DAMA INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM and WILSHIRE META-DATA CONFERENCE
April 28-May 2, 2002 – San Antonio Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas
Agenda is subject to change.    

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (SIG) SESSIONS

Monday, April 29, 2002
5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Through the Portal to A Meta Data Community

Bob Carasik
Enterprise Architect
Wells Fargo Bank

Wells Fargo Bank's Search Taxonomy Enterprise Portal Project (STEP)   has implemented an enterprise portal across our intranet environment. The portal includes search, web-top, and content management functions.  and was implemented in Java and XML with a commercial portal product.  This talk discusses the portal projects creation and use of metadata resources. Simple tools were used throughout the project. Many of the artifacts built to support portal development are now part of our intranet development and quality assurance  processes. By settling for the possible rather than holding out for the ideal,  we were able to demonstrate the value of metadata to new constituencies. We have created and implemented processes that encourage metadata creation by document authors Web developers, and other information providers.  

Bob Carasik is an Enterprise Architect at Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco, California. He is responsible for middleware and intranet technologies as well as meta-data integration and has recently focused on XML technologies. He is currently advising several application integration projects at Wells. When he was at DHL Systems, Bob built a CORBA interface to the corporate repository and led a demonstration project which showed use of messaging middleware to Support component interfaces.  He led the implementation of a repository-based Web site for corporate documentation.  He has led research projects in groupware, logic databases, and conceptual modeling approaches.  Bob has a degree in creative writing from the University of Michigan, an M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford, and has been on the adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco.

Tuesday, April 30, 2002
7:15 AM to 8:15 AM 

Data Resource Managements' Role in Data Warehousing

Amy Clark
Systems/Data Analyst
Blue Cross Blue Shield, NY

This presentation will cover the tasks performed by each staff member involved in the development of a Corporate Data Warehouse.

There is an overview of the teams purpose and objectives, as well as a Data Flow Diagram of the Processes they perform.  

The attendees will see how this organization successfully implemented a Corporate Data Warehouse and delivered the supporting meta-data to the users. They will also get an understanding of the skills required to perform the required tasks.

This topic is important because many organizations still 'shoot-from-the-hip' when attempting to build a warehouse. In other words, a plan is not thoroughly in place nor the tasks to bring it to fruition identified. This presentation stresses the importance of 'up-front' analysis, as well as the maintenance of the meta-data and models. 

Amy Clark has worked in the Data Management area for 10 years. She has 21 years at BCBS, CNY in various departments. In the IT Division, she started out as a Data Librarian, maintaining meta-data, using CA's Platinum Repository. She then moved to performing Logical Modeling tasks for various business projects and eventually performed the analysis and design for the Corporate Data Warehouse. Mrs. Clark has an Associates Degree in Business Management and an MIS Certificate from LeMoyne College in Syracuse. She has been a member of DAMA since 1992 and is currently the Administrative VP of the Rochester/Upstate NY Chapter.

Continuing Education for the Data Administrator 

John Schley
Senior Data Modeler
Principal Residential Mortgage, Inc.

Too often, people are pulled into data modeling based on their systems application experience or business knowledge.  While these are valuable skills for the data modeler, they do not directly prepare one for the role of data administrator.  Several educational programs have recently been created to address this issue.  Many are seminars held to cover a narrow topic or are directed to a specific modeling tool.  Some are Master’s level degree programs that require dedication of large amounts of time and money to complete.  The University of Washington’s Data Resource Management certificate program fits nicely in the middle of this continuum.  It covers the whole spectrum of data administration, yet can be done relatively cheaply via the internet in a period of one to two years.  Attendees will be interested to learn more about this efficient alternative from a student enrolled in the program.

Training in data administration is often done on-the-job, with a few seminars or conferences tossed in to round things out.  I reviewed the DAMA web site for more comprehensive programs and found one that fit my needs and schedule:  the University of Washington’s Data Resource Management (UW DRM) program.  This is a six class, internet-based curriculum based on the Zachman Framework leading to a Certificate in Data Resource Management.  The three classes I have completed so far have broadened my skill set and challenged me to get out of my rut and think in new ways.  This presentation will give an overview of the UW DRM program and help the attendees evaluate their continuing education needs.

John Schley has been a Data Administrator for over seven years with the Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa.  Over that time, he has modeled operational systems and data warehouses for life and health insurance, annuity, marketing, and residential mortgage applications.  John is a Fellow with the Life Management Institute and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Southwest State University in Marshall, Minnesota.

XML as Meta Data

Matthew Williams
Senior Data Analyst
Worldspan 

Drawing from personal experience as a data analyst (DA) and an eight month on-going effort to embrace and standardize on XML practices within Worldspan, I will address XML issues as they relate to current data administration practices.  Currently most of the information surrounding XML has been from a programming/application perspective, and little attention has been given to XML as metadata.  From a DA or DBA perspective XML is metadata, and as such needs to be incorporated into the database design process.  This necessitates that programmers/application developers, DAs and DBAs work closely with each other to harness the power of XML without jeopardizing data integrity within the organization. My presentation will address different facets of this issue including: 

Matt Williams is currently employed as a data analyst by Worldspan, one of the worlds leading providers of airline and other travel related booking information.  He has worked in the IT field for over 15 years as a programmer, system analyst, consultant, senior systems engineer, and a data analyst. He is an experienced public speaker and excellent communicator.  He has spoken to groups of thousands but also communicates well with a smaller audience.

The Role of RDF as a Mechanism for Data Integration on the Web

Pablo Alenquer
System Analyst
Hyper Consulting 

Interoperability has long been a challenge to data integration efforts on distributed environments. XML is a major step towards syntactic interoperability. Moreover, Resource Definition Framework (RDF) represents a standard approach  to higher level descriptions of Web resources, using a basic model and few primitive types.  

This presentation discusses why RDF and XML can be used for an integrated view of data from different database  sources. First of all, RDF is quite suitable to represent relational database data. Also, RDF is able to express data and metadata using the same formalism, differently from the usual not uniform approach. Finally and most importantly, due to its expressiveness, RDF supports mappings among different schemas.  

Pablo Alenquer is a System Analyst at Hyper Consulting, which is a Data Warehouse solution provider. He has worked for Coca-Cola Co. and other major companies. He is currently a M.Sc. student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, on Metadata research.

Designing and Building Time Dependent Databases

Jerry Rosenbaum
Principal Enterprise Architect
ConcentrX, LLC

Building a database that maintains a history of changes over time at first appears to be simple.  However, the world of time dependent databases is often very Byzantine.  One must learn to ask the right questions to both design and build the database.  The difficulty lies in asking detailed questions and understanding the answers.  This talk will address, with concrete examples:

Jerry Rosenbaum is Principal Enterprise Architect with ConcentrX, LLC.  Dr. Rosenbaum has extensive experience with over 35 years dedicated to the practical application of systems analysis and design, systems integration, management of application systems development, system and data architecture, data analysis and database design.  Dr. Rosenbaum substantive reputation is based on his commitment and track record of deploying solutions on time and within budget.  Clients have included leaders in aerospace, airline, banking, chemical, direct marketing, education, training, legal, garment, publishing, insurance, occupational safety and health, steel, retailing, real estate, utilities, transportation and other industries.  Dr. Rosenbaum’s career includes an extensive academic background.  He has published a myriad of technical reports, and presented invited papers.  Memberships include Sigma XI (National Science Honor Society) and Tau Beta Pi (National Engineering Honor Society) and DAMA.

Wednesday, May 1, 2002
5:30 PM to 6:30 PM

Does Data Architecture Fit in an Object-Oriented World? 

Gary Hilgendorf
Data Architect
Kohl's Corporation 

There is a new player in town … well not exactly new, but the impact is being felt more and more as this software development player called Oh Oh … I mean OO, is maturing.  In the past the SDLC was somewhat static and our role as data architects was well defined.  We found that good data models were even resilient as the user interfaces and programming languages began changing.  With the onset of client/server development and OO languages (e.g. C++, Java), the software development methodology began changing.  Process names such as RAD (Rapid Application Development), RUP (Rational Unified Process), Extreme Programming, SCRUM, and Agile were vying to replace the traditional waterfall methodology.  However, these methods failed to define where the DA role and its deliverables fit in.  Most seem to imply the LDM artifact may even be dead … or replaced by the new improved class model (data and behavior).  Have you felt the ground shift?  How is your organization dealing with this new paradigm?  Where does data architecture fit in an OO world?

Attendees will take part in a discussion on how they see data architecture and object oriented analysis and design coming together?  What issues are they having?  What have their organizations done?  Where do they see the industry headed?

Gary Hilgendorf works for the nation’s fastest growing retailer, Kohl’s Corporation, and has more than 15 years of information systems experience, 10 of which were spent in data architecture.  His modeling work has involved such disciplines as traditional mainframe applications, data warehouse and object oriented development.  Gary has a BS degree in Education along with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.

ERwin User Group

Jeff S. Isom
Senior Data Analyst
The Standard Insurance   

Jeff Isom is currently a Senior Data Analyst at the Standard Insurance Co in Portland, OR.  His duties there include tool support for ERwin as well as ModelMart.  In his 4 years of using the tool, he has done everything from conceptual level ERDs to specifying the physical properties of tables and columns derived from the logical model.  He has 4 years of experience in both logical and physical data modeling including defining volumetrics and writing triggers and stored procedures.  He is the VP of Membership for the Greater Portland Modeling User Group.  Last fall he coordinated and facilitated an ERwin 4.0 Advanced Data Modeling class for the group. 

Moving from Data Marts to an Enterprise Data Warehouse

Valerie Wilkie
President
Wilkie and Associates 

This presentation will describe a practitioners experience on how they worked with a major Power Marketing Agency, Bonneville Power Administration to develop a revenue data mart and a more robust Enterprise Data Warehouse.  She will discuss how they started with the Kimball methodology and how they are incorporating some of the concepts of the Inmon methodology.

The attendees will learn about the differences and why both approaches should be considered for a successful roll-out of a data warehouse.  This topic has generated much discussion in the data warehouse community and many people believe that one approach is better than the other.  Both approaches need to be reviewed by your company to determine if one will meet your needs, or if melding the two is a better approach.

Valerie Wilkie is a consultant with over 15 years experience in the data administration/data warehouse field.  Her expertise is in strategic data management, project management, data standards, data modeling (E/R, Dimensional Modeling, and Web Enabled applications), metadata management and training end users.  She was the Vice President of Communications/Membership for the the Portland DAMA chapter from 1997-1999.

Oracle Designer Repository - Users SIG

Ulka Rodgers
President
eTransitions, Inc 

The SIG will focus on using Oracle's Designer Repository product for enterprise models, application level models. Major topics of discussion are its capabilities for storing these models, the issues faced during its use, storing business rules, function and process models and corresponding issues, sharing of the models by multiple project teams concurrently and so on.  The goal will be to share ideas and workarounds for issues discovered.

Ulka Rodgers is the founder of eTransitions, Inc a consulting company specializing in internet-based database architectures. She is the author of two books, UNIX DBMS (Prentice-Hall 1989) and Oracle A Database Developers Guide (Prentice-Hall, 2nd Edition 1999). She has over 20 years experience in database-based applications and enterprise modeling, some of which involved using Oracle's CASE repository and Designer Repository. 

Project Managing Data Management Resource Implementation Projects (and other foolish adventures)

Gerry McNearney
Consultant
McNearney & Associates, Inc. 

In the last three years the speaker has been tasked with implementing data management organizations in large corporations on three separate occasions.   This session is designed as a guide for others attempting the same feats of daring.  It will describe the things that he knows must be in place to assure success.  Additionally, anecdotal evidence will illustrate things that must NOT be in place that would insure your failure.    

Gerry McNearney is an independent management consultant.  He has 12 years experience with large scale decision support application projects.  He has worked as a business analyst and project manager on many data warehouse implementation projects in the US and abroad as both a vendor representative and a customer.  Recently he has been tasked with supporting the construction and implementation of Data Management organizations for these data warehouse customers.

Universal Data Model Panel

Len Silverston
Terry Moriarty
Dave Hay

Many people have accepted the idea that they can save time and effort by re-using data models. However, it is important to know when, where, and how is it appropriate to use these models.

This special interest group will feature a panel of re-usable data model experts. They will explore ideas relating to re-using and applying pre-existing data models, often called Universal Data Models, Data Model Patterns, or data model templates. This SIG group can exchange ideas and experiences to gain insight into applying these models effectively. The panel will share some of the issues to frame the discussion while opening up the topic for group interaction.  Some questions discussed will be:

Thursday, May 2, 2002
7:15 AM to 8:15 AM

Staffing the Data Organization

Jane Carbone
Partner & Co-founder
Infomajic, LLC 

MaryAnne Reuther
Partner & Co-founder
Infomajic, LLC 

The speakers will provide some key "lessons learned" about organizing and staffing to facilitate information management. These are based on work experience, leadership positions and consulting engagements. While organizations have a keen interest in planning and implementing the data changes they need to make, they are often unsure of  what is required to create a successful data team. There seems to be more recognition of the importance of and interest in the "people" side of information management and managers are looking for help. 

Jane Carbone and MaryAnne Reuther each have more than 25 years experience in IT, including enterprise architecture and IT planning, data modeling and data stewardship, development and operations, and IT HR. MaryAnne has a passion for organizational effectiveness, while Jane has been dubbed the "data police."

Meta Data-Driven Content Sensitive Security Management

David Schlesinger
Enterprise Data Security Program Manager
Intel Corp. 

The far-flung nature of modern business, often encompassing hundreds of thousands of workers and suppliers creates risk of inadvertently giving access to highly sensitive data.  Traditional access methods created complex security hierarchies.  While effective, they consume significant resources, slow worker entitlement to applications, and are costly. 

David Schlesinger has implemented a new process of including data sensitivity characteristics as metadata.  Our metadata-driven entitlement security system grants role-based access related to data sensitivity linked to security rules. Automation of initial security review increases both access security and the speed of granting informed entitlement to applications or databases.

Attendees will learn that using metadata as a security tool allows them to inventory their intellectual assets better, and impose an automated and secure access system based on policy and department rules. Further, the audit trail from such a system allows for analysis of user authorization both individually and collectively. 

David Schlesinger has 15 years experience in technology communications, and 7 years experience in quality systems.  Using a systemic approach, he developed a metadata-content driven security management system that is being used at Intel Corporation.  He has an undergraduate degree from Boston University, and  Masters in Organizational Management from The University of Phoenix.  He is a member of DAMA as well as ISSA, thus uniting his interest in Data Management and Information Technology Security.

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