Business Knowledge Blueprints

Enabling Your Data to Speak the Language of the Business

By Ronald G. Ross

The authoritative book on concept models and business vocabulary, written by one of the world’s foremost experts on both structured and unstructured data.

Description

Business Knowledge Blueprints is the go-to handbook for:

• Developing business vocabularies.
• Defining terms.
• Disambiguating concepts.

More than that, it shows you how to clarify the meaning of everyday business communication and put business clarity into your data.

A concept model gives you a way to talk with subject matter experts in a way you’ve never had before. It will:

• Guide you in asking the right questions.
• Help you achieve business clarity.
• Show you how the pieces all fit together.
• Make you sound smart.

What about data? This book is for those intimidated by data, for those whose companies have poor quality data, or for those in initiatives seeking to tap into the power behind the data. Learn these techniques and you’ll ‘do’ all forms of data far better.

So many people these days – including business managers – know in their guts something is amiss about current approaches. Something in IT and data is simply not adding up. Not some small thing, but a very big thing. Data quality is awful. Systems still fail to meet expectations due to inadequate or misdirected requirements. Customer expectations simply aren’t being met. Now we are plunging headlong into a world of bots, AI, blockchain and more, with little or no sense of what it will really take to get us there.

If you are one of those people, this book provides the insights you need to talk directly about the problem – as well as all the robust techniques needed to tackle it head-on.

Who is this book for?

Think of a concept model as the new Knowledge Commons for the business. It’s about getting everyone on the same page for Knowledge-Age success!

• Business People: governance, risk and compliance managers, regulators and policy makers, legal staff, knowledge managers, product designers, and training managers
• Transformation Professionals: business analysts, business architects, data scientists, data modelers, and software professionals who support the business

About the Author

At BRS, Ron has helped create concept models at hundreds of companies and government bodies. He is best known for his industry-leading work on business rules, and before that, for his contributions in the field of data design and database. He was a founder and is a principal in standards work at OMG on SBVR (Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Business Rules), the ground-breaking standard behind concept models.

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Here’s What Readers Are Saying

Find out what readers have been saying about Business Knowledge Blueprints.

“Stunning quality of both the message and the writing. Easy-to-understand, practical guide for people new to documenting true-to-SBVR business concepts and their vocabularies.” [read more ]

~ Donald Chapin

“Let me congratulate you on an excellent book, that should help others design better models.”

~ Terry Halpin

“A solid guide. Concept models are essential for creating the building blocks of the Knowledge Age. Welcome to the future!” [read more ]

~ Robert Dizinno

“an extremely valuable book for practitioners of business analysis. Excellent presentation of such a complex subject matter as concept modeling by a towering thought leader. I only wish I had had the chance to read such a book at a much earlier stage of my career.”

~ David Lyalin

“Excellent subject, well written, very timely book. … a strong contribution to a missing dimension for business architects.” [read more ]

~ Ramsay Millar

“You need precision and consistency in every business communication. The more you focus on it, the more you will see the value of the techniques presented in this book.” [read more …]

~ Gladys S.W. Lam

“Well done! This is the book I’ve been wanting for years. Now people can truly apply SBVR for real-world problems.”

~ Keri Anderson Healy

“Part V on how to create business definitions is the best. The examples are great.” [read more ]

~ Nick Vaughan

“[Concept models are] a great way for stakeholders to understand the impact of the change they’re considering.”

~ Michelle Murray

“Our ability to understand each other is only as good as the definition we share on each word.”

~ Mark Meyers

“The ideas in this book are a big part of the answer to ‘the black box’ and transparency around automation. And they are central to capturing human knowledge – hard-won knowledge that makes a difference. In service. In competitiveness. In survival.”

~ John Morris

“Anyone working closely with data, especially business and data analysts and architects, would benefit from the thought leadership and practical tips included in this book!”

~ Dora Boussias

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Contents

Preface

Part I: Introduction

Chapter 1: Why Business Concept Models

Chapter 2: The Four Dimensions of Communication Clarity

Chapter 3: What Concept Models Are About

Chapter 4: Creating Concept Models

Part II: Getting to Know the Things You Talk About

Chapter 5: Distinguishing Things

Chapter 6: Naming Things

Chapter 7: Defining Things

Chapter 8: Disambiguating Things

Part III: Standard Relations

Chapter 9: Classifications

Chapter 10: Categorizations

Part IV: Verb Concepts

Chapter 11: Verb Concepts and Wordings

Chapter 12: Nouns Based on Verbs

Chapter 13: Verb Concept Structures

Chapter 14: Verbs and Transformations

Part V: How to Define Business Terms in Plain English

Chapter 15: The Kick-Off of a Definition

Chapter 16: The Main Body of a Definition

Chapter 17: Sets of Definitions

Conclusion

Appendix 1: Conceptual Model vs Concept Model: Not the Same!

Appendix 2: Data Model vs Concept Model: Not the Same!

Appendix 3: EU-Rent Example

Glossary

Index

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