Business Modeling With UML: Business Patterns at Work (Paperback)

by Magnus Penker (Author), Hans-Erik Eriksson (Author) "Running a business today is more competitive than ever..." (more)
Key Phrases: assembly line diagram, assembly line package, lottery cashier, Related Patterns, Eriksson-Penker Business Extensions, Business Event-Result History (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Until now, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) has been primarily used to design software, but should you use it to model your entire business as well? That's the intriguing argument of Business Modeling with UML, a text that combines leading-edge enhancements to UML with some solid thinking about business. Written for any manager with some technical background, this book looks at the possibilities of UML used to model entire organizations.

The book makes a strong case for the advantages of modeling businesses in UML. With models, an organization can provide better software, define and implement new goals, and even decide whether to outsource certain operations. The Erickson-Penker Business Extensions for UML, invented by the authors and presented within the text, permit UML to document the entire business enterprise. This book shows how to model businesses, from business architecture to processes, business rules, and goals. Short case studies--for Web-centric and more traditional companies--are used to illustrate key concepts here.

Later sections of the book will perhaps take a little more background in software engineering to appreciate fully as the book presents a handful of business patterns, which offer reusable solutions to common problems (just like software patterns). The authors also look at how to leverage a business model to create better software.

In engineering, a new car is modeled and thoroughly tested on a computer before any physical prototype is ever built. As the authors point out, a business that has accurate models can test out new ideas cheaply and then adapt to changing market conditions quickly. This title makes a case that UML--a tool traditionally used by software developers--is ready to tackle the job. Read this notably informative and intelligent book to see the possible benefits of business modeling in UML for your organization. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Business modeling basics, UML notation and Erickson-Penker Business Extensions, class diagrams and powertypes, object diagrams, statecharts, activity diagrams and swimlanes, sequence and collaboration diagrams, collaboration and use case diagrams, component and deployment diagrams, stereotypes, business architectures, business processes, resources, goals, business rules, Object Constraint Language (OCL) and collections, business views and patterns, business goal allocation, business goal decomposition, business goal-problem, and software architectures

Review
"...excellent value for money." -- Computer Bulletin, September 2000

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471295515
• ISBN-13: 978-0471295518
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #416,299 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting concept, great work on business modeling, April 3, 2000

By	J. Chong (Dallas TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Sometime ago I have been wondering if somebody will try to bridge the gap between business modeling (the one used by consultants) and software engineering. It would certainly make it easier for people to understand and explain business operations.

This book is an application of the UML into the realm of business modeling. It is very good in the sense that it explains and goes through the patterns that form business models. The introduction on UML is pretty short and concise, so if you are new to it try using "Applying UML..." book to get an introduction. Be prepared to sit down and spend some time reading, since the material can be a little bit daunting to try to understand and remember all the patterns available. Overall, I wish I had this book for Systems Analysis instead of the outdated software engineering books that we used.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good for new business modellers, October 11, 2000

By A Customer

Being relatively new to business modelling in the eCommerce arena, I purchased this book with the aim of guiding me to a consistent diagramatical notation/methodology for functional requirements. Whilst many customers are still more comfortable with the old flow chart and DFD, I was able to at least apply some of the principles behind the notation. I showed someone else in our workshop sessions and they took the details so they could purchase their own copy. I have compared notes with a few others and find that they either have the book or have at least seen it. I would recommend this to someone in the same situation as I was - relatively new to business modelling, yet not naive wrt analysis and design methodologies. For those who are old hands it might still be worth a look.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not particularly useful, June 30, 2004

By	bernardsia (Kuala Lumpur) - See all my reviews

I am looking for a book that would be able to flesh out proper business processes utilizing well defined modeling language/framework. Although UML is extremely useful for software development, the author's work did make its case stand with me on UML's usefulness as business process modeling tool.

The examples are too simplistic and the suggested modeling diagrams are far too cluterred for a business personel to understand.(Cluttered diagrams on a simple example) The book would be better if it had a growing case study and used real world examples and diagrams.