Jaco van der Laan

Patterns + Universals: The Foundations of Reuse

21/09/2025  ·  Data Engineering

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Why John Giles’ pattern-based approach and Len Silverston’s Universal Data Models are essential building blocks for modern data modeling

Summary

Reusable design is the secret to balancing agility and enterprise consistency. John Giles championed patterns as a way to deliver robust models quickly. Len Silverston provided Universal Data Models (UDMs) — tried-and-true blueprints for core domains like Party, Agreement, and Event. Together, they form the foundation of reuse that allows data models to be business-oriented, scalable, and adaptable.

Why Reuse Matters

Enterprise data landscapes are too complex to reinvent from scratch. Every organization needs concepts like Customer, Agreement, Product, and Event. The names may differ, but the structures are universal.

Without reuse, each team builds their own version — leading to duplication, inconsistency, and endless reconciliation projects. With reuse, we establish common foundations that align business and technology.

John Giles: Patterns as Building Blocks

In The Nimble Elephant, Giles distinguished between three levels of patterns:

  • Elementary patterns: resolving many-to-many relationships, managing hierarchies.
  • Assembly patterns: recurring business constructs like Party & Role, Agreement, or Resource.
  • Integration patterns: cross-domain solutions that connect assemblies into an enterprise view.

Patterns are not optional “nice to haves” — they are the DNA of enterprise data models. They enable agile teams to model incrementally while ensuring alignment with long-term architecture.

👉 I applied this principle in Unlock Your Business’s True Potential: The Power of Business-Oriented Data Modeling.

Len Silverston: Universal Data Models

Where Giles emphasized pattern-based thinking, Len Silverston offered ready-made universals. His Data Model Resource Books have become classics because they provide generic yet adaptable models across industries.

Some examples:

  • Party & Role: individuals, organizations, and their roles (customer, employee, supplier).
  • Agreement: contracts, terms, and obligations.
  • Event: transactions, occurrences, and their outcomes.

These UDMs are accelerators: instead of starting with a blank page, you start with a proven structure and adapt it.

Connected directly to my article How Universal Data Models Support Business-Oriented Data Modeling.

Patterns + Universals = Reusable Foundations

Together, patterns and universals provide both the framework (patterns) and the content (UDMs). The result is:

  • Faster delivery — no need to model from scratch.
  • Higher quality — reusing proven designs reduces errors.
  • Better business alignment — because UDMs already mirror common real-world concepts.
  • Consistency across teams — enabling integration and shared understanding.

Building the Pillars of Reuse

In the context of my four-pillar methodology, this article connects to:

  • Pillar 1 (Business-Oriented LDM): Patterns and UDMs seed the enterprise ontology.
  • Pillar 4 (Universal Data Models): Silverston’s universals become a core pillar in their own right.

Patterns and universals are not abstract theory. They are practical tools that let us build scalable, business-friendly models quickly.

Where We’re Headed

In the next article, we’ll go deeper into the idea of the enterprise ontology — how Giles described it, and how it aligns with the business-oriented LDM at the heart of my methodology.

Key Takeaways

  • Patterns provide reusable building blocks (elementary, assembly, integration).
  • Universal Data Models accelerate modeling with proven, domain-independent structures.
  • Together, they enable reuse, consistency, and agility in enterprise data modeling.
  • They directly strengthen two pillars of my methodology: Business LDM and UDMs.

✍️ This article is Part 2 of the series “Why Elephants Matter in Data Modeling”, where I explore how John Giles’ ideas, Len Silverston’s Universal Data Models, and my own methodology come together in a business-first, model-driven approach.

Series overview