Identifying robust business keys is a critical part of building a successful Data Vault. In the Data Vault methodology, business keys—unique identifiers recognized by business users—are stored within hubs, serving as the core representation of business concepts across diverse source systems and business processes.

However, defining these business keys can present significant challenges, particularly when keys become composite (formed from multiple parts). For instance, a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) includes distinct parts such as constructor, model, and a unique ID, making it a composite business key.

Challenges of composite business keys

Using composite business keys can complicate your Data Vault, especially when:

• Business keys change: Initially, your business key might consist of a customer_id and country_code. But as your business expands globally, an additional attribute such as region_code might become necessary to maintain uniqueness.

• Hash key recalculation: When your composite key structure changes, all hash keys (unique identifiers computed from business keys) must be recalculated across your hubs, links, satellites, PIT tables, bridges, and more. If left unchanged, new data generates mismatched hashes, resulting in duplicated records and compromised business processes, affecting your BI reports and analytics.

This process can become incredibly time-consuming and costly, especially in large-scale Data Vault implementations.

beVault’s simplified solution: Single-part business keys

To address these challenges and ensure long-term scalability, beVault enforces a simple yet powerful solution: single-part, text-format business keys.

Instead of handling composite keys directly within your hubs, beVault recommends:

• Concatenation: Combine multiple attributes into a single, text-based business key.

• Dedicated satellites: Store individual attributes of the original composite key separately in satellites, maintaining easy access without complicating the key structure.

By standardizing your keys to a single-part format, you effectively eliminate the risk of future structural changes impacting hash key calculations.

Benefits of beVault’s approach

• Consistency & reliability: Hash computations remain consistent, safeguarding the integrity of your Data Vault structure.

• Future-proof integration: Seamlessly integrate new sources without extensive re-engineering efforts.

• Agile & adaptable: Retain the agile benefits of the Data Vault methodology, allowing for rapid adaptations to business changes.

With beVault, you retain the inherent flexibility and scalability of Data Vault methodology while eliminating complex re-engineering work. Adopt the beVault approach to future-proof your data warehousing strategy, ensuring agility, scalability, and peace of mind.