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Taking Software Packages into Account 61

These are two essential conditions for reconciliation of the
MDM approach with software packages. Last but not least,
when a locked MDM system exists in a software package, it
is necessary to neutralize its administration functions.

3.2.1. Availability of the data model

The data model must be available and documented. It
must distinguish between reference/master data and
transactional data, which is not easy when the model is built
on the basis of an overlapping of two different data types,
with no distinction. This availability of the data model
represents a real change in the commercialization policy for
most software vendors.

The data model must be communicated in a standard
notation such as UML or another DSL. One version presents
the model in a comprehensible manner for business users
and another, more technical, is aimed at IT practitioners.
The first constitutes the semantic model that expresses the
meaning of data, their associations and validation rules. The
second is the logical data model that provides the coding
rules of the data and the information necessary for its
technical integration. A translation of the logical model to a
physical data structure is also necessary, for example in an
XML form. In conclusion, it is best to have all of the
description of the highest level data (semantic) right through
to the technical implementation (XML) via the logical level.

By benefiting from the modeling already available in the
software packages, on the condition that these are of an
adequate level, a company can avoid starting its own
modeling from scratch and can control its semantic model so
that it does not unnecessarily differ from those imposed by
the software packages used.