Business Rules W/Ws

by Barbara von Halle

Book Overview

From a bestselling author and expert--a soon-to-be classic on application development Representing a significant change of focus in software engineering, the business rule approach to application... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471412937
• ISBN13: 9780471412939
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Blueprint for Success

I purchased Barbara von Halle's book after the 2001 Business Rules Forum in New Orleans. This forum is an annual meeting of experts, vendors, and participants in the business rules "evolution" and is used to share ideas and information among colleagues in the field. Barbara's book was introduced in many of the forum presentations, which prompted me to make the purchase. This action was perhaps the most significant step I have taken to fully understand the business rules methodology and has saved my current project from almost certain failure. I have now implemented many of the ideas and techniques from the book and placed my business rules project on a road to success. My project has endured many obstacles, not the least of which is understanding the differences that are imposed on the project team from traditional re-engineering efforts. If I hadn't come across Barbara's excellent documentation on project scoping, rules discovery, and designing for the business rules approach, I would have seriously doubted our ability to implement the project successfully. My project team was able to read and comprehend the most important concepts from the book and we have been able to modify our project plan to incorporate her ideas and techniques.I believe it is our responsibility as IT professionals to recognize the importance of the business rules movement and to follow a strict methodology when implementing any rules engine initiative. I must personally thank Barbara for sharing some of the most important concepts with this methodology. I honestly consider it my blueprint for success.

Recognizing that business rules!

Dear Reader,Business Rules, like Data Warehousing, both have the potential to dramatically reverse the downward spiral in the credibility and coherence of many IT organizations. Both initiatives focus on giving the business what it wants; Data Warehousing from mainly a strategic decision-making perspective and Business Rules from mainly an operational-support and tactical-orientation perspective. To understand the importance of the role of Business Rules in business is to recognize a done deal, to actively go about leveraging Business Rules as the key component in process development, application development and application evolution is really the thing that will separate the smart people from the sceptics. One of the problems of Business Rules, like Data Warehousing as well, is that they are both seemingly intuitive - the sort of thing that one could do just by imagining oneself what needs to be done. Now, don't let me put you off, and I would say that there is an element of truth in the idea that, at a certain level of abstraction, both the Data Warehousing and Business Rules concepts are very straightforward. However, and this is the crux of the matter, there are a number of seemingly small and insignificant project decisions to be made where the right decisions (based on experience) are not always the most obvious or intuitive choices, especially when we base our decisions on knowledge of other IT project methods, and, which in turn could lead to decisions that result in the collapse of your BR or DW project and the failure of yet another IT project.So, if you think that Business Rules might be just the thing for your business then read this book. In it you will find a wealth of knowledge and experience. It leads the reader from a good description of real reasons for using the Business Rules approach, Business Rules concepts, through to the process of identifying, defining and capturing Business Rules, and describes, in great detail, an iterative project approach to the active and evolutionary management of Business Rules in business. The book is well structured, is easy to read - for such a detailed book - and, focuses on important issues, options and decisions involved in Business Rules. As a long term advocate of the Business Rules approach I could not rate this book more highly.Best regards,Martyn R JonesIniciativa Org, SL

Facts about an exceptional book

The fact is that this book covers business rules from an implementation approach, and does so in great detail. If you are new to business rules you should first read Business Rules and Information Systems: Aligning IT with Business Goals by Tony Morgan, which is better for beginners. That book introduces business rules at a basic level.This book expands Morgan's work by drilling down into details and exposing the nuances that a seasoned practitioner will appreciate. However, the main value of this book is the way Ms. von Halle steps you through the complexities of implementing business rules as an organizational methodology. This is not an easy task, but she manages to provide a complete and comprehensive approach that will guarantee success if carefully followed. I think the work breakdown structure alone that is provided in the book makes it essential to anyone who is tasked with implementing business rules. In addition, the tables, checklists and documents and information from the book's web site add even more value. This is an important book about an important topic. It's not easy to read, but the diligent reader (assuming prior experience) will find everything he or she needs to know about business rules, the value proposition for using them, and how to implement them. It's the most authoritative book on the subject, and will probably remain so for years to come.

For experienced practitioners and implementors

This is one of two books currently in print about business rules, and each book addresses the subject from a different perspective. The other book, Business Rules and Information Systems by Tony Morgan, is a better introduction because it assumes less technical knowledge. This book, however, has unique strengths that the other book doesn't, including:(1) A comprehensive approach to preparing for and implementing business rules as an enterprise-wide discipline. It accomplishes this by providing a life cycle approach to business rules development through ongoing management.(2) The implementation approach is provided as a work breakdown structure, which significantly reduces your planning for an enterprise-wide initiative (or a pilot initiative based on a single project).(3) There is an accompanying web site that provides additional papers, case studies and other materials that enhance the value of the book. The introduction to business rules and concepts is perhaps too verbose, but is thorough. What this part of the book lacks in sparkling prose it more than compensates in detail. I particularly liked the chapter devoted to business rules methodology, which takes the concepts and applies them in a structured way. Another strong point is that the book provides many examples to reinforce points under discussion, and summarizes key information in easy-to-read tables. The illustrations that are sprinkled throughout the book also add clarity.If you're new to business rules the best book, in my opinion, is Morgan's Business Rules and Information Systems. However, after reading that book you'll also want this one if you are serious about implementing business rules because of the way Ms. von Halle has structured the flow and content. Also, the author is one of the pioneers in the business rules community, which adds considerable authority and credibility to her approach.

A Must-Read for Business Rule Managers

There are only a handful of classic books that define the data and information management industry. Barbara von Halle has now written two of those books. Business Rules Applied defines business rule development the same way that the Handbook of Relational Database Design defined data modeling and database design back in 1988. Business Rules Applied is a must-read for all professionals that are serious about managing their business rules.