Business Rules and Information Systems: Aligning IT with Business Goals by Tony Morgan

by Tony Morgan

Information systems often fail because their requirements are poorly defined. This book shows IT professionals how to specify more precisely and more effectively what their systems need to do. The key lies in the discovery and application of what are called business rules. A business rule is a compact and simple statement that represents some important aspect of a business. By capturing the rules for your business—the logic that governs its operation—you will gain the ability to create systems fully aligned with your business needs.In this book, Tony Morgan provides a thorough introduction to business rules, as well as a practical framework for integrating them into information systems. He shows you how to identify and express business rules, offers practical strategies for their use, and explains the key elements of logic that underpin their application.Topics covered Understanding the role of business rules and models in information systems development Using models to structure and manage business activities, including e-commerce Defining and discovering business rules Controlling business rule quality Fitting business rules into varied technical architectures Implementing business rules using available technology Whether you are an analyst, designer, developer, or technical manager, the in-depth information and practical perspective in this valuable resource will guide you in your efforts to build rule-centered information systems that fully support the goals of your organization.

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Javier Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every company needs business rules and every employee applies several of them every day. I bet very few people are aware of this or even know what business rules are. When setting up or developing a system, the rules need to be configured or programmed for the relevant processes. It is best if the rules have been written down in a specification by experts in the relevant field.

This book describes in great detail what business rules are and how they relate to use cases and business processes. The author does this comparison in the first 50 pages. In this respect, it is like another explanation of my methodology. After that, he goes deep into the topic of business rules; how to identify them, how to describe them and how to manage them over time. It even shows how to formulate business rules in an interpretation-free way using UML or OCL.

For all those who want to study this subject extensively, this book is one of the best, if not the only one. I take several things from this book, except the description of the business rules. I agree with the author when he writes "to use business rules effectively, a wide audience needs to understand them ...". I doubt that this works effectively with UML or OCL.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third pillar. Read all three.