You are here: Home / Complexity

Complexity

‘Rules of Record’ … Why ‘System of Record’ Isn’t Enough

by Ronald G. Ross on October 2, 2012

Business computing today is characterized by a tangled web of interfaces and data movement from system to system, from source to sink. Knowing the official ‘systems of record’ is basic for resolving discrepancies and demonstrating compliance.
But that’s merely a start. What your business really needs today is to know the rules of record. A focus [...]

Read the full article →

The Procedural Paradigm Won’t Scale: We Need Configuration Agility!

by Ronald G. Ross on June 13, 2012

It’s been said that I claim the procedural paradigm won’t scale anymore. Guilty as charged! Let me explain.
Procedural vs. Declarative
In the big scheme of things, you have two basic choices for conceptualization, and ultimately implementation, of business capabilities: procedural vs. declarative.
Let’s make sure we agree on what these terms mean. I’ll draw directly on Merriam-Webster [...]

Read the full article →

Creating a Business Model: Walk the Walls!

by Ronald G. Ross on April 20, 2012

In running facilitated sessions, we like to create each kind of business model on a different wall.  We find that the physical act of walking or shifting focus from one wall to another helps participants rapidly grasp and remember what each wall represents.  It also helps business leads and Business Analysts identify disconnects and gaps [...]

Read the full article →

Want to Make Your Business Process Models Less Complex and More Approachable? There’s a Proven Solution!

by Ronald G. Ross on February 21, 2012

The best way to simplify business process models is to take the business rules out and address them separately.
Example: For a large pharmaceutical client, we reduced a complex 28pp model to just under 4 pages by doing that – nearly an order-of-magnitude reduction in size (and probably even more in terms of complexity). Everyone [...]

Read the full article →

Does Your Business Have a 1000 Business Processes? … Not!

by Ronald G. Ross on October 12, 2011

A practitioner recently wrote: ” … businesses typically have over a thousand different business processes. There are often variations of business processes for different regions, products, exceptions and business areas as well as other reasons, that’s why there are so many …”.
What kind of “process” could he possibly mean!? A business couldn’t possibly have over [...]

Read the full article →