Understand a Semantic Model's Requirements

Before you can begin modeling data, you must understand your semantic model's requirements.

When creating a semantic model, the key objective is to design a model that presents business information in the way that users understand their business' structure. A well designed semantic model allow users to query data in the same way that they would ask business questions.

Use this list of questions to help you analyze a semantic model's requirements:

• What kinds of business questions are business analysts trying to answer?

• What are the measures required to understand business performance?

• What are all the dimensions the business operates under? Or, in other words, what are the dimensions used to break down the measurements and provide headers for the reports?

• Are there hierarchical elements in each dimension, and what types of relationships define each hierarchy?

Answering these questions makes it easier to identify and define the semantic model's objects.