PRIME Model: An Integrated View

Having previously discussed the individual data consumption activities, let us now look at how they work together. My idea of an integrated conceptual view is presented in the chart below.


First, note that some data consumption activities have a specific time orientation. Review is focused on past events or data, monitoring on present events or data, and extrapolation on future events or data. Production and investigation of data occur in the present.

Second, there is typically a very specific flow in data consumption patterns, as depicted by the arrows in the chart. Review and monitoring activities typically trigger investigation as to why results (in the case of review) or current conditions (in the case of monitoring activity) are positive or negative. To reflect this I placed an arrow pointing from both of these activities to the investigate activity. Investigation activity often leads to the production of new data, and so I also include an arrow pointing from the investigate activity to the produce activity.

As we pointed out in an earlier article the production of data is also a standalone activity, such as when data are created in earlier stages of the BI data life-cycle. To be precise I probably should also include arrow from the produce activity to the review, monitor, and extrapolate activities. But in the interest of keeping the chart from becoming too cluttered I have omitted them here, and focus on data production as a by-product of data consumption.

Extrapolation is a bit different than reviewing and monitoring in that the assumptions used in extrapolation are typically developed through an investigation process. So there are arrows going both ways between these activities.

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