Thinking on semantic data modeling and the universal semantic layer, plus release notes on what's new in Ellie.
How a healthcare organization used Ellie to tame a 7,000-table EHR system, building a shared data model that connected consultants, IT, and clinicians to reliable reporting.
Ellie now includes John Giles' renowned Data Model Patterns — ready-made templates for Account, Party, Product, Event, and more — giving modelers a fast start on any new domain.
How to tell roles apart from subtypes in conceptual modeling, and three ways to model roles (as relationships, as a bridge entity, or as separate entities) with Ellie's recommendation for when each fits best.
A look back at Ellie's journey from a small MVP startup to a growing data modeling platform, and its vision to become the "Google Maps" of data management.
Ellie 3.8 ships the first Model Export API, letting teams pull model contents programmatically for integrations with Data Vault automation, data catalogs, and other tools.
Modeler's Corner #4 introduces entity subtypes and supertypes using a travel-agency booking example, how to build them in Ellie with box-within-a-box nesting, and the three ways to carry a subtype structure into logical and physical models (supertype only, subtypes only, or both as separate linked entities).
Data modeling expert Steve Hoberman, author of nine books including Data Modeling Made Simple, joins Ellie.ai as Senior Advisor; a Q&A covers his career and why he chose Ellie.
Ellie 3.7 adds opt-in Azure Active Directory user management, makes entity sub- and supertype relationships visible in the Glossary view, and includes several other improvements.
Modeler's Corner #2 explains the color-coded entity types behind Ellie's canvas, rooted in the Hovi Data Framework: Master, Transaction, and Contract entities, plus the extended Reference and Transaction header/detail types, and how they map onto Data Vault hub patterns.
Why data platforms keep failing the people who need them most, and how borrowing UI/UX practices from software development can put end users back at the center of data management.
Modeler's Corner #3 shows how to turn a plain-language story about a business process into a data model by picking out nouns as entities and verbs as relationships, worked through a bank credit-application example.
An introduction to Ellie, the browser-based data modeling tool, covering its origins and how its glossary and visual modeling approach improve productivity and business-IT collaboration.
A 45-minute call with a data modeling expert, not a sales pitch.