Framework model design template

[Michael75]

I have been tasked with producing a Framework model design template document, intended to be given to departments who request a new Cognos development. So far, I've prepared a list of points & questions to be included, which looks like this:

• Design

            What areas are we reporting on? Do we have report requirements / examples of existing reports?
            Drill-up/drill-down? Multilingual?

• Data

            One or multiple data sources? Modelled in star schema? Relationships between tables, PKs & FKs?

• Security

            Row-level / object?

• User interface

            Definition of package(s), structure of presentation layer?

Can anybody see something I've missed? Has anybody already prepared a similar document? If so, would they be prepared to share it with me (by PM, if preferred)? Not because I want to steal your IP, but because preparing this sort of structured document really isn't my stong point :-[ , and ideas for layout and presentation would be extremely welcome!

TIA
Michael

[Lynn]

I think you've covered the technical aspects well. From a business perspective I find that the same things we use to design data warehouses are useful when designing your framework model. Ideally we'd get the physical layer in a star schema, preferably a separate data warehouse that is built using all the various best practices.

A good Kimball Bus Matrix is worth its weight in gold. It helps identify the subject areas in terms of measures and dimensions allowing you to easily identify conformed dimensions. It also helps with prioritization and effort estimates. The rows and columns can be adapted for different scenarios, such as indicating nested elements to indicate different data sources.

http://www.kimballgroup.com/data-warehouse-business-intelligence-resources/kimball-techniques/kimball-data-warehouse-bus-architecture/

[Michael75]

Thanks Lynn!

I'll definitely include the Kimball Bus Matrix in some form or another.