Business Rule Concepts Reviews

Readers

“… 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

Industry Gurus

“Ron literally ‘wrote the book’ on business rules … and this is that book. Actually, this is not the only book that Ron has written on the subject, but I would say that this is the most complete book on business rules. It is not a technical book. It is not a manual. It is not a tome. But … it is complete. This book contains everything you need to know about business rules.

I really like this book! It is written in plain English that can be understood by the uninitiated, but will be useful for even the most experienced professional. It covers the waterfront, defining why business rules are important, what they are, how to transcribe them, and how to manage them once you get them transcribed. It is a book that makes sense for the manager as well as the practitioner.

Blaise Pascal once said something to the effect, ‘forgive me for writing this long letter. If I’d had more time I could have made it much shorter.’ That captures the idea. This book is not a long one, but Ron has spent most of the years of his professional life learning how to articulate this complex subject lucidly, concisely and succinctly. We are the beneficiaries of literally decades of hard labor … but clearly a labor of love.

In his own inimitable style, Ron has hit another home run … hit the jackpot … thrown the bomb … kicked the goal … sunk the winning three pointer … by whatever sports metaphor you like … Business Rule Concepts: Getting To the Point of Knowledge is a winner. Read it and see for yourself!”

– John Zachman
President, Zachman International

“Organizations, today, are very focused on how they can usefully model, integrate, and improve their operational performance. Every analyst needs to understand just how business rules, business processes, and performance measures work together to structure the enterprise architecture and to define business decisions. There is no one better at this than Ron. His new edition of Business Rules Concepts is a book that every business analyst must read.”

– Paul Harmon
Executive Editor, Business Process Trends

“Ron’s book, updated again based on its widespread use, is a solid, practical and usable guide to understanding and developing the business rules that drive decisioning in your business

Organizations today must take control of their decision making. They must ensure it is compliant in the face of regulation, agile in the face of uncertainty, and rigorous in its use of information. Operational or transactional decisions are key as these little decisions add up – determining risk exposure, fraud loss, marketing effectiveness, customer relationships and much more. Only if the business rules behind these decisions are understood can organizations succeed.

Helpfully highlighted, Business Rules Concepts is equally useful for someone new to the topic and as a refresher or reference guide for experienced practitioners.”

– James Taylor
CEO, Decision Management Solutions

“Ron’s new book presents an elegant description of what business rules really are and how they work. It articulates and sharpens the guiding motivation for business processes, and how you can enable the delivery and management of stable processes through ease of rule change. It offers a wealth of ideas about how to make business process models and operational business solutions more agile, more responsive to change, and better aligned to business drivers.

This easy-to-read book is a must for anyone charged with changing whole business areas, products and services, or internal business processes. The insight it brings is invaluable.”

– Roger Burlton
Founder / Chief Consultant, BPTrends Associates

“I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Fourth Edition of Business Rule Concepts. I believe it should be mandatory reading for all curricula in management, business administration and computer science. Furthermore there is a category of professionals that can readily apply it – business practitioners. The book gives ample practical advice and is very easy to read.

Ron has been the pioneer of the business rules approach. Starting in the 1980s, he steadfastly developed the art into an engineering discipline. He systematically collected a large number of representative cases and used abstraction to induce various rules. He has been applying fact modeling for many years. In 2007 many of his ideas became part of the OMG standard SBVR.

I believe Ron’s work is of Turing Award quality. This book is certain to become an evergreen.”

– Dr. Sjir Nijssen
CTO PNA
Pioneer of Fact Based Modeling and Retired Professor of Computer Science

“The Fourth Edition of Business Rules Concepts is a welcome upgrade of the previous edition, including new insights gained from SBVR as well as industrial consulting practice.

Fact-based modeling is based on the belief that business rules need to be unambiguously formulated in plain language that is understandable by the business users who are best positioned to validate whether the rules really apply to their business. Consistent with this belief, the book explains the fundamental concepts of fact modeling and business rules clearly and simply, using practical examples to underscore key concepts. Main insights are conveniently highlighted for the attention of the reader.

As such, the book is recommended reading for anyone wishing to better understand the enormous potential of fact-orientation and the business rules movement.”

– Dr.Terry Halpin
Principal Scientist, LogicBlox