Effective Business Decision Management: How Mature is Your Company?

Effective Business Decision Management: How Mature is Your Company?

Are you effectively managing your business decisions (or indeed rules)? Are you fully in control of those operational decisions your company makes, maybe thousands of times a day or more (possibly using some degree of automation), that determine which customers you will accept, what credit terms you will offer them, what risks you’re prepared to take, what products they might like or need, what prices to charge for them, whether you are compliant with regulatory edicts – in short, the bedrock of your business?

The reason I ask is that the vast difference between various companies’ approaches to operational decision management is a constant surprise to us. For some, the management process is a well-oiled machine: not only are all key decisions automated (this represents the bare minimum in this contest!), but so too is the continued measurement of their effectiveness and alignment with (ever changing) business strategies. Decisions are separate from code, tangible to the business, explicit, agile, measured and optimized.

For other companies decision management is a morass of emails, spreadsheets, confusion brought about by lack of visibility and missed opportunities. For many, despite the acknowledged importance of these decisions, their processes are mired in chaos. “We’re not mature enough for that,” or “There is no need to be so highfalutin,”  some IT managers claim – it seems to us that, when you examine how well the two corporate styles compare in their effectiveness, this denial is just not credible.

So: how grown-up is your company when it comes to decision management? Why not take our quiz and find out? (more…)

Maintaining a Business Rule Repository for the Long Haul

In the vast majority of enterprises that adopt business rules, the aim is to maintain a rule repository over a long period, evolving it to meet the rapidly evolving needs of a business. It is surprising, then, that although much is written about how to analyse, capture and implement business rules, much less has been published about how to maintain them over time. How can you extend the life of your business rules against the ravages of time? (more…)