Before you can begin modeling data, you must understand the business rules, business logic, and business reporting requirements so that you can build a semantic model that fulfill stakeholder needs.

When creating a semantic model, the key objective is to design a model so that users can get the data they need without a complete understanding of the entire business structure, but instead by the specific domains they understand, for example a production manager's understanding of supply chain. A well designed semantic model allow users to query data in the same way that they would ask business questions.

Use this list of questions to help you analyze a semantic model's requirements:

• What kinds of business questions are business analysts trying to answer?

• What are the measures required to understand business performance?

• What are all the dimensions the business operates under? Or, in other words, what are the dimensions used to break down the measurements and provide headers for the reports?

• Are there hierarchical elements in each dimension, and what types of relationships define each hierarchy?

Answering these questions makes it easier to identify and define the semantic model's objects.