InfoSphere Data Architect

Businesses today own vast amount of data and decisions are made based on data. The challenge for IT is clear: provide understanding of the data, improve data quality and consistency, and keep data design aligned with business intent and requirements. IBM InfoSphere Data Architect is a collaborative data design solution that helps you discover, model, relate, and standardize diverse and distributed data assets. Building on the comprehensive data modeling capabilities of previous versions, InfoSphere Data Architect further addresses those requirements.

Support for dimensional modeling

Unlock the mystery of your existing data sources
InfoSphere Data Architect discovers the structure of heterogeneous data sources by examining and analyzing the underlying metadata. Using an established Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) connection to the data sources, InfoSphere Data Architect explores their structures using native queries. With the user interface, users can easily browse through the hierarchy of data elements, facilitating an understanding of detailed properties for every element.

Easily develop data models in a heterogeneous data environment
InfoSphere Data Architect can create logical, physical, and domain models for DB2 (including time travel query and fine grained access control), Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and Teradata. Elements from logical and physical data models can be visually represented in diagrams using Information Engineering (IE) notation. Alternatively, physical data model diagrams can use the Unified Modeling Language (UML) notation. InfoSphere Data Architect enables data professionals to create physical data models from scratch, from logical models using transformation or from the database using reverse engineering.

Jumpstart integration design projects
Use InfoSphere Data Architect to design business intelligence, master data management, or SOA projects and use with InfoSphere offerings. Enhanced namespace support assists organizations using the IBM Industry Models.

PL/I data structures can be imported as logical data models

Manage iterative changes
Most development projects are iterative in nature, so it is important to be able to design incrementally and manage changes and their impact seamlessly. InfoSphere Data Architect allows users to do just that. Impact analysis lists all of the dependencies on the selected data elements. Advanced synchronization technology compares two models, model to database or two databases. Changes can then be promoted within and across data models and data sources. Use with Data Studio to manage complex DB2 changes and data migrations without disruption.

Implement corporate standards
InfoSphere Data Architect enables architects to define and implement standards that increase data quality and enterprise consistency for naming, meaning, values, relationships, privileges, privacy, and traceability. Define standards once and associate them with diverse models and databases. Built-in, extensible, rules-driven analysis verifies compliance to naming, syntax, normalization, and best practices standards for both models and databases. Integration with IBM InfoSphere Business Glossary expands these capabilities.

Facilitate cross-team alignment
Whether you are working on a small team where each member plays multiple roles or in a large distributed team with clearer delineation of responsibilities, you can use InfoSphere Data Architect as plug-in function to a shared Eclipse instance or share artifacts through standard configuration management repositories like Rational Clear Case, Rational Team Concert or Concurrent Versions System (CVS), or Subversion.

InfoSphere Data Architect supports model-driven design by built-in integration with:

Support data lifecycle management
Architects, developers, and database administrators can co-install InfoSphere Data Architect with Data Studio for a seamless design, development, deployment and administration experience. Define privacy policies once and feed downstream processes to accelerate enterprise consistency in governing data privacy across test environments. InfoSphere Data Architect and Data Studio now both can generate test data specifications for InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management and Data Privacy Solutions that leverage privacy models defined in InfoSphere Data Architect.

Import/export for easy transition
InfoSphere Data Architect can import and export models from CA AllFusion ERwin, Sybase PowerDesigner, IBM Rational Rose®, and a wide range of additional metadata sources and targets. Logical and physical data models are supported during this interchange. Or just reverse engineer current models from live database connections.

InfoSphere Data Architect provides comprehensive filtering support for model comparison and synchronization. This significant productivity enhancement offers users the ability to efficiently identify and filter detailed differences between elements such as models and database objects.

Automation support