About the Author

Ronald G. Ross

Ronald G. Ross is recognized internationally as the ‘father of business rules.' He is Co-Founder and Principal of Business Rule Solutions, LLC, where he is active in consulting services, publications, the Proteus® methodology, and RuleSpeak®. Mr. Ross serves as Executive Editor of BRCommunity.com and as Chair of the Business Rules Forum Conference. He is the author of nine professional books, most recently Building Business Solutions: Business Analysis with Business Rules (2011). Mr. Ross speaks and gives popular public seminars across the globe. His blog: http://www.ronross.info/blog/

Business Rule Concepts:

Getting to the Point of Knowledge (Third Edition)

By Ronald G. Ross

Format: 157 pages / Paperback
Publisher: Business Rule Solutions, LLC (July 2009)
ISBN: 0-941049-07-8
Price:

$29.95

Here's What Readers Are Saying About the 3rd Edition of Business Rule Concepts: Getting to the Point of Knowledge

" ... a handy introduction to business rules where it really matters, in the business side of the enterprise. I read the book from two perspectives - as an old-stager in the IT domain and viewing it as a text to recommend, from enterprise architects to business decision-makers. The first pass left me spluttering, 'well, how would this work in practice???' at a number of points. On the second read I was nodding in agreement throughout at the exposition of why expressing Business Rules formally is a good thing."

~ David French, Decision Support Services Limited

"... excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed it ... a wonderful introduction to business rules."

~ Gary Summers

"I profoundly admire Ron's work."

~ Antonio Catala

"I just received and read the 3rd Edition of the Business Rule Concepts. Congratulations and thanks to Ron for continuing to move the discipline forward. I will be enthusiastically recommending this edition to my entire team. Many concerns and questions were answered with this new edition ..."

~ Robert Dizinno

"This book is not only for business analysts, but also for IT professionals! If you want to build more business-friendly systems, read this book!"

~ Gene Weng

"Very insightful. Separating rules out by classification makes complete sense to me. The most important item I perceived ... was the worst practice of having diamonds in your business process definition ... ... a MUST read for anyone before they consider a business rule mining / documentation process. Chapter 7 in particular is imperative before entering a business rule project. At first it goes against the categorization that has been taught to programmers and analysts. 'If then' conditions do come into play but must be considered in the proper context. After you think about these concepts it makes business rules more understandable and presentable to non-programmers -- especially management. This enables the company to move forward in a constructive exercise rather than one that stops and starts due to re-examination of what it's trying to achieve. Good book!"

~ J. Randall Brown

"We've been applying the concepts of a business rules approach for well over five years and consider the principles shared in this book a strategic advantage to us in the market place. This is the must-have handbook for those who truly want to bridge the communication gap between customers, business and IT. It should be standard reference book on every business analyst's and architect's desk. I recommended this book for those who are serious about reducing the cost of IT systems and returning value to the business.

I like the new concept of flash point as an event. The Point of Architecture (POK) architecture discussion is excellent. This is one of the cornerstones of our architecture. This one concept should be a foundation block in all SOA implementations. It's where ROI becomes logarithmic. I would add that smart architectures use the business rules as a POK at runtime.

This is Ron's best work yet. Extremely clear and very pragmatic. The summaries are excellent and can be used to quickly get other up to speed on why a business needs to use the business rules approach. Congratulations on a great job!"

~ Mark Myers

"My congratulations on the new edition. ... The analogy to anatomy to a brilliant stroke. There is always a challenge in engaging the uninitiated in conversations about things like business rules. This approach makes a great underlying concept to make the ideas relevant and understandable. Well done."

~ Michael Lachapelle

"I'm a novice, but the book was very easy to read and understand because of the quality presentation and the clarity of text."

~ Avril Lucas

Publications

Books

• Building Business Solutions: Business Analysis with Business Rules
• Business Rule Concepts: Getting to the Point of Knowledge (Third Edition)
• Principles of the Business Rules Approach

Free White Papers

• Decision Analysis Using Decision Tables and Business Rules