Leveraging a Territory Glossary with Office Reference Data

Problem

When designing your Collibra Operating Model , it is good to consider the already existing organizational structures. A good place to start is with a company organization chart. The existing divisions or subject areas can be created in Collibra with Domains and Communities. Following this strategy will speed up design and adoption by creating familiarity for users. For example, Assets that are managed by the accounting department can be put into a Community called “Accounting”.

Example Scenario

In this example, the Operating Model is designed around the office and branch territories of an insurance company. The company has an organizational structure that assigns responsibilities to branches across the United States.  The organizational structure consists of the following:

  • Region
  • City
  • State
  • Branch

Example of West Region

Region City Branch Office Code State
West Region

Albuquerque

Albuquerque 1 162 New Mexico
Albuquerque 2 155 New Mexico, Texas
Albuquerque 3 255 New Mexico
Albuquerque West 188 New Mexico
Phoenix

Phoenix Main Branch 034 Arizona, California

Phoenix Branch 1

035 Arizona
Phoenix Branch 2 032 Arizona

Branches are contained within a City and a Region. A Branch has Office Code and serves customers in one or many states.

Administrative Regions.xlsx

Operating Model

This structure is modelled in Collibra with Structural Concepts such as Communities, Domains, Assets, and Relations

[bok-callout]For more information about the Collibra Operating Model, go to: Data Governance Operating Model[/bok-callout]

Diagram

The example scenario model for the West region is illustrated by the following diagram.

This includes all Phoenix branches and one Albuquerque branch.

Additional Relation between Branch and Office Code.

This diagram demonstrates that the Phoenix Main Branch has an Office Code of 034.

Communities

This structure could be placed in a Community at any level, but the enterprise-level Community is used for this example.

Enterprise Level Community

This is the top level Community for the enterprise.

Domains and Asset Types

When creating a structure for administrative reference data, every existing classification or physical asset should be given its own domain. This will better organize Assets and allow for more defined assignments of stewardship, attributes and relations.

 

The following Domains and Asset Types are necessary for this example:

Domain Name Domain Type Asset Type
Branch Glossary Business Term
City

Glossary

Business Term
Office Code Code List Code Value
Region

Glossary

Business Term
State

Glossary

Business Term

Assets

Every branch, city, state, region and office code will be stored in Collibra as an Asset.

Relations

Relying on Relations rather than custom Attributes is a more robust and future-proof way to construct the operating model. The advantages are highlighted below.

[bok-callout]This approach relates closely to “Approach 2” in the Approaches to Reference Data Management cookbook.[/bok-callout]

All the relationships are created with Relations; many of which are custom. Here is an example based on the Phoenix Main Branch:

Asset Role Corole (Opposite Direction) Asset
Phoenix Main Branch Code Business Term 034
Phoenix Main Branch Handles Is Handled By Arizona, California
Phoenix Main Branch Located In Contains Phoenix
Phoenix Located In Contains West (Region)

The top line reads “The Phoenix Main Branch has a Code Value of 034″ and “034 relates to Business Term Phoenix Main Branch.”

[bok-callout]For information about custom Relations go to: Metamodel Configuration > Create a Relation Type[/bok-callout]

Custom Asset Types

Custom Asset Types can be used instead of out-of-the-box ones to provide additional information about the Asset. Creating custom Asset Types and Attribute Types allows for custom filtering of Views in the Business Glossary.

For example, the Phoenix Main Branch was originally created as a Business Term. It could instead be created as a custom Asset Type called Branch. This allows the assignment of a branch manager and other information that is specific to a branch such as Annual Sales and Address.

Asset Type Symbol Attributes
Business Term

  • Definition
  • Acronym
  • Synonym…
Branch (New Attribute Type)
  • Branch Manager
  • Annual Sales
  • Address…

The Phoenix Main Branch modeled as a Branch instead of a Business Term.

[bok-callout]For information about custom Asset Types and Attribute Types go to: Metamodel Configuration > Create a Asset Type[/bok-callout]

Result

The result is a model of the the administrative structure of the insurance company modeled in Collibra. By relying heavily on Relations, every Asset can be managed and governed individually.

Traceability Diagram for the Phoenix Main Branch

Branch Domain > Phoenix Main Branch > Traceability > Diagram

You have to login to comment.