Quality is not an act, it is a habit
Quality is not an act, it is a habit
After two years of corona-blockage, at the end of march and early june 2022 two courses Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling were finally given again, this time for employees of the Gelre ziekenhuizen, PorRail and The Data Effect. And again, it was directly as if corona had never been around. What a splendid execution! As trainers Rob and I once more enjoyed the dedication of the participants and fine atmosphere during all days of the course. The conversations with all participants were as ever before inspiring and we learned a lot ourselves from it as well.
Quotes van de deelnemers:
"Thanks a lot for this beautiful and interesting course. I have enjoyed it immensely and I think I will be going to use FOM a lot from now on. The course was clear and very informative. By following it one really feels like applying FOM/FCO-IM in practice. The given treatment of the subject matter is definitely sufficient to see the use of FOM and to use it as well. The variation of theory and practical exercises was very pleasant. Through FOM you start to do modeling in a whole different way, which according to me is a lot better than the old ways, because you really get validation of your model in the language of the domain experts. It should therefore actually become the standard way of modeling. I also enjoyed getting to know the other participants. Thanks once more for this great course."
Branko Bouman, ProRail
In January 2020 the course Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling was once more given, this time for employees of the Belastingdienst Nederland, DeltIQ Group B.V., FMO and i-refact. It was again a topnotch course! As trainers Rob and I once more got a lot of pleasure out of the dedication of the participants and good atmosphere during all four days of the course. The conversations with the participants were once again inspiring, which made this performance instructive for ourselves as well and as always a lot of fun to do. One of the participants summarized his exprience in a nutshell as follows:
"Ik fully enjoyed it!"
Quotes from the participants:
"I found the course very interesting and learned a lot from it. The course bridges the gap between IT and the business people by offering a common language. The knowledge of the domain experts can be expressed in structured sentences (fact expressions). The data modelers can transform these sentences into a data model and the domain experts are capable of validating these sentences. The training was given by inspiring trainers with lots of appealing examples from practical experience."
Lucy Wang, i-refact
In September 2019 the course Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling was given for employees of Crystalloids, VGZ, en i-refact. The dedication and interest of the participants was once more optimal, and resulted in a topnotch atmosphere in the course. The conversations with and between the participants were of high-quality and made this course execution once again feel as a top-performance to us. We are grateful to the participants for sharing their experiences and recommendations with us afterwards. And this time too the special "send-off slide" was watched in a very cheerful mood.
The average scores:
Content 9, Material 8, Teachers 9, Experience 9, Location 8
Some quotes of the participants:
"Do not try to model the real world, but only the communication about the real world. That is the essence of FOM, and it was a good thing to become convinced of that. Of what we cannot speak, the data model remains silent.
This top-class and high-quality training and its inspiring trainers with lots of practical experience is a must for the right mind-set of every data modeler. Knowledge that keeps its value, irrespective of technical changes."
Ingrid Hoogenboom, VGZ
"I find Ingrid's quote very powerful, and I fully acknowledge it."
Dico Klaassen, Crystalloids
In January 2019 the course Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling was given for a select group of employees of the ABN AMRO bank, The Future Group, Estrenuo BV, and i-refact. One of the participants described the dedication and atmosphere during the course as follows:
"My experience with the course Hands-on FOM is very positive. Peter and Rob discussed the theory in a vivid manner, but the practice received sufficient attention as well. At times it was hard work for someone without much information-modeling stock-in-trade, but as a consequence I really learned a lot. My fellow participants were interesting to join forces with too. A diverse group in background and prior knowledge, leading to nice discussions. Finally, there were fine moments in the lunch breaks as well, because there we talked about things completely different from information modeling, such as the fate of the world in connection with the climate issues 😊."
"My experience is very positive. Even for seasoned data modelers this course open new insights, that are partly applicable in other methods. As is the case with every method, it would be nice if one can also put it in practice immediately to make sure that the theory sticks with you. That is something to take into account, but that should not discourage data modelers to go to this course."
The average scores:
Content 9.0, Form 8.0, Teachers 9.0, Material 7.5, Location 8.0
Quotes from the participants:
"Peter and Rob are the thought leaders in the field of Fact Oriented Modeling. Both theory and practice are dealt with equally, and I now have plenty provision to make a difference in my organisation."
Bas van Hulsenbeek, ABN AMRO
"The enthusiasm of Peter and Rob is unparalleled. Beside that, Fact Oriented Modeling offers the only correct handles to validate a data model with a domain expert in the very language of that domain expert. A must for every data modeler to have in his package of techniques."
Sander Robijns, Estrenuo BV
In September 2018 the course Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling was given for a select group of employees of Smallsteps, NIBC, and i-refact. The dedication and atmosphere during the course was optimal, which made its execution once again a lot of fun to do. And the special "send-off slide" was watched in a very cheerful mood. Afterwards, we received very positive reactions from the participants.
The average scores:
Content 8.5, Form 8.1, Teachers 8.7, Material 8.7, Overall 8.5
Some quotes of the participants:
"Fact-oriented modeling is a fine, complete and logical way to add structure to the chaos that we call data. The setup of the course is both inspiring and practical."
Leoni van Amelsfort, i-refact
"Thanks for the great training and the lovely time."
Cinzia Berrittella, NIBC
In January 2018 the course Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling was given for employees of 'De Nederlandsche Bank', 'De AFM', i-refact, and Free Frogs. Once again we received positive reactions from the participants.
The average scores:
Content 8.5, Form 8.1, Teachers 8.7, Material 8.7, Overall 8.5
A quote from one of the participants:
"Fact-oriented modeling is a must for every data-professional. In four days you learn to model the essence of information in a methodical way, without being confined by technological dependencies."
Wouter van Aerle, Deltiqgroup/AFM
In January 2017 the course Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling was given for ten employees of 'De Nederlandsche Bank'. Once again we received positive reactions from the participants.
The average scores:
Content 8.3, Form 7.0, Teachers 8.3, Material 8.6, Overall 8.1
A quote from one of the participants:
"I certainly became a fan of the approach – I wish I had encountered it earlier in my career!"
In September 2016 the course Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling was given for employees of 'De Nederlandsche Bank', Teradata, Greetz and Atos. This time the location was the pleasant and welcoming hotel and conference center Hotel De Bergse Bossen, umbrageously situated in the woods between Driebergen and Austerlitz. Once again the reactions of the participants were very positive, as is indicated by the following average scores:
Content 8.8, Form 8.3, Teachers 8.5, Environment 8.8, Catering 7.8
Some quotes of the participants:
"The training is very complete, and the teachers have an exhaustive knowledge and experience with which they give a beautiful context to an in practice very useful method. In short, a colorful training by experts in an excellent environment."
Olivier van der Sluis, Greetz
"A method that really bridges the gap between the business and IT."
Iris Balemans, Teradata
"The course FOM was a very instructive experience for me. The method FOM is directly applicable in my daily work, because it shifts the responsibilities more towards the end users. As a consequence, data modelers are no longer responsible for a premature design of some integrated overall model in which they try to allow for everything. With FOM they communicate with the end users from the start. This way, the end users have direct insight in the modeling process and are capable of validating the assumptions. This forestalls a lot of redundant work and storage of data."
Linda Stege, Teradata
In January and February 2016 another course Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling was given, this time for employees of 'De Nederlandsche Bank' and the Erasmus MC. The course was given in the Valkhotel Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel, a location well received by the participants. Once again, the students were enthousiastic about both the form and contents of the course. What has been learnt has already been applied enthousiastically in the latest database projects at Erasmus MC.
In October 2015 the course Hands-On Fact Oriented Modeling (FOM) was given for I-Refact. The course was given in the much appreciated environment of the Fletcher hotel near Den Bosch. The students were enthousiastic about both the form and contents of the course. The six participants of I-Refact were taken along in the fascinating world of information modeling. In addition to the thorough theoretical discussion a lot of attention was given to practical examples. Also the use of the FOM case-tool CaseTalk featured prominently in the course - in close cooperation with the supplier of the tool, BCP.
Some quotes of the participants:
"If you really do not know, Rob and Peter run the show."
René Haasdijk
"Peter sticks to the facts. Everything is verifiably, transparently, correctly and clearly formulated. This is true for his course as well as the modeling approach that he teaches therein."
Martijn Evers
Peter often uses the quote "Quality is not an act, it is a habit". It is a quote that Peter does not only propagate in projects to improve information quality in organizations, but also uses in his daily work. In that work the naturalness of high quality is apparent. Combined with passion and enthusiasm Peter always delivers good practical results, based on a theoretically sound basis.
Thus, Peter is the founder of the Information Management Frame, on which he has published a number of articles that have recently been compiled in an essay. It has been an honor for me to be able to work with Peter on these developments and publications. A collaboration that I hope we may continue for years to come!
Rob Arntz.
Competence Team Leader Information Modeling i-refact
For many years already, Peter has been associated with the lectorate 'Data Architectures and Metadata Management' of the ‘Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen’ (HAN) as external member of the knowledge network. The development of high quality data-intensive information systems and the use of fact-oriented information-modeling methods, such as FCO-IM, have been our common fields of interest. As external examiner of the master's program 'Master in Information Systems Development' at the ICA he keeps a sharp eye on the level of these master students. Time and again this leads to very valuable cross-pollinations. Therefore, we hope that Peter can continue his contributions to us for many years to come.
Misja Nabben.
Senior Lecturer HAN University of Applied Sciences
Lectorate Data Architectures and Metadata Management
Interesting sites:
Fully Communication Oriented Information Modeling: FCO-IM
