Conceptual and information modelling in 2c8 Apps

Why do we engage in conceptual and information modelling?

The perhaps most common model we use in 2c8 Apps is the process model. This is for a good reason because it answers the questions of what we do, how we do it and who performs tasks and activities within an organisation. In 2c8 Apps we can also create other models as a complement to our process models such as organisational, stakeholder and applications models, among others. These models describe our business from different perspectives.

In addition to traditional models, we can also describe the information that resides and is being used in an organisation. Information can take many forms, such as documents, presentations, in different IT-systems, web sites, intranets and so on. Unlike other models that describes the business and organisations as such in different angles or perspectives, the conceptual or information models describes the information that is a necessary for the business to be conducted properly.

A good conceptual or information model also provides consistency around the organisation’s terminology. If different parts of the organisation use different terms for the same thing, it can obviously lead to confusion. This applies both to everyday conversations and to written documents, IT systems, models, and so on. For example, in municipal organisations, terms like citizen, user, or customer might all refer to the same entity. It’s important, particularly in IT systems, documents, and models, to agree on the terms to be used. Changing terminology and concepts retrospectively can be costly.

Key information in an organisation also tends to be stable over time compared to, for instance, the organisation and work processes. We’ve all experienced reorganisations where we get a new organisational structure, along with changes in processes and ways of working. However, central information and concepts typically persists through such changes. Since information is more resilient, a good information model will be beneficial for a long time in our organisation while requiring relatively few resources for maintenance and management.

Information Modelling in 2c8 Apps

In the 2c8 Modeling Tool, there are two types of models we can use when modelling our information: a conceptual model and an information model.

Conceptual Model

When creating a conceptual model, we start from the common terms used in the organisation. These are simply put the words, names, and concepts used daily in documents, IT systems, and everyday language. Typical concepts that are often of interest include Customer, Order, Product, Supplier, etc. It is also important to find the relationships between different concepts and include them in the conceptual model. When making a conceptual model, you can, or perhaps even should, keep an overall mindset and not focus too much on everything being consistent and structured. It is more important to include central elements and not miss crucial aspects than to ensure the structure is perfect in the first stage. The conceptual model can be seen as a first step towards a good information model.

In a conceptual model, you also want to show the relationships between different concepts. It is useful to name the relationships, but unlike in an information model, you do not specify the type of relationship. An example of a relationship in a conceptual model could be between Customer and Order, where the relationship might be named “Placed by”. Thus, the model should be read as an Order is “placed by” a Customer.

Image: Example of a conceptual model

Information Model

An information model is more structured, and one should be more meticulous about which concepts from the organisation should be entities, what should be attributes, and the type of relationship between the different entities. For instance, if an Order and Order Date are identified in a conceptual model, they would likely be documented in an information model as Order being an entity and Order Date as an attribute of Order, not as an entity.

The relationships between entities can be of various types:

• One-to-one
• One-to-many
• Many-to-many

In the example of Order and Customer, it would likely be a one-to-many relationship between these entities, so the model would read that a Customer can place many Orders, but an Order belongs to only one Customer.

Image: Example of an information model

The Connections of the Information Model to Other Model Types

The most apparent connection between an information model and other model types is through the business object. If we have an activity Create Order, where the result, unsurprisingly, is an Order, there is a direct and obvious link between the business object Order and the entity Order in the information model. However, there is also a more indirect link between the activity Create Order and the information model, as information about both the Customer and, for instance, the Article would likely be needed to create the order.

In 2c8 Apps, the objects created can be reused. They can be used in all types of models, including conceptual and information models. All objects reused in an information model are shown as entities with a marking in the corner indicating what type of object they are in other models.

Image: Example of an information model with reused objects