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RuleXpress: The business tool for expressing and communication business rules.


 

 
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March 2010: Volume 11, Issue 3
ISSN: 1538-6325
 

What Is a Business Rule?
By Ronald G. Ross

Business rules cover all the kinds of guidance needed for day-to-day business operations. Business rules fall into two fundamental categories: rules that shape concepts, and rules that guide human activity. These rules are called 'definitional rules' and 'behavioral rules', respectively. Understanding guidance from the perspective of business people also involves non-rules (advices), guidelines, business policies, and more. Ron Ross explains everything the business analyst needs to understand about the basics of business rules.
[ read more ]




Ontological Modeling (Part 3)
By Dr. Terry Halpin

In this series of articles Terry Halpin has been discussing ontology-based approaches to modeling, with a main focus on popular ontology languages proposed for the Semantic Web, such as the Resource Description Framework (RDF), RDF Schema (RDFS), and the Web Ontology Language (OWL). Last time he introduced the basics of RDF schema. In this third instalment Terry covers RDFS and then introduces different flavors of the Web Ontology language (OWL).
[ read more ]




The Next Pendulum Swing
By Kathy Long

Over the holiday, Kathy Long was talking to some friends in the financial sector about the current economic crisis. They had a record year in 2008 and a good year in 2009. Curious about how they were able to accomplish this incredible feat when the majority of other organizations in their industry were struggling to survive, she asked what they did. This month, Kathy shares some insights from the (almost) too simple answer.
[ read more ]




How to Get Smarter with Decision Management
By James Taylor

Decision management transforms your hard-to-change enterprise applications into action-oriented, flexible, predictive, smarter systems that learn and adapt. Smarter systems don't require ripping out and replacing existing applications. Smarter systems are simply your current systems made smarter. This month, James Taylor explains how Decision Management can transform your enterprise backbone into smarter systems using a simple three-step process: Decision Discovery, Decision Services, and Decision Analysis.
[ read more ]




How to Deal with Exceptions in Software Support
By Drs. Silvie Spreeuwenberg

How many times have you heard someone complain that ‘things are so complicated because of the many exceptions in our organization’? In last month's 'Rule Observatory', Silvie Spreeuwenberg examined what it takes to describe exceptions as business rules. Now, with our exceptional cases described by 'just some more rules', Silvie takes a closer look at what options a software developer has to program such rules for automated software support.
[ read more ]




The Zachman Framework and Observations on Methodologies
By John A. Zachman

"Calling All Zach-o-lites!" (and also any Zachman Framework 'newbies'). In this month's feature, John Zachman talks about just what a "MOTHER OF ALL METHODOLOGIES" might be, returning us all to a reasonable playing field by explaining that, "I am confident that the only way an integrated, interoperable, aligned (etc., etc.) Enterprise will ever be achieved is by creating and managing the architectural primitives as defined by the Framework with those Enterprise engineering design objectives in mind, quite independently from the implementation methodologies being employed."
[ read more ]

     

Something Happened on the Way to the Forum: Did We Really Need a Rules Engine?
By Mark Myers

Mark Myers decided to ride his motorcycle to the Business Rules Forum in Las Vegas last Fall and the long ride, on a straight road, gave him time to ponder the question of "basic transportation" — is his bike basic transportation? Those thoughts moved on to some parallels with questions his architecture team had recently mulled over. In this month's column, Mark shares how those questions about the "basics" led the team to ask, "Do we really need a rules engine?" The answer may surprise you.
[ read more ]




BRForum 2009 Vendor Panel: Is BRMS at a Cross-Roads? Vendors Speak Out
Compiled by the Editors of BRCommunity.com

The 2009 Business Rules Forum hosted a panel discussion by vendors whose products are innovators in the business rules arena. The four panelists who sat on the 2009 Business Rules Forum Vendor Panel responded to audience questions, sharing their perspectives on the future direction of the BRMS market.
[ read more ]




Process Project Perspectives: Hope is not a Strategy and Ignorance is Not Bliss
By Roger T. Burlton

It is safe to assume that when starting up a process initiative, not all points of view, interests, and judgment criteria will be known. We may be unaware of one another's criteria even if we think we are aware. If we can be made aware of the different points of view then we can at least have a plan to get our perspectives aligned. In this month's In Process column, Roger discusses a quadrant of possibilities that we may start with and he provides an action plan for attaining a position of confidence and commitment to the effort at hand, depending on the going-in position of awareness and alignment.
[ read more ]




A Practical Method of Developing Natural Language Rule Statements (Part 13)
By Graham Witt

This is the thirteenth article in a series describing a practical method of developing unambiguous natural language rule statements. Graham Witt has developed this method for a large Australian government agency that has selected the Business Rules Approach and the Object Management Group's Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Business Rules (SBVR) as representative of best rules practice. In this instalment Graham enhances the set of business rule guidelines in a detailed examination of the rules that govern flight check-in and boarding. He ends with a recap of quality assurance of rule statements, listing criteria that can be used to test the quality of a rule statement.
[ read more ]




Rules as Data: Decision Tables and Relational Databases
By Jan Vanthienen

Now that most business rule tools, methods, and models also contain a tabular form of business decision rules, it is a good idea to revisit the fundamentals of good decision table design, as laid out more than a decade ago and now again coming into their own. In this month's column, Jan Vanthienen reminds us of the striking similarity between decision tables and databases, and points to earlier work on how good decision table design and good database design are subject to similar concerns, such as consistency, non-redundancy, normalization, etc.
[ read more ]




The Orange Report ISO TR9007 (1982 – 1987) Grandparent of the Business Rules Approach and SBVR Part 5 ~ The Effects of the Orange Report
Special Guest Column By Joost J. van Griethuysen

In this month's 'Semantics for Business', Sjir Nijssen's invited guest author concludes his history of the Orange Report ("ISO Orange Report TR 9007 – Concepts and Terminology for the Conceptual Schema and the Information Base"), an early body of work that recognized the importance of formalizing the semantics of information. Joost J. van Griethuysen shares his perspective on how this widely-acclaimed early publication relates to SBVR.
[ read more ]




Business Rules vs. Business Requirements
By Gladys S.W. Lam

In this month's "Plainly Speaking" column, Gladys S. W. Lam talks about business rules and business requirements. She describes how they are different and how they impact each other.
[ read more ]


 
 



Attaining Edge
Free webinars by AttainingEdge's instructors. Your gateway to what's happening!

OnDemand Webinar Avaialable:

What You Need to Know about Decisioning with Business Rules for 2010 and Beyond
Presented by: Ronald G. Ross


Recent Highlights ...

Business Process Models: The Essential Element for Aligning Business and IT Capabilities
Presented by: Roger Burlton,
Founder (Process Renewal Group) and Founder (BPTrends Associates)


From Here to Agility
Presented by: Ronald G. Ross
Co-Founder and Principal (Business Rule Solutions, LLC) & Executive Editor www.BRCommunity.com

Visit the European Business Rules Community website for exclusive coverage of business rules in Europe.

Enterprise Data World

Attaining Edge
Don't miss the great money saving offer from BRCommunity.com and AttainingEdge. Register for any of the following AttainingEdge seminars and receive $100 each registration using your special BRC registration code. Login to your account for this special code.

Business Rules and Decision Analysis: Hands-On Workshop
2-Day Workshop

Featuring Ronald G. Ross & Gladys S.W. Lam
  • April 6-7, 2010 (Toronto, ON)
  • May 4-5, 2010 (San Jose, CA)


    Business Analysis with Business Rules: Workshop on Business Requirements & Modeling
    2-Day Workshop

    Featuring Ronald G. Ross & Gladys S.W. Lam
  • April 8-9, 2010 (Toronto, ON)
  • May 6-7, 2010 (San Jose, CA)


    Enterprise-Wide Business Process Management (BPM): Managing your Processes as Assets
    2-Day Seminar

    Featuring Roger Burlton
  • April 6-7, 2010 (Toronto, ON)


    Business Process Improvement Projects: Business Process Modeling, Analysis & Innovation
    2-Day Seminar

    Featuring Roger Burlton
  • April 8-9, 2010 (Toronto, ON)


    Business Process Modeling, Analysis and Design: Practitioners Workshop
    4-Day Workshop

    Featuring Kathy Long
  • May 4-7, 2010 (San Jose, CA)

  • BCS Dr. Jurgen Pitschke

    The 3 Amigos on Enterprise Design - Zachman, Burlton, Ross
    1-Day Seminar

    Featuring Ronald G. Ross, John A. Zachman & Roger T. Burlton
    Presented by BCS Dr. Juergen Pitschke
  • May 19, 2010- Dresden, Germany

    Business Rules, Business Process and Enterprise Modeling
    2-Day Seminar

    Featuring Gladys S.W. Lam & Dr. Jurgen Pitschke
    Presented by BCS Dr. Juergen Pitschke
  • May 20-21, 2010- Dresden, Germany

  • IRMUK

    Business Rules and Decisioning Masterclass
    2-Day Seminar

    Featuring Ronald G. Ross
    Login for your 10% discount code.
  • May 24-25, 2010 (London, UK)

    Designing the Enterprise for Rapid Change: A One Day Strategic Briefing by the '3 Amigos'
    1-Day Seminar

    Featuring Ronald G. Ross, John A. Zachman, and Roger T. Burlton
    Login for your 10% discount code.
  • May 17, 2010 (London, UK)

  • Business Rule Concepts: Getting to the Point of Knowledge (Third Edition)
    By: Ronald G. Ross

    Business Rule Concepts, 3rd Edition Special Discount to BRCommunity members: $5.00 off! Purchase this book for the special BRCommunity price of $ 24.95. Login to BRCommunity.com to obtain the special Discount Code

     
     





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