Definitions should eliminate confusion across the enterprise. And they should be accessible by all that work with data. There are two types of definitions - functional and technical. And they are more powerful when they are tied together. This blog post covers some of the best practices for definitions.
Here are some functional definition best practices:
- Have a standard (a template) for the functional definition that everyone can follow when working on the definition. Make sure that there is a consistent approach to writing definitions.
- Require a specific and common name for the functional definition. It should not be a database or technical name. This name must be unique and work across data systems. Remember to include synonyms and alternate phrasing in the definition.
- Refer to other definitions where possible and link to these other definitions. And these can be technical definitions (you can have multiple technical definitions for every functional definitions).
- Provide example values in your functional definitions including if applicable the list of valid values.
- Include functional areas (finance, HR, etc.) in the definition so that definition ownership is known (when you know the functional area then the data steward who governs this definition is probably known).
- Where applicable, security classifications, privacy codes, tags, attachments and time context should be included in the definition.
- Place the right people to do the definition writing and approval at the right time (do critical ones first). Make sure the writers edit the definition for the perspective of the smart outsider.
Here are some technical definition best practices:
- Have a standard (a template) for the technical definition that everyone can follow when working on the definition.
- Refer to other definitions where possible and link to these other definitions.
- Provide information on how the data is retrieved or calculated for the technical definition from a specific data system and where it is located
- If applicable, make sure that relationship to time is specified in the definition.
- Connect to the data model if possible and get the information to be created automatically.
- Place the right people in the position to review the definitions at the right time (do critical ones first)
We hope you found this blog post useful. Other resources regarding data dictionaires and definitions can be found in this blog post. IData has a solution, the Data Cookbook, that can aid the employees and the organization in its data governance, data intelligence, data stewardship and data quality initiatives. The solution has the ability to document definitions, functional and technical, and link them together. IData also has experts that can assist with data governance, reporting, integration and other technology services on an as needed basis. Feel free to contact us and let us know how we can assist.
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