savvy Manager’s Guide. Chapter 5
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The Business Case
After the system is built it is critical to have a blueprint of the way that
information flows into and out of the system to provide a tracking mechanism to
back up any conclusions that are drawn through data analysis
• The Information Factory
• The Value Modeling Information Flow
• Design versus Implementation
• Benefits of The Business Process Model
An information flow, as embodied as part of a business process model,
provides the following benefits.




Developed Road Map
Operational Road Map
Management Control
Calculation of Return on Investment (ROI)
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Information Processing and Information Flow
In this section we look at a number of different kinds of processing paradigms
and how we can view a business application.
• Transaction Processing
Operations in a transaction processing system are interactions between a user and a
computer system where there is the perception of an immediate response from the
system to the user’s requests. A commonly encountered example of transaction
processing is the use of an automated teller machine (ATM). A rough view of ATM
information flow can be seen in Figure 10-1.
•
Operational Processing
Operational process information flows are likely to connect heavy sequential
operational processing augmented by lightweight interconnections for exchanging
control information.
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Information Processing and Information Flow (cont…)
Figure 10-1
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Information Processing and Information Flow (cont…)
•
Batch Processing
Batch processing takes collections of sequences of similar operations that are to be
executed in batches. A batch processing application is more likely to apply each
processing stage to a set of data instances as a whole and then push the results to
the next processing stage. A rough view of a batch processing information flow can
be seen in Figure 10-2.
•
Analytical Processing
Analytical processing involves the interaction between analysts and collections of
aggregated data that may have been reformulated into alternate representational
forms as a means for improved analytical performance. A sketch of the information
flow for analytical processing can be seen in Figure 10-3.
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Information Processing and Information Flow (cont…)
Figure 10-2
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Figure 10-3
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The Information Flow Model
An information flow model distinguishes the discrete processing stages within
the process, describes how information flows through that system, and
characterizes the kinds of data items that flow through the process.
• Information Flow: Processing Stages
In an information flow model, we distinguish discrete processing stages. Although the
following list is by no means complete, we can characterize each processing stages
as one of these classes.
• Supply
• Acquire
• Transform
• Create
• Process
• Package
• Switch/Route
• Decide
• Portal
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The Information Flow Model (cont…)
• Consume
•
Information Flow: Directed Channels
Data moves between stages through directed information channels. A directed
information channel is a pipeline indicating the flow of information from one
processing stage to another, indicating the direction in which data flows.
•
Data Payload Characteristics
The last aspect of an information flow model is the description of the data items that
are propagated between any pair of processing stages. The characteristics include
the description of the information structure (i.e., columnar attribution), the size of the
data instances, and the cardinality of the data set (i.e., the number of records
communicated)
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Usage in Practice
This section provides a few examples where value can be derived from
modeling business process and information flows.
• Information Valuation
Use of a business process model to guide the determination of metrics appropriate
for measuring the value of data as well as indentifying the locations for the insertion
of monitors to collect those measurements.
•
Root Cause Analysis
One example of the use if an information flow model is in identifying the source of a
data quality problem. The effects of a data quality problem might manifest themselves
at different stages within an information flow, perhaps at different data consumption
stages.
• Operational Performance Improvement
Another use of an information flow model is to gauge both the strict control and data
dependencies within the system, and the performance behavior for transferring data
between processing stages as well as processing at each stage.
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Modeling Frameworks
Conceptual business process and information flow modeling can be actualized
in different ways, some formal frameworks used for information and activity
modeling:
• Use Case Analysis
A use case model specifies the function of a system and describe what the system
should offer from the user’s perspective, using three components.
 Actors
 Use Cases
 Triggers
•
Unified Modeling Language
UML can be used to develop business process and information flow models,
especially because it has a facility for describing system behavior. In particular, state
machines and activity graphs can be used to model process stage interaction.
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Modeling Frameworks (cont…)
•
Integrated Definition
Language
Figure 10-4
Integrated Definition Language
(IDEF) is a modeling language
designed to describe functional
processing and information flows.
It comprises two descriptive
standards: IDEF0, which is used
to describe activity models, and
IDEF1X for describing data
models. The basic IDEF0 activity
modeling object in an IDEF model
is referred to as an ICOM, an
acronym for “input, control, output,
and mechanism.” A general ICOM
object can be seen in Figure 10-4.
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Management Issues
Probably the most critical management issue associated with business process
and information flow modeling is the disconnect between the representation of
the model and the actual implementation.
There must be frequent synchronization between the documented model and
the actual system itself.
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End of Slide
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