Pega Common application overview

The Common Data Model is a Pega-developed logical data model on which Pega applications such as Customer Service and Smart Dispute are based. You can use the model when building applications on Pega Platform™ depending on the use case. 

The industry versions of the Common Data Model all inherit from a single horizontal data model, thus providing a consistent experience across Pega's pre-built applications. For example, the following figure shows the insurance model inheriting data entities from the Common Application and applying industry terms by using dynamic labels.

The Common Data Model includes top-level data entities that provide a starting point for developing the data model for your application. By providing pre-configured entities, the model saves development time and promotes the reuse of data.

The logical data model consists of the following elements:

• Top-level data entities that describe an object, such as a person or an item, by grouping a set of related fields. Fields can be scalar, embedded, or relationships to other top-level data entities. For example, the Customer entity contains the attributes of a customer such as their name, type, and tenure. The Customer entity can include lists such as addresses or credentials, and references to related Policies, Locations, and other data objects.
• Embedded data objects contain a group of fields describing something about a top-level entity. These can have a single record or be a list. For example, the Address data object defines fields such as a street address, city, and state which can be used in top-level data entities such as a member or Policy.
• Relationships between top-level data entities include many-to-many, one-to-many, and one-to-one. These exist on the top-level data entities as data references, for example the Customer entity has a many -to-many relationship with Contacts which is contained in a ContactsToAccount reference field.

The Common Data Model includes implementation approaches and automations that help you build applications faster. Some of these include:

• Performant approaches out of the box for storing data within Pega or integrating with systems of record using data pages that have a template for connecting with an API service layer and mapping to the Pega logical model.
• Examples of performing create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) operations including approaches for using multiple data sources.
• A Data Portal that walks you through uploading sample data and viewing the data model using the data.
• A centralized approach for sourcing picklist reference data that separates data for applications while sharing the same environments, sorting, condition-based inclusion, multi-select picklists, cascading picklists, and other features.
• Preconfigured user interface elements for entities and data objects. For example, the Address data object includes a List view to list multiple addresses and a Details view that shows a specific address and the associated street, city, state or region, and so on.

The Common Data Model ERD document describes each entity and data object that the model provides.

Pega Platform applications process cases that refer to data entities.

For example, an application might contain an Account entity that you can use in two case types: one that allows the customer to transfer funds between bank accounts and one that allows the customer to change the address that is associated with their account. The Account entity includes fields that describe an account, such as Account Number, Current Balance, and Next Statement Date. Referencing the Account entity avoids the need to define account-related fields for each case type.

You can use an entity as many times as needed in your application. In the preceding example, the Transfer Funds case type can use the Account entity to model both the source and target accounts for the transfer.

The collection of entities and data objects in your application holistically defines the data model for your application.

The Common Data Model facilitates the reuse of data objects, case types, and data pages across one or more applications, which makes it easier to develop the data model for your application and maintain data in the appropriate system of record (SOR).

The Common Data Model uses the following features so that you can incorporate data into your Pega applications:

• Data virtualization separates how your business applications use data from how and when data is accessed.
• Pega Cloud® storage or integration with your data source is available for your data storage.
• Pre-built data and case types use consistent design patterns. Data objects and case types provide common error handling across cases, data pages, and APIs.
• Entity-based cases provide maintenance and process to your data and use case management and real-time, open APIs. Data page templates include operations to search, create, update, and annotate data.
• All the Constellation versions of Pega applications, such as Pega Customer Service™ and Pega Sales Automation™, use the Common Data Model.
• If you have multiple applications built on Pega Platform, using the Common Data Model lets you reuse data objects across applications and streamlines application development.

The Common Data Model includes the Data Portal through which you upload sample data and view the entities and objects with data records. Although the primary objective of the Data Portal is to facilitate development, you might find that portions of the portal help you to implement your own user interface.

You can use the data portal to view the default data objects and determine which data objects to use in your application.

The following figure shows the Data Portal with the Accounts landing page open. The Accounts entity defines fields for Name, Account ID, Value, and relationship Type for consumer accounts. The records shown on this page are from the imported sample data.