Large organizations that have multiple operations in different regions and countries will need to decide whether to share a global Semarchy xDM model that is used across the organization or whether each region should create a localized model. There are trade-offs for each option.


There is no general recommendation for whether you should use a global model or create a localized model for your region. Each organization will need to decide based on their business requirements. However, we can encourage you to consider the trade-offs so you can determine which model is right for you.


What are the factors to consider for global vs. local?


Attributes: How many attributes are global? How many localized attributes do you need that do not generalize to the global model?

Release schedules: How frequently are model changes made? How often do they need to be promoted to QA and Production?

Resources: How many developers do you have? How much maintenance can you handle?


Global model

What is a global model?

Your organization has 1 model that all countries and regions use. Developers in every country will access the same model. Tight controls in model privilege grants are required to display information to specific business users for each region.

The pros of a global model

  • Less maintenance required to run Semarchy effectively because there is only 1 global environment to maintain. (Only 1 environment to upgrade, set up LDAP/AD, etc.)
  • Updates to the model are available for all regions simultaneously

The cons of a global model

  • It will be a big model to account for all the use cases for each region.
  • Conflicts if multiple developers are actively building the model at the same time
  • Requires tight controls in model privilege grants to filter data for each region

What is a good candidate for a global model?

  • An organization that wants to standardize their operations to a global standard
  • An organization with strong operations at the headquarters in 1 region and limited/smaller operations in the other regions who are willing to defer to the headquarters to administer Semarchy

Local model

What is a local model?

There is a localized model for different countries and/or different regions. For example, there is a North America model that is related to but separate from the EU model.

The pros of a local model

  • Avoid potential conflicts in the model if multiple developers are working simultaneously
  • Inconsistent release schedules are not a problem

The cons of a local model

  • Changes to one region’s model require manual updates to all other localized models if all models should have the same change
  • More maintenance required to administer Semarchy

What is a good candidate for a local Model?

  • Each region has very different business requirements and only individual localized models can adequately reflect these requirements
  • Strong operations in each region to administer to localized models

How to Get Started

If you don’t know where to start after reading this document, consider the resources your organization has for answering the regionality question of global vs. local models.

  • How much central control vs. decentralized control does your organization want to support?
  • How well would a global model work?
  • Does the Japan organization require custom attributes?
  • Does the South America region require customizations?
  • Does China want to model entities differently?
Note: Semarchy’s advice is to go with the default of reusing the same model across all regions. Meaning stick with a single global model. The IT time savings is significant to only have to manage and maintain one global model. But stick with a single global model if a localized model is appropriate for certain regions. Be flexible.