Business Rule Concepts
Transcription
Business Rule Concepts
The New Basics of Smarter Processes Den Norske Dataforeningen May 19-21, 2015 by Ronald G. Ross Co-Founder & Principal, Business Rule Solutions, LLC BRSolutions.com Executive Editor, Business Rules Journal BRCommunity.com © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 1 About Ronald G. Ross Ronald G. Ross is Co-Founder and Principal of Business Rule Solutions, LLC (BRSolutions.com). BRS provides consulting, training and methodology supporting business analysis, business rules, decision analysis, business vocabulary, and rule management. His popular seminars, the first on business rules (starting 1996) and the longest-running in the industry, are given through AttainingEdge in North America and IRM-UK in Europe. Mr. Ross co-develops IPSpeak™, BRS’s landmark methodology, featuring numerous innovative techniques including the popular DecisionSpeak™, TableSpeak™ and RuleSpeak® (free on RuleSpeak.com, now also in Spanish, German and Dutch). These are the latest offerings in a 40-year career that has consistently featured creative, business-driven solutions. Mr. Ross is also Executive Editor and regular columnist of BRCommunity.com and its flagship on-line publication, Business Rules Journal. Sponsored by BRS, BRCommunity.com is a non-commercial vertical community for professionals working in the field. Mr. Ross was formerly Editor of the Data Base Newsletter from 1977 to 1998. Mr. Ross is recognized internationally as the ‘father of business rules.’ He has served as Chair of the annual Business Rules & Decisions Forum Conference since 1997, now part of the BBC Conference. He was a charter member of the Business Rules Group (BRG) in the 1980s, and an editor of the two landmark BRG papers, “The Business Motivation Model: Business Governance in a Volatile World” (2000) and the “Business Rules Manifesto” (2003). He is also active in OMG standards development for business rules and business models, including SBVR. Mr. Ross is the author of ten professional books. His newest: Business Rule Concepts: Getting to the Point of Knowledge (2013), a 4th edition of his popular handbook, and Building Business Solutions: Business Analysis with Business Rules, 2nd edition, with Gladys S.W. Lam (2015), an IIBA Sponsored Handbook. An earlier work, The Business Rule Book (1994, 1997), was the seminal work in the field. Mr. Ross received his M.S. in information science from Illinois Institute of Technology, and his B.A. from Rice University. © Business Rule Solutions, LLC follow Ron’s tweets @Ronald_G_Ross and his blog via RonRoss.info 2 case study © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 3 case study: Approve Leave Requests employees submit leave requests for approval relevant business policies need to be followed one such policy requires two levels of approval © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 4 case study: original version © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 5 Employee requests leave Gather Approvals all needed approvals gathered Confirm Leave leave is confirmed Notify Employee leave cannot be confirmed leave is not approved business rule … A leave request must be approved by all the following: a line manager. an HR administrator if approved by a line manager. case study: first iteration © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 6 simplify business process models by an order of magnitude or more example … a pharmaceutical client reduced a business process model from 28+ pages to ~4 Reference: Building Business Solutions: Business Analysis with Business Rules, by Ronald G. Ross and Gladys S.W. Lam, 2011, Chapter 7 © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 7 new business policy: 3rd approval by VP required case study: original version © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 8 Employee requests leave Gather Approvals all needed approvals gathered Confirm Leave leave is confirmed Notify Employee leave cannot be confirmed leave is not approved business rule … A leave request must be approved by: a line manager. an HR administrator if approved by a line manager. a VP if approved by 666an HR administrator. case study: first iteration © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 9 Employee requests leave Gather Approvals all needed approvals gathered leave is confirmed Confirm Leave Notify Employee leave cannot be confirmed leave is not approved what purpose do diamonds serve? make business decisions enforce behavioral rules case study: first iteration © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 10 Employee requests leave Gather Approvals all needed approvals gathered Confirm Leave leave is confirmed Notify Employee leave cannot be confirmed leave is not approved case study: second iteration © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 11 in this session … what business rules are how business rules can improve processes what operational business decisions are how decision engineering can improve processes the real value-add going forward © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 12 what are business rules? © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 13 Is this a business rule? If ACT-BL LT 0 then set OD-Flag to ‘yes’. © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 14 Is this a business rule? An account must be considered overdrawn if the account balance is less than $0. © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 15 definition business rule: criterion used in business operations to guide behavior shape judgments make decisions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 16 where do business rules come from? © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 17 “Use cases (in the classic definition) contain quite high-level information and do not drill down to the level of the business rules.” senior software engineer where business rules come from © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 18 EBOOK AGENCY/COMMISSIONAIRE DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT This Agreement is between, on the one hand, the Apple entities appointed as agent or commissionaire on Exhibit A hereto (collectively and individually, as the context requires, "Apple"), and, on the other hand, the legal entity associated with the iTunes Connect account through which this Agreement is executed ("Publisher"), and is effective as of the date it is electronically signed through iTunes Connect (the "Effective Date"). laws acts statutes In consideration of mutual promises, Apple and Publisher (each a "Party" and collectively, "Parties") hereby agree as follows: 1. Definitions. The following terms shall have the following meanings for purposes of this Agreement: regulations (a) "Artwork" means book covers, photos, drawings, and illustrations associated with Publisher Content,including any artwork that contracts is included in copies of Publisher Content in digital format, and which has been provided by or on behalf of Publisher to Apple. All agreements Artwork provided to Apple shall have been cleared for Apple's use for the purposes of performing its functions under this Agreement. business deals (b) "Commissionaire" means that a non-risk bearing agent acts in its own name but on the account of a principal. business policies licenses certifications 3. Publisher Obligations. warranties (a) Publisher acknowledges that the breadth of eBook offerings on the Online Store is of the essence of the Agreement and the etc. updates etc.) successful appointment. Publisher shall endeavor to make all Publisher Content (including revisions, re-printings, Apple desires to be appointed as Publisher's agent (in those countries listed in Exhibit A, Section 1) or commissionaire (in those countries listed in Exhibit A, Section 2) for the sale and delivery of digital books under certain conditions as set out in this Agreement and Publisher is willing to appoint Apple as its agent or commissionaire, as the case may be, under such conditions. available to Apple under its appointment, and, subject to the terms of this appointment, in no event less than the Publisher Content it provides to any other electronic distributor, agent, commissionaire, or other representative of Publisher's content in digital form. (b) Publisher shall not discriminate against Apple with respect to the permitted usage rules, functionality, and quality of any Publisher Content, as compared to the terms under which such Publisher Content is supplied to any other electronic distributor, agent, commissionaire, or other representative of Publisher's content in digital form. (c) Except for a limited-time, one-off promotion for a particular item of Publisher Content, or in the event of a specific objection by an author as to a specific New Release, Publisher shall provide and make available New Releases to Apple under its appointment on the same day and date as Publisher makes any New Release otherwise available to end-users in any format, including physical copies. where business rules come from © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 19 what kinds of business rules are there? Reference: Business Rule Concepts 4th ed, 2013, Chapter 2 & Part 3 © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 20 business vocabulary (concept model) noun concepts (terms) e.g., customer: one that purchases some commodity or service verb concepts (wordings) e.g., customer places order business vocabulary © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 21 library concept model is used to check-out library card is authorized for library works for holds is charged against borrower librarian owns is owned by makes kind person organization assessment is made for book fee amount business rule … A library card may be used to check-out a book only if the book is owned by a library for which the card is authorized. business vocabulary © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 22 definitions … ASSESSMENT: a specific monetary charge against a Library Card for abuse of books or borrowing privileges BOOK: any document, publication or work in any media that is held by or available through a Library BORROWER: a party of interest to a Library that can potentially borrow Books KIND (OF BORROWER): whether a Borrower is a Person or Organization FEE AMOUNT: the total amount of an Assessment LIBRARIAN: a certified professional who can work in a Library in an official capacity LIBRARY: a repository of Books and/or a lender of Books to Borrowers. LIBRARY CARD: an agreement between a Borrower and a Library indicating that the parties agree to abide by the Library’s book-lending rules ORGANIZATION: a legal entity that can act independently of particular persons PERSON: an individual who acts in his own behalf business vocabulary © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 23 definitional rules are always about knowing things … business rules business vocabulary (concept model) definitional rules © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 24 definitional rules are always about knowing things … business rules 1. knowing the proper way to calculate something business vocabulary (concept model) definitional rules computation rules © Business Rule Solutions, LLC business rule: The net profit must be computed as the gross sales amount minus the overhead amount. 25 definitional rules are always about knowing things … business rules 2. knowing the proper way to derive something business vocabulary (concept model) definitional rules derivation rules © Business Rule Solutions, LLC business rule: A customer must be considered inactive if the customer has not placed any order in the past three years. 26 definitional rules are always about knowing things … business rules decision tables 3. knowing the proper way to decide something business vocabulary (concept model) customer level definitional rules decision rules © Business Rule Solutions, LLC location What delivery method should be used for a customer? normal gold domestic 3-day overnight international 5-day 3-day 27 behavioral rules behavioral rules are always rules that people can violate … business rules business vocabulary (concept model) © Business Rule Solutions, LLC behavioral rule: A customer must have an assigned agent if the customer: has placed an order, and is not inactive. 28 definitional rules behavioral rules example … example … A customer is always considered a gold customer if the customer places more than 12 orders during a calendar year. A gold customer must be allowed access to the warehouse. this rule might be ill-conceived, misunderstood, or misapplied … … but it cannot be directly violated. this rule can be violated! violating business rules © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 29 what kind of business rules are each of these? 1. 2. 3. 4. Santa must not operate sleigh during daylight hours. Daylight hours are 6:00 to 18:00. Each household member must receive at least one gift. A person must be considered a child if the person is less than 16 years of age. 5. kinds of business rules: exercise © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 30 business processes and business rules Reference: Building Business Solutions: Business Analysis with Business Rules, by Ronald G. Ross & Gladys S.W. Lam, 2nd edition, 2015, Chapters 6-7 © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 31 definition business process: the business tasks required for an enterprise to satisfy a planned response to a business event from beginning to end with a focus on the roles of actors, rather than the actors’ day-to-day job © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 32 Claimant Claims Clerk if response makes claim Take Claim Information Verify Basic Claim Information if invalid claim if valid claim if no response Adjudicate Claim if fraud suspected if claim approved Claims Payment System Claimant Request Additional Information if insufficient information Adjudicator Notify Claimant if claim denied Notify Claimant Claimant Upon suspicion of fraud if no fraud detected Make Payment Claimant Process Claims sample: business process model © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 33 ‘process’ - business perspective is triggered by an external event involving a stakeholder is comprised of all the actions necessary to provide the appropriate business outcomes transforms inputs into outputs according to guidance (policies, standards, procedures, rules, etc.) employing resources of all types contains logical steps which usually cross functions and often organizational units delivers a product or service to an external stakeholder or other internal process acks Roger Burlton © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 34 Santa: exercise 1 develop … high-level business process model for the business process ‘Deliver Gifts’ business rules (3-5) pertaining to Santa’s activities before going down any chimneys © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 35 enforcing behavioral rules A leave request must be approved by: a line manager. an HR administrator if approved by a line manager. a VP if approved by an HR administrator. the ‘watcher’ © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 36 business vocabulary (concept models) Reference: Business Rule Concepts 4th ed, 2013, Chapter 1 & Part 2 © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 37 example are we communicating? ‘load’ … business meaning context of business usage 1. a network component that uses energy … physical facilities that use energy 2. the operating level of a network component that uses energy … amounts of energy that physical facilities use 3. a party that owns a network component that uses energy … organizations participating in the energy marketplace 4. a state of a network component … resources that can sometimes use energy (“net”) 5. a part of the output of a generating resource … measurements of energy production 6. constancy (“firmness”) of energy usage … projections of energy production and usage 7. demand for energy … aggregate network estimates © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 38 person work status employee contractor categories: employee [person] and contractor [person] categorization scheme: work status categories © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 39 vehicle owns person ‘wording’ of the verb concept: person owns vehicle binary verb concepts © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 40 owns is owned by leases is leased by vehicle drives person is driven by rides in transports binary verb concepts © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 41 vehicle owns year color person name date of birth SSN property: a quality or trait of something property association: a binary verb concept in which one thing is closely tied to the meaning or understanding of another properties © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 42 best practice: don’t use the verb ‘to have’ for anything except properties has owns vehicle person year color has name date of birth SSN the implicit verb for a property association is ‘has’ properties © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 43 [destination] city arrives at flight role: the part that a concept plays in the context of a verb concept roles © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 44 best practice: treat terms that simply reflect wordings as roles is insured by [insured] policy owns vehicle [owner] party person roles © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 45 business rule: A briefing may be only for a product that is being actively marketed. unary verb concepts © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 46 uses currency Euro U.S. $ CN $ Pound Sterling ~ ~ country United Kingdom The Netherlands United States Canada Switzerland general-concept-to-instance connection general-concept-to-instance connections © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 47 Santa: exercise 2 develop … first-cut concept model covering all terms highlighted in blue in the business rules handout definitions for ‘gift’, ‘visit schedule’, and ‘manufacturer certified speed capacity’ © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 48 expressing business rules © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 49 examples These items may or may not be available at all times, and sometimes not at all, and other times all the time. menu item in restaurant Ft. Bragg, NC No driving without a license. © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 50 example If an employee does not have a name, then [do something]. business rule An employee must have a name. “Business people don’t set variables and they don’t call functions.” Don Baisley how not to express business rules © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 51 declarative: no sequencing required If A + B = C, then F If D and not E, then A If not G then B If 90% x J > 100, then C procedural: sequencing important 1. 2. 3. 4. If D and not E, then A If not G then B If 90% x J > 100, then C If A + B = C, then F declarative vs procedural © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 52 example … Not to be used in case of fire. business rule … An elevator must not be used to exit a multi-floor building if a fire is reported in the building. no implied context(!) best practice for writing business rules © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 53 Santa: exercise 3 using the concept model and RuleSpeak … revise business rules (2) pertaining to Santa’s activities before going down any chimneys develop business rules (3-5) pertaining to entering houses and afterwards © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 54 RuleSpeak ® … for business-friendly business rules in structured natural language … in English (2.0), Dutch, Spanish & German … released 2009 … Polish & Norwegian released 2014 … free on www.RuleSpeak.com origin … developed by Business Rule Solutions, LLC (BRS) starting in 1996 we’ve applied it in 100’s of projects since then standardization … one of three reference notations used in the creation of SBVR fully consistent with that standard © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 55 analysis of behavioral rules © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 56 breach questions for business rules 1. How strictly should each business rule be enforced?* 2. What message is appropriate when a breach occurs? 3. What business response is needed when a breach occurs? *applies only to behavioral rules Reference: Building Business Solutions: Business Analysis with Business Rules, by Ronald G. Ross & Gladys S.W. Lam, 2nd edition, 2015, Chapter 15 © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 57 business rule • A claim center must not process claims over $1,000,000. enforcement • override by preauthorized actor level enforcement level © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 58 sample enforcement levels description strictly enforced violations disallowed in all cases – achieving some new state successfully always prevented override by preauthorized actor the behavioral rule is enforced, but an actor with proper before-the-fact authorization may override it override with explanation guideline the behavioral rule may be overridden simply by providing an explanation suggested, but not enforced enforcement level © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 59 what message is appropriate when a breach occurs? guidance message © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 60 business rule • An active healthcare insurance plan must be assigned to a member. guidance messages • for Walmart: “An active healthcare insurance plan must be assigned to an employee.” • for JCPenney: “An active healthcare insurance plan must be assigned to an associate.” guidance message © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 61 business rule breach action • The total number of hours worked by an employee during a 24hour period must not exceed 18 consecutive hours. • Notify Manager breach response © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 62 Santa: exercise 4 Specify the following … enforcement level guidance message breach response for Rule 2017: A sleigh may be parked on the roof of a house only if the slant of the roof of the house is 45 degrees or less. © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 63 your business rule space © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 64 business rules business rules for making operational business decisions business rules for operational business decisions involve … answering the question, “What’s the best or optimal outcome for this case?” decision made here lots of decision tables business rules about business activity involve … business process business tasks applying specialized expertise and accumulated practical skill business rules for coordinating dayto-day business activity answering the question, “Are we doing things best for the business process as a whole?” coordinating collective activity, applying sound business practices, and monitoring for violations lots of individual (one-off) business rules your business rules space © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 65 business rules business rules for making operational business decisions decision made here decision rules business process business tasks business rules for coordinating dayto-day business activity behavioral rules your business rules space © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 66 operational business decision made here identify decision tasks analyze each decision directly off-load the decision logic as business rules and decision tables Claimant Claims Clerk if response makes claim Verify Basic Claim Information Take Claim Information if invalid claim Request Additional Information if insufficient information if valid claim Adjudicator Adjudicate Claim if claim denied if fraud suspected if claim approved Claims Payment System Notify Claimant Notify Claimant Claimant if no response Claimant Upon suspicion of fraud if no fraud detected Make Payment Claimant Process Claims © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 67 decision structure … question chart (Q-Chart ) TM cases in scope: auto insurance USA under $1 million Is the applicant’s driving status acceptable? Is an applicant eligible for auto insurance? Has the applicant given acceptable evidence of insurance? overall applicant eligibility decision specific applicant eligibility decisions Is the applicant’s Insurance Risk Score O.K.? Reference: DecisionSpeak (free download) http://www.brsolutions.com/b_ipspeakprimers.php © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 68 analyzing decisions Reference: DecisionSpeak – free on http://www.brsolutions.com/b_ipspeakprimers.php © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 69 definition decision: a determination requiring knowhow or expertise … the resolving of a question by identifying some correct or best choice © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 70 real world case decision task the outcome make decision potential outcomes some particular matter or situation requiring a decision the result or conclusion (from among potential outcomes) deemed appropriate for the case e.g., an average Joe applies for auto insurance e.g., average Joe is deemed eligible for auto insurance … but could have been deemed ineligible decision logic the elements of decisions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 71 decision task … naturally procedural real world case i.e., a business task (e.g., in a business process) for making a decision the outcome make decision potential outcomes decision logic the elements of decisions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 72 the goal: simplified, agile, ‘thin’ processes! real world case the outcome decision task make decision potential outcomes decision logic from now on, assume the decision task our focus is on analysis and quality of the decision the elements of decisions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 73 should make no difference whether the decision logic is applied (evaluated) by a machine or a human real world case the outcome decision task make decision potential outcomes decision logic the elements of decisions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 74 DecisionSpeak: guidelines for forming the question Reference: DecisionSpeak – free on http://www.brsolutions.com/b_ipspeakprimers.php © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 75 avoid the word ‘how’ instead of … write this instead … How should an order be filled? What method should be used to fill an order? DecisionSpeak: guidelines © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 76 avoid the word ‘must’ in favor of ‘should’ instead of … write this instead … What sales tax must be charged What sales tax should be on an order? charged on an order? DecisionSpeak: guidelines © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 77 avoid conversational shortcuts instead of … write this instead … What coat should I wear today? What coat should be worn? How should we price this order? How much should an order be priced? DecisionSpeak: guidelines © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 78 avoid ‘and’s’ and ‘but’s’ instead of … write this instead … What is wrong with this machine and what approach should be used for fixing it 1. What is wrong with this machine? 2. What approach should be used for fixing it? DecisionSpeak: guidelines © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 79 examples of well-formed questions Should an insurance claim be accepted? Which resource should be assigned to a task? Which service should be used to ship a package? © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 80 Santa: exercise 5 Identify and write-out 3 decisions that Santa needs to make. © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 81 analyzing decisions Reference: DecisionSpeak – free on http://www.brsolutions.com/b_ipspeakprimers.php © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 82 Q-COE: question, considerations, outcomes, exceptions Considerations Outcomes Question Exceptions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 83 What decision needs to be made? problem statement: I never know what coat to grab in the morning. If it rains, the one I have on is not waterproof. If it’s cold, I didn’t take one. I need an organized scheme to help me decide. decision: What coat should be worn? Considerations Outcomes Question What coat should be worn? © Business Rule Solutions, LLC Exceptions 84 What are all the potential outcomes? problem statement: I never know what coat to grab in the morning. If it rains, the one I have on is not waterproof. If it’s cold, I didn’t take one. I need an organized scheme to help me decide. decision: What coat should be worn? potential outcomes: lined raincoat, wool overcoat, unlined raincoat, none Considerations Outcomes Question What coat should be worn? © Business Rule Solutions, LLC lined raincoat wool overcoat unlined raincoat none Exceptions 85 What considerations should I base the decision on? problem statement: I never know what coat to grab in the morning. If it rains, the one I have on is not waterproof. If it’s cold, I didn’t take one. I need an organized scheme to help me decide. decision: What coat should be worn? potential outcomes: lined raincoat, wool overcoat, unlined raincoat, none considerations: 1. Is it rainy? 2. Is it cold? Considerations Question What coat should be worn? © Business Rule Solutions, LLC rainy? cold? Exceptions Outcomes lined raincoat wool overcoat unlined raincoat none 86 What exceptions are within scope? problem statement: I never know what coat to grab in the morning. If it rains, the one I have on is not waterproof. If it’s cold, I didn’t take one. I need an organized scheme to help me decide. decision: What coat should be worn? potential outcomes: lined raincoat, wool overcoat, unlined raincoat, none considerations: 1. Is it rainy? 2. Is it cold? exceptions: 1. Halloween Considerations Question rainy? cold? What coat should be worn? Exceptions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC Halloween Outcomes lined raincoat wool overcoat unlined raincoat none 87 what are Q-COEs for? brainstorming help in getting started on analyzing more complex decision(s) … … especially in facilitated sessions goal: move toward decision tables as steadily and confidently as possible Considerations Question rainy? cold? What coat should be worn? Exceptions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC Halloween Outcomes lined raincoat wool overcoat unlined raincoat none 88 what is the scope of the decision logic? problem statement: I never know what coat to grab in the morning. If it rains, the one I have on is not waterproof. If it’s cold, I didn’t take one. I need an organized scheme to help me decide. decision: What coat should be worn? scope: 1. person: Gladys 2. city: Vancouver Considerations Question rainy? cold? What coat should be worn? Exceptions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC Halloween Outcomes lined raincoat wool overcoat unlined raincoat none 89 to decide the outcome for a case within scope you need considerations real world case the outcome decision logic e.g., an ordinary applicant applies for auto insurance potential outcomes considerations driving history evidence of insurability insurance risk score credit rating state/province etc. considerations © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 90 definition consideration: a factor or grounds for making a decision © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 91 ordinary applicant considerations driving history evidence of insurability insurance risk score credit rating state/province etc. case: JoeBob Taylor … 1 accident … FAX of current coverage card … O.K. … good … Texas … JoeBob Taylor is a standard or typical case because … his application can be decided on the basis of the usual considerations there is nothing exceptional about JoeBob’s case example © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 92 normal case exception (exceptional case ) a case that is regular and common a case that is irregular or uncommon uses some or all of the usual considerations uses none of the usual considerations cannot be excluded from normal can be excluded from normal treatment or rejected out of hand treatment or rejected out of hand exceptions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 93 exception considerations driving history evidence of insurability insurance risk score credit rating state/province etc. applicant: SallySue Cox, a felon … doesn’t matter … doesn’t matter … doesn’t matter … doesn’t matter … doesn’t matter … SallySue Cox has been convicted of a felony our policy is to reject felons out-of-hand there is no need to evaluate the usual considerations example © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 94 exception business rule An applicant for ‘auto’ insurance must be considered ineligible if convicted of a felony involving a motor vehicle. SallySue Cox is an exception (exceptional case ) we have a business rule that rejects felons out-of-hand exceptions don’t use any of the usual considerations example © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 95 exception considerations driving history evidence of insurability insurance risk score credit rating state/province etc. applicant: SlickWilly Jones , 13 … doesn’t matter … doesn’t matter … doesn’t matter … doesn’t matter … doesn’t matter … SlickWilly Jones is only 13 years old our policy is to reject anyone under 18 out-of-hand there is no need to evaluate the usual considerations example © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 96 exception business rule An applicant for ‘auto’ insurance must be considered ineligible if younger than 18 years old. SlickWilly Jones is an exception (exceptional case ) we have a business rule that rejects applicants under 18 out-of-hand exceptions don’t use any of the usual considerations example © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 97 is case in scope? real world case the outcome yes ye standard cases: decision logic potential outcomes 80% exceptions: 20% the 80-20 rule applies © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 98 question charts (Q-Charts) Reference: DecisionSpeak – free on http://www.brsolutions.com/b_ipspeakprimers.php © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 99 Should we launch? Is weather a go? Is fuel a go? Is recovery a go? Q-Charts © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 100 definition sub-decision: a decision on which another decision logically depends © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 101 a checklist is not a business process(!) Should we launch? Is weather a go? Is fuel a go? Is recovery a go? Q-Charts © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 102 the top question is the one you ultimately want to answer … dependent decision … but it depends on an outcome from the bottom question so the decision on top is always the more dependent the bottom question provides some grounds for the top question … more basic decision … it’s always more basic than the top question so the decision on bottom is always the more independent hitch point always goes at the bottom Q-Charts © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 103 dependent decision X more basic decision horizontal lines can be mistaken for flows or sequence … avoid them! dependent decision more basic decision vertical lines are more readily seen as simply logical dependencies Q-Charts © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 104 basis kind relevance dependency effect 1 question 2 consideration consideration dependency the outcome from one question provides or supports a consideration for another question 3 outcome the outcome from one question can restrict the outcomes of another question outcome dependency Q-Chart connector the outcome from one question can preempt another question three fundamental forms of decision dependency … © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 105 What means should I use to pay my taxes? relevance dependency … What taxes do I owe? the top decision depends on the outcome of the bottom decision … … If you don’t actually owe any taxes (doubtful?), you don’t need to ask about what means to pay them(!) © Business Rule Solutions, LLC so the top, more dependent decision might not be needed at all … i.e., might be pre-empted always asks a yes/no question ... e.g., do I owe taxes? 106 What premium should an applicant be charged? be sure you know what relevance dependency does and doesn’t mean! Is an applicant eligible for ‘auto’ insurance? to be as user-friendly as possible the sequence might be optionally reversed in some actual processes … e.g., customer-facing, self-service, GUI-based applications over the web if so, you probably want a (legal) disclaimer! Important: Q-Charts address only logical dependency! © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 107 Considerations Question rainy? cold? What coat should be worn? Exceptions Halloween Outcomes lined raincoat wool overcoat unlined raincoat none Considerations Question temperature? wind? humidity? consideration dependency … the upper decision depends on the outcome of the lower decision specifically, one of its considerations is provided by the lower decision Outcomes cold warm hot Is it cold? Exceptions © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 108 the sub-decisions: may be evaluated … (a) separately, and (b) in parallel or in any sequence are assumed to have distinct outcomes and largely non-overlapping considerations Is the applicant’s driving history acceptable? © Business Rule Solutions, LLC Is an ordinary applicant eligible? Has the applicant given acceptable evidence of insurance? Is the applicant’s Insurance Risk Score O.K.? 109 Considerations Question What should be charged for shipping an order? Outcomes zip code? weight kind of service season shipping cost Exceptions outcome dependency … both decisions must have the same kind of outcome the set of considerations of the less dependent (lower) decision must be the same as, or a subset of, the set of considerations of the more dependent (upper) decision © Business Rule Solutions, LLC Considerations Question What special shipping charges are there? zip code? season? Exceptions Outcomes fixed shipping charge 110 •zip code •weight What •kind of service should be •season charged for shipping an order? What method should be used to ship an order? •priority level of customer •destination region •kind of packaging •perishable •holidays •hazardous materials shipping cost •normal service •express service •special service What set charges are there for shipping an order? •zip code •season fixed shipping charge •years as customer •total value of orders What is •frequency of orders the priority level of a customer? •employees Can an order be shipped? Are orders shipped to a destination? •yes •no © Business Rule Solutions, LLC •gold •silver •bronze •yes •no Is a customer high-risk? •yes •no Does a product have to be built onsite? •yes •no Can orders of this weight and size be shipped? •yes •no 111 Santa: exercise 6 Develop Q-Chart for What gift should a child receive? Is a child naughty or nice? Does a child believe in Santa? Develop Q-COE for “What gift should a child receive?” … the gift might depend on: age gender is the child naughty or nice? etc. © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 112 cell phone insurance fraud • less than 100 business rules; ROI within 6 months • think: fraud detection taxation • US, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand • think: calculations – tariffs, commissions, rates customer management • global customers, eCustomer • think: identity, merging and matching eligibility • membership, coverage, service • think: yes/no decisions business rules projects © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 113 target marketing • who to send what, and when and where • think: repeating patterns of behavior regulatory compliance • interpret and operationalize legislation, policies, contracts, agreements • think: results not necessarily to be automated reverse engineering • mine business rules from application code, Excel, databases • think: business intent of implemented rules insurance product configuration • “the Dell Computer of insurance products” • think: customization based on inventory of components & templates business rules projects © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 114 Building Business Solutions Business Rule Concepts Primer Trio Business Analysis with Business Rules Getting to the Point of Knowledge 2nd edition, 2015 4th edition, 2013 Decision Analysis Decision Tables RuleSpeak® 3.0 brsolutions.com (free) An IIBA ® Sponsored Handbook © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 115 find out more S Business Rule Solutions, LLC www.BRSolutions.com Business Rules & Decisions Forum 2013 conference Aug 24 – Aug 26 … Sydney, Australia Nov 4 – Nov 6 … Las Vegas, Nevada Rules Say Must Not! © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 116 business rules & decisions … the new basics of smarter processes ~~ thank you! Ronald G. Ross Business Rule Solutions, LLC rross@BRSolutions.com follow me: Twitter: @Ronald_G_Ross Blog: www.RonRoss.info © Business Rule Solutions, LLC 117