Blueprint for Success

I purchased Barbara von Halle's book after the 2001 Business Rules Forum in New Orleans. This forum is an annual meeting of experts, vendors, and participants in the business rules "evolution" and is used to share ideas and information among colleagues in the field. Barbara's book was introduced in many of the forum presentations, which prompted me to make the purchase. This action was perhaps the most significant step I have taken to fully understand the business rules methodology and has saved my current project from almost certain failure.

I have now implemented many of the ideas and techniques from the book and placed my business rules project on a road to success. My project has endured many obstacles, not the least of which is understanding the differences that are imposed on the project team from traditional re-engineering efforts. If I hadn't come across Barbara's excellent documentation on project scoping, rules discovery, and designing for the business rules approach, I would have seriously doubted our ability to implement the project successfully. My project team was able to read and comprehend the most important concepts from the book and we have been able to modify our project plan to incorporate her ideas and techniques.

I believe it is our responsibility as IT professionals to recognize the importance of the business rules movement and to follow a strict methodology when implementing any rules engine initiative. I must personally thank Barbara for sharing some of the most important concepts with this methodology. I honestly consider it my blueprint for success.

Other Reviews

• A classic on using business rules to build information systems
• Good coverage of topic
• Blueprint for Success
• Recognizing that business rules!