The Enterprise Data Model: A framework for enterprise data architecture, 2nd edition 2nd Edition

This author's writing style is direct and easy to understand. I've been struggling to find a clear, concise book on this topic. The diagrams are informative. It is a quick read- I was able to read the whole book in a few hours. I've recommended this book to the entire project team.

When I received the advanced order email from Amazon, the blurb made the book sound like a worthwhile addition to my library, providing a simplified overview of data architecture in the same way that the excellent book by James Martin did in the early 1980's. Alas, whilst the premise of this book is sound and the content is reasonably informative and interesting, its execution leaves a lot to be desired. I hope that the next version of this book is professionally edited and proof-read as it will turn this book around from a 'should avoid' to a 'must have'.The book is littered with spelling and grammatical errors to the extent that they detract from the value of the text and leave one frustrated and annoyed. Pedant that I am, I got to the stage that, towards the end of the book, I was just looking for the errors and keeping a tally by page. The following two random examples are actually call-outs and one would think that they, at least, would be accurate. They are:"One of the key foundations stones of MDM is an enterprise data model to govern the use and structure of the organisations data." (Page 19)and"By making all software adhere to the enterprise data model, the business protects it's self from the impact of changes in technology." (Page 26)Interestingly, my copy of Word 2003 didn't pick up the errors either.In addition, the book includes random comments that are out of context (e.g. Page 3), has what in any other book would be a side-bar randomly inserted into the middle of the text (e.g. "Some thoughts on Data Quality" on Page 27), refers to incorrect Figures (e.g. Page 99), makes inappropriate use of humour (Page 106), and the examples with Widget Ltd don't show a clear progression of ideas. To cap it off, having earlier poked fun at some newspaper headlines as a way of demonstrating ambiguity, Appendix A shows diagrammatically two ways to parse the headline "Enraged cow injures farmer with axe" but the diagram uses the word "kills" instead of "injures".All of this points to what I find to be an exceptionally shoddy piece of workmanship where the author manages to commit just about every writing howler described in a Technical Writing How-to book. (For an example of how to properly write a book such as this, one should read "Business Rule Concepts", Third Edition, by Ronald G. Ross).To sum up, within the dross, there are a number of useful nuggets of information. But I just don't know whether they are sufficient to justify the cost of the book and the anguish that follows when one tries to read it.

This is a good overview of the EDM,covering the usual features and benefits. It covers data modeling and process modeling, but in neither case would you learn enough to create a good model. It covers the process of creating the EDM, including the major issues, but again you would not learn enough to lead a successful project. Admittedly, I have worked on EDMs, but I was still surprised by how little I learned by the time I reached the end of the book.

Definitely a good overview of the practice with enough detail to feel good enough to have the confidence to know what you are talking about. However, it WILL leave you hungry for more as it stimulates your interest in your sub-speciality. If there was a list of references at the back or if the author had a website and listed appropriate recommendations for each sub area, that would be perfect.

This is a good reference.

Pictures are hard or impossible to see (very distorted). Although author says they can be accessed on-line, links don't work. In fact, no reference links work on Internet. Content is a bit basic and looks not up-to-date, although main concepts are still valid.

It is a good little Book. Easy read and covers how and ELDM can be used to guide EA and projects to save time and money.

This is not a book for anyone with ANY knowledge of data. If you don't know the difference between data and information, and you want to buy a book to tell you that, you have to wait until page 12 for that. If you have never seen a one to many symbol, you will wait until page 42 for that. The book, including appendices and glossary is 137 pages of big type with pictures. The chapter on Enterprise Data Modeling starts on p. 57. Maybe 70 pages of light coverage. On page 63, "This section gives a very quick and dirty description of the process involved in developing an information model". Wait, isn't that why I bought this book? quick? dirty?