Data/application integration, Business Intelligence, Service-Oriented Architecture, and Enterprise Services are tools to get us the information we need in the way we want. One thing these tools all need is a set of master lists framed within the context of your disparate end-user groups. The Reference Service provides this nexus, a foundation for managing reference data in enterprise systems. Reference can hold your enterprise's master lists of customers, products, contacts, contact information, people, organizations, suppliers, employees, categories, departments, education levels, genders, marital statuses, positions, facilities, time, et cetera. Building/buying and implementing a Reference Service is a multi-disciplinary, multiple-year project that should be architected and incrementally phased in. While being a significant task, there are excellent, inexpensive tools that a small team (data architect, db developer, SOA practitioner, and app developer) can use to build their own system--or assemble it from commercial off-the-shelf software components.
Jonathon will:- Define & describe the Reference Service and its database
- Tell of the operational, BI, and DW integration uses of it
- Provide an implementation methodology and architectural specification for building the db and integrating it into an SOA using an Enterprise Service Bus
- Provide db design elements--necessary db objects, table types, design methods, templates
- Provide a scope of work, tips, and explain the information science behind the system