what is business rules engine
The term Business Process Management (or BPM) refers to activities performed by businesses to optimize and adapt their processes. The activities which constitute business process management can be grouped into three categories: design, execution and monitoring.
Process design
This covers either the design or capture of existing processes. In addition the processes may be replicated in order to test them. The software support for these activities consists of graphical editors to document the processes and repositories to store the process models.
Evolution of business processes requires a change to the process design to flow on into the live system. Integrating business process is also a current research area. Integration of software for process design to be used both for creating graphical representations of workflows and implementing and maintaining these workflows makes evolution of business processes less stressful, given that requirements are not as static as information systems.
Process execution
The traditional way to achieve the automatic execution of processes is that an application is developed or purchased which executes the steps required. However, in practice, these applications only execute a portion of the overall process. Due to the complexity that this approach engenders, changing a process is costly and an overview of the processes and their state is difficult to obtain.
Business rules are a growing area of importance in BPMS as these rules provide governing behavior to the BPMS, and a business rule engine can be used to drive process execution and resolution.
Process monitoring
what is a business analyst job description
A business analyst makes detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis of a company's business strategies and suggests new strategies or solutions for improving the performance of the company. By performing in-depth analysis for portfolio management, a business analyst takes on the data challenges of the organization and the industry in general. The business analysts are entrusted with wide array of duties and responsibilities which mainly depends upon their job profile.
• To develops functional specifications and system design specifications for client engagements
• He must follow industry trends and needs to conduct research to identify loopholes in the company's strategies
• These analysis reports must be submitted regularly so that the suggestions can be implemented
• He may also have to develop business models related to customer modeling, customer segmentation and business forecasting
• He must understand the customer's needs, and change them into application and operational requirements
• He must be capable of analyzing and documenting the processes involved in business.
• Test scenarios must also be prepared by the business analyst. A business analyst must have very good analytical and problem-solving skills. As far as educational qualifications are concerned bachelor's degree in mathematics, statistics, economics, operational research etc is a good for being a business analyst.
technology trends in business
Garter, Inc analysts highlighted the top ten strategic technologies and trends for 2008. 1. Green IT
According to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, e-waste is the fastest-growing part of the waste stream, and the Environmental Protection Agency estimates e-waste accounts for 2 percent of the municipal solid waste stream in the United States. IT departments spent 17 cents per dollar to power and cool servers in 1996. It is no wonder that e-waste and Green IT are topping the charts as the primary initiative for technology and trends in 2008.
What company is setting the pace with Green IT initiatives? 2. Unified Communications
Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP, is also known as IP Telephony, Broadband Telephony, and Voice over Broadband. A single network can carry voice, data, video, and mobile applications on fixed and mobile networks. Get ready to rethink networks as completely integrated communication of voice, video, and data. You will be surfing the Internet, accessing data, and sharing video on your cell phone. Hardware is interchangeable, it is just a matter of the adoption rate for new technology.
3. Business Process Modeling
In IT, business processing modeling requires system and application architects to work with programmers, designers, and analysts to coordinate the design theory, the development, and the institutionalizing of the systems and applications. 4. Metadata Management
Metadata management is critical to a information infrastructure, it is the relationship and usage of data. There are three primary segments of data in Enterprise Information Management (EIM) strategy. These three segments are customer data integration, product information management, and product management. Simply defined, metadata management uses data from complex structured data sources and databases to create models (schemas) and mappings. Import data to rapidly identify patterns, commonalities, differentiators, and create models. Use design patterns, solution templates, and operators to simplify development of metadata applications.
Metadata captures customer registration to model buying habits, returns, peripheral purchases, and warranty extensions. What company is setting the pace with metadata management? 5. Virtualization 2.0
Virtualization technologies are infrastructure improvement enablers to improve IT resource utilization and increase flexibility. Automation technologies can improve resource efficiency and automate flexibility based on requirements and services managed holistically, with high levels of resiliency. IT resources adapt automatically to changing workloads and reduce cost. Expect to hear more about virtualization as technologies and trends impact the holy grail of Green IT, better management of resources, and lower costs.
6. Mashup & Composite Apps
Composite Applications are the assembly of existing components in IT with Web based applications, typically using older generation program language languages and developed by professional programmers. Mashups simply gather existing data from multiple web resources to either present the data together, assemble and calculate the information to create new data, or create new functionality. Mashups are small pieces of data, loosely joined. i. Presentation Mashup gathers data from multiple sources and lists the data together.
ii. Client-side Data Mashup gathers data from remote web sites or data feeds and processes the data in a client database or application to analyze it or create a new result.
iii. Client-side Software Mashup uses code in the client side web browser to create distinct new capabilities for gathering and utilizing data captured through the browser.
The server collects data from the client.
v. Server-side Data Mashup is the linking and connecting of data between servers. As client-side applications enable users to access data with web browsers and to mashup data without professional programmers, the evolution changes from how to gather diverse data into how to compare, analyze, and use the data. Once immediate access to mashup data from diverse web resources becomes commonplace, metadata management becomes even more crucial to identify trends, recognize commonalities, and develop predictive applications for accurate forecasts and customer-centric customization.
7. Web Platform & WOA
Emerging web applications provide Software as a Service (SaaS) as a viable option to access infrastructure services, information, applications, and business processes though simple and easy to use web browsers. The web based "cloud computing" environments may access a single source for data, applications, or resources for client queries and reporting. However, as metadata management and mashups become more sophisticated and commonplace, web platform Software as a Service will increasingly enable the recombination of data from multiple data sources, applications, and resources. This evolution enables real time data collection, comparison, analysis, application and resource allocation through web portals, reducing direct data or service connectivity, and allowing significantly greater user flexibility.
What company is setting the pace with Web Platform, API, and Software as a Service initiatives? 8. Computing Fabric
In the evolution of servers as storage devices, we witnessed the progression of big iron from tape drives to hard drives, and the management of all data on one drive to storing data on an array of drives as a means to expand storage and recover from catastrophic failure. In other words, multiple devices shared access and resources to store data. This concept evolved into blade servers, enabling the networking of multiple efficient devices. Managing the computing fabric will take the smallest measurable pieces of the networked hardware and recombine resources to achieve Green IT low cost power consumption, better use of hardware resources, and treat hardware combinations in much the same way that mashups converge diverse small pieces of data into single serving results on demand.
9. Real World Web
The value customer would receive a web based calendar alert to unexpected flight delays, enabling your valued customer to occupy time with other important tasks while you are still in flight. The directions, navigation, reservations, and customer clients updates can be managed automatically with real world web.
Another use for real world web integrates posted gasoline prices with GPS navigation devices. This enables the user to identify and select from gas stations with lower posted prices using the real world web.
What company is setting the pace for delivering Real World Web applications? 10. Social Software
The term social software is typically associated with a wide range of web applications that enable users to interact and share with other users. Social software reflects the asymmetrical traits of social networks, and a mutual link between users. Social software and social networks are evolving at an astounding pace, and are as diverse as human interests. What companies are setting the pace with Social Software? YouTube, MySpace, and LinkedIn
Green IT seeks to identify the components of hardware and resources to maximize efficiency, reduce e-waste, and reduce power consumption. Unified communications is breaking down data, voice, and video into streams that can be shared by mobile and web based devices. Business Process Models organize the small bits of data, applications, and resources to design future architecture and integrate analytics are users and clients become a part of the development process. Metadata management identifies commonalities and creates smaller models to organize the data. Web platforms and Software as a Service empower mashups and data access. Real World Web integrates all of this with our environment and surroundings. Social software makes individuals a part of the process, identifying and connecting smaller pieces of personal interests with individuals that share similar experiences or interests.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
what is business strategy
Nearly all the major initiatives undertaken by corporate executives today are called "strategic". With everything having high strategic importance, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between the many priorities and imperatives that are initiated in organisations. When everything is clearly strategic, often nothing strategic is clear. When everything is designated as a high priority, there are, in reality, no priorities at all.
However, when the overall strategic direction is clearly understood by everyone in your organisation, the following benefits occur:
organisational capabilities will be aligned to support the achievement of your strategy
resources will be allocated to different business processes in priority order - according to the importance of that process and its contribution to competitive advantage
your company or organisation can excel in the market place or in its business/commercial sector.
The purpose of a strategy audit is to arm managers with the tools, information, and commitment to evaluate the degree of advantage and focus provided by their current strategies. An audit produces the data needed to determine whether a change in strategy is necessary and exactly what changes should be made.
world news technology computers
The modern world has been overtaken by technology of all kinds, shapes and sizes. Everyday, the inventors, scientists and other technological geniuses are coming up with some new thing. These people believe that whatever they invent will help the people in society by making life better in a whole lot of different ways.
Case in point: the mobile phones. To the uninitiated, a web log or blog is a kind of website that was created by at least one person and puts up web posts. These web posts are simply articles, essays or commentaries about certain topics, a description of events or a diary of sorts. The technological field is just one of them.
The fact of the matter is that there are a lot of different kinds of web blogs that are centered on technology, specifically talking about the latest in computer and tech news. For instance, websites like cnet.com has links to various blogs such as Deep Tech, which offers the latest trends in technology. Another great blog is techeblog.com, which gives you up-to-the-minute tech and gadget news, as well as tech forums and shopping options. Gadgetadvisor.com has a list of hand-picked and finest technology and gadget news that target the hip and cool audiences while showing the most practical must-haves. Other excellent blogs that gives you great content include mqiq.com, focusoft.biz, tech-blog.org and techacid.com.
unethical business articles 2011
The business world has been shocked and rocked by major corporate scandals involving unethical behavior. The real "poster" companies of ethics violations include: Enron, Tyco International, WorldCom, Global Crossing and Adelphia. The risks and costs associated with these examples of unethical behavior are astronomical in dollars, but also extremely high in other non-quantified costs and risks. Your strategic thinking business coach developed a list of these other significant risks and costs from unethical behavior and that list includes:
#1: increased risk of doing business and the possibility of bankruptcy and severely damaged company brand and image.
#2: decreased productivity.
#3: increased misconduct and conflict internally.
#4: decreased performance levels of employees.
#5: increased employee turnover and more challenging employee recruitment.
#6: decreased productivity.
#7: increased absenteeism and "presenteeism.".
#8: decreased probability of reporting misconduct and unethical behavior of others.
#9: increased dysfunctional behaviors such as not paying attention to details, scapegoating, withholding information, under delivering & over promising, not giving credit to others, lowering goals, misrepresenting results, etc.
#10: decreased value of the company.
bad credit business loan
Women often have poor credit scores not because they are not able to pay off their debts, but more because they do not have credit history. The good thing is there are financial institutions that can offer them a bad credit business loan. This type of loan for businesses can allow women to have the additional capital they need for their chosen ventures.
There are already several financing firms that offer small business loans for women with bad credit scores. And what is even better is for women to find a firm that can offer more than just loans for businesses that have poor credit ratings. It can help if the firm can also offer personal professional assistance, high approval rate, quick loan processing, incentive programs, and government guaranteed competitive rates.
In doing so, women business owners can have better chances of qualifying for a this kind of loan that regular loans for small businesses. While financing firms that offer small business loans for women with poor credit scores can still remain tricky to find, it can be worth their while to find such a firm so they can save their business from premature downfall.
Women must take note of the repayment schedules, collateral needed, and interest rates that might apply.
airline business model
Airlines are those commercial enterprises which provide scheduled flights for the passengers wishing to go from one place to another. If the competition is that tough, there is a need for airlines to increase and enhance their services as well as their facilities.
Now, the airlines have decided to implement important aspects that will help them reach their goals of becoming one of the airline business models like the other pioneers. The style here is to emphasize the importance of nurturing the commitment of one employee to the satisfaction of the customers on the services provided. While this may be effective, they should not forget the importance of airline ratios to help them pave their way to the top.
When the companies are seeking for a way to reduce the economic rewards of the employees, they are actually not doing their company good. One thing that they have to remember is the fact that airline relationships are greatly affected by the performance of the employees. While there are airline companies that aspire to satisfy the needs of their customers, they mostly lack in the facilities that they provide for them. Customers are wise at present and they only go for the companies that treat them with respect and prioritize them. Airline ratios should include benefits for employees and the company's commitment to serve their clients. Employees always play a vital role when it comes to the success of the company. When they are happy, it will be evident on the results of the productivity of the airline.
boston business journal book of lists
Do you subscribe to your local business newspaper? If so, you probably have noticed that they publish a "Book of Lists" at the end of each year. For example, the local business paper in my region publishes a list of the top companies in our region in over 100 categories every year. In addition, they publish at least one of these lists in the paper each week. Recently they published a list of the top 50 women-owned businesses ranked by revenue for 2010. Another week they published a list of attorneys. Other lists include family owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, accounting firms, construction companies, exporters and so forth.
If you regularly receive this information, you may wonder what to do with it. Here are three ways to use your local Book of Lists to build buzz about your business.
Contact the newspaper and ask how they determine which companies are on their lists because you want to be considered for inclusion. Usually it's a matter of asking to be informed of when they will create a specific list. You would then fill out a form and be considered. Look at all of the lists that they publish, because you may be a candidate for more than one. For example, perhaps you fit into all of these categories: "woman owned business, family run business and minority business." It's a nice addition to your credibility to be able to say "We're on the Top List YOUR CATEGORY in YOUR CITY."
You can use these lists to reach out to various segments of your region. For example if you are a recruitment firm, send out a letter that says, "Congratulations on being listed as one of the top places to work in YOUR CITY. We align our company with top-notch companies like yours and would love the opportunity to help you to attract the best candidates for your company... " Be sure to provide them with a special offer. Give them a reason to call you today.
You can also have somewhat of a boilerplate letter you send to appropriate lists congratulating them on being included in the list. Just a simple, "Congratulations on being listed in the Top 25 NAME OF LIST..." is a nice letter to send out along with a brochure and a special offer just for companies on this list.
Here's an advanced tip: Write a short personal message on each letter. It has been proven that a hand-written note on the letter or a post-it note with a message increases a response rate! Even just writing the word "Congratulations!" and your name will make them take a second look.
Mailing 25-50 letters each month and placing a follow up call is a very cost effective way to reach out and touch potential clients. It is a small effort to increase the "know" part of the Know, Like and Trust factor!
article about business ethics
Business ethics is a form of applied ethics that examines just rules and principles within a commercial context; the various moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business setting; and any special duties or obligations that apply to persons who are engaged in commerce. Generally speaking, business ethics is a normative discipline, whereby particular ethical standards are advocated and then applied.
Business ethics can be examined from various perspectives, including the perspective of the employee, the commercial enterprise, and society as a whole. Ethical issues can arise when companies must comply with multiple and sometimes conflicting legal or cultural standards, as in the case of multinational companies that operate in countries with varying practices. Business ethics should be distinguished from the philosophy of business, the branch of philosophy that deals with the philosophical, political, and ethical underpinnings of business and economics. Business ethics operates on the premise, for example, that the ethical operation of a private business is possible -- those who dispute that premise, such as libertarian socialists, (who contend that "business ethics" is an oxymoron) do so by definition outside of the domain of business ethics proper.
The philosophy of business also deals with questions such as what, if any, are the social responsibilities of a business; business management theory; theories of individualism vs. collectivism; free will among participants in the marketplace; the role of self interest; invisible hand theories; the requirements of social justice; and natural rights, especially property rights, in relation to the business enterprise.
Business ethics is also related to political economy, which is economic analysis from political and historical perspectives.
business daily investors
Often dubbed a "Growth Architect" by his clients, Joel Block advises companies on explosive growth strategies by driving revenue and sales. Well known in the capital markets, Joel is a successful entrepreneur, speaker and advisor.
Joel thrives in helping audiences and clients to overcome business challenges by transferring powerful and usable skills so that participants can help their companies to achieve its highest potential.
Joel is a best selling author, assisting hopeful entrepreneurs worldwide with publications in The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Investor's Business Daily.
Joel began his career at Price Waterhouse, later developing his own successful real estate syndication firm. In 1990, Joel founded his current business, Growth-Logic. As "America's Business Growth Guru", Joel's media-coined title, he accelerates organizational growth, helping both new and existing businesses recognize their greatest potential and retain their competitive edge in our growing global marketplace
Business as usual for Celtics
NEW YORK -- About an hour or so before the Celtics went out and drove a stake through the hearts of the Knicks and a wild Madison Square Garden crowd, Paul Pierce moved through the tiny visitors locker room. “None of that,” Pierce said. “None of that small talk.”
For Pierce this was business and a game like this is the Celtics calling card. For three days that’s all they talked about: playing better. “I just want us to play well,” Doc Rivers said prior to tip-off. “We play well, [then] we’ll see what happens.”
With the exception of a bevy of turnovers in the first half – and hey, nobody’s perfect – they played about as well as they can play in a 113-96 dismantling of the Knicks, Friday night (Click here for a recap). It would be the first Celtics sweep since 1992 when the beat the Pacers in three games.
More importantly, the Celtics finally played the game they knew they could play and while they’re not done with the Knicks just yet, they removed much of the scary element from this series.
Amar’e Stoudemire is clearly hurting. He gave the Knicks 32 minutes but scored just seven points on 2-for-8 shooting and after the game said, “There is no way I will be 100 percent by Sunday [for Game 4].” Chauncey Billups didn’t play at all and the outlook is not good for the next game either. But this game was really all about the Celtics and the final numbers were staggering:
Pierce scored 14 points in the first quarter en route to 38 on 14-for-19 shooting that included a 6-for-8 performance from 3-point range.
Not to be outdone, fellow ageless gunner Ray Allen made 8-of-11 from long range and finished with 32 points. “After a while I started feeding off Ray,” Pierce said. Blogs
UPI NewsTrack Business
NEW YORK, April 8 (UPI) -- U.S. markets closed lower Friday as a budget impasse in Washington appeared ready to shut down the federal government.
A 7.4-magnitude aftershock shook the east coast of Japan Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 5.34 or 0.4 percent to 1,328.17. The Nasdaq composite index lost 15.72 or 0.56 percent to 2,780.42.
The 10-year treasury note fell 9/32 to yield 3.583 percent.
Against the yen, the dollar fell to 84.70 yen from Thursday's 84.93 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 1.85 percent, 177.15, to 9,768.08.
In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.81 percent, 48.38, to 6,055.75.
Toyota to restart Japan plants April
TOYOTA CITY, Japan, April 8 (UPI) -- Automaker Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) said Friday it would have all 18 of its production plants running in Japan on April 18, but not at full capacity.
Since the earthquake struck, Toyota has lost production of 260,000 vehicles.
The industry is having difficulty securing needed parts to restart assembly lines.
Toyota already has scheduled a maintenance shutdown for April 20 and is scheduled to close for the Golden Week national holiday, which runs April 29 through May 5.
CNN said Toyota plants would re-open May 9.
Google gets conditional OK to buy ITA
Google offered to buy ITA in July for $700 million.
IBM Tailors BPM for Small Business
This [software] addresses the BPM need in the mid-market," said Ron Kline, an IBM director for marketing to small and midsized businesses. The software is based on the recently revamped enterprise BPM software IBM launched earlier this month, called Business Process Manager.
The standard edition of Business Process Manager combined two of IBM's previous BPM offerings, the WebSphere Process Server and IBM WebSphere Lombardi Edition. BPM software is designed to automate routine business processes, such as hiring help or tracking shipments.
The new software is "departmentally oriented," Kline said. "You wouldn't use this software like a large enterprise would to track multiple processes across your entire business process."
Instead, this software could accommodate a handful of processes. The standard edition has no user limit and can be clustered across multiple servers.
Express is different from IBM's Blueworks Live, another lightweight IBM BPM offering, in that its processes can be coupled with back-office systems, such as CRM (customer relationship management) software.
An average deployment for about 200 users would cost around $25,000, Kline said.
business as usual in Dodgerland
Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti is operating under the same budget he had before Major League Baseball seized control of the team and said Friday he reports to owner Frank McCourt until an administrator is appointed by Commissioner Bud Selig. Colletti said he hasn't talked to McCourt about the situation with MLB, and they aren't scheduled to talk.
Garvey venture: Former Dodger Steve Garvey said he and billionaire Ron Burkle are leading a group that wants to buy the team, according to the Los Angeles Times.
According to the Times, Garvey previously said he had put together groups to invest in the Dodgers with McCourt. McCourt declined his offers.
Loan motive: The Times reported that Fox, the team's television partner, gave McCourt a $30 million personal loan last week to stay in McCourt's favor after he approached Time Warner Cable for a similar loan.
Dodgers exec spouts: A newly hired Dodgers executive, said he has what it takes to help the team, if only Selig wasn't intervening.
