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Guide to Decision Modeling
Every now and then a new standard is released that is destined to fundamentally change both the way we work and the quality of the business and technology systems that underpin almost every aspect of our lives. The Decision Model and Notation is such a standard and its implementation in the world's leading Enterprise Modeling tool paves the way for a renaissance in the delivery of software-centric enterprise, business, technology, engineering and scientific systems, large and small.
The standard helps remove the age-old communication crevasse between business and technology staff, and allows the business, at a strategic or tactical level, to define and manage the decisions that shape the outcomes of the organization and its customers and suppliers. It is a tool for all seasons and disciplines, starting from a strategist defining a question and the set of answers they want the system to operate with, down to a web service designer who simply presses a button to implement the decision. The value proposition is that the decisions can be modeled with diagrams and simple tables of rules with straightforward expressions such as 'Is a Customer's Monthly Disposable Income > $2000'. Once the rules have been defined they can be tested by the business using their own data without any involvement of the technical community. If a business person can create a simple spreadsheet they will find DMN extremely easy to use and will be able to create and validate their own decision models. The communication features built into the platform facilitate immediate discussions with other business and technical stakeholders.