Comments on: Process or the Business Rule: Who Wears the Crown? http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/ A member of the Gartner Blog Network Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:21:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: John Drew http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/comment-page-1/#comment-2611 John Drew Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:32:23 +0000 http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/#comment-2611 Jim, Interesting proposition, but I think you answered your own question of Who is King in your last paragraph. A set of processes without business rules is as useless as a set of business rules without processes. They are dependent on each other - but the rules must be defined first, so that they can be used by the processes. This is as true for STP as for human or document centric event-driven BPM processes, or even completely manual, paper-driven processes. However to extend the argument a little bit, there is perhaps a distinction to be made between process rules, and business rules. Process rules tell the user/system what to do with a certain instance of work, while business rules tend to be at a higher level of abstraction. An example of a process rule could be that any work item that is for an amount in excess of $10,000 is referred to a Supervisor for approval. A business rule would be for example that for this particular geographic location a special interest rate is offered to all customers meeting the requirements of the offer. The processing of the work in this case is the same for all clients, but business rules dictate different interest rates applicable to a certain segment of clients. Jim,
Interesting proposition, but I think you answered your own question of Who is King in your last paragraph. A set of processes without business rules is as useless as a set of business rules without processes. They are dependent on each other – but the rules must be defined first, so that they can be used by the processes. This is as true for STP as for human or document centric event-driven BPM processes, or even completely manual, paper-driven processes.

However to extend the argument a little bit, there is perhaps a distinction to be made between process rules, and business rules. Process rules tell the user/system what to do with a certain instance of work, while business rules tend to be at a higher level of abstraction. An example of a process rule could be that any work item that is for an amount in excess of $10,000 is referred to a Supervisor for approval. A business rule would be for example that for this particular geographic location a special interest rate is offered to all customers meeting the requirements of the offer. The processing of the work in this case is the same for all clients, but business rules dictate different interest rates applicable to a certain segment of clients.

]]> By: Nik http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/comment-page-1/#comment-2580 Nik Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:35:17 +0000 http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/#comment-2580 As long as I have designed processes, I was never allowed to create or re-design a process based on efficiency (apart from quality aspects). Restrictions were at least: financial rules and regulations, laws, and management rules (e.g. memos). Upper management of every company establish rules. Processes have to follow those rules. I would really like to hear how Roger T. Burlton or Ron Ross would argue. As long as I have designed processes, I was never allowed to create or re-design a process based on efficiency (apart from quality aspects). Restrictions were at least: financial rules and regulations, laws, and management rules (e.g. memos).

Upper management of every company establish rules. Processes have to follow those rules.

I would really like to hear how Roger T. Burlton or Ron Ross would argue.

]]> By: Paul Vincent http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/comment-page-1/#comment-2559 Paul Vincent Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:07:26 +0000 http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/#comment-2559 Of course, *people* prefer processes because the human firmware is tuned to serial, sequential activity processing. Computers, on the other hand, can match events to rules and process activities in multiple ways, in addition to the good old-fashioned simple "flow diagram". As Mark Twain might have put it: (processes, rules, decisions) are all just a bunch of constraints (on events)... Cheers Of course, *people* prefer processes because the human firmware is tuned to serial, sequential activity processing. Computers, on the other hand, can match events to rules and process activities in multiple ways, in addition to the good old-fashioned simple “flow diagram”.

As Mark Twain might have put it: (processes, rules, decisions) are all just a bunch of constraints (on events)…

Cheers

]]> By: James Taylor http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/comment-page-1/#comment-2557 James Taylor Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:54:19 +0000 http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/#comment-2557 Well I would say neither rules nor process but decisions. Rules can help you specify decisions but they can also help you specify processes so I don't think that's a useful distinction. Decisions, on the other hand, can involve rules, analytics an optimization all working together to ensure the right process runs, the right price is offered, fraud is detected, claims are paid and so on. You MUST have the process to fulfill the decision - to take the action you decided on - but it is the decision that rules. JT See you at the BPM Summit Well I would say neither rules nor process but decisions. Rules can help you specify decisions but they can also help you specify processes so I don’t think that’s a useful distinction. Decisions, on the other hand, can involve rules, analytics an optimization all working together to ensure the right process runs, the right price is offered, fraud is detected, claims are paid and so on. You MUST have the process to fulfill the decision – to take the action you decided on – but it is the decision that rules.

JT
See you at the BPM Summit

]]> By: Gagan Saxena http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/comment-page-1/#comment-2551 Gagan Saxena Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:24:01 +0000 http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/#comment-2551 Agree with Mark. Business Rules and consequent Decisions add value to the Processes. Processes need to execute according to the 'master plan' that includes non-trivial Business Rules (built and managed by the business) and trivial System/Policy Rules designed to ensure quality Processing. Hand that crown over to Business Rules - but can be forfeited if Business does not manage actively and/or does not use for active Decision-Making! Agree with Mark.

Business Rules and consequent Decisions add value to the Processes. Processes need to execute according to the ‘master plan’ that includes non-trivial Business Rules (built and managed by the business) and trivial System/Policy Rules designed to ensure quality Processing.

Hand that crown over to Business Rules – but can be forfeited if Business does not manage actively and/or does not use for active Decision-Making!

]]> By: Mark Norton http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/comment-page-1/#comment-2535 Mark Norton Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:15:18 +0000 http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/23/process-or-the-business-rule-who-wears-the-crown/#comment-2535 Jim, while you present a fair case for process equivalence, Idiom's view is that it is creating value that "dominates the mind of business professionals", and decisions are the only means by which a business creates value - regardless of whether it is a corner store deciding to sell you sweets for $xx, or an insurer deciding to insure your fleet of trucks, or a hospital deciding to treat your bad knee, etc. Decisions are the policy driven specification of how value is created and recognized by each business. For value to be created, a change of state of "something" must be explicitly acknowledged by the organization, and this acknowledgement is a bespoke, decision centric activity. A process without decisions does not create value because the business does not recognize any state change - such a process is only a cost (although maybe a necessary cost - regulatory processes are a good example). In this context, an STP process is simply one which has all of its decisions automated. When you have the decision models that represent the value creating policies of the enterprise, then you can infer the processes that supply the data and implement the decisions. By way of contrast, you can look at a process forever and not be able to infer how its underlying decisions are made. Ergo: Our vote is that decisioning drives process and the reverse is not true. For a longer discussion of this viewpoint you might want to have a look at http://tiny.cc/Gexj9 Jim, while you present a fair case for process equivalence, Idiom’s view is that it is creating value that “dominates the mind of business professionals”, and decisions are the only means by which a business creates value – regardless of whether it is a corner store deciding to sell you sweets for $xx, or an insurer deciding to insure your fleet of trucks, or a hospital deciding to treat your bad knee, etc. Decisions are the policy driven specification of how value is created and recognized by each business. For value to be created, a change of state of “something” must be explicitly acknowledged by the organization, and this acknowledgement is a bespoke, decision centric activity. A process without decisions does not create value because the business does not recognize any state change – such a process is only a cost (although maybe a necessary cost – regulatory processes are a good example). In this context, an STP process is simply one which has all of its decisions automated.
When you have the decision models that represent the value creating policies of the enterprise, then you can infer the processes that supply the data and implement the decisions. By way of contrast, you can look at a process forever and not be able to infer how its underlying decisions are made.
Ergo: Our vote is that decisioning drives process and the reverse is not true.
For a longer discussion of this viewpoint you might want to have a look at http://tiny.cc/Gexj9

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