This blog originates from a structured understanding of business systems. Structured means an intelligently organised collection of interrelated parts. Some understandings are best conveyed in the same logical order as they are structured. Like stories though, some understandings are just better told using both prequals and sequels.

Blogs enable understandings to be conveyed in a pragmatic order rather than slavishly logical. This is the reason for using a blog here. Blogging is just a good way to tell a business system’s story pragmatically.

That said, some parts of this blog should tell their stories logically. Where so, readers will benefit by appreciating both their structure and content.

Blog posts and business processes

Business systems host business processes. Processes are a collection of actions that change object states. Those actions can be organised into parts, each part forming a discrete area of processing. In this blog, each post will be about a particular area of business processing. For example: getting materials, distributing products, etc.

In information systems, states are hosted in descriptions, whilst actions are hosted in instructions. In this blog, within the context of an area of processing, posts will focus on either information that describes objects or information that instructs actors, (humans and machines).

However, in production processes, objects and their states are the first concern, since actions are defined by the start and end states of the objects they act on. For this reason, this blog’s first posts will be about information that describes objects. Thus revealing the first information requirements of the business system. Subsequent posts will reveal functional requirements using established information requirements to define the functionality.

Processes and requirements in common

A business may operate one or many processes. Some of those processes may run in parallel to others, whilst some may converge into or diverge out of another. Processes relate to each other in other ways too. For example they may mirror, reciprocate or be the inverse of each other.

Consequently, processes within the same business often have many things in common. These commonalities may even be the reason for hosting particular collections of processes in the same business. The structured understanding of business systems from which this blog originates comprehensively appreciates, respects and takes full advantage of commonalty across all business processes.

Post Author: NeoVO