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     OLDIES ARCHIVES ...
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Play Ball!

by Ronald G. Ross

This column originally appeared in the March/April 1994 issue of the Data Base Newsletter.

Consolidation of data is not the same thing as integration.  Allow me to illustrate.

Imagine that the U.S., Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, and Japan were completely closed societies.  However, to invigorate their sports, each allows one visitor for one day each century to bring a new game idea.  For the 1800s, baseball is chosen.  Abner Doubleday arrives in each country, and talks about


bases, runs, strikes, balls, innings, and the other things of baseball.  At the end of the day he leaves.  Nobody knows what happens until the next visit, a hundred years later.

As it turns out, each country has embraced the game enthusiastically, and each now has a century of competitive results.  So taken are the countries with the game, they express a desire to merge their results, and to begin an international league.  A commission (complete with data modelers) is chartered for that purpose.

The initial results are promising.  Each country uses the same nouns (i.e., bases, runs, strikes, etc.), and many of the same verbs (e.g., "runs scored in an inning").  A static data model emerges that meets general approval.

Then the trouble begins.  Not surprisingly, substantial differences have arisen over a hundred years in how each country plays the game.

  • In Japan, a batter loses so much face after one strike that that's all he gets in each at-bat.

  • In Canada (being a tolerant country), an unlimited number of strikes per at-bat is permitted but, to compensate, only two outs per inning.

  • In Cuba (being a socialist country), strikes are charged to the pitcher, rather than to the batter.

  • In Jamaica (suffering from earlier English influence), only two bases are used, the ball is bowled, 'pitch' refers to the playing field, and games may continue for two days.

Can the results be merged?  Yes and no.  Because they are based on the same data types, they can be consolidated (lumped together).  However, because each country plays the game differently, they cannot be integrated (compiled meaningfully).  Without common standards for how the game is played (a. k. a. business rules), integration is impossible.

Implications for database professionals include these.

  • The concept of an 'open repository' (store-and-play passive dictionaries) is DOA.  If development techniques and tools fail to follow common rules, the 'game results' will not prove sharable.

  • Designers of data warehouses who promise more than consolidation should beware.

  • The claims of information engineering notwithstanding, static data models are not enough to achieve integration of business practices.  To play ball you need business rules.


standard citation for this article:
Ronald G. Ross, "Play Ball!" Data Base Newsletter, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1994), URL:  http://www.BRCommunity.com/a1994/a503.html.

September 2005
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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
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By Ronald G. Ross -- (March/April 1998)

 

December 2004
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By Ronald G. Ross -- (January/February 1998)

 

November 2004
The Policy Charter: A Small-Sized Picture of the Big Picture
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September 2004

Implementing Application Packages: Is There A Better Way?

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August 2004

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July 2004

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June 2004

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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

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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)

 

 

 about . . .

 RONALD G. ROSS


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.

Mr. Ross is Executive Editor of BRCommunity.com and its flagship publication, Business Rules Journal. He is author of eight professional books, including Business Rule Concepts (2009), a just released 3rd edition of his popular, easy-to-read 1998 handbook. Mr. Ross speaks frequently at industry events worldwide.

Mr. Ross is Co-Founder and Principal of Business Rule Solutions, LLC and is actively engaged in consulting, training and research. He co-developed RuleSpeak®. Mr. Ross gives highly regarded public seminars in North America through AttainingEdge and in Europe through IRM-UK.

For additional information about Mr. Ross, please visit his personal website at www.RonRoss.info.

 

 





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