Examination should include the following steps:

  1. Review documentation concerning business rules.
  2. Interview key stakeholders in the client company to identify the database’s purpose and essential functions.
  3. Develop the conceptual model (i.e., entity-relationship diagram [ERD]) independent of technological or financial concerns.
  4. Validate the design through customer or client approval.
  5. Convert the ERD into a data-design model. (This brings the conceptual design down to a more physical level in preparation for the actual writing of the code.)
  6. Write the code, using SQL or other database programming languages to create the database structure and functionalities.
  7. Test the code.
  8. Implement the database.
  9. Retest the database for functional improvements and stability.