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Collaborative Computing Applicatio
n Packages
InternetKnowledge
Management
“Your company is plunging headlong into the information age—ready or not.”
The Common Factor
Ronald G. RossDataToKnowledge NewsletterBusiness Rule Solutions, Inc.713 668-1651
www.BRSolutions.com
Reference: Business Rule Concepts, by Ronald G. Ross, Business Rule Solutions, Inc.1998.
Introduction to Business Rules
© Business Rule Solutions, Inc. 2
BRSincIs there any common factor?
Ready or Not, Into the Information Age
ITDeveloper
“Objects didn’t give us the software re-usability we expected.”
BusinessManager
“Trying to change or migrate our
systems is literally eating our lunch!”
ProjectSponsor
“The project team gives me a ton of stuff, but I still don’t get what I need. Seems like we are always spinning our
wheels or hitting dead ends.”
. . .
© Business Rule Solutions, Inc. 3
BRSincIs there any common factor?
Ready or Not, Into the Information Age
ITManager
LineManag
er
BusinessPlanner
“My analysts and the business users still
don’t know how to talk
to each other.”
“All this constant change is great, but how can I possibly keep my people up to speed on what they have to know to do their jobs?”
“Self-service is the way to go, but how do we build smart
systems? And what about knowledge management?”
. . .
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Business Rules: The Common Factor
Business RulesBPR
Setting the Policies
The IT Side
The Business SideKnowledge Management
Codifying KnowledgeTraining
Building Instructional Systems
Requirements
Closing the Business/IT
Gap
Re-UsabilityDefining the Business Logic
ManeuverabilityBuilding Adaptable
Systems
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What is a business rule?BRS Definition: “From a systems perspective …
“An atomic piece of re-usable business logic, specified declaratively.”
Property Interpretation Benefit
Atomic … cannot be reduced without Fine-grained changelosing business meaning
Re-usable … applies across many business High consistencyactivities and system components
Business … not programming logic Better communication
Declarative … leaves out the how, who, Re-engineerabilitywhere, and when
Business Rules: Defining the Business Logic
ITDeveloper
“We should be looking at
business rules to achieve true re-
usability.”
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Business Rules: Codifying Business Knowledge
Establishing the Rule Management GroupMissionTo support the specification, organization and improvement of business rules for the benefit of company business practices.
Objectives Ensure consistency of business rule across functions,
geographical areas, and systems. Identify relevant business rules quickly whenever required. Maintain traceability for all business rules. Understand the motivation for every business rule. Support impact analysis for revising or replacing business rules.References:
The BRS Approach to Rule Management: RMSolutions, by Ronald G. Ross and Gladys S.W. Lam, Business Rule Solutions, Inc., 1999.
“The Business Rules Process at AT&T,” by Marvin Brandar, DataToKnowledge Newsletter, November/December, 1998.
BusinessManager
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Business Rules: Codifying Business Knowledge
The Components of Rule ManagementFour areas essential to success with Rule Management…
1.How to organize the Rule Management function.… covering the organizational issues and a plan of action for establishing Rule Management in your company.
2.Rule Management techniques.… techniques for harvesting rules and for conducting facilitated sessions to capture business rules interactively in group sessions.
3.Guidelines for expressing rules.... guidelines for expressing business rules in clear, unambiguous, well-structured business English.
4.Meta-Model for rules.… a comprehensive data model for organizing and recording business rules.
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The Questions you need to answer ...
Business Rules: Codifying Business Knowledge
What: What is the rule?
How: What are the support components?
Where: What jurisdictions is the rule enforced in?
Who: What parties are involved with the rule?
When: What changes affect the rule?
Why: What are the reasons for the rule?Reference:
The BRS Approach to Rule Management: RMSolutions, by Ronald G. Ross and Gladys S.W. Lam, Business Rule Solutions, Inc., 1999.
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I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII.Instance Type Position Functional ComparativeMathematical ProjectionVerifiers Verifiers Verifiers Verifiers Evaluators Evaluators Controllers
X M POS FUNC EQ CALC EAmandatory mutual positioned functional equal-to calculated enabled
LIM ME LOW UQ NE SUM COPlimited mutually- lowest unique not-equal-to summed copied
exclusive
MI HIGH FLUC GT SUB EXmutually- highest fluctuating greater-than subtracted executedinclusive
MP CHRO AS GE MULTmutually- chronological ascending greater-than- multipliedprohibited or-equal-to
OLD DE LToldest descending less-than ...
NEW NRE LEnewest non- less-than- …
renewable or-equal-to
CI CT DF IN CVAL RSLT CIEN
CI CT DF IN CVAL RSLT CICO
CT DF IN CVAL RSLT CIEX
CT DT IN CVAL RSLT
DT IN CVAL RSLT
DT IN CVAL RSLT
Chart of Atomic Rule Types
Unshaded rule types represent the general case for the rule family
Reference: The Business Rule Book: Classifying, Defining and Modeling Rules, Second Edition,Business Rule Solutions, Inc., Houston, TX, 1997
What About Ross Method?
CoreBusiness
Terms
CoreBusiness
Terms
FactModel
FactModel
DataModel
DataModel
RelationalDatabase
Design
RelationalDatabase
Design
DatabaseSchema
DatabaseSchema
OperationalDatabase
OperationalDatabase
OperationalObject Code
OperationalObject Code
OperationalNetwork
OperationalNetwork
OperationalProcedures &
Interfaces
OperationalProcedures &
Interfaces
PolicyCharter
PolicyCharter
WHAT Data
HOW Process
WHERE Location
Business Events
Business Events
Mission &Objectives
Mission &Objectives
WHOWork
WHEN Timing
WHY Motivation
Copyright, 1998. Business Rule Solutions, Inc.
PrincipalActors
PrincipalActors
BusinessLocations
BusinessLocations
MajorBusiness
Transformations
MajorBusiness
Transformations
BusinessMilestones
BusinessMilestones
Resource Allocation
Resource Allocation
Work Queue & Scheduling
Designs
Work Queue & Scheduling
Designs
Work Queues & Schedules
Work Queues & Schedules
OperationalWork Queues& Schedules
OperationalWork Queues& Schedules
RuleBook
RuleBook
RuleSpecifications
RuleSpecifications
RuleBase
RuleBase
OperationalRules
OperationalRules
Procedures &Interfaces
Procedures &InterfacesNetworkNetworkSource
Code
Source Code
WorkflowModels
WorkflowModels
Use Case + Rules(UC+R)
Use Case + Rules(UC+R)
Procedure &Interface
Specifications
Procedure &Interface
Specifications
BusinessCommunications
Map
BusinessCommunications
Map
Platform &Communications
Map
Platform &Communications
Map
TechnicalPlatform &
CommunicationsDesign
TechnicalPlatform &
CommunicationsDesign
TasksTasks
BehaviorAllocation
BehaviorAllocation
ProgramSpecifications
ProgramSpecifications
BRSolutions: The BRS Business Rules Methodology
Scope
Sponsor
Business Model
Owner
System Model
DesignArchitect
TechnologyModel
TechnicalDesigner
DetailRepresentation
Specialist
FunctioningBus. Capacity
Worker
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