Case*Method: Function and Process Modelling - Hardcover

Barker, Richard; Longman, Cliff

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0201565250 ISBN 13: 9780201565256

Publisher: Addison-Wesley, 1992

Synopsis

This definitive book is endorsed by ORACLE, one of the leading database corporations today, and explains key techniques for defining the functionality of a business and subsequent high-quality integrated systems.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

This, the third book in the series, was in many ways the hardest to write, the main reason being that Cliff and I only write books in our spare time and we don't have much of that these days. Our main occupation of designing methods and software is more than a part-time job. In fact, it is more than a full-time job! Another reason is that the material covered is so wide. In retrospect, we could possibly have split it between two volumes but we wanted to cover the ground in one relatively comprehensive book. With the added distractions of frequent business trips abroad, house moves and serious illness in both families, maintaining continuity of example and style has been difficult. We hope that the end result is coherent and that the joins are not too obvious.

Over the years, we have found that information systems departments have been predominantly driven by either data analysis or systems analysis. In our experience both are needed: people must be kept focused on what the business really does need to achieve. We have endeavored to balance the concepts of data, function and business direction as each, on its own, is incomplete and of uncertain relevance. We have also encountered the classic 'battle of the methods' between dataflow zealots and event-modelling zealots. Each technique is relevant, useful and appropriate in some circumstances. We have written Chapter 15, "When to Use What," on this specific issue, to help you determine when to use each technique.

Life is not static and we will need to refine these techniques continually, replacing some, adding others. The advent of object modelling has been beneficial to the implementation of graphical and other software solutions, but understanding its role when modelling businesses and systems has been slower to develop. We have not covered this topic in this volume, but hope to return to it in the future.

Major technological changes will come with the exploitation of massively parallel processors, powerful miniaturized workstations, cellular-telephone-based networks, highly generic flexible CASE tools, generators for portable applications, flexible integrated application packages, and the convergence of structured data, free-format text, analogue data and multi-media technology. New approaches and techniques will be needed, creating opportunities to model businesses and systems in innovative ways. These technologies are associated with perhaps the fastest peaceful economic, political and social changes the world has seen. the only certainty in this environment is the certainty of change. A key goal for us is, therefore, to develop accurate, useful ways of thinking about the world and elegant modelling techniques to enable decision makers to have informed clarity of thought before committing to change.

Many of these new techniques will impinge on how people work together, relate to their environment, and establish cultural models to help in their business or private lives. This is a realm fraught with difficulty, inevitable given the conflicting goals, attitudes and approaches of diverse groups and individuals. These issues must be addressed as organizations become more cosmopolitan and many traditional boundaries weaken. My personal goal is to seek a balance between the conservation and ecological needs of the planet and the formidable forces of global business and politics.

AcknowledgmentsI would especially like to thank Cliff for contributing the lion's share of the original text in this book and his wife Jeanette who helped with this initial writing. I would like to thank Barbara, who took these first drafts and edited them, added to them, and produced the pictures and the desktop-publishing files. I would like to thank our colleagues and customers for their encouragement and our families for their tolerance. We would also like to thank Synergix, the company whose activities we modelled for the realtime aircraft refuelling example in Chapter 13.

We hope you will find the book useful and would welcome constructive criticism and suggestions for this and any other topic associated with building the best systems we can for the businesses we support.

Richard Barker
September 1992

0201565250P04062001

From the Back Cover:

business functions and a wealth of realistic examples illustrating function and process modelling in practice. It provides clear guidelines for when to use each technique and a comprehensive glossary of all important terms. Features

* Easy-to-learn techniques for modelling key business functions, processes, and events.
* A wealth of realistic examples illustrating function and process modelling in practice.
* Clear guidelines for when to use each technique.
* A comprehensive glossary of all important terms.
0201565250B04062001

About this edition

• Publisher: Addison-Wesley
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0201565250
• ISBN 13: 9780201565256
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400