Data Driven Modeling

Data Driven Modeling (DDM) is a technique using which the configurator model components are dynamically injected into the model based on the data derived from external systems such as catalog system, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Watson, and so on.

The IBM® Omni-Configurator engine constructs the model components including option class and option item during runtime based on the service request parameters, and populates associated properties before executing business logic contained inside the configurator model.

Using the DDM technique, a modeler can define a configurator model by using the Visual Modeler tool with DDM properties that defines the data source and selection criteria for injecting the catalog items into the model. The data is retrieved from the system or data source by using the data source adapters implemented for each system or data source.

Based on the data source defined in the model, the corresponding data source adapters are invoked to fetch the data. Model components are dynamically created in the configurator model based on the data returned by the data source adapter.

The DDM technique provides the following benefits over the static modeling technique:
  • It reduces the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) by eliminating manual construction of model components by the modeler that represents products within configurator models.
  • It reduces the time to market since the model is dynamically updated with changes in the catalog system.

Differences between Static and Dynamic (using DDM) modeling techniques

Table 1. Differences between Static and dynamic modeling techniques
Static Dynamic
Each time a new item gets added to the catalog, the modeler had to manually update the model for making the new option items available in the UI. There is no need to manually update the model. Modeler creates the DDM-based model with placeholders for dynamic options. Therefore, whenever a new item gets added to the catalog, the application dynamically updates the model and displays the new option items in the UI.
Multiple data sources are not supported. Model can receive data from a single data source only. Multiple data sources are supported. Data from multiple data sources can be injected into a DDM-based model.