Companies that survive the 1990’s will be those who learn now how to become more adaptive. This is forcing a wholesale rethinking of how requirements for business database systems are developed and implemented. Objects offer one answer, but is it enough? Business Rules offer another, but is it the right one? This track examines these and other must-know issues including: the business case for business rules; business objects; new and improved data modeling practices; developing requirements for the database and rule servers; and the latest in relational database design.
Tuesday, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Business rules offer exciting new techniques to close the requirements gap between end-users and IT. In this presentation, Mr. Ross examines the latest thinking about business rules, explaining what they are, how they work, and what problems they address. He relates business rules to data models, indicating the new opportunities they open up. He also offers suggestions about where business rules should fit into system development methodologies — and how they ultimately may transform those methodologies. Finally, he relates business rules to work and the analysis of workflow, providing insights about how business rules can impact the business itself.
David McGoveran, President
Alternative Technologies
Tuesday, 3:00 p.m.
New techniques based on research in the area of database design work especially well with client/server applications, whether for OLTP, OLCP, DSS, or data warehousing. Mr. McGoveran presents an overview of the key technologies and their impact on scalability and performance. Attendees will walk away with a new understanding of database design including:
Ellen Gottesdiener, President
EBG Consulting
Wednesday, 8:30 a.m.
Business rule modeling can be challenging and potentially dangerous. It requires honest self-assessment by the business. The process must be well-orchestrated and validated and requires establishing consistency of definition and singularity of purpose. Business rules modeling may also open the business to breaking and making new business rules. Facilitated sessions offer an excellent framework for business rule modeling. Facilitated sessions, often referred to as JAD (Joint Application Design), are a safe, productive, and fun approach for purposefully rethinking fundamental business rules. Learn the basics and techniques of using facilitated group sessions.
David Parkhill, Chief Architect
Object Technology Practice, IBM Consulting Group
Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.
It is becoming popular to use object-oriented languages and techniques for application development, while continuing to use relational DBMSs for data management. To do so, one has to create and maintain two "data" models: an object model for the application, and a relational model for the database. The speaker discusses ways to make this work without going nuts!
Larry P. English, President and Principal
Information Impact International, Inc.
Wednesday, 2:00 p.m.
Internet and Intranet technologies are redefining the roles of application development and data resource management (DRM). Mr. English addresses the impacts of Internet and intranet on data management and the management and technical issues required to implement DRM effectively in the distributed computing environment. Potential pitfalls facing DRM in the next generation environments are identified along with guidance on how to avoid them.
Barbara von Halle, Co-Founder
Knowledge Partners, Inc.
Thursday, 8:30 a.m.
Consider that an enterprise exists as a thinking entity. More importantly, an enterprise’s thoughts determine whom it can become and what it can accomplish. Many of these thoughts exist as "business rules." In this presentation, Ms. von Halle suggests that we begin to formally recognize these business rules as discrete, traceable, and changeable units of automation in our systems. This is the basis of a business rules approach. In fact, today’s technology compels us to incorporate a business rules approach into the way we develop systems.
James Cerrato, V.P., Technology Deployment and
Professional Services
Ptech, Inc.
Thursday, 2:30 p.m.
The added complexities involved in developing distributed systems require the creation of new capabilities in design methodologies and tools. The marketplace is just learning how to address the specific needs of designers of distributed systems. Mr. Cerrato provides an overview of an enhanced object-oriented methodology that fully supports distributed-systems design.