untitled
Business Rules as Customer Interface
by Ronald G. Ross
| This column originally appeared in the March/April 1998 issue of the
Data Base Newsletter. |
Business rules have a wide variety of uses. If you think business rules
are just a database integrity thing, think again. I am amazed to find a business
rule approach applied in an ever-growing number of ways. The most recent concern
is supporting business-to-customer 'interfaces'. Here are several fascinating
examples.
Supporting the Supply Chain. A parts supplier must package
their goods for the convenience of the finished-goods manufacturers who use them.
'Convenient' is naturally different for each manufacturer. How does each
customer define 'convenient'? Through declarative sets of rules.
Integrating Support Services. An international package delivery
service wants to integrate their services seamlessly within the automated workstation
environments of their customers worldwide. Imagine all the differences across
(a) national and sub-national boundaries, (b) hardware/software platforms, and (c)
customized GUIs. What approach are they using to establish a standard baseline?
Business rules.
Producing the Customer's Contract. Local walk-in betting offices
in a certain European country are required by law to make available to customers
all the rules governing the placing of bets. These rules must cover every
possible contingency. For example, what happens if your bet on a horse race
includes some horse to 'show', but only two horses finish the race? (I don't
know for sure, but I bet somehow you lose your money.) The answers must be
given as a 'contract' to customers. What stuff makes up the contract?
Bet on business rules!
|
|
September 2005
The Fin de Siegle Legacy Mindset
By Ronald G. Ross -- (November/December 1999)
August 2005
Analysis Paralysis Just May Save Your Life
By Ronald G. Ross -- (September/October 1999)
July 2005
If We Had Started Coding Already...
By Ronald G. Ross -- (July/August 1999)
June 2005
Your Core Business Processes Need a Rule Engine
By Ronald G. Ross -- (May/June 1999)
May 2005
Four Things Wrong with the Way We Develop Information Systems
By Ronald G. Ross -- (January/February 1999)
April 2005
Push-Type Data Hub vs. Pull-Type Data Warehouse
By Ronald G. Ross -- (November/December 1998)
March 2005
What Knowledge Management is About (And What it Has To Do With Business Rules)
By Ronald G. Ross -- (September/October 1998)
February 2005
The Next Great Leap Forward ~ About the Changes You See
By Ronald G. Ross -- (May/June 1998)
January 2005
Business Rules as Customer Interface
By Ronald G. Ross -- (March/April 1998)
December 2004
Components and Business Rules: Do They Connect?
By Ronald G. Ross -- (January/February 1998)
November 2004
The Policy Charter: A Small-Sized Picture of the Big Picture
By Ronald G. Ross -- (November/December 1997)
September
2004
Implementing
Application Packages: Is There A Better Way?
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (September/October 1997)
August
2004
'Why'
is Why Business Rule Methodology is Different
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (July/August 1997)
July
2004
Never-ending
On-the-Job Training
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (May/June 1997)
June
2004
Re-Usability
in the Business Rule Approach
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (September/October 1996)
May
2004
The
Newest Idea In Business Rules: Rules Normalize!
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (March/April 1996)
April
2004
An
Open Letter to DBMS Vendors: We Need Active Database Systems
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (January/February 1996))
March
2004
The
Greatest Irony Of The Information Age: Business Rules
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (May/June 1995)
December
2003
Business
Rules:
Knowledge For Knowledge Workers
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (November/December 1995)
November
2003
"Play
Ball!"
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (March/April 1994)
October
2003
Enterprise
Architecture: Issues, Ingibitors, and Incentives
By
John A. Zachman -- (November/December 1999 & January/February 2000)
September
2003
Packages
Don't Let You Off The Hook
By
John A. Zachman -- (July.August & September/October 1999)
August
2003
The
History Of Steam-Powered Ships
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (November/December 1988)
July
2003
Life
Is a Series of Trade-Offs and Change Is Accelerating!
By
John A. Zachman -- (January/February & March/April 1999)
June
2003
"Business
Rules, At What Cost?"
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (January/February 1994)
May
2003
"Yes
Virginia, There IS an Enterprise
Architecture"
By
John A Zachman -- (November/December 1998)
April
2003
Business
Rules: Birth of a Movement
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (May/June 1994)
March
2003
Business
Systems And Information Support Systems
By
John Hall -- (January/February 2000)
January
2003
Enterprise
Architecture: Looking Back and
Looking Ahead
By
John A. Zachman -- (July/August 1998)
December
2002
Why
I Like the Zachman Framework Architecture"
By
Ronald G. Ross -- (July/August 1991)
November
2002
The
Framework for Enterprise Architecture (The 'Zachman Framework') and the Search
for the Owner's View of Business Rules
By
John
A. Zachman -- (January/February 1998)
October
2002
Business
Process Re-Engineering
By
Ronald
G. Ross -- (March/April 1997)
|
Ronald G. Ross is recognized internationally as the "father of business rules." He has Chaired
the annual Business Rules Forum since 1997. He was a charter
member of the Business Rules Group in the 1980s, and an editor of two landmark BRG papers,
The Business Motivation Model and the Business Rules Manifesto.
He is active in standards development, with core involvement in SBVR.