About the Guided Stewardship operating model and data layers

Guided Stewardship offers the Guided Stewardship operating model, an out-of-the-box operating model to define the structure of the information in Collibra. The full operating model consists of 3 layers, representing the different structural data layers in typical organizations:

• The physical layer represents the actual storage-level structure of the data as they exist in the source systems. The physical layer consists of assets such as Schema, Table, and Column assets.
• The semantic layer, also referred to as the logical data layer, provides a business-centric view of data. The semantic layer consists of assets such as Data Model, Data Entity, and Data Attribute assets, which act as a bridge between the raw physical assets and the Knowledge Graph's business assets, such as Business Term, KPI, and Data Category assets.
• The conceptual layer defines the enterprise blueprint for data, focusing on broad, system-independent Data Domains and Data Concepts. It provides a standardized way to understand data and serves as the foundation for organization-wide governance.

The Guided Stewardship operating model specifically includes the semantic layer and conceptual layer asset types, such as Data Attribute, Data Entity, Data Model, Data Concept, and Data Domain. The physical data layer asset types, Schema, Table, and Column, are available with Data Catalog.
Database and System assets are Technology assets that represent the highest level over physical data and logical data organization.

Tip The definition of all 3 layers is very useful for larger organizations that have data governance experience. For other organizations, defining the physical layer and the semantic layer can be a good starting point. If the full Guided Stewardship operating model is too complex for your organization, we advise to skip the conceptual layer because the semantic layer provides better out-of-the-box features and relation possibilities to the physical layer.

The following image shows all relevant asset types, per layer, and the relationships that bind them together in Collibra.

About the physical layer

The physical layer represents the actual data in an organization's systems. It consists of the following asset types: Database, Schema, Table, and Column.

• The Schema, Table, and Column asset types are available with Data Catalog.
  The Schema, Table and Column assets are almost never created manually. They are mostly automatically created via the Data Catalog registration processes.
• Although the Database asset type is a Technology asset, it is considered part of the physical layer.

Schema asset type

A Schema is the highest level of physical structure in a Database. It defines, in a formal language, the structure of the tables and columns in the database. Schema assets are part of the physical layer. Schema assets are related to Database assets and Table assets as follows:

Table asset type

Table assets represent the physical tables in a data environment. Table assets are part of the physical layer. Table assets are related to the Schema assets and Column assets as follows:

Column asset type

Column assets represent the physical columns in a data environment. It is the lowest level of definition in the physical layer. Column assets are related to Table and Data Attribute assets as follows:

About the semantic layer

A semantic layer makes it easier for business users to understand the meaning and context of data. The main building blocks of the semantic layer, Data Entity and Data Attributes assets, act as a bridge between physical data assets, such as databases or files, and business assets in the Collibra Knowledge Graph, including business terms, KPIs, and data categories.

• The Data Entity and Data Attribute asset types are available with Guided Stewardship.
• Although the System asset type is a Technology asset, it is considered part of the semantic layer. Including a System asset is not mandatory in the Guided Stewardship operating model.

The semantic layer is a tree-like structure, starting with high-level System and Data Model assets, and branching out with implementation-specific Data Entity and Data Attribute assets.

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Semantic layer asset types

Data Model asset type

The Data Model asset is the highest level of organizational structure in the semantic layer, and defines the specific structure of data in a System. Data Model assets are related to System and Data Entity assets as follows:

Data Entity asset type

A Data Entity represents a real-world object of interest to the business, such as Customer, Employee, or Product. It acts as the abstraction of items in a physical layer and groups a set of related Data Attributes, such as Customer Name and Customer email, to provide a complete definition of that entity.
The Data Entity assets are related to Data Model, Data Domain, and Data Attribute assets as follows:

For other out-of-the-box relations, go to Out-of-the-box relation types.

Data Attribute asset type

A Data Attribute is a specific characteristic or property of a Data Entity that represents a single piece of information, such as Email Address, Order Status, or Unit Price. It serves as an abstraction for columns in the physical layer and provides a clear business name and definition. As such, it is a bridge between the physical layer and governance assets.
The Data Attribute assets are related to Data Entity and Data Concept assets as follows:

For other out-of-the-box relations, go to Out-of-the-box relation types.

Tip Collibra offers several feature to help you create the semantic layer. For information, go to About the Semantic Layer submenu in Stewardship

About the conceptual layer

The conceptual layer is the highest level of organization in the Guided Stewardship operating model. It represents the overarching, context-independent data structures within an organization’s data landscape. It is where you can define concepts, such as Customer and Product, and their component fields, without direct reference to system-specific implementations.

The conceptual layer is closely related to the semantic layer. The main difference between them is that the conceptual layer is context-independent, whereas the semantic layer describes the structure in an individual System. The definition of the conceptual layer can be very useful for larger organizations that have data governance experience. For other organizations, defining the physical layer and the semantic layer can be a good starting point. If the full Guided Stewardship operating model is too complex for your organization, we advise to focus on the semantic layer because the semantic layer provides better out-of-the-box features and relation possibilities to the physical layer.

The organization of the conceptual layer is based on many-to-many relationships, which makes the conceptual layer more concise and flexible than tree-like arrangements that rely strictly on one-to-one and one-to-many relationships.

In the following example, 3 Lines of Business assets group both the Customer and Product data domains. Each Data Domain groups several Data Concepts. In this case, both Data Domains group the Name and ID Number Data Concepts. This is possible because Name and ID Number, as Data Concept assets, represent the concepts abstractly, not as specific implementations. A Customer can have a Name and a Product can have a Name, but you need only one Data Concept asset to represent the idea of “name”.

Conceptual layer asset types

Line of Business asset type

The Line of Business asset type is the highest level of abstraction in the conceptual layer. Also known as business unit or business area, it represents a specific area of business in an organization.

Example Finance, Sales, Retail, Investment Management

Line of Business assets are related to Data Domain assets as follows:

Data Domain asset type

Data domains, also known as data categories or subject areas, are high-level, theoretical representations of your data in the conceptual layer. They represent the structure of concepts in data environments and contain all the different nuances of corresponding business terms.

Example Customer, Employee, User, Order, Product

Data Domain assets are related to Line of Business assets, Data Concept, and other Data Domain as follows:

Data Concept asset type

A Data Concept asset is a high-level theoretical representation of your data and describes one aspect of one or more data domains.

Example Address, Name, ID number, Phone number, Price, Year

Data Concept assets represent the most common concepts that are used to organize database content.
They are the most granular level of context-independent structure users can establish within the conceptual layer. Data Concept assets are comparable to columns in the physical layer and Data Entity assets in the semantic layer.

Data Concept assets are related to Data Domain, other Data Concept, and Data Attribute assets.

Technology assets in the Guided Stewardship operating model

The following Technology assets are considered part of the Guided Stewardship operating system:

• System, which is part of the semantic layer.
• Database, which is part of the physical layer.

Database asset type

Database assets represent the physical databases in your data environment. They are the highest level of physical data organization in a data environment. Database assets should have specific names, and implement specific technologies, such as PostgreSQL. Although the Database asset type is a Technology asset, it is considered part of the physical layer. Database assets are related to System and Schema assets as follows:

System asset type

System assets represent executable software that an organization uses to automate business functions that help run the business smoothly and efficiently. Systems can be any commercially available or privately developed software. Although the System asset type is a Technology Asset, it is considered part of the semantic layer.

Example CRM, ERP, and EDW software

System assets are related to Data Model and Database assets as follows:

Related topics

• About Guided Stewardship
  
• About the Semantic Layer submenu in Stewardship
  
• Guided Stewardship diagram views
  
• For other possible out-of-the-box relations, go to Out-of-the-box relation types