Data Modeling Made Simple: A Practical Guide for Business & Information Technology Professionals: Amazon.ca: Steve Hoberman: Books

Product Description

Ever have a bad data day? If you're a business user, architect, analyst, designer or developer, then you've probably had some bad data days. It comes with the territory. Overcoming these problems is much easier if you have an in-depth understanding of the

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
I gave the steering wheel a heavy tap with my hands as I realized that, once again, I was completely lost. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

1 Review

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good refreshment, Nov 28 2007

By

A. Chan (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Data Modeling Made Simple: A Practical Guide for Business & Information Technology Professionals (Paperback)

Just finished my reading of this book. I enjoyed the way the author explains the terminologies about data modeling. I have years of database development experience. Although this book covered the topics mostly for beginner, I found it is benefited to experienced data modeler too it refreshes the fundamental about data modeling.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See the customer review...

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 3.8 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I'm looking for...., Nov 29 2005

By R. H. Nijpels "Business Analyst" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Data Modeling Made Simple: A Practical Guide for Business & Information Technology Professionals (Paperback)

For over a year I'm looking for a good book to help business analysts to understand data models drawn by others and to train them in creating basic data models needed to cover business needs. I found a lot of good books but all too heavy, too many pages, too detailed and very nice if you want to become a real heavy duty data-guru. There is absolutely nothing wrong with data gurus, every organization needs a few of those, but it needs quite a few more of the 'casual' modellers. This book .. not too big.. a good read.. and even better reread.. It contains exactly everything that is needed for those modellers.

So, if you're a Business Analyst, Information Manager and need a good understanding of Data Modelling, even occasionally need to make one yourself, without having to spend years in training: buy this book..

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to remind me of what I do., Jan 5 2007

By James Lee - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Data Modeling Made Simple: A Practical Guide for Business & Information Technology Professionals (Paperback)

This is one of my favorite data modeling books. Not because it provides the most detail into the differences betwen 4th and 5th Normal Form or because it explains in excruciating detail how to develop and Enterprise Data Model, but because it helps me to work with people who are not data architects.

I was recently working with the VP of BI for the company I work for and was telling him that we needed to develop a subject area model for our data warehouse and that we would use it as a sort of road map in building the data warehouse.

He asked a simple question, "What's a subject." I gave him some examples and he said, "Oh, you mean a table." Hmmm....not quite. More discussion ensued and I finally got the point across.

I realized after that incident that I had a hard time communicating exactly what my deliverables would be and why they are important. I grabbed Steve's book off my shelf and re-read it that weekend (it's an easy book to read).

As I looked at the list of things I planned to do in building a new data warehouse and pondered the help I would need from the business users in completing them, I saw more conversations in my future about what I do and why it's necessary. I promptly ordered 3 copies of the book for the business users I interact (including the aforementioned VP) with and 3 more for the junior data modelers on my team.

The book has been very helpful in bringing non-technical folks up to speed to help with a DW initiative. We are currently working on definitions and Steve's examples and guidelines in this area are helping us put together solid definitions and I am doing a lot less editing than I expected.

As someone who does data architecture every day, I sometimes forget why. I just know that I start with subject areas and work my down. I need definitions that are useful, but sometimes find it hard to explain to others what I mean by that. I have adopted Steve'w words and examples when communicating what I do and why I do it that way to others and the best part is that people are getting it.

I think this is one of the best practical data modeling books I own at any price. And on a value/$ scale, this tops the charts.

Nice work Steve!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great combination of theory and practice, Sep 4 2007

By Frank Kalis - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Data Modeling Made Simple: A Practical Guide for Business & Information Technology Professionals (Paperback)

Think what you want, but to me there definitely IS a difference between books about data modeling written by nonpractitioners and practitioners. Same subject, but sometimes poles apart in terms of quality and readability. Theoretical background is certainly essential for a good data modeler, however many books written by nonpractioners overcomplicate things and fail to bring their points across in an easy to understand language. Likewise there are books by practitioners that seriously lack quality. The book at hand combines the best of both worlds and is a pearl among the entry-level books about data modeling. Easy to read and understand, concise, and straight to the point with "just enough" theory. If you are a beginner in data modeling, this book will help you in getting started quickly and in the right direction. If you are an advanced (or even expert) data modeler, this book is a good reread to refresh your knowledge.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 18 reviews 3.8 out of 5 stars

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Data Modeling Made Simple: A Practical Guide for Business & Information Technology Professionals [Paperback]

Product Details

Product Description

Product Description

Tag this product

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

Customer Reviews

Listmania!

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback