Towards Business Rule Stewardship and Governance

Author(s)

Managing Director, Business Decision Management, Allegiance Advisory Group
Brian Stucky is Managing Director of Allegiance Advisory Group (AAG) – a Financial Advisory and Technology Consulting firm – where he leads the Business Decision Management group. Prior to joining AAG, Brian served as the Enterprise Rule Steward at Freddie Mac where he set the business and technology strategy for business rule development across the corporation.

Corporate adopters of a business rules approach over the past decade have often been limited to individual projects within an organization. It was not surprising to find disparate (either geographically or functionally) areas of the same company initiating independent efforts often resulting in a completely different methodology for applying business rules – and in some cases with different business rule management software. The latest generation of business rule software has, however, been created with the enterprise perspective in mind.

Corporate adopters of a business rules approach over the past decade have often been limited to individual projects within an organization. It was not surprising to find disparate (either geographically or functionally) areas of the same company initiating independent efforts often resulting in a completely different methodology for applying business rules – and in some cases with different business rule management software. The latest generation of business rule software has, however, been created with the enterprise perspective in mind. Consequently, more organizations are taking a global view when they consider business rules. This simple act provides immediate gains by increasing the chances for enterprise consistency. It also opens up new potential areas of concern.

The benefits that can be realized by moving to a business rule approach have been discussed frequently. The notion of an agile enterprise that is capable of rapid change and continuous improvement of services is appealing on many levels. Over and over we hear the promise of “rapid change” and “real management by real business users”. Along with those cries, we now also hear the notions of business ownership, stewardship, and governance more frequently mentioned. Unfortunately, those terms are not always used consistently and appear synonymously more often than not. In the context of business rules, what do we mean by stewardship and governance?

Stewardship is generally defined as “the responsibility for taking good care of resources entrusted to one” or the “concept of responsible caretaking”. When applied to business rules, stewardship would seem to be composed of the tools and processes that must be in place so an enterprise can safely, consistently, and accurately move towards the elusive “zero time to market”. This is a project level view that deals with the standards and processes required to guide, create, monitor, and control business rules and all related artifacts through their established life cycle. Everything from the creation of business rule analyst roles and their associated capabilities to sophisticated testing environments would be included in the realm of stewardship. As the requirements for responsible caretaking will vary from enterprise to enterprise, so will the supporting processes. However, we might generally expect to see things related to rule life cycles, development methodologies, and change management (including versioning, persistence, deployment and security).

We can argue that some kind of rule stewardship has always been in place with previous business rule management system applications. However, enterprise governance typically has not existed. Governance defines the model to ensure optimal reuse of services and enforcement of corporate policies. Ultimately this policy determines the long-term strategy and direction of an organization. It will frequently tie together various technical components to form a piece of the enterprise architecture. When this is considered with respect to business rules, we are interested in processes that emphasize the consistency and quality of rules when viewed as a true corporate asset and how they may be partitioned to enable reuse across the enterprise. These are the best practices, guidelines, and usage models for the enterprise. They ensure that the tools of stewardship are applied consistently and intelligently.

Who makes this happen? Organizations often have the infrastructure to support a Center of Excellence (COE) or Program Management Office. This structure can work well for the administration of business rule governance. There is, however, one primary requirement for any such entity: it must be a multi-disciplinary group that embraces and supports the viewpoints of both technical and business concerns. Although a COE is often created to serve technical purposes, business rules inherently require a combined effort. After all, business rule management systems purport to be the ultimate in collaborative environments! Such a group can be staffed in a variety of ways but should ultimately include executive sponsors (optimally representing business), enterprise architects, a business rule specialist (the evangelist), and members that represent a significant cross-section of the company.

The advance of business rule management systems is clearly past the early adopter phase. New consumers of the technology will look to enterprise solutions on an increasingly frequent basis. Expect to see decisions relating to the business rule approach coming not from technologists with a project-level view, but from executives with a global corporate view. The notion of business rules being created to serve as a true corporate asset will be the sign of the times. Success will be found by those organizations that understand the need for business rule governance to establish the framework for the tools of business rule stewardship.

Similar Resources

Enhancing Your Team’s BPM Capabilities: The Value of External Expertise

Enhancing Your Team’s BPM Capabilities: The Value of External Expertise

Author(s):

Editor & Founder, BPMInstitute.org, BAInstitute.org and DBIZInstitute.org

Enhancing Your Team's BPM Capabilities: The Value of External Expertise In today’s dynamic business environment, managing and improving business processes is critical for any organization aiming to maintain a competitive edge. Many companies consider handling Business...

Exploring Shared Data Model and Notation (SDMN) and Its Role in BPM+

Exploring Shared Data Model and Notation (SDMN) and Its Role in BPM+

Author(s):

Editor & Founder, BPMInstitute.org, BAInstitute.org and DBIZInstitute.org

Exploring Shared Data Model and Notation (SDMN) and Its Role in BPM+ Introduction In the evolving landscape of Business Process Management (BPM), the introduction of Shared Data Model Notation (SDMN) marks a significant advancement. As businesses increasingly seek to...

Embracing the Future: Low-Code and No-Code Platforms in BPM+

Embracing the Future: Low-Code and No-Code Platforms in BPM+

Author(s):

Editor & Founder, BPMInstitute.org, BAInstitute.org and DBIZInstitute.org

Embracing the Future: Low-Code and No-Code Platforms in BPM+ Introduction In the realm of business process management (BPM), low-code and no-code platforms have emerged as transformative tools, reshaping how organizations develop applications and manage workflows....

Featured Certificate: BPM Specialist

Everyone starts here.

You're looking for a way to improve your process improvement skills, but you're not sure where to start.

Earning your Business Process Management Specialist (BPMS) Certificate will give you the competitive advantage you need in today's world. Our courses help you deliver faster and makes projects easier.

Your skills will include building hierarchical process models, using tools to analyze and assess process performance, defining critical process metrics, using best practice principles to redesign processes, developing process improvement project plans, building a center of excellence, and establishing process governance.

The BPMS Certificate is the perfect way to show employers that you are serious about business process management. With in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management, you'll be able to take your business career to the next level.

Learn more about the BPM Specialist Certificate

Courses

  •  

 

Certificates

  • Business Process Management Specialist
  • Earning your Business Process Management Specialist (BPMS) Certificate will provide you with a distinct competitive advantage in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. With in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management, you’ll be able to take your business career to the next level.
  • BPM Professional Certificate
    Business Process Management Professional
  • Earning your Business Process Management Professional (BPMP) Certificate will elevate your expertise and professional standing in the field of business process management. Our BPMP Certificate is a tangible symbol of your achievement, demonstrating your in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management.

Certification

BPM Certification

  • Make the most of your hard-earned skills. Earn the respect of your peers and superiors with Business Process Management Certification from the industry's top BPM educational organization.

Courses

 

Certificates

  • Operational Excellence Specialist
  • Earning your Operational Excellence Specialist Certificate will provide you with a distinct advantage in driving organizational excellence and achieving sustainable improvements in performance.
 

 

OpEx Professional Certificate

  • Operational Excellence Professional
  • Earn your Operational Excellence Professional Certificate and gain a competitive edge in driving organizational excellence and achieving sustainable improvements in performance.

Courses

Certificate
  •  

  • Agile BPM Specialist
  • Earn your Agile BPM Specialist Certificate and gain a competitive edge in driving business process management (BPM) with agile methodologies. You’ll gain a strong understanding of how to apply agile principles and concepts to business process management initiatives.  
 

Business Architecture

 

Certificates

  • Business Architecture Specialist
  • The Business Architecture Specialist (BAIS) Certificate is proof that you’ve begun your business architecture journey by committing to the industry’s most meaningful and credible business architecture training program.

  • Business Architecture Professional
  • When you earn your Business Architecture Professional (BAIP) Certificate, you will be able to design and implement a governance structure for your organization, develop and optimize business processes, and manage business information effectively.

BA CertificationCertification

  • Make the most of your hard-earned skills. Earn the respect of your peers and superiors with Business Architecture Certification from the industry's top BPM educational organization.

Courses

 

Certificates

  • Digital Transformation Specialist
  • Earning your Digital Transformation Specialist Certificate will provide you with a distinct advantage in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. 
 

 

  • Digital Transformation Professional
  • The Digital Transformation Professional Certificate is the first program in the industry to cover all the key pillars of Digital Transformation holistically with practical recommendations and exercises.

Courses

Certificate

  • Agile Business Analysis Specialist
  • Earning your Agile Business Analysis Specialist Certificate will provide you with a distinct advantage in the world of agile software development.

Courses

Certificate
  • DAS Certificate
  • Decision Automation Specialist
  • Earning your Decision Automation Certificate will empower you to excel in the dynamic field of automated decision-making, where data-driven insights are pivotal to driving business innovation and efficiency.