The Decision Model: A Business Logic Framework Linking Business and Technology (IT Management) [Hardcover]

Barbara von Halle (Author), Larry Goldberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1420082817 | ISBN-13: 978-1420082814 | Edition: 1

In the current fast-paced and constantly changing business environment, it is more important than ever for organizations to be agile, monitor business performance, and meet with increasingly stringent compliance requirements. Written by pioneering consultants and bestselling authors with track records of international success, The Decision Model: A Business Logic Framework Linking Business and Technology provides a platform for rethinking how to view, design, execute, and govern business logic. The book explains how to implement the Decision Model, a stable, rigorous model of core business logic that informs current and emerging technology.

The authors supply a strong theoretical foundation, while succinctly defining the path needed to incorporate agile and iterative techniques for developing a model that will be the cornerstone for continual growth. Because the book introduces a new model with tentacles in many disciplines, it is divided into three sections:

Section 1: A Complete overview of the Decision Model and its place in the business and technology world

Section 2: A Detailed treatment of the foundation of the Decision Model and a formal definition of the Model

Section 3: Specialized topics of interest on the Decision Model, including both business and technical issues

The Decision Model provides a framework for organizing business rules into well-formed decision-based structures that are predictable, stable, maintainable, and normalized. More than this, the Decision Model directly correlates business logic to the business drivers behind it, allowing it to be used as a lever for meeting changing business objectives and marketplace demands. This book not only defines the Decision Model and but also demonstrates how it can be used to organize decision structures for maximum stability, agility, and technology independence and provide input into automation design.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is an important book: it has important things to say about an especially important set of real-world problems—business rules … The authors weave their business rule methodology together with the whole complex of other major business/technology areas, including business decision models, business process management, SOA, and requirement definitions … shows how a new way of using rules located in a common evaluation module can greatly simplify a business process and make it far easier to modify when the need arises.
—From the Foreword by Ken Orr, Topeka, Kansas

… one of the classic books of a new era in computing …
—Opher Etzion, IBM Research Laboratory Haifa

… a significant addition to our industry’s body of knowledge.
—Dave Hay, Capgemini Financial Services and Bestselling Author

… on the mark … a roadmap to successful use of business rules.
—Arne Herenstein, Insurance Industry Executive

… a new approach to improve the elicitation and quality of functional requirements and corresponding test cases in the development of systems .
—William D. Miller, Stevens Institute of Technology

… may very well change the way we define information systems in the future.
—Nadav Nahshon, Enterprise Data Architect

I expect the Decision Model to inspire developers of business rule mining and authoring technologies for years to come.
—Mannes Nauer, Software Expert

… a must for all of us who wish to break down our business rules and integrate them into the rest of our metadata systems.
—Robert Schork, DAMA-NJ and Meta-Data Professional Organization

… explains how to apply the model to directly benefit requirements planning, business processes, enterprise architecture and enterprise decision-making.
—Robert S. Seiner, KIK Consulting and TDAN.com

… covers the full spectrum of what you need to know when adopting decision management.
—Carole-Ann Matignon, FICO

… provides a framework and model that takes our field to the next level …
—Len Silverston, Bestselling Author

… presents a formal, and yet practical, model for business logic and business rules …
—Andrew Spanyi, Bestselling Author

I suspect this will be the handbook in this area for quite some time and a must read for all levels in IT today.
—Thomas Wolfe, Capricorn Technology Group

About the Author

Barbara von Halle is managing partner of Knowledge Partners International LLC (KPI) and the recipient of the 1995 International DAMA Outstanding Individual Achievement Award. Known as a pioneer in data architecture and business rules, she is co-developer of the Decision Model. Barbara’s previous publications include Business Rules Applied (John Wiley & Sons) and The Handbook of Relational Database Design (Addison-Wesley). She also served as co-editor of Auerbach’s series Handbook of Data Management, and was a popular columnist in Database Programming and Design magazine for years.

 

Larry Goldberg is managing partner of Knowledge Partners International LLC (KPI) and is co-developer of the Decision Model. Larry currently serves as the editor of the Business Decision Management Bulletin (a monthly electronic publication) and as chair of the Business Decision Symposium series of BPMInstitute.org Conferences. Larry has founded several software companies, leading them through acquisitions. Prior to joining KPI, he sold a company to Sapiens Americas Corporation and served as Senior VP Sapiens Americas Corporation.

 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 553 pages
• Publisher: Auerbach Publications; 1 edition (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420082817
• ISBN-13: 978-1420082814
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sound Theory and Tons of Potential, April 17, 2010

By 

T. Anderson (PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Decision Model: A Business Logic Framework Linking Business and Technology (IT Management) (Hardcover)

This book is a very interesting read. It is about a new type of modeling called the decision model. The decision model has the potential to add great value to the software development process. It is intended to bridge the gap between the business users and the technical team on any given project.

This book does an excellent job of explaining the decision model by putting it into its proper context. The book also does a great job of showing how the decision model would integrate with common industry standard UML diagrams used today.

The authors show how the decision model can be integrated with the traditional business process model using BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation), use case models, the TOGAF process, and the Zachman Framework.

The major downside to the book is that tooling has not been developed to support the decision model. I did contact the authors and ask what tools they were using. They gave me the same list of the few listed in the book. IBM has a plug-in and New Wisdom has something in the works. Not having any tools available to make decision models will hurt the potential this book has for making a big impact on the current industry standards for gathering requirements.

I have been trying to make a UML Profile in SPARX EA, but just can't get the time to complete it. It will be a rather complete and should probably be created as a plug-in instead.

If tooling, that is cheap tooling, becomes available I think the Decision Model has great potential, until that happens it is great theory, but that will be all it is. SPARX EA and Visio templates will be a must for it to reach the masses that I deal with.

Because the book does such a great job of explaining the decision model I have a hard time dinging it because of the lack of tools. It is very thorough and a very good read. The theory is sound and has a ton of potential. I highly recommend reading this book for the theory itself, and if modeling tools become available you will be a step ahead in the industry.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well defined framework for business decisions, July 10, 2010

By 

Paul W. Johnson (Somewhere in the USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Decision Model: A Business Logic Framework Linking Business and Technology (IT Management) (Hardcover)

A good overview of a complex topic. The KPI team appear to be well on their way to applying structure to the complex world of business decisions and rules.

In the Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DODAF) and spinoffs MODAF, DNDAF this segment of views is addressed in a Business Rules Model (OV-6a) and partially as a Systems Rules Model (SV-10a). The decision model defined within the book is a good first step towards offering a framework to aid in the development and refinement of these products.

The graphical notations offered in the book are rather complex and still need further refinement to become more "business user" friendly.

I look forward to seeing this framework evolve and reading their next book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Be CAREFUL if ordering this book..., December 20, 2010

By 

waula - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Decision Model: A Business Logic Framework Linking Business and Technology (IT Management) (Hardcover)

I ordered this book twice and both copies were missing Chapter 3 - so, I would NOT advise buying a copy. If you do, check for Chapter 3 when received as you may need to return it!