Ron Ross encourages BPM practitioners to consider fresh ideas about business process models. Using a Q & A format, he relates what you need to know to bring your thinking and practices up to date in this, the concluding Column of this two-part series.
Ron Ross
Ronald G. Ross is Co-Founder and Principal of Business Rule Solutions, LLC (www.BRSolutions.com). BRS provides workshops, consulting services, publications, and methodology supporting business analysis, business rules, business vocabulary, and rule management. His popular public seminars on business rules and business analysis, the first on business rules (starting in 1996) and the longest-running in the industry, are given through AttainingEdge (www.AttainingEdge.com).
At BRS, Mr. Ross co-develops Proteus®, its landmark business analysis and business rules methodology, which features numerous innovative techniques including the popular RuleSpeak® (available free through www.BRCommunity.com). These are the latest offerings in a 30-year career that has consistently featured creative, business-driven solutions.
Mr. Ross also serves as Executive Editor of www.BRCommunity.com and its flagship on-line publication, Business Rules Journal. He is a regular columnist for the Journal's Commentary section which also features John Zachman, Chris Date, Terry Halpin, and Roger Burlton. BRCommunity.com, hosted and sponsored by BRS, is a vertical community for professionals working with business rules and related areas. 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 Co-Chair of the annual Business Rules Forum Conference since 1997. 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, revised 2005) and the "Business Rules Manifesto" (2003). He is also active in OMG standards development for business rules and business models.
Mr. Ross is the author of eight professional books. His newest are: Business Rule Concepts (2005), a second edition of his popular, easy-to-read 1998 handbook, and Principles of the Business Rule Approach, Addison-Wesley (2003), featuring the business rationale and opportunity for business rules. 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: Q&A: What We’re Learning from Decision Engineering, Part 2—Fresh Thinking about Business Process Models
January 5, 2015 , By
Business Rule Solutions: What We’re Learning from Decision Engineering—Part I
December 1, 2014 , By
White-collar workers make operational business decisions day-in and day-out. Many people think of such work as a matter of art, not engineering. They’re being proven wrong. Learn about the latest developments in business rule and decision engineering in Part I of this two-part Q & A with Ron Ross.
Business Rule Solutions: What’s Wrong with the Term ‘Knowledge Worker’
October 6, 2014 , By
Ron Ross asks if the term “knowledge worker” allows you to make the distinctions necessary to categorize the different functional roles required to effectively use business rules in your process models. In this Column, he examines the three kinds of workers and discusses how the distinctions among them are important for engineering smarter business solutions.
Do Business Rules Define the Operational Boundaries of an Organization?
May 5, 2014 , By
“The short answer is no”, says Ron Ross, but the suggestion raises some interesting questions. What is bounded by business rules? Does scope need to be understood in a deeper sense? How do these issues relate to smart business processes? Ron addresses these questions in his Column this month.
Three Major Myths of the Business Decision Space – And Why They Matter to Business Process Professionals
March 3, 2014 , By
In this Column, Ron Ross dispels three major myths of the business decision space that he considers quite harmful. They are 1) All business rules lead to a business decision, 2) A violation of a behavioral rule corresponds to a business decision, and 3) The business rule space and decision space are the same. Read Ron’s clear explanation of why these myths are false.
Business Rule Solutions: Engineering “Why”
December 3, 2013 , By
Business Rule Solutions: Engineering “Why” In this Column, Ron Ross introduces the concept of Why Engineering and its basic principles, along with the Why Button. Find out what it takes to be effective at Why Engineering in today’s business environment.
Business Rule: Get a Grip onOperational Business Decisions:
October 1, 2013 , By
Business Rule: Get a Grip onOperational Business Decisions: This month, Ron Ross discusses operational business decisions which he says are a commonly overlooked target in business process modeling. An operational business decision has structure that can’t be captured using business process models, use cases, or similar techniques. He proposes, instead, a top-down diagram called a […]
Business Rule Solutions: Know What Your Business Rules Are About—Decision Rules vs. Behavioral Rules
July 2, 2013 , By
Business Rule Solutions: Know What Your Business Rules Are About—Decision Rules vs. Behavioral Rules Ron Ross warns against force-fitting a decision-oriented approach to every business rule problem in business processes. Noting that the differences between behavioral rules and decision rules are pronounced, Ron provides three typical examples to illustrate the differences and to suggest how […]
Business Rule Solutions: Four Very Useful Constructs for Concept Models—Developing a Structured Business Vocabulary
May 7, 2013 , By
Business Rule Solutions: Four Very Useful Constructs for Concept Models—Developing a Structured Business Vocabulary Ron Ross asks, “Got functional silos across your business processes?” In this Column, Ron proposes the concept model as the remedy for the Tower of Babel environment this creates. He presents four prefabricated elements of structure—ones that will enable you to […]
Business Rule Solutions: Big-P Process is Dead—Long Live Configuration Agility!
March 5, 2013 , By
Business Rule Solutions: Big-P Process is Dead—Long Live Configuration Agility! Consumer demand for product/service customization along with an accelerating rate of change mean that business activity no longer occurs in an orderly fashion. Exceptions are now the rule. Thus, Ron Ross claims the procedural paradigm does not scale any longer. He proposes, instead, an approach […]
