Tonight I went to see these chaps play the Chop Suey. I didn't even
realize that one of the openers was Ace Ender who started The Early
November, another band I enjoyed.

Ace Ender did a fantastic job pulling I'm the crowd. It's remarkable
how many concerts I go to that are like that!

Needless to see I enjoyed the dancing and moving even in the
ridiculously hot venue.

The crowd was good, and the show was awesome. I would totally see them
again.

Recently I had the pleasure of discussing with a prospective client the bulky subject of Master Data Management (MDM). In this situation the client was considering a variety of MDM solutions and wanted some specific direction into which technology/vendor to choose from.

Now it is no secret that I tend to favor Microsoft products but in this case the platform already in place was Oracle so naturally, I wanted to give them more general advice instead of just pushing MS MDM.

There are quite a few upfront activities that must be done regardless of which products you are going to use. I've listed some introductory efforts that need to be done earlier in the process and that can be done before production selection.

• Governance
  To get the ball rolling, you really need to figure out what data you are talking about, where it lives, who thinks they own it now, and what organization you need to address this effort. Here are some suggestions on how to make this go smoothly:
  
  
  1. Identify External Data Ownership
     Often there will be multiple owners identified for the same data. Being able to identify these different uses in their various applications is a significant lever used throughout the rest of the process. Without a clear understanding of where the data is currently 'owned' and its criticality to various applications, mis-matched expectations will cause problems.
  2. Formalize Ownership in MDM
     This often requires significant negotiation and compromise from the various stakeholders. In organizations where the inter-organization trust level is high, this is more straight-forward. In some environments, only a top-down directive will accomplish this. Whichever tactic is used, establishing formal ownership is a prerequisite for success.
  3. Identify Data Domains
     This sounds a lot easier than it always ends of being. Attributes utilized by disparate systems often have subtleties in their definitions which must be accommodated. Being able to provide synonym mapping and transition approaches is imperative to keeping comfort levels high between organizations.
  4. Formalize Domain Administration Process
     Having an established (and hopefully standardized!) set of processes to perform CRUD operations on domains can take the stress out of relationships where trust levels are sub par between applications.
  5. Establish Organizational Governance
     This is often rolled up into Change Management or a similar phase, but in reality needs to be an ongoing activity. These organizational groupings will allow for escalation procedures, conflict resolution, and increased visibility into the data lifecycles.
  
  Once you have the basic framework to talk about data ( and who owns it, how it gets maintained, etc. ) you can then delve into the specifics of the data.
  
  
• Model Dimensions
  If governance is properly addressed, this should be a fairly straightforward exercise for data architects. They'll go through some steps similar to the following:
  
  
  1. Identify Dimensions
     What data are you really talking about? You need to pick a single name for each domain. Sometimes the same type of data is called different things in different places. You have to formalize on a common taxonomy.
  2. Identify Consuming Applications
     There may be downstream consumers beyond the currently perceived data owners. Make sure you understand the data lifecycle and flows so you can estimate impacts properly.
  3. Identify Entities Per Dimension
     Make sure you flesh out the taxonomy down to the most granular level necessary. The more detail you include now, the more hours saved later.
  4. Identify Entity Attributes
     This is a critical step that is often treated as a second-class citizen. In reality, it is a key driver. Without precision about attributes, the potential values and rules (which come next) can't be properly defined. It also means your estimates will be incorrect.
  5. Quantify Attribute Values
     This is only as important as the complexity of the data rules (which come next) and the accuracy of your rule implementation estimates need to be. If your sources have this well defined, it should be straightforward to ensure this is comprehensive.
  6. Identify Data Rules
     This is sometimes referred to ambiguously as Business Rules which is very imprecise. Here we are speaking not to rules governing operations or activities (hence the term Business) but instead the states, lifecycles, and value cohorts for entities and domains.

As you can well imagine this is a significant undertaking for any organization, and can be done in a technology agnostic way. Once you've identified and quantified this information, you can begin to look at transition plans, data flow planning and infrastructure. These are very technology and environmentally specific.

As the proverb states: "Measure twice, cut once."

I know that the Manhattan Beach Starbucks is the place to be, but
every frickin' day is a little much.

Once again I settle for the lemonade.

We've got a spot at the Craperie for 8 in 30 minutes. Yummy!

This is what happens with Cam, Kevin, and Jake hanging at Dane's pad.

They got rowdy, broke Dane's furniture and downed all his alcohol.

We managed to snap a whole ton of photos showing the amazing time we
had tonight.

Excited for bed. More excited for brunch and to see Lolly tomorrow.

Hanging out in Hermosa Beach with a good contingent of the LA crew.

Shaimus is opening for Scot Fisher at Cafe Boogaloo.

The crowd us rowdy, the drinks are flowing and Cam's mom and aunt are
in the house!

I just had the pleasure of meeting Janis tonight who is a friend of a
friend. She drives a Vespa and is really fun.

Since I'm the DD I get the distinct pleasure of watching the drinkers
mingle.

Kevin also came tonight. I'm a big fan. He's heading back to the east
coast soon but we're expecting him back. We need him back. Come back
Kevin!

Claire and co got us a prime table because we are with the band. We're
chatting it up as the music plays.

Wishing you were here!

With my cousins watching a great rock show!

First up was The Maine, followed by Metro Station and Good Charlotte.

We're taking a break before Boys Like Girls rock the house.

Aren't you jealous?

My buddy Danny got us the sweet hookup for the world premiere of
Batman at the Cinerama.

Now I find myself waiting in line with a motley assortment of
characters and hobos.

What exactly does that say about me? Who cares?! I'm seeing Dark
Knight before everyone else on one of the best theaters in the country!

Danny, you rock!

Listening to the opening keynote at The Agile Project Leadership
Network Summit in Seattle.

Lots of rehashed content. Really hoping it isn't a precursor of the
remainder.

Good conversations with attendees though, which is the point.

This evening I had the rare treat of visiting with the families of
some long time friends. The weather was divine, the meal was
succulent, and the company was unparalleled. There were great
childhood stories and secrets revealed, jokes and laughters galore,
and new friendships forged.

One upside of attendance by such interestingly diverse and inspiring
individuals is the ease with which great quotes come forth. A
sampling is included below for your enjoyment.

- I just want to own a monkey.
- Having a mullet means you are either a redneck or European.
- If you want to judge the fudge, go with the pudge.

When it comes right down to it, I'm just blessed beyond all belief and
I most humbly thank my Creator for I am fearfully and wonderfully
made.

After dinner we made s'mores. Yummy! After s'mores we went to
celebrate with Ellen for her 21st birthday at the Irish Emigrant in
the University District. The bartender was really fun and the karaoke
was a blast. Of course watching Danny string things up with the Statue
of Liberty was quite the treat too.

On the way home, I listened to Kate Rusby and Joshua Radin as I drove
the bridge and enjoyed the moon shadows on the water. How much
goodness is one selfish sinner alloted? Evidently there are no bounds
to grace because I received a full measure of merriment many times
over this day. Now to sleep perchance to dream...

As I wandered the streets today performing some domestic errands and ignoring the constant interruption of twitter posts about people getting iPhones I had ample time for some self reflection.

Specifically about my lifestyle choices. The most common implied criticism I face almost daily is about choosing to work a job that doesn't match my "qualifications". As if somehow taking a position that makes me happy and doesn't require that I over exert myself is offensive othose people who unfortunately have made themselves slaves to one particular grindstone or another.

How many movies are there where the wise old coot tells the ambitious youngster to just do whatever makes him happy? Haven't we all heard the story of the businessman and the Mexican fisherman?

In the end, I had to just internally give people permission to say whatever they're going to say and just file it into the bit bucket. After all, they will anyway, best to just embrace it.

So now it's back to a job I enjoy that might well be beneath me. I'm happy to let others take advantage as long as I can continue to enjoy the kind of lifestyle to which I've become accustomed.

You guys get out there and grab the bull by the horns. I'm happy to be a spectator shouting Ole!

With my friends out and about, I had time to be a little domestic tonight. It felt good to spend time just puttering around the kitchen and getting my hands dirty.

As the dishes cooled I took some reading out on the deck to watch the sun going down.

It's been quite some time since I've been able to devote energy into solid blog posts. With the sunsets and the water and the quietness, I probably will continue slacking.

Only in seattle does it not surprise anyone to seea dude like this strollling around.

Awesome.