Integration Without Business Rules. Really?!

Ronald G.  Ross
Ronald G. Ross Co-Founder & Principal, Business Rule Solutions, LLC , Executive Editor, Business Rules Journal and Co-Chair, Building Business Capability (BBC) Read Author Bio       || Read All Articles by Ronald G. Ross
The original version of this column appeared in the Data Base Newsletter (March/April 1994).

Consolidation is not the same thing as integration. What does it really take to integrate business practices? Let me illustrate with a thought experiment.

Imagine that the U.S., Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, and Japan are 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 all 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 is chartered for that purpose and hires business architects.

The initial results are promising. Each country uses the same nouns (i.e., bases, runs, strikes, batters, etc.) and many of the same verbs (e.g., 'run is scored in inning'). A 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 (not a foul ball) he is immediately retired.

  • 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 British 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 words, they can be consolidated (lumped together). However, because each country plays the game differently, they cannot be integrated (compiled meaningfully).

What does it take to achieve true integration of business practices? Without common standards for how the game is played, integration is impossible. To play ball you need business rules and a shared rulebook.

# # #

Standard citation for this article:


citations icon
Ronald G. Ross, "Integration Without Business Rules. Really?!" Business Rules Journal, Vol. 20, No. 2, (Feb. 2019)
URL: http://www.brcommunity.com/a2019/b980.html

About our Contributor:


Ronald  G. Ross
Ronald G. Ross Co-Founder & Principal, Business Rule Solutions, LLC , Executive Editor, Business Rules Journal and Co-Chair, Building Business Capability (BBC)

Ronald G. Ross is Principal and Co-Founder of Business Rule Solutions, LLC, where he actively develops and applies the BRS 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:


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 where he serves as Co-Chair. 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. Find Ron's blog on http://www.brsolutions.com/category/blog/. For more information about Ron visit www.RonRoss.info. Tweets: @Ronald_G_Ross

Read All Articles by Ronald G. Ross
Subscribe to the eBRJ Newsletter
In The Spotlight
 Jim  Sinur
 John A. Zachman
';
The Issue Is THE ENTERPRISE By John A. Zachman Jan. 2017 | Vol. 18, Iss. 1

Online Interactive Training Series

In response to a great many requests, Business Rule Solutions now offers at-a-distance learning options. No travel, no backlogs, no hassles. Same great instructors, but with schedules, content and pricing designed to meet the special needs of busy professionals.