Rules in the Zachman Framework … Get Ready for a Burst of Architectural Rethink
As it turns out, rules have been one of the hardest things to figure out in the Zachman Framework. From a purely selfish point of view, that’s been a good thing, because it’s given an excuse for John and I to have many long dinners over the question in places that have really, really good food. I think the emerging answer is an exciting one. Think ‘gray lines’ in 3.0. Rules turn out to be composites. As John likes to do, roll the Framework into a cylinder, then look through it like a telescope. The gray lines arching through the space inside represent the current configuration of your enterprise. Traditionally, those gray lines have been implemented by procedural means … and we know the pitfalls of rules hardcoded into application code. It’s like setting the business in concrete. I think what 3.0 really points us toward is a new vision for the composites; a highly innovative burst of rethinking about configuration based on the primitives. I’ll be having more to say about this in the near future … It’s the topic for my 15 minute 3Amigos session with John and Roger Burlton at this year’s Business Architecture Summit (Oct 31 – Nov 4, Ft. Lauderdale) … http://www.buildingbusinesscapability.com/ P.S. Try to picture John being able to say anything in 15 minutes. That will be interesting in itself!Tags: composites, primitives, rethinking architecture, rules in the Framework, Zachman 3.0
Ronald G. Ross
Ron Ross, Principal and Co-Founder of Business Rules Solutions, LLC, is internationally acknowledged as the “father of business rules.” Recognizing early on the importance of independently managed business rules for business operations and architecture, he has pioneered innovative techniques and standards since the mid-1980s. He wrote the industry’s first book on business rules in 1994.