The Value of Consolidating Your Data Assets

Consolidation is a technique with a history of proven benefits in many aspects of business and personal affairs. Large corporations as well as many individuals have taken advantage of the financial savings that can be obtained by consolidating their debt.

Market Control Through Corporate Consolidation

Consolidation is a strategy that is often used to corner a market by merging multiple companies into one large entity.

Eliminating Inefficiencies Through Consolidation

One of the reasons that consolidation is considered is to eliminate the inefficiencies associated with performing multiple iterations of similar activities.

Database Consolidation for System Efficiency

Database professionals are often tasked with maximizing the efficiency of their systems. It makes sense that if two databases have similar information, they may be able to be consolidated. This can eliminate the cost and complexity of maintaining additional systems and may also result in the more effective use of the consolidated data resources.

Using a Database Tool to Facilitate Consolidation

IDERA’s ER/Studio Data Architect can prove to be a valuable tool for teams who want to consolidate some of their data assets. The application can be used throughout the process of understanding, documenting, and combining two databases into a single entity. Following is an overview of the steps data architects need to take using this tool to consolidate two databases that contain similar, though not identical, information.

Source and Target Databases

The source database is the new one that may have been introduced into the environment by a merger. The target database is an existing data asset that will end up being merged with the source and store the consolidated information in a newly created database.

Steps in the Consolidation Process

• Reverse engineer the source database
  The specific tables and objects that will be extracted from the source database need to be identified and selected. Once this is done, a logical and physical model of the database is created and displayed. You can apply defined naming standards to clean up the logical model so it conforms to enterprise standards. This puts the source data in better shape to be merged with the existing database and allows the logical model to accurately document the resource.
• Compare the logical models
  The next step in the consolidation process is to compare the logical models of the source and target databases. Many setting options allow you to control which database objects are included in the comparison. Using the compare and merge functions of ER/Studio, data object attributes can be displayed in fine detail so choices can be made regarding how objects will be matched in the two databases. When you have made your choices, a report can be generated that shows the differences in the two models to be merged. This report allows you to see the additions that will be made to the target database and enables you to share this information with other interested parties such as the development team.
• Merge logical models and generate the physical model
  Once the logical models are merged, you have a new logical model formed from the two original data assets. After the proposed changes have been approved, ER/Studio lets you generate the new physical model. You can view the metadata of each object in the physical model and customize the entities as needed. Once you are satisfied with the physical model, it’s time to create the new merged database. This is accomplished with a few clicks in ER/Studio.
• Design data movement
  Designing the data movement is the final step, and there are various methods of performing this activity available in the tool. During this step, you can further document the merged database as you combine the physical models. You can create data movement rules that influence how specific objects are moved. This feature allows you to fine-tune the final format of column and table data.

A Guide to Using ER/Studio Data Architect for Consolidation

An illustrative IDERA video is available, detailing the use of ER/Studio Data Architect in performing a database consolidation.

Step-by-Step Guidance

The video guides the viewer through the steps outlined above, providing screenshots and hands-on demonstrations of the tool’s features.

Time Well-Spent

At just under an hour, the video is a valuable resource for anyone facing the task of consolidating databases.

Support for Various Database Platforms

ER/Studio Data Architect supports a wide range of relational and NoSQL database platforms, making it versatile for many use cases.

Free Trial

Give the video a look and test drive ER/Studio Data Architect for free to explore how it can help your team be more productive and successfully consolidate data assets.