Party

Individuals and legal entities can have multiple relationships with organizations and each other at the same time.

Individuals can be both employees, customers, spouses and interact in a variety of similar relationships.

Legal entities can be employers, suppliers and have many similar relationships at any time.

'Party' is a popular artificial construct that provides a way of identifying the same individual or legal entity as they perform multiple relationships.

'Party' also provides a way of storing the information for each 'party' in one place or set of data structures - since they are the same for any period - and relating that singular set of data to the 'party' as they perform multiple relationships.

The key is to capture the data required for each type of interaction and establish relationships that accurately capture those interactions and relationships.

Party, when implemented as an integrated component of the data architecture, is no longer a conceptual exercise but a key element of the data planning strategy.

Understanding the many relationships that a customer is involved in and what the roles they play in those relationships provides the foundation for customer relationship management (CRM).

Party is an important element of data mapping and data cleansing activities.

Party relationships are typically within a context of time, roles, events and relationships.

• Which legal entities are both customers and suppliers?
• Which individuals are both employees and customers?
• Which spouses are also customers?
• Which legal entities are suppliers and competitors?
• Which customers are also related to employees?

The Party model establishes a comprehensive, practical data model for describing these relationships, roles and contexts.