The conversion to data base management systems processing techniques consists of three different strategies - one for each of the major stages in the development process. Each strategy was chosen for its approach in bringing about a smooth evolutionary type transition from one mode of operation to the next. The initial strategy of the indoctrination stage consisted of: (1) providing maximum access to current administrative data as soon as possible; (2) select and developing small prototype systems; (3) establishing a user information center as a central focal point for user training and assistance; and (4) developing a training program for programmers, management and ad hoc users in DBMS application and utilization. Security, the rate of the data dictionary, and data base tuning and capacity planning, and the development of a change of attitude in an automated office are issues meriting consideration

Durban, D. M.

English

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STRATEGIES FOR CONVERTING TO A
DBMS ENVIRONMENT
Dave M. Durbin
Data Base Administrator
Ames Research Center
Ames Research Center(ARC) installed ADABAS on the administrative computer,
an IBM4341 running VM/CMS. Prior to the installation of ADABAS, the only
data base-like system used at Ames was a product called QBE (Query-by-
Example). This product was installed and an extract of the payroll and
personnel file was loaded as a table under QBE for use by the Personnel
Office and Resources Management Office for ad hoc queries.
The strategy of converting to Data Base Management Systems processing tech-
niques consists of three different strategies - one for each of the major
stages in the development process. Each strategy was chosen for its ap-
proach in bringing about a smooth evolutionary type transition from one
mode of operation to the next.
The initial strategy of what we call the "indoctrination stage" consisted
of the following elements:
* Provide maximum access to current administrative data as soon as
possible.
* Select and develop small prototype systems.
* Establish a user information center as a central focal point for user
training and assistance.
* Develop a training program for programmers, management and ad hoc
users in DBMS application and utilization.
Each of these strategies has one or more "sub-strategies" if you will.
Each of these serves to highlight the purpose and intent of the main strat-
egy.
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By providing maximum access to current administrative data as quickly as
possible, we hoped to achieve the following advantages:
I. Casually introduce on-line computing to the non-ADP professional
with little impact on the current systems.
2. Provide training to the user community using the data they are
familiar with and, thus, flattening the learning curve.
3. Decrease requests for AD H0C reports from the user as they gained
proficiency in performing their own requests - resulting in more
time available to the DP staff in developing ADABAS systems.
4. Providing a basis for determining efficlencles in file design
based upon what type of queries the users performed.
5. Satisfy the users desire to have more access to their data.
The trade-offs were:
I. Possible system degradation due to less efficient file design,
users performing inefficient queries, etc..
2. ToO much freedom given to the users which may have to be taken
away later.
3. Worst possible case - the user would be turned off immediately
and develop a negative attitude toward on-line processing.
4. Enlarge the task of cleanup - to make data definitions conform
to standards, etc..
To complement this approach, we developed a plan for establlshing a user
information center to serve as the central focal point for handling user
training and assistance. The plan also called for developing training pro-
grams for DP personnel, management and ad hoc users.
Another part of the plan called for selecting and developing small "stand-
alone" systems to provide needed computing capabilities where none existed.
Expected benefits of this particular strategy were:
I. Reduce the impact of non-experience by using less complicated
systems.
2. Lessen the impact of system complexity in overcoming the learn-
ing curve.
3. Gain experience in developing on-line systems in DBMS environ-
ment.
4. Provide new service to user community and demonstrate the capa-
bilities of the DBMS.
5. Development process could be used as initial guide to on-line
systems development.
The last piece of the "indoctrination" strategy was to develop an effective
training program for each of three groups of people.
I. The DP professional training consisted of specific training
in the internals of the data base management system, courses
in. the procedural language and a seminar in applications develop-
ment methodology.
2. The top and middle management training consisted mainly of a
series of briefings and demonstrations.
3. The training for the Center ad hoc users was primarily an over-
view of the DBMS and specific instruction in the procedural
language with emphasis on query. This training is provided
on several levels from beginner through advanced. In addition,
a selected group of users attended the seminar on PDM 80.
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This strategy was rather straight forward and simple. There was little
concern for efficient design, file layouts, normalization of entity
classes, or any such buzzwords that you hear about today in the data base
world. The emphasis was on experience and experimentation, learning what
could be done with the data base and alternative ways of doing it. Without
experience with a data base management system - and Ames had little of that
- these "modern" concepts had little meaning and were difficult to relate
to. These new ideas and concepts would become more important in the next
stage of the development process, but the indoctrination stage was just
that - indoctrinate the community to the new tool - the Data Base
Management System. The fastest way to do that was to keep things simple.
Before I go on to explain the components of the next stage of the develop-
ment process, let me elaborate a little on the results of the initial
stage.
The first step was to load the most used files from the current batch sys-
tems into the data base for access by the owners of the data for ad hoc re-
porting. The first files loaded were the personnel and payroll system
file. The files were defined with little concern for standard data names
and proper data base file design. The arrangement of the fields was based
on a combination of the current record layout and a limited knowledge of
what fields were most frequently accessed. The objective was to get the
data into the data base. Some of the data was loaded and a few programs
written to assist the personnel department in accessing the data. One such
program was the individual employee record which basically displayed an
individual employee's personnel status and action history on the screen.
The other programs were a series of menu-driven which assisted the user in
operating the system and developing queries without having to learn all the
commands or syntax. The initial reaction was one of caution. The user was
unsure of his capabilities to learn and effectively program queries with
the new language NATURAL, which is considerably more complex than QBE which
they had been using. However, it was only a matter of a month or two
before they were using NATURAL exclusviely. This was due to several
reasons: Primarily because the file loaded into ADABAS was more complete
than the one in QBE and the ADABAS file was reloaded every day that an
update had taken place, whereas the QBE file was loaded only at the end of
each pay period. Other factors were the quicker response in ADABAS and the
personnel department had hired a summer student who was eager t_ learn
NATURAL and had developed some rather useful reports using NATURAL which
greatly assisted the organization. Therefore, after a few short months,
QBE was quietly phased out and the lease agreement terminated. ADABAS and
NATURAL were accepted by the users. In fact, the user community was
becoming excited over this new source of information and wanted more - not
only from the data processing department - but they wanted more knowledge
about the data base and NATURAL. They wanted to do more for themselves.
The logical place for the users to go was to the user information center
that was established when QBE was installed, but had seen little activity.
The users came here for answers. No formal training was provided yet for
the users. The training was concentrated on the DP personnel. Until that
training was completed, training of the users could not commence.
With the help of Langley Research Center, we loaded files from other sys-
tems with the Data Base and we obtained "on loan", a highly qualified in-
structor to provide advanced NATURAL training to our DP staff and to assist
in developing a formal training program for the user community. Meanwhile,
development of three small systems in ADABAS and programmed primarily in
NATURAL was under way. The three projects were:
I. LIRS II - a legal information retrieval system for maintaining
an inventory of legal documents relating to the 80x120 Foot Wind
Tunnel litigation.
2. TPS - Treasury Payments System for processing of miscellaneous
payments.
3. System Documentation Library for maintaining inventory and con-
trol of systems documentation.
The LIRS II System was developed in four weeks with an additional two weeks
spent in enhancing the query portion of the system.
The Treasury Payments System was developed in eight weeks.
The System Documentation Library was developed over a longer period of
time, approximately ten weeks, by a programmer who had little experience in
NATURAL programming. This system was later scrapped and redone within a
two week period as a class project in advanced NATURAL techniques.
These three systems were selected for development based on three factors:
I. There was an immediate need for the data processing application
and the system did not exist before.
2. Expected development cycle was short and if the system had to be
redone, it could easily be accomplished.
S. The systems were not complex.
These three systems are still in operation today and require minimal main-
tenance - in fact - a routine maintenance schedule has not yet been estab-
lished.
These three projects led to the development of NATURAL programming stan-
dards and system design standards, but most of all, they served to show the
capabilities of ADABAS and the productivity of the NATURAL programming lan-
guage to the,DP department and to the Center.
By the end of the first phase of development (and there is no definite
cutoff point between the first and second phase), it was evident that the
DBMS dramatically and permanently changed the concepts and attitudes toward
computing at Ames.
The user information center conducts regular, formal training classes for
the user community. The users are finding that they can meet some of their
information needs without the assistance of the DP department. Communica-
tions between the DP department and the users is at an all-time high. The
user has learned the importance of their involvement in system design and
development.
There are some negative aspects to this strategy which I will list below;
however, these shortcomings were recognized at the inception. Dealing with
these issues would be a major part of the second phase in the evolutionary
process.
i. Security issues. Security of the data against unauthorized
access or destruction was dealt with on a very low key basis.
Minimal security precautions were established primarily to pro-
tect privacy data against unauthorized access and to insure
integrity of on-line systems which did not have a backup batch
system. While these security procedures are not foolproof,
reports of the data base activity have shown no violations and
there have been no problems detected.
2. Data dictionary role in the DBMS. Very little attention was
paid to the data dictionary and its role in managing the data
base environment. Consequently, the first phase saw no stan-
dardization of data names and data definitions, data redun-
dancy and data relationships were not defined.
3. Data base tuning and capacity planning. Obviously this was
nearly impossible in the first phase of our strategy primarily
due to lack of any knowledge in this area.
This issue became important sooner than anticipated. With the installation
of the NEMS System, the data base performance ground to a snail's pace.
Withln a couple of weeks, however, through adjusting of buffer areas and
some blocking factors of data base data sets, the performance was brought
back to a tolerable level. Still, I was not satisfied and could foresee
difficulties in the near future if performance could not be improved. The
performance did not appear to be as efficient as some COMPLETE users were
experiencing. To make a long story short, we finally came across the fact
that CMS was single threading all of its I/0, and that Cornell University
had developed BDAM emulation software which allowed overlapping of I/O.
Within another couple of weeks, we had installed the software on the data
base machine and were experiencing a ten-fold improvement in response
times.
Overall, the objectives of the first phase of the strategy were well
achieved. The users could now have access to their data in a realtime
sense. They were well on their way to being able to ask the right ques-
tions and getting the right answers to those questions without waiting in
line at the data processing department door.
The second phase is well under way. The main objective of the second phase
is to develop an effective, efficient and viable methodology for develop-
ing, maintaining and utilizing the Center's information resources.
In this phase, the issues of security, data structures, file structures,
and proper data defintions become important. To assist us and to get ex-
posure to the latest methodologies in data base development, we hired UCLA
professor, Dr. Alphonso Cardenas, to provide a seminar on his methodology
"PDM 80" and to provide consulting services during the first development
project using his methodology. That project started in January of this
year and is scheduled for completion in August. It is planned that the
results will be a system with a well documented, developmental methodology
that will serve as a model or prototype for all future development efforts.
The project encompasses the R&PM functions of the Resources Management
Office.
Also scheduled in this phase, is the installation of NATURAL security and
the development of requiredprocedures to assure data integrity, protec-
tion of sensitive data from unauthorized disclosure, and protect the entire
data resource from destruction.
Another important issue in the second phase is the development of a truly
integrated data dictionary system. The objectives of the data dictionary
are:
I. Document and define all the entities, attributes, classes and
relationships that comprise the Center's information resource.
2. Standardize data names by establishing naming conventions.
3. Define systems, programs, files and data elements used in them.
4. Define the owners of the data.
5. Provide the capability for determining and subsequently managing
data and system changes.
I might add that included in this data dictionary is all data considered to
be part of the Center's information resource regardless of where it re-
sides.
Finally when this is all accomplished, we are ready for the final phase in
evolving toward DBMS technology and that is the incorporation of the data
bases into a complete automated office management system. "Office automa-
tion" to use the buzz word of today.
.... T
Even today with the increasing use of the micro-computers as work stations
with their own data base systems, word processors, and communications with
he main-frame, office automation is a fact of life at Ames and is rapidly
increasing.
Many of the organizations at Ames, especially in the administrative areas,
have in one short year gone from computer-phobia to computer-literacy. The
data processing department is evolving from that of the doer to the role of
the consultant.
What's ahead for Ames? In the short term, SOFTWARE AG has offered to allow
Ames to test their new ADABAS/VMS product for the VAX. Currently, Ames is
loading financial data from the IBM Financial System onto one of the VAX
machines and using INGRES to query the data.
The test period will be used to compare the two DBMS'. If ADABAS performs
as well as INGRES, we would then purchase ADABAS/VMS which will allow us to
transport the NATURAL programs from the IBM to the VAX.
Several menu-drlven, ad hoc query facilities have been developed which
provides the capability for the user to extract data from the data base
files without seeing or using one word of NATURAL language. One of the
systems allows the user to export data to his micro-computer for use by a
mlcro-based data base system such as Lotus I-2-3. These systems have been
a real hit with the users and more of these are in the planning stage.
Conclusions:
Starting small is important.
Several small systems developed implemented will achieve immediate recogni-
tion and subsequently, strong support for the capabilities of the system
and the DP department. Starting small will allow your DP professionals to
gain experience, and at the same time, achieve some demonstrative suc-
cesses.
AcceSs is the key to success.
Provide the user with the access to his data and with a small selection of
software products or tools for the user to manipulate the data. Use the
information center to train and assist the users; to answer their q_es-
tions; to develop their skills in writing their own programs.
User information center is vital to success.
At first, if the center is nothing more than that of a solution center,
i.e., providing answers to users questions on how to write a query, it will
still serve to nurture the non-DP professional in finding his own solu-
tions. In fact, in some instances, you may even find the information
center personnel benefiting from the approach of some users. It seems as
an exchange center - an exchange of ideas and techniques between the
administrative professional and the data processing professional. Result:
a more solid knowledge base for developing applications and an atomosphere
of cooperation and common interests. It serves to gradually bring about a
change from the old method of the users tasking the DP department with an
application or problem, and the DP department providing a solution which
often the user is not completely satisfied with, to a new attitude.
I. One of working together to achieve a common purpose.
2. One in which the user shares in the responsibility and credit
for the success of a project.
Nearly all of the modern DBMS development methodologies today, stress the
importance of a well defined, comprehensive integrated data dictionary. I
strongly agree with that concept. It should be the map of the data base
system, but don't waste effort on attempting to standardize data names of
existing files being loaded into the DBMS. Load the file with the existing
names, define them as well as reasonably possible, but remember to start -
the key is access. Often using names that the user is familiar with is the
best course in getting them through the indoctrination phase - and the ad-
vanced user is an excellent source for developing names and definitions of
the data during the later phases of development.
9


Strategies for converting to a DBMS environment

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