http://www.visualspec.org daily 1 2009-08-10T11:23:04Z http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/business-analysis How many times have you heard variations of this statement? Perhaps the person making this statement can quantify it. He or she can show you how a process is failing, the amount of effort needed to do simple things, how a feature is unusable, or how the lack controls produce inconsistent results. Indeed, this person may have already come up with a solution that solves this problem. If others in the organization share the opinion, then problem is recognized, and it merits resolution. In other circumstances, we might find that others in the organization have different views on the problem, and some may not think it is a problem at all. As we communicate with different people, it will rapidly become apparent that we need some representation of the problem. This representation can be used to communicate the problem, establish different perspectives, and also to come up with outline different solutions. No publisher danielcodrea 2009-08-11T08:00:22Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/structuring-business-analysis No publisher danielcodrea 2009-08-07T07:29:33Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/actions-and-entities No publisher danielcodrea 2010-01-05T10:19:44Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/introduction-to-ontologies An ontology is a representation of the nature of things, and relationships things have between each other. The term ontology is derived from the greek words ontos (being) and logica (study of). Ontologies provide a formal mechanism to understand the nature of things. For instance we can make a lot of inferences about an apple by referring to existing ontologies. We can infer that it is a fruit of the Malus domestica in the rose family Rosaceae using an ontology called taxonomy of living things. We can infer that the apple consists of several complex molecules, which can be broken down into various elements that are represented in another ontology called the periodic table of elements. If we want to find the definition of an apple, we can look it up in a dictionary, a type of ontology known as a lexicon. All of these ontologies are commonly accepted representations of knowledge, and we can use them to make inferences about the things we encounter everyday in our lives. No publisher danielcodrea 2009-08-11T08:01:13Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/business-ontologies A business offers services by using its resources. These resources can be its own people, infrastructure (equipment, facilities, assets, machinery, etc.), the people and infrastructure of its trading partners (other organizations), and consumable resources (e.g. raw materials). For instance, a consumer electronics company manufactures products (a service) using its manufacturing staff (people), manufacturing equipment, manufacturing facilities, and parts supplied by its suppliers (organizations). It also supports consumers (another service) using its support staff (people). It offers repair services for products that do not function as designed, using its repair facilities, repair equipment, and people. No publisher danielcodrea 2009-08-11T07:59:54Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/elements-of-an-ontology An ontology captures individual entities, the relationship between that entity with other entities, and the behaviour of the entity. An entity can have characteristics (attributes) and states. This section provides some guidelines on creating ontologies. No publisher danielcodrea 2010-01-12T15:30:56Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/introduction-to-process-modelling A business process represents a combination of tasks linked to each other to realize a business objective. The business process model will capture a definition of these tasks, the roles required to perform these tasks and the organizations within which the tasks are performed. This definition covers a broad spectrum, but doesn't provide a structured model to develop a business process model. Let's take work our way through an everyday example, and model a business process based on it. No publisher danielcodrea 2009-08-11T07:40:17Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/modelling-business-processes No publisher danielcodrea 2009-08-07T07:31:39Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/connecting-ontologies-to-processes No publisher danielcodrea 2009-08-07T07:32:04Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/why-are-processes-important Processes, despite being intangible and conceptual constructions of the human mind, have a strong presence in most workplaces. Most of us are familiar with the language of processes, and terms of roles, tasks, results, and efficiency are part of our everyday vocabulary in the workplace. Yet, processes are not without controversy. They are usually unpopular, and they tend to be in strong demand when things go wrong. A lot of time is spent discussing them in enterprises, and even more time is spent in implementing them. No publisher indranil 2009-08-13T12:15:45Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/ontology-patterns No publisher danielcodrea 2010-01-12T15:32:28Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/ontology-anti-patterns Ontologies are easy to make. After all,they're just circles and lines. But this makes them even more susceptible to poor designs. No publisher danielcodrea 2010-04-06T11:57:35Z Page http://www.visualspec.org/business-analysis/wagonwheels A wagonwheel occurs when a collection of entities manage their relationship with each other through a single entity. These entities assume the telltale shape of a wheel with several spokes, the entity in the center resembling the hub, the relationship with other entities resembling the spokes a wheel, and the entities on the edge resembling the rim of the wheel. Most of the relationships within a wagonwheel will tend to point in the same direction, either pointing to the entity in the middle, or starting from the entity in the middle and pointing to the entities at the rim. No publisher indranil 2010-04-06T11:50:46Z Page