The PPDM 3.7 data model, released to the PPDM Membership in spring 2004, contains over 1,200 tables and 24,000 columns covering 45 subject areas in the energy sector. This robust and comprehensive data model is very effective for managing data and processes in transactional systems, or for use as a corporate master data store.
However, for some functions, such as management decision support systems, or GIS browsing applications it is more practical to present a warehouse style data summary to users. In 2004, the PPDM membership recommended that this kind of high level, rolled up version of PPDM 3.7 be designed.
The resulting light weight model, released publicly, is PPDM Lite. In some implementations, PPDM Lite may be thought of as a simple warehouse or data mart model. If desired, PPDM Lite may be spatially enabled using a GIS system. For most implementations, PPDM Lite will be maintained through automated processes from PPDM 3.7.
The PPDM Association provides examples illustrating how to spatially enable PPDM Lite using ESRI, Oracle and Postgres, but the reader should be aware that there are other spatial applications that could be used effectively. The PPDM Association does not recommend any specific set of GIS tools; the examples are provided simply to illustrate possible implementation scenarios.
Every implementation of PPDM Lite, whether spatially enabled or not, should be designed to meet the needs of the user community within the company, the requirements of corporate data management recommendations and the existing technical environment.
The seven steps for implementation will guide you through implementing PPDM Lite. Many implementation levels are possible, depending on your business needs. To choose the appropriate level an understanding of the business drivers in your company is needed. These scenarios range from implementing PPDM Lite as a standalone warehouse without a GIS to a full implementation of PPDM Lite that is replicated from your PPDM 3.7 master data store and spatially enabled through a GIS such as ArcIMS.Some implementations may not require all seven steps.
For example, an implementation that periodically refreshes PPDM Lite from your master PPDM 3.7 data store (rather than handling the synchronization in real time) requires steps 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7. In some cases, companies may choose to implement a stand alone version of PPDM Lite without any managed replication from a master data store. For this case, step 1, followed by the spatial enabling processes in Step 7 are all that is needed. (Please note that the PPDM Association strongly recommends that all data replication should always be managed.)