Business Rules as Customer Interface

by Ronald G. Ross

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!

standard citation for this article: Ronald G. Ross, "Business Rules as Customer Interface," Data Base Newsletter, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1998), URL:  http://www.BRCommunity.com/a1998/a381.html

September/October 1997

Implementing Application Packages: Is There A Better Way?

By Ronald G. Ross

July/August 1997

'Why' is Why Business Rule Methodology is Different

By Ronald G. Ross

May/June 1997

Never-ending On-the-Job Training

By Ronald G. Ross

September/October 1996

Re-Usability in the Business Rule Approach

By Ronald G. Ross

March/April 1996

The Newest Idea In Business Rules: Rules Normalize!

By Ronald G. Ross

January/February 1996

An Open Letter to DBMS Vendors: We Need Active Database Systems

By Ronald G. Ross

May/June 1995

The Greatest Irony Of The Information Age: Business Rules

By Ronald G. Ross

November/December 1995

Business Rules: Knowledge For Knowledge Workers

By Ronald G. Ross

March/April 1994

"Play Ball!"

By Ronald G. Ross

November/December 1999 & January/February 2000

Enterprise Architecture: Issues, Ingibitors, and Incentives

By John A. Zachman

July/August & September/October 1999

Packages Don't Let You Off The Hook

By John A. Zachman

November/December 1988

The History Of Steam-Powered Ships

By Ronald G. Ross

January/February & March/April 1999

Life Is a Series of Trade-Offs and Change Is Accelerating!

By John A. Zachman

January/February 1994

"Business Rules, At What Cost?"

By Ronald G. Ross

November/December 1998

"Yes Virginia, There IS an Enterprise Architecture"

By John A Zachman

May/June 1994

Business Rules:  Birth of a Movement

By Ronald G. Ross

January/February 2000

Business Systems And Information Support Systems 

By John Hall

July/August 1998

Enterprise Architecture:  Looking Back and Looking Ahead

By John A. Zachman

July/August 1991

Why I Like the Zachman Framework Architecture"

By Ronald G. Ross

January/February 1998

The Framework for Enterprise Architecture (The 'Zachman Framework') and the Search for the Owner's View of Business Rules

By John A. Zachman

March/April 1997

Business Process Re-Engineering

By Ronald G. Ross

Ronald G. Ross is Principal and Co-Founder of Business Rule Solutions, LLC, where he actively develops and applies the IPSpeak^™ methodology including RuleSpeak^®, DecisionSpeak^™ and TableSpeak^™.

Ron is recognized internationally as the "father of business rules." He is the author of ten professional books including the groundbreaking first book on business rules The Business Rule Book in 1994. His newest are:

• Business Rule Concepts: Getting to the Point of Knowledge
  (4th edition, 2013)

• Building Business Solutions: Business Analysis with Business Rules
  with Gladys S.W. Lam (2011, An IIBA^® Sponsored Handbook).

Ron serves as Executive Editor of BRCommunity.com and its flagship publication, Business Rules Journal. He is a sought-after speaker at conferences world-wide. More than 50,000 people have heard him speak; many more have attended his seminars and read his books.

Ron has served as Chair of the annual International Business Rules & Decisions Forum conference since 1997., now part of the Building Business Capability (BBC) conference. He was a charter member of the Business Rules Group (BRG) in the 1980s, and an editor of its Business Motivation Model (BMM) standard and the Business Rules Manifesto. He is active in OMG standards development, with core involvement in SBVR.

Ron holds a BA from Rice University and an MS in information science from Illinois Institute of Technology. For more information about Mr. Ross, visit www.RonRoss.info, which hosts his blog. Tweets: @Ronald_G_Ross