Connected data means that all data across the enterprise is connected to, and visible through, a central location with context and interrelationships identified. When it comes to highly connected data, decisions have to be made. Do you use relational or graph? Which one is better? Choosing between the structured relational database model or the unstructured graph model is becoming less and less an either-or proposition. For some organizations, the best approach is to process their graph data using standard relational operators, while others are better served by migrating their relational data to a graph model. DATAVERSITY brought this interesting information to our attention in their article, “How to Make Decisions About Data Modeling Relationships in Databases.”
Either way, meaning is still important, and the most important part is to be meaningful in the business context. Structure is also important, and as the big world of data gets more and more connected, those real limitations of relational data are becoming more and more obvious.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Data Harmony, a unit of Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.
