AUTOMATED SYNTHESIS OF BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE FROM REUSABLE COMPONENTS

• ORGANISATIONS AROUND THE WORLD SPEND BILLIONS REDESIGNING SYSTEMS– To address evolving customer expectations– Support business innovation– Leverage new technology– Support changes in the business environment

• THE SOLUTION: reuse business knowledge, to realize enormous cost, effort, time to market savings

Amit Mitra, OMG Technical Meeting, BURLINGAME, CA December 7, 2005

MAIN THEME OF THIS PRESENTATION • It is necessary and possible to integrate knowledge, process & systems to

do this

• The time has come to standardize reusable business knowledge components and automate the synthesis of resilient business processes and agile information systems

• What SIG will sponsor this?MY BACKGROUND

• Seasoned Practitioner with R&D experience

• Chief Methodologist – AIG

• Director of Architecture – NYNEX

• Manager Information Systems Planning, NYNEX subsidiary

• Manager, Architecture and e-commerce KPMG

• Black Belt – Six Sigma

• Author

• Guest lecturer at the University of Arizona on BPM and process improvement course

ORGANIZATION OF THIS PRESENTATION

1. CONCEPT

2. SEMANTICS OF KNOWLEDGE (METAMODEL )

3. REUSABLE COMPONENTS OF BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE

4. EXAMPLES OF AUTOMATED KNOWLEDGE REUSE

5. CONCLUSION

6. WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION

CONCEPT

THE PROBLEM - ADAPTABILITY• BUSINESS THRIVES ON CHANGE

– INTENSE COMPETITION, GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS– INCREASING REGULATION– NEW OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS– EXPLODING KNOWLEDGE BASE, RAPID INNOVATION

• SYSTEMS, HOWEVER…– ARE AN OBSTACLE TO CHANGE– MULTIPLICITY OF IMPACT– COST

• LOST TIME = MISSED OPPORTUNITY• THE SOLUTION IS..

– TO ADAPT TO MOVING TARGETS…– BY OPERATING ON THE PLANE OF MEANING TO…– SEAMLESSLY INTEGRATE AND AUTOMATE ALIGNMENT BETWEEN BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE,

BUSINESS PROCESS AND INFORMATION SYSTEM. • By recognizing that each is an EXPRESSION of the other, and may be derived from the other.

•Knowledge is malleable

•Its use fosters new learning & innovation

The industrial manufacturing paradigms have

limited validity in the global knowledge economy

This happens becauseTherefore

Business Space

Solution Space

System

Req

uir

em

en

ts

Desig

n

Gen

era

tion

Business

Domain

Specification

CASE tools and Information Systems delivery start here.

What HowShared

Patterns of Business & real World Knowledge

Reusable patterns of business knowledge, business semantics, operations, tactics, strategy

CAPE tools and Value

Chains start here.

Reusable Requirements

“Consider that an enterprise is a thinking entity…many of these thoughts exist as business rules” - Barbara von Halle

Our book starts here...

Executive Management

Functional Management Department Management

System Architect’s View IT Strategist’s View

Chief Developer’s View

Market and Industry Responsi-veness

Product and Service Level Adaptability

Product & Service Level Functional Suitability

User Level Adaptability

User Level

Functional Suitability

Delivery Consistency

DECREASING IMPACT ON BUSINESSMOST BUSINESS VALUE ADD

Business Unit & Operations Management

Programmer’s View

Intra-organizational Coordination, Communication and Alignment

Key business values derived from business process engineering

LEAST BUSINESS

VALUE ADD

TRADITIONAL STANDARDS HAVE HAD LIMITED BUSINESS RELEVANCE

System Architect’s ViewStrategic View

Chief Developer’s View

DECREASING IMPACT ON BUSINESSVALUES- ADDED

Component technology has

focussed on technology

knowledge, not high value business

knowledge

Programmer’s View

Miss-ion

Vis-ion

Go-als

Service Levels

Strat-egies Process

Data

Applic-ation

BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE

COMPONENT ENGINEERING HISTORICAL FOCUS

COMPONENT ENGINEERING REQUIRED FOCUS

Presen-tation Session Net-

work

DataTrans-

portData Link

PhysicalComponents

The Architecture of Knowledge

TECHNOLOGY RULES

INTERFACE RULES(HUMAN & AUTOMATION)

INFORMATIONLOGISTICS

BUSINESSRULES

Vision

Proce

ssEve

nts

Value

Policy

/Stra

tegy

Excep

tions

Business Rules

Business Opportunityor

Environmental Change

Encapsulate and normalize common patterns of Business Knowledge

Objective

BUSINESSPROCESS

AUTO-MATION

BUSINESS

TECHNOLOGYPLATFORMOPERATION

TECHNOLOGY RULES

INTERFACE RULES(HUMAN & AUTOMATION)

INFORMATIONLOGISTICS

BUSINESSRULES

Vision

Proce

ssEve

nts

Value

Policy

/Stra

tegy

Excep

tions

BUSINESSPATTERNS

DATA MOVEM

ENT

GUIs & F

ORMATTIN

G

COMPONENTS

Maintenance

PERFO

RMAN

CE OPTI

MIZ

ATION

COM

PONEN

TS

SPECIFICATION

Components

Performance optimized components for select platforms

ACTIVE PRODUCTION

COMPONENTS

ACTIVE PROTOTYPING

COMPONENTS

Components

Business Opportunityor

Environmental Change

BUSINESSPROCESS

AUTO-MATION

BUSINESS

TECHNOLOGYPLATFORMOPERATION

The Architecture of Knowledge

Key Concepts & Assumptions

• Meanings are patterns of abstract information– May be configured from other meanings– Meanings are components, configured from components– May have one or more expressions

• Can automation manipulate meanings; operate on the plane of meaning?• Can innovation be automated?

KNOWLEDGE ARTIFACT Normalized,

reusable business knowledge

component or subassembly

• Business Knowledge is configured from meanings– If automation can manipulate meanings rather than blind code, business processes and information systems can become extremely flexible and

agile

RULE

Expression of RuleRULE MEANINGExpressed by 1 or more

[expression of 1]

Normal Form of expression

Subtype of

Equivalent to 0 or 1[equivalent to of 0 or more different]

Instance of

The 80-20 rule of inventory management• If we attempted to find every rule and business meaning in even a small business, there would

be only one outcome – Analysis Paralysis

• There are too many rules to inventory and common patterns are often lost in this tangled web

–Luckily, a few universal components connect the business of the enterprise

–And are therefore the critical rules, reused most often

–How can we find them?

FE

W

C O M M O N

RUL

E

S

L YR E U

SE

D

AR

C H I T E C T U RE

MO

ST

T

H

E

?? ??? ?

BUSINESS RULES

However..

• Competitive advantage does NOT flow from standardization

• It flows from differentiation …and

• Standardization and differentiation are not in conflict. They complement each other..,

BankingFi

nanc

ial S

ervi

ces

Focus on Commonality

ServiceEngagementSpace

Common Space forinteroperability standards& standard components

Focus on customvalue &

competitivestrength through

differentiation(Custom

Components)

focus on competitive advantage throughinteroperability and economic efficiency

(Broadly Reusable Components)

InsuranceGovernm

ent/Military

RE

US

AB

ILIT

Y

Standardization and differentiation are mutually complementary

(Easier to conceive)

(Abstract and hard to conceive)

RIS

K

Tangible Objects, Processes & Mechanisms

Tangible Information Information Logistics,

Interface & Technology Layers

Abstract Meanings & Patterns that

unify

INFORMATION SPACE(A CONNECTING HUB)REAL

WORLD

INFORMATION SYSTEM

Crossing the Chasm from reality to information system

METAMODEL OFBUSINESS KNOWLEDGE

PEOPLE & BEST PRACTICESPATTERNS OF BUSINESS

ORGANIZATION/PEOPLE

PROCESS & WORKFLOW

PHYSICALINFRASTRUCTURE

TOOLS INCLUDINGINFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY

BUSINESSSTRATEGY

PRODUCT & SERVICE

OFFERINGS

POLICIES, LEGISLATION,REGULATION

OUR APPROACH TO ABSTRACTION & KNOWLEDGE REUSE : THREE PILLARS

•The structure of information & abstract meanings

•Few universal facts re-used & repeated most often•Connect business functions & even businesses

•Manage Emotions unleashed by change•Best practices for governing change through directed evolution

GROUPING& INHERITANCE OFFACTS SHAPED BYTHE REAL WORLD

OUR APPROACH TO THE SEMANTICS OF KNOWLEDGE

METAMODEL OF KNOWLEDGE: CORE CONCEPTS

• The semantics of Pattern– Information content and structure

• The metamodel of abstract knowledge is based on– Semantics of information structure derived from “Pattern”– Contains the ontology and semantics of abstract components– A few key concepts

• Constraints convey information, reduce the freedom of a pattern• The Principle of subtyping by adding information• The Principle of Parsimony; mutability

– Temporal Objects have history– Domain captures the concept of “measurability”– The properties of objects emerge from their intersections with domains

• The metamodel of business process is a polymorphism of the generic metamodel of knowledge– Obtained by adding temporal information to “Relationship”– Semi and Unstructured processes– Governing processes

Time slice(a single state of an

instance of an object)

OBJECT CLASS

Present

Past

V1

V2

V3

V4

V1

V2

V3

V4

V1V1

V2V2

V3V3

V4V4

V1

V2

V3

V4

V1V1

V2V2

V3V3

V4V4

Inst

ance

Time Time

V1

V2

V3

V4

V1V1

V2V2

V3V3

V4V4

A Domain

• Domains are non-temporal object classes– Class of values

• Eg: Length, mass, affinity/preference, gender etc.

“Value” includes•“Any” (i.e., “All”)•“Don’t Know”•“Null”

OUR APPROACH TO BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE REUSE

Business ProblemBusiness Problem

SolutionsSolutions

Solutions Components

Solutions ComponentsIndustry KnowledgeIndustry Knowledge

CompetenciesCompetencies

• Products/Services

• Core Methods & Techniques

• Support Center / Infrastructure

• Financial Services• Manufacturing• Retail• Distribution• etc..

Our Approach to patterns of reusable business knowledge: Combine industry knowledge with solution

components.

The Universal Perspective

The Problem of Perspective

Is resolved by a universal ontology and patterns that capture and codify universally shared business knowledge in computer storable form

•Structured and unstructured•Implicit and explicit

A FEW EXAMPLES OF GENERIC BUSINESS PATTERNS

• Shipment-Transportation Cluster• Document-Information Cluster• Tasks/Processes• Agreement & Ownership• Buying-Selling• Forging of products• Financial Cluster: Funding, Payments etc.

+ Many More

ALL PART OF AN INTEGRATED UNIVERSAL PATTERNTHE UNIVERSAL PERSPECTIVE

Integrate & coordinate knowledge across the enterprise and Supply Chain

Source

MakeSell

Deliver

Use

AnalyzeAwaken/Envision

Design/Improve

SU PPO RT &HOSTING

(SUPP LIER S)P ROD UCTI ONOF PRODU CTS& SERV ICES

CORPOR ATERESELLERS

SHIPP ERS

V ALU E A DDEDRESELLERS

INSUR ERS & REIN SU RERS

FIN AN CERS

PU BLISHERS

DI STR IBUT ORS

END U SER S

RETA ILER

NET MA RKETAN ALYST

The Business Knowledge Standard

• Standard Ontology of knowledge components

• Standard patterns (semantics) of widely reused knowledge configured from components

BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT“The challenge is to exploit the changing business and technology

climate” - Judith Hurwitz

TECHNOLOGY RULES& CONSTRAINTS

INTERFACE RULES(HUMAN & AUTOMATION)

INFORMATIONSOURCING &

DISTRIBUTIONRULES

BUSINESSRULES

CORPORATE ELECTRONIC KNOWLEDGE REPOSITORY

(Patterns reused mostfrequently across enterprise)

Rule Main

tenan

ce

TECHNOLOGY RULES& CONSTRAINTS

INTERFACE RULES(HUMAN & AUTOMATION)

INFORMATIONSOURCING &

DISTRIBUTIONRULES

BUSINESSRULES

LOCAL ELECTRONIC KNOWLEDGE REPOSITORY

PatternExchange

Rule Main

tenan

ce

New/UpdatedApplication

TECHNOLOGY RULES& CONSTRAINTS

INTERFACE RULES(HUMAN & AUTOMATION)

INFORMATIONSOURCING &

DISTRIBUTIONRULES

BUSINESSRULES

LOCAL ELECTRONIC KNOWLEDGE REPOSITORY

Rule Main

tenan

ce

New/UpdatedApplication

Automated systems maintenance

PatternExchange

USER’SPERSPECTIVE

USER’SPERSPECTIVE

GENERIC

COMPONENTS

CUSTOM

COMPONENTS

GENERIC

COMPONENTSGENERIC

COMPONENTS

CUSTOM

COMPONENTSCUSTOM

COMPONENTS

CONTENTS

PATTERNS

EXAMPLES OF KNOWLEDGE REUSE

An example of how business rules are assembled from meanings…

ship PRODUCT

TRUCK

Sh

ip on

shipORGANIZATION PRODUCTWeight Domain+

TRUCK

= + =ship

Weight

(SHIPMENT)

Unit of MeasureConversion Rules

PoundsKgs

Tons

Units of Measure

Measurement Unit of

0

Cannot be less than

8 tons

ORGANIZATION

Weight

Unit of MeasureConversion Rules Pounds

KilogramsTons

Units of Measure

Cannotbe lessthan 0

Unit of MeasureConversion Rules Pounds

KilogramsTons

Units of Measure

Cannotbe lessthan 0

INHERITED FROMWEIGHT DOMAIN

INHERITED FROMWEIGHT DOMAIN

NEW CONSTRAINT

Must be less than

8 tons

Must be less than

Processpart of

Assemble(Resource) (Product)Component

Aggregate ObjectComponent

Aggregate Object

Assemble Car

Car Part(Resource)

Car(Product)

Subtype of(Polymorphism)

Subtypeof

Subtypeof

Sameobject

Sameobject

Subtype of(Polymorphism)

An example of how business processes are assembled from meanings

An example of how domains are built from components

Subtype of

Subtype of

Subtype of

NOMINALDOMAIN

ORDINALDOMAIN

DOMAINS WITHNIL VALUES

DOMAINS WITHLOWER BOUNDS

UNKNOWNDOMAIN

ORDINAL DOMAIN WITHNIL VALUES

RATIO SCALED DOMAIN

Subtype of Subtype of

Subtype of Subtype of

DIFFERENCESCALEDDOMAIN

Subtype of

Subtype of

CONCLUSION

A Knowledge Artifact is an abstract meaning

Formatting

RulesSequencing

RulesDisplayOBJECT

CLASS

INFORMATION

SOURCING

CONNECTION(OPTIONAL)

INCLUSION/EXCLUSION

SET(S)

Components of View

VIEW

ACTOR

Intersection of 0 or more

[Intersection of 0 or more ]Union of 0 or more

[Union of 0 or more ]

..which may be instantiated in an electronic repository

The approach augments and integrates the Object, Business Rules and Process Paradigms

• By aligning it with the real world and adding the semantics of– Pattern

• Semantics of “structure”• Information structure and semantics of “Object”• Information Content of a meaning

– Measurability and Domain– Constraint– Process

• Adding Time to Relationship– History

• Which enables componentization of abstract meanings and• The standardization of a natural universal ontology of business

meanings and patterns

The Benefits of Standardization

• The Metamodel of Knowledge and The Universal Perspective frame standards that will…– Speed

• Business process and systems integration across enterprises and supply chains• Development of object models and taxonomies with ready to use patterns• Data integration , normalization and database design• Prototyping and iterative design• Integration of legacy systems by providing a translation hub/information broker

– Facilitate• Automated alignment of business processes and information systems• Knowledge, CAPE and CASE tool integration• Evaluation of applications software• Identification of widely reused, highly resilient business knowledge and business process

components• Causal analysis

– Build• Agility and resilience into business processes, information systems, products and services

Non-Adaptable

Systems

AutonomousSelf LearningSelf Adapting

EvolvingSystems

Lessversatile

INCREASIN

G ADAPTABILIT

Y

Moreversatile

Business Knowledge

Business Process

Computer Process

Automated Transform

Automated Transform

Adaptation Basedon conditionalRule Expressions

Business Rules

Adaptation Based on

Polymorphisms carved by

parameters of objects & Meanings

Knowledge Semantics + Patterns

Adaptation of

Governance Based on

higher order,

autonomous governance

Higher order governance Patterns & semantics

The Journey’s End: Automated Alignment

Which leads to..,

Key Differentiators• Quality with Expediency

– Start with packaged proof of Concept prototypes – Scenario based approaches allows for identification of major requirements in

significantly less time than traditional methods

• Value – Ready made Knowledge artifacts reduce cost, speed time to market

• Don’t re-invent the wheel

• Bring best of breed solutions to bear rapidly on every process reengineering problem

– Guarantees generation of deliverables that are value evident ( i.e., “No Fluff!”)– Translation techniques result in analysis and design documents that are truly meaningful

to the target audience rather than a compendium of buzzwords

• Integration with current standards?– Adds to, and complements standards based on predicate calculus

• Team/collaborate with members?

• Next Steps?

“WE MUST CHANGE OUR WORLD ...THE WAY WE THINK AND ACT, BEFORE WE CAN CHANGE THE BUSINESS WE WORK FOR”

- John Zachman

WHERE TO GO FOR MORE INFORMATION

1. BOOK FROM ARTECH HOUSE: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1580539882/qid=1132006267/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-5257187-0319859?v=glance&s=books

2. FOLLOW THE LINK FROM THIS PICTURE OF THE BOOK AT http://www.sprybiz.com

3. UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA WEBSITE DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK4. BOOK FROM CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY BEING RELEASED IN AUGUST 2006:

http://www.cambridge.org/ 9780521851637, ISBN: 05218516375. CALL ME: amit@sprybiz.com, amitmitra1@hotmail.com; thebestfirm@hotmail.com

Tel: 973-462-6783

Amit Mitra

(973)462-6783

Amit@sprybiz.com

amitmitra1@hotmail.com

(sprybiz.com)