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New Book: Real-World Decision Modeling with DMN

Blog: Lux Magi – Decision Management for Finance Blog

I’m very pleased to announce my collaboration with James Taylor, CEO of Decision Management Solutions, on a definitive guide to Decision Modeling with the Object Management Group’s Decision Model and Notation (DMN) standard. Our book, “Real-World Decision Modeling with DMN”, will be published by Meghan-Kiffer Press in mid-2016.

James has a vast experience of Decision Modeling and was a prominent member of the Object Management Group (OMG) panel that designed the DMN standard. He practically invented the term Decision Management. Like us, he has been applying Decision Modeling techniques to help companies master and improve their Business Decisions since the first standards emerged over five years ago. James is an insightful, shrewd and accomplished man and working with him is a real pleasure. We both aim to imbue the book with our practical experience of using DMN on large projects.

This comprehensive book will provide a complete explanation of the Decision Modeling technique, the DMN standard and of the business benefits of using it. Full of examples and best practices developed on real projects, it will help new decision modelers to quickly get up to speed while also providing crucial patterns and advice for more those with more experience.

Our Motive for Writing the Book

James Taylor and I have been working independently on Decision Modeling projects for many years, our respective companies (Decision Management Solutions and Lux Magi Ltd) being actively engaged in many Decision Management and Business Rule consultancy projects over that time. After our collaboration on a white paper and a webinar on applying Decision Management in finance, we found that we were like-minded on many issues. We had strong agreement on three particular points:

The requirement for Decision Management and Decision Modeling in finance is increasing because of regulatory compliance pressure and the onus it puts on organisations to actively manage their Business Decisions and Rules;
OMG’s Decison Model and Notation (DMN) is the best available standard for Decision Modeling and
The DMN specification, deliberately and rightly aimed at product vendors, is not an effective way of learning the technique for business analysts and other end-users.

We felt that a guide was needed—a book to explain the standard to newcomers and present our experience of using it (both good and bad) and a guide to more experienced users depicting best practices and patterns.

About the Authors

James is a leading expert and recognized thought leader in Decision Management. Decision Management has been his focus for the last 13 years and he is almost certainly the best known proponent of the approach. He is the author of several books on the subject including Decision Management Systems: A Practical Guide to using Business Rules and Predictive Analytics (IBM Press, 2012). One of the original submitters of the Decision Model and Notation standard, he has been using decision modeling on client projects since 2011 and led the development of DecisionsFirst Modeler, a DMN-based modeling platform. He works with companies and software vendors to help them implement Decision Management and Decision Modeling.

I have been working in investment banking for 19 years, the last 13 of which I have focused exclusively on helping clients with Business Decisions, Decision Modeling (in TDM and DMN), Business Rules, Business Rule Management Systems (BRMS) and Business Process Modeling. I am a founder of Lux Magi Financial Rules (Lux Magi): a company specializing in delivering, training and mentoring all of these concepts to financial organizations. Lux Magi’s clients benefit from the adoption of Decision Modeling, it enables them to master, communicate and adapt complex business policies against tight deadlines. My many publications highlight the practical lessons learned from applying Decision Modeling and BRMS at scale and provide useful insight to Lux Magi’s clients and vendor partners.

Book Content

Our book will be a practical guide to Decision Modeling, aimed at business analysts, subject matter experts, project managers and CEOs keen to tap the power of Decision Management by modeling their company’s business decisions. It will include:

A complete explanation of the new Decision Model and Notation standard from first principles, no experience required
A description of the business benefits of decision modeling including metrics for where and when to apply the technique
Over sixty illustrative examples including three complete decision models
A description of how to analyze Business Decisions and create models
Over thirty best practices and patterns of Decision Modeling
A full explanation of how Decision Modeling fits with Decision Management
Illustrations of how Decision Modeling can be integrated with existing standards like BPMN process models, UML object models and ArchiMate business motivation models
Important concepts of Decision Modeling not included in the DMN standard
Advice on how to build a decision practice within your organization
A guide to how to select a DMN toolset
A comprehensive glossary of all DMN terms and keywords

Real-world Decision Modeling with DMN will be available in print and Kindle versions. To learn more and to sign up to be notified when it is published, visit http://www.mkpress.com/DMN/.

Quotes About the Book

“A well-defined, well-structured approach to Decision Modeling (using the OMG international DMN standard) gives a repeatable, consistent approach to decision-making and also allows the crucial ‘why?’ question to be answered—how did we come to this point and what do we do next?” said Richard Mark Soley, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO, Object Management Group, Inc. ”The key to accountability, repeatability, consistency and even agility is a well-defined approach to business decisions, and the standard and this book gets you there.”

“We have used Decision Modeling on many projects and have taught over 800 people decision modeling with DMN,” said James Taylor. “Business analysts, process analysts, developers, data scientists and subject matter experts have all found it an accessible yet precise way to describe critical business decisions. We want to bring this breadth of perspective to the book to help companies and individuals successfully adopt this powerful technique.”

“The power of Decision Modeling to capture, communicate and facilitate agile improvement in even the most complex of business decisions has been pivotal for our clients in their efforts to remain compliant and demonstrate compliance with rapidly changing financial regulations.” said Jan Purchase. “We would like readers of this new book to benefit from our experience of applying Decision Modeling pragmatically.”

About Decision Management Solutions

Decision Management Solutions specializes in helping organizations build decision-centric, action-oriented systems and processes using an approach of decision management, business rules and advanced analytic technologies. Decision modeling is the cornerstone for developing requirements for these next generation systems and processes. Our complete set of training, consulting and decision modeling software eases implementation and ensures long-term success.
www.decisionmanagementsolutions.com

About Lux Magi

Lux Magi helps investment banks and other finance companies worldwide to leverage the power of Business Decisions, Business Decision Modeling and Business Decision Management to develop, control, automate and optimize their business policies and compliance procedures. Lux Magi has been applying Decision Modeling to finance and regulatory compliance projects since 2011 to support their clients in becoming and remaining compliant with ever changing regulations.
www.luxmagi.com

About Meghan-Kiffer Press

Meghan-Kiffer Press is a specialty publisher founded by thought leaders in business technology. Meghan-Kiffer mission is to publish game-changing books about innovation at the intersection of business and technology.
www.mkpress.com