Canonical Data Model

As the enterprise IT environment has become increasingly complex, organizations are seeking ways to simplify the task of integrating systems and data. Settling on a canonical data model can bring consistency to data by establishing a universal schema and a set of semantics across all applications and systems. With a canonical model, developers have a prescribed format and validation rules for data fields, helping to streamline the development process and protect the integrity of data. But adopting a canonical data model isn't easy - different departments within the enterprise may want autonomy, and one single model may not serve all areas of the enterprise equally well. For enterprises who want a set of tools to help adopt a canonical data model, Progress Software provides industry-leading solutions for building and supporting a canonical data model.

Simplify the Semantic Integration of Diverse Services with a Canonical Data Model

A canonical data model represents the common semantic structures across data sources and data services -- that is, the agreed-upon attributes, operations, and relationships for entities fundamental to a particular business, such as "customer" or "purchase order." The value of a canonical data model for a service-oriented architecture (SOA) comes from its abstraction from all specific services and applications. Each sending and receiving data source or data service maps to the common information model independently for data transformation and reconciliation. When a data service or source changes, SOA developers only need to update one mapping.

This one-to-one mapping per data service or source simplifies semantic integration because the main alternative is custom coding point-to-point data transformations between each pair of data services or sources. This adds significantly to IT complexity. Not only is it extremely labor-intensive to add and change data sources and data services, but when a change is made anywhere, it's difficult to understand the impact on all related services and sources, creating vulnerability to system breakage.

Leveraging Canonical Data Models for Faster Integration with Progress DataXtend

Progress® DataXtend® Semantic Integrator (SI) enables business analysts and developers to use a canonical data model to deliver critical functionality to semantically integrate systems across an SOA in record time. Specifically, working within the DataXtend SI Designer, users can import existing common models as well as schemas for data sources and data services. 

In runtime, the DataXtend SI Engine uses the Exchange Model to dynamically convert and validate data points before submitting them to receiving systems. In particular, it ensures the business integrity of the data: that is, not only that the data format is correct but that the data is valid based on the rules for users and applications that require it.

Building on the Benefits of Canonical Data Models

Progress technology delivers other productivity benefits in addition to reducing the number of mappings by using a canonical data model. In particular, our products will:

• Automate and manage operations central to ensuring data quality across data exchanges. These include transformations, such as schema mappings, validation, and business rule enforcement.
  
• Expedite and simplify semantic integration over the SOA lifecycle. Within the design environment, developers can rapidly test, debug, and modify models—and see the impact of any proposed change.
  
• Allow developers to change business rules or replace components without re-cording or taking systems offline.

 

If your industry is focused on telecommunications, you will also be interested in DataXtend SID Model Browser. The TM Forum's Shared Information/Data (SID) improves data mediation in OSS/BSS integration projects by defining a canonical data model. Using the SID can help you realize business benefits that create value for your customers and directly affect your bottom line. But canonical models the size of the SID can be challenging to absorb. To help you understand this industry standard, we created the DataXtend SID Model Browser.

In addition to offering solutions for supporting a canonical data model based on industry standards, Progress Software also delivers the industry's first enterprise service bus, and SOA management, data replication, BPEL orchestration, and other SOA infrastructure technologies.