Analyzing and Representing Business Decisions
November 2012 - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
WCDT 2012 is part of the Business Rules Forum, within the Building Business Capability (BBC) 2012 Conference
Congress Chairs: Jan Vanthienen and Ronald G. Ross
Here’s what’s happening ...
Large numbers of business rules are typically involved in making specific, situation-sensitive decisions in day-to-day
business operation. A picture can be worth a thousand words in capturing, analyzing and representing these business
rules. Think of decision tables as ‘pictures’ of decision logic based on intrinsic patterns, and think of decision
hierarchies as a model to structure decisions in a top-down, incremental approach.
In effect, decision tables serve as spreadsheets for decision logic, with all their inherent advantages. Rather than
merely list business rules, however, a decision table structures them helping you to avoid redundancies,
inconsistencies, and missing cases. In short, decision tables provide a highly agile representation of decision logic
and a proven tool for effective business analysis.
Decision tables can be used in a wide variety of applications: pricing, routing, problem diagnosis, configuration,
assignment, selection, matching, etc. They are found in many different industry sectors: insurance, health care,
taxation, regulation, credit scoring, social, retail, transportation, and more.
Background ...
Decision tables are not new. In fact, they are so natural they keep being reinvented. Far more real-world business
experience and expertise with decision tables is available than many realize. WCDT brings you up to date on best
practices and latest trends in the field.
Decision tables have a long history, older even than software engineering. More or less overshadowed by software
engineering for many years, their advantages are now winning out, especially in addressing complexity and
communicating more effectively with business people. Decision tables are a pragmatic, business-friendly
representation of business rules that dramatically improves conciseness, completeness, and correctness.
They are a key piece of the puzzle in building better business capabilities.
Who they are for ...
Decision analysis and decision tables are rapidly becoming a must-know for everyone – certainly business rule
professionals, but also business analysts and business process professionals.
Business Analysis. Promoting high quality for business rules starting from original point of capture has clear-cut benefits. Decision tables help you early-on in achieving consistency, avoiding redundancy, and eliminating anomalies. Business Processes. Operational business processes almost always include tasks for making highly repetitive decisions in day-to-day business activity. The decision logic needed to make these decisions needs to be modeled, analyzed, communicated, and executed in clear, unambiguous ways. Decision tables fit that bill quite nicely.
Important trends ...
Decision Analysis. Decision hierarchies allow to model decisions top-down, before plunging into the detail of every decision table. Applying them in the areas of business rules and decision analysis takes business analysis to the next level of professional practice. Business Analytics. Decision tables can also be used in combination with business analytics as a means to communicate decision paths, as a complete set of test cases, as a vehicle for automation, and more.
What you will learn ...
What the basic elements of decision tables are and how to best organize them Which representations of decision tables work best when New techniques for decision analysis and decision modeling Best practices in modeling decision tables and decision hierarchies Real-life case studies in business and government Best practices Tips and tricks The importance of business vocabulary and semantics Tools, implementations and standards Proven ideas to you help work better with real business people in real business situations
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