ABSTRACT
A useful vehicle for the examination of the properties and characteristics of the different data types is the data model. A data model is the classical vehicle by which organizations begin to make sense of their data. In most cases the result of the data modeling exercise is a model of the customer interaction with the organization. Banks, insurance companies, retailers, and public utilities usually focus their data model on the organization as it interacts with its external environment. The difference in focus between the internal and external data models is also evident in their content. A matrix can be constructed to distinguish between the internal and external perspectives of data and the administrative or directional perspectives. The focus of the organization’s external administrative quadrants is on the customers, accounts, transactions, and product. The models of most organizations are affected by their industry sector as a whole, at least insofar as the external model is concerned.
