Decision modeling is fast becoming a must know technique for business analysts and business architects. Decision modeling aligns processes, business rules and data in the most optimal way possible. When analytics or business rules need to be integrated into requirements, they are often shoehorned into use cases, process definitions or just captured in lists and cross-referenced! This leaves business value on the table and leads to solutions that quickly become complex and hard to change. The missing technique is decision modeling.

As decisions are discovered and modeled, the goals, processes, and data of the organization come together. Decision models provide a framework to effectively include business rules and exploit analytics. Decision models can be easily expanded in a series of iterations, allowing requirements (and solutions) to be developed in a more iterative, agile and less waterfall approach.

Graphical decision models based on the Decision Model and Notation (DMN) standard are easy to create and easy to communicate. The business focused decision structure provides needed clarity and facilitates collaboration  and conflict resolution across business, IT and analytics teams. Flexible enough to keep up with today’s rapidly changing requirements, decision modeling helps stakeholders focus on the real needs of their organization.

Decision modeling supports a wide range of use cases - providing a business oriented structure for business rules analysis, simplifying and streamlining business processes, focusing BI and analytic projects on business problems and more. The adoption of the DMN standard by the Object Management Group and the inclusion of decision modeling in the IIBA® BABOK® demonstrate the increasing criticality of this powerful approach.

This tutorial introduces decision modeling using the DMN standard. It shows how decision models can be built rapidly and iteratively to improve the communication of requirements, clarify the decision-making required and deliver decision-making excellence.

Attendees will get a free copy of the new book “Real-World Decision Modeling with DMN” by James Taylor and Jan Purchase, being published by Meghan-Kiffer Press in 2016.

What you will lean:

• How to define decision requirements using the DMN standard
• How decision requirements models help you communicate and collaborate
• Agile iteration with decision requirements models
• How to use decision requirements models to assess and manage the impact of change
• How decision requirements modeling can be used to clarify real needs
• How to get started using decision requirements modeling on your projects