Denmark’s largest trade union, providing 362,000 members up-to-date labor information through 78 offices needed ongoing compliance and visibility. Manages large amounts of data used to produce statistics and customizable reports. Legacy system was inflexible, expensive and time consuming to maintain. Very little data modeling experience. The result was database modeling effectively lowered administration costs of integrating data. Increased utilization of data assets. Data model-centric approach helped team better understand and utilize their data, reduce redundancy, and build consistency. Ease of migration of data- bases from legacy systems.
Effective Data Modeling Tools To Help Reduce Operating Costs
1. Success Story
An ER/Studio
“My experiences with our Danish solution provider show me
Success Story
that Embarcadero is more attentive to the needs of their
OrganizatiOn:
customers than other companies whose data products
United Federation of Danish
may not be as core to the business. i am sure that our full
Workers – Trade Union
implementation of Er/Studio will have an enormous impact
”
on our ability to serve the needs of our customers.
– Ulla Sprogøe, Data administrator, 3F
appliCatiOn
Denmark’s largest trade union,
OvErviEw 3F understood how important it was to have
providing 362,000 members control over data, respond to customer
The United Federation of Danish Workers (3F) is
up-to-date labor information requests in real-time, and create new reports
Denmark ‘s largest trade union. Formed through
through 78 offices and applications at a moment’s notice. But 3F’s
the merger of the General Workers’ Union
IT-department of 70 people was still using a
(SiD), the Women Workers’ Union (KAD) and
tOOlS legacy system of Adabas databases coded in
the National Restaurant Trade Union (RBF), 3F
Natural. Though still functional, the system had
ER/Studio® organizes both skilled and unskilled workers in
been developed in the 1980’s and was inflexible,
several sectors including industry, building and
expensive and time consuming to maintain.
ChallEngES
construction, transport, cleaning, gardening,
• Needed ongoing 3F’s IT department made a decision to develop a
agriculture and forestry. Covering both the
compliance and visibility new IT strategy that focused on data quality and
private and public sector, 3F focuses on offering
control, comprised of two significant initiatives.
its 362,000 members the best and most up-to-
• Manages large amounts
First they wanted to migrate from Adabas to
date information and support for labor issues via
of data used to produce Microsoft SQL Server. In order to accomplish
78 offices countrywide.
statistics and customizable this, all new systems had to be developed in a
reports Microsoft environment, with data residing in SQL
ChallEngE
• Legacy system was Server databases, while also establishing a new
The Danish government mandates 3F as data warehouse using Microsoft products instead
inflexible, expensive and
the organization responsible for managing of SAS. Second, they wanted to transition
time consuming to maintain Denmark’s unemployment insurance. In this towards service oriented applications (SOA),
• Very little data modeling capacity, 3F manages large amounts of data building systems modularly and standardizing
experience used to produce the reports and statistics that wherever possible.
form the basis of negotiations between unions,
Data modeling quickly became an urgent
employers, and politicians and the foundation
rESUltS
requirement as 3F migrated from the poorly
of public policy decisions. This data must be
• Database modeling documented Adabas legacy system to SQL
correct, factual and easy to access. With ongoing
effectively lowered Server relational databases. The IT team’s
changes to the law, the systems that manage this
administration costs of developers had neither data modeling
data need to be meticulously maintained not
integrating data experience nor the tools to create them.
only to ensure data quality and provide visibility
Without a logical or conceptual model to
• Increased utilization of data into how data is used over time, but also to
understand the structure of database it was
support and comply with the most current
assets
going to be difficult to migrate over to a new
legislation.
• Data model-centric system.
approach helped team The upkeep of this data infrastructure is
absolutely critical to all of Denmark’s working
better understand and SOlUtiOn
citizens, as ultimately it forms the basis for how
utilize their data, reduce
Ulla Sprogøe, data administrator for 3F, and
workers will be cared for by the state in the
redundancy, and build
her team created a comprehensive Request
event of an insurance claim.
consistency
for Proposals (RFP) and distributed it to several
• Ease of migration of data- local solution providers to source a solution
bases from legacy systems that would meet their current and future growth
needs. 3F required a solution that would