can you see the elephant? - ron ross

Business Rule Solutions, LLCThe Business Rule Technique Company 1 Copyright, BRS. All rights reserved.

by Ronald G. RossCo-Founder & Principal, Business Rule Solutions, LLCBRSolutions.com

Executive Editor, Business Rules JournalBRCommunity.com

References:

Business Rule Concepts (3rd Edition), Ronald G. Ross, 2009, BRSolutions.com

Principles of the Business Rule ApproachRonald G. Ross, Addison-Wesley, 2003

Challenging Business Analysts: Challenging Business Analysts: Can You See the Elephant?Can You See the Elephant?


Mr. Ross is recognized internationally as the “father of business rules.” He has served as Co-Chair of the annual Business Rules Forum Conference since 1997. He was a charter member of the Business Rules Group (BRG) in the 1980s, and an editor of the two landmark BRG papers, “The Business Motivation Model: Business Governance in a Volatile World” (2000, revised 2005, 2007) and the “Business Rules Manifesto” (2003). He is also active in OMG standards development for business rules and business models, including SBVR.

Mr. Ross (RonRoss.info) is the author of eight professional books. His newest are: Business Rule Concepts (2009), a third edition of his popular, easy-to-read handbook, and Principles of the Business Rule Approach, Addison-Wesley (2003). An earlier work, The Business Rule Book (1994, 1997), was the seminal work in the field. Mr. Ross received his M.S. in information science from Illinois Institute of Technology, and his B.A. from Rice U.

Ronald G. Ross is Co-Founder and Principal of Business Rule Solutions, LLC (BRSolutions.com). BRS provides workshops, consulting, publications, and methodology supporting business analysis, business rules, business vocabulary, decisioning, and rule management. His popular public seminars, the first onbusiness rules (starting 1996) and the longest-running in the industry, are given through AttainingEdge in North America and IRM-UK in Europe.

Mr. Ross co-develops ProteusR, BRS’s landmark methodology, featuring numerous innovative techniques including the popular RuleSpeakR (free on RuleSpeak.com, now also in Spanish, German and Dutch). These are the latest offerings in a 35-year career that has consistently featured creative, business-driven solutions.

Mr. Ross is also Executive Editor and regular columnist of BRCommunity.comand its flagship on-line publication, Business Rules Journal. Sponsored by BRS, BRCommunity.com is a non-commercial vertical community for professionals working in the field. Mr. Ross was formerly Editor of the Data Base Newsletter from 1977 to 1998.

About Ronald G. Ross


Can You See The Problem?

what you need to run business operations day-in and day-out



Manager’s LamentLarge Health Care Organization

24 person-years per year to maintain a 30-year old monolithic COBOL legacy system.

400 person-days over a 4-month period to make changes to business rules of ‘moderate’ complexity.

“Truth be told, we work for our legacy systems, not the business.”

“Our business leads are so familiar with the limitations of our legacy systems, they don’t even consider business innovations they know from experience to be difficult for the system to handle … Sometimes I wonder if they can even think through innovation effectively any more.”


Business policiesBusiness rulesGuidelinesInstruction points and suggestions

organize raw

material

preparetodo

doformalize

theresults

Guidance Sphere

Business Process / Value Chain



Product/Service Rules & Guidelines

Business Policies

Laws, Regulations, Agreements, & Contracts

Procedure Manuals, Reference Documents & “Help”

Program Code



Problems Problems ……No single sourcingStove-pipe semanticsLack of traceabilityErratic, disorganized feedbackUn-agile business

Business Policies

Procedure Manuals, Reference Documents & “Help”

Program Code

Laws, Regulations, Agreements, & Contracts

Product/Service Rules & Guidelines


““Governance, compliance Governance, compliance and consistency are all a and consistency are all a function of correct rules.function of correct rules.””

Steve Hendrick - Keynote Business Rules Forum 2009, Las Vegas


Senior Software Engineer:

“Use cases (in the classic definition) contain quite high-level information and do not drill down to the level of the business rules.”

Developing Business Capabilities vs. IT Systems


Functional Requirement: a requirement that defines a function of a software system …what a system is supposed to accomplish

Use Case: a description of a system’s behavior as it responds to a request from the outside …Use cases are used to capture a system'sbehavioral requirements

Non-Functional Requirement: a constraint imposed on the design or implementation of a system (such as performance requirements, security, or reliability)

Wikipedia



Mind Experiment: If you threw away all the systems and had to do the business by hand, what would you need?




business processes(the doing zone)




business rules(the knowing zone)


business processes(the doing zone)



An account must be considered overdrawn if the account balance is less than $0.

This is a business rule …

This is not a (business) rule …

If ACT-BL LT 0 then set OD-Flag to ‘yes’.

About Business Rules


“The really rapid change is in the rules … not in the processes.”

“If you separate the rules, you can develop remarkably stable processes.”

Roger T. BurltonChair, Business Process Forum, BBC 2010



Rule #1

Rule #2

Rule #3

Rule #4Rule #5

Program CodeProgram Code

‘‘White BoxWhite Box’’DevelopmentDevelopment

‘‘Black BoxBlack Box’’DevelopmentDevelopment

Business Rules

Rule Engine

(BRE)

General General Rulebook System Rulebook System

(GRBS)(GRBS)

It’s Your Choice …



“Business rules are fundamental to an organization.”

“Business analysts need a consistent, repeatable approach to dealing with business rules.”

Kathleen BarretChair, Business Analysis Forum, BBC 2010CEO, IIBA


From: Business Rules Journal,www.BRCommunity.com, October, 2010.



One Organization’s AchievementFinancial Services – Credit Card Fraud Detection

Business Set-UpSuspicious transactions kicked out to fraud specialists for manual inspection.Fraud specialists are an expensive and largely non-scalable resource.

ScenarioThe bad guys pick up and move shop from Idaho to Manhattan.Transactions deemed suspicious by zip code yield a 10x increase in volume.Additional selection criteria (e.g., location of store, type of store, frequency of

use, size of transaction, etc.) introduced to keep the volume of kick-outs relatively constant.

AchievementBefore rules engine … elapsed time: 30-60 days.After rules engine … elapsed time: 3-6 days.


The following guidance (business rules) is embedded in the Agreement:

(7b) eDistributor shall either remit to Publisher, or issue a credit in Publisher'sfavor, subject to Minimum Monthly Remittance Amount thresholds determined by eDistributor (e.g., $150), balance due by Electronic Funds Transfer ("EFT") no later than forty-five (45) days following the close of the previous Monthly Sales Period.

(7c) Payment shall be made in the Currency set forth for the applicable Country

(8a) No later than forty-five (45) days following the end of each Monthly Sales Period, eDistributor will make available to Publisher a sales report

(8e) eDistributor shall withhold any taxes, duties, charges or levies on payments by eDistributor to Publisher … and eDistributor shall remit any such withholding to the appropriate tax authority

(10b) Publisher shall provide an appropriate copyright notice in the Content File …which eDistributor shall display for each eBook.

(10d) In the event of a security breach of the Online Store servers such that unauthorized access to Publisher Content becomes available, eDistributor will disable all access to such servers or destroy content on such servers within twenty-four (24) hours.

(12c) eDistributor shall maintain complete records regarding sales of eBooks and proceeds payable to Publisher for at least three (3) years

(13a) For New Release hardcover titles, Publisher shall determine in its discretion a Customer Price not greater than the Maximum Customer Price for the given Country and Pricing Tier.

(13c) For all books published in mass market or trade paperback with a list price of $22.00 or less, the Customer Price set by Publisher shall not be greater than $9.99 during the first twelve (12) months after publication in those formats.

(13f) All prices set by Publisher hereunder for any eBooks must be in dollar increments that end in "--.99," except if Publisher sets the price at $0 (i.e., free).

(15c) End-users acquiring eBooks may use eBooks on up to five (5) Transfer Devices and an unlimited number of Non-Transfer Devices at the same time

(1b) Publisher hereby appoints eDistributor in those Countries listed … as its non-exclusive agent for the sale and delivery of eBooksthrough the Online Store, on Publisher's behalf, to end-users for their personal, non-commercial use

(1e) eDistributor will market and solicit to end-users, and obtain and fulfill orders for, eBooks on Publisher's behalf, including delivery of copies of Previews for free to potential eBook customers

(1p) eDistributor will provide receipts for the purchase price payable by end-users for eBooks

(3b) Publisher shall provide and make available New Releases to eDistributor on the same day and date as Publisher makes any New Release otherwise available to end-users in any format, including physical copies.

(3e) Publisher shall deliver Content Files to eDistributor, at Publisher's expense, in the Delivery Format and using the Delivery Method reasonably specified by the eDistributor

(3f) Publisher shall not include any digital watermark or similar technologies in the Content File

(6b) For sales of eBooks, eDistributor shall be entitled to a commission of thirty percent (30%) of the Customer Price payable by eBook purchasers net of any and all taxes collected

(6d) eDistributor shall be entitled to a commission on the delivery of any eBook to any eBook purchaser, even if eDistributor is unable to collect the Customer Price for that eBook from that eBook purchaser.

(6f) The “Sale” of an eBook shall occur when an eBook is first delivered to an end-user.

(3b) Publisher shall provide and make available New Releasesto eDistributor on the same day and date as Publisher makes any New Release otherwise available to end-users in any format, including physical copies.

Where Do Business Rules Come From?

Example: eBook Contract Business Rules


The pricing rules in the decision table opposite are included in the Agreement.

What is the maximum price allowed for an eBook?

Outcome Restriction:A Maximum eBookPrice over $1.00 must end in 99 cents.

Publisher’s Hardcover List Price

Maximum eBook Price

$0 $0

$0.01 to $4.99 100% of Publisher’s Hardcover List Price

$5.00 to $9.99 75% of Publisher’s Hardcover List Price

$10.00 to $19.00 $9.99

$19.01 to $25.00 $11.99

$25.01 to $28.00 $12.99

$28.01 to $30.00 $13.99

$30.01 to $35.00 $14.99

$35.01 to $40.00 $15.99

$40.01 to $45.00 $16.99

$45.01 to $70.00 $19.99

$70.00 and over 40% of Publisher’s Hardcover List Price


Example:eBook Contract Decision Table

Reference:

Decision Analysis Using Decision Tables and Business Rules, by Ronald G. Ross, 2010, 76 pp., in-depth white paper, free on http://www.brsolutions.com/b_decision.php


Terms shall have the following meanings for purposes of this Agreement:

ARTWORK means book covers, photos, drawings, and illustrations associated with Publisher Content, including any artwork that is included in copies of Publisher Content in digital format, and which has been provided by or on behalf of Publisher to eDistributor. All Artwork provided to eDistributor shall have been cleared for eDistributor's use for the purposes of performing its functions under this Agreement.

COMMISSIONAIRE means that a non-risk bearing agent acts in its own name but on the account of a principal.

CONTENT FILE means a digital file comprising at least an item of Publisher Content, associated Artwork, metadata and/or Insert Content and Extras.

CUSTOMER PRICE means the price displayed to the end-user on the Online Store, as set and designated by Publisher for each eBook.

eBOOK means an individual Content File containing Publisher Content, Artwork, Insert Content (if any), Extras (if any) and metadata in a form authorized by Publisher for download on the Online Store. Each eBook available for sale hereunder will be designated by its International Standard Book Number (ISBN) in the metadata.

ENHANCED eBOOK means an eBook which is in some way differentiated from the standard version of the eBook delivered by Publisher. An enhanced eBook may or may not be primarily intended to be used for the reading of text.

INSERT CONTENT means promotional content provided by or on behalf of Publisher and associated with Publisher Content, such as book reviews, author bios, forewords and similar content.

Example: eBook Contract VocabularyeCONNECT means the proprietary content and account management tool known as eConnect, made available by eDistributor to Publisher during the Term.

NEW RELEASE means any adult trade fiction or nonfiction book during the seven (7) month period following its first publication in any format.

ONLINE STORE means the electronic eBook store owned or controlled by eDistributor or an eDistributor affiliate.

PREVIEW means an excerpt from each item of Publisher Content (e.g., the first chapter or 10% of the book) used to promote the corresponding Publisher Content, as selected by Publisher in the metadata. The Parties agree that Previews need not be protected using the Security Solution or be subject to any content usage rules other than limited for personal, non-commercial use.

PUBLISHER CONTENT means publishable textual and graphical book content owned or controlled by Publisher cleared for distribution in digital form.

PUBLISHER MATERIALS means, collectively, all materials furnished by or on behalf of Publisher to eDistributor in furtherance of its appointment, including any Publisher Content, Artwork, metadata, Insert Content, Previews and any extra bonus-type text, audio, video or audio-visual content (“Extras”).

SECURITY SOLUTION means eDistributor's proprietary digital rights management solution marketed as “eSecurity”.

TERM means the period beginning on the Effective Date and continuing for one year followed by automatic monthly renewal periods, unless terminated pursuant to Section 15 or, after the first anniversary of the Effective Date, for any or no reason by either Party upon advance written notice of not less than thirty (30) days.

TERRITORY means those countries set forth in Exhibit A. For the sake of clarity, Publisher shall select the particular countries in which eDistributor may make eBooks available, on a title-by-title basis, using eConnect or via other technical means provided and approved by eDistributor.

eBOOK means an individual Content Filecontaining Publisher Content, Artwork, Insert Content (if any), Extras(if any) and metadata in a form authorized by Publisher for download on the Online Store.



SDLC

What Not To Do …

What the Business Rule Approach is About

Program Code


Rule Engine

(BRE)

Application

Platform

1. Separation of Business Rules from Functional Requirements

Business Workers

RuleRuleRepositoryRepository


IT

Functional Requirements& Use Cases

FunctionalityDelivered

DecisionLogic


Application

Platform

Functional Requirements& Use Cases

FunctionalityDelivered

2. Business Rules Pushed Out Toward Business Workers

Rule Engine

(BRE)

Business Workers

DecisionLogic

General General RulebookRulebook

System (GRBS)System (GRBS)


IT


Application

Platform

Software Release Cycle

3. Liberation of Business Rules from the SoftwareRelease Cycle

Rule Engine

(BRE)

Business Workers

Business Rule

Life Cycle

IT

General General RulebookRulebook

System (GRBS)System (GRBS)



Can You See the Elephant?

Software Development

Business Workers

Business Rules

IT

Three Questions with the Same AnswerWhat is the difference between …

Requirements and business rules?Requirements and business rules?

Project management and business governance? Project management and business governance?

Agile in software and agile in business?Agile in software and agile in business?

SoftwareRelease


What Traceability Does the Business Need?

Governing Rules

Practicable Business

Rules

Automated Rules

Managing the Business

Operating the Business

Running the Systems



“business governance”… a process, systematic approach, organizational function, and set of techniques … for creating and deploying business policy and business rules into day-to-day business operations

From: Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary(emphasis added)

“govern”1a: to exercise arbitrarily or by established rules continuous sovereign authority over; especially: to control and direct the making and administration of policy in

So ‘governing’ involves how policy and rules are …

created (“made”).deployed (managed, distributed

and monitored) within day-to-day operations (“administration”).



“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”

Henry Ford (1863-1947)My Life and Work (1922), Chapter IV

How Does a Business Achieve True Success?By knowing clearly what its By knowing clearly what its endsends are are ……

End End …… vision, goal or objective*vision, goal or objective*

…… That means That means business strategybusiness strategy

By setting By setting business policiesbusiness policies accordingly accordingly ……

Business Policy Business Policy ……““business rule in the makingbusiness rule in the making””

…… To ensure To ensure alignmentalignment of business of business processes with strategyprocesses with strategy

* * Reference Reference -- The Business Motivation Model: The Business Motivation Model: Business Governance in a Volatile World, Business Governance in a Volatile World, by the Business Rules Group,by the Business Rules Group,www.BusinessRulesGroup.orgwww.BusinessRulesGroup.org

Business Rules and Business Strategy

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://morningnoonandnight.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/ford_model_t_henry.jpg&imgrefurl=http://morningnoonandnight.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/henry-ford-quotation/&h=528&w=564&sz=20&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=GH_opQiHaCeReM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=134&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmodel%2Bt%2Bford%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DHPIB,HPIB:2005-31,HPIB:en%26sa%3DN


See the Elephant?!

~~

Thank You!

Challenging Business Analysts: Summary

can you see the elephant? - ron ross

Business

business rule concepts

business capabilities

business rule book

business rule approachronald

business vocabulary

business analysis

business governancein

business models