This document provides an introduction to business modeling. It discusses that software includes more than just code and architecture, and includes all artifacts that contribute to a usable system. It notes that business process modeling notation (BPM) and the unified modeling language (UML) are examples of modeling languages used. The document focuses on domain models and requirements models. It provides an overview of how a domain model incorporates feature models, functional models, entity relationship diagrams, and business process models. It indicates that domain models can be used to understand dependencies and impacts of changes.

1. Introduction To Business Modeling
1
Introduction
To
Business
Modeling

2. Introduction To Business Modeling
2
Software is not only
source code plus
technical
architecture …

3. Introduction To Business Modeling
3
It is every artifact that
leads to a useable
system

4. Introduction To Business Modeling
4
Requirements
Artifacts are
therefore part of
the software

5. Introduction To Business Modeling
5
All intellectual property
that gives rise to a
system should fall within
the definition of
“software”

6. Introduction To Business Modeling
6
UX is also a core part
of the software but UX
is outside the scope of
this presentation

7. Introduction To Business Modeling
7
However it is worth
noting that to a user the
interface is the system

8. Introduction To Business Modeling
8
Successful software
companies value UX
above all else

9. Introduction To Business Modeling
9
For now we focus on
artifacts

10. Introduction To Business Modeling
10
Specifically
Business Models

11. Introduction To Business Modeling
11
Organizations:
 BPMN.org.
 Object Management Group.
 IEEE.org
Books:
 Agile Modeling – Ambler.
 UML – Podeswa.
 BPMN 2.0 Handbook – Shapiro et al.
Sources
And there are many, many, more …

12. Introduction To Business Modeling
12
 UML (Unified Modeling Language) and BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation) are just two examples
of modeling languages. There are others. Many others.
 UML is possibly the best known and most widely used modeling language.
 UML emerged from parallel efforts by Rumbaugh, Jacobson, and Booch.
http://www.cs.cofc.edu/~bowring/classes/csci%2520360/presentations/History%2520of%2520UML.ppt
 Two trends are evident in current discussions about modeling language standards:
> A move towards further unification – e.g. unify UML and BPMN.
> A move towards further specialization – e.g. Domain Specific Languages (DSL’s). DSL’s may be created
as extensions or subsets of existing languages such as UML or XML.
> One possible outcome is unification of general languages such as UML & BPMN on a common
standard, and growth of DSL’s which are standard-compliant, so information captured in DSL’s can
enrich models at the higher level.
> Requirements Interchange Format (RIF/ReqIF) is an XML extension that may be regarded as a DSL. It
is still a work in progress but is supported by the Object Management Group.
http://www.omg.org/spec/ReqIF/
Languages

13. Introduction To Business Modeling
13
 Meta Language:
> You may hear modeling languages such as UML referred to as ‘meta languages’.
> A meta language is a ‘language about a language’ – an abstracted form of ideas captured in
some base language/natural language.
> In theory you could even have a meta-meta-language, i.e. a language about meta languages.
The example sometimes mentioned in this regard is Object Constraint Language (OCL)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_Constraint_Language.
 You should feel free to ignore abstract philosophical discussions about meta languages. If/when
these discussions produce useful results, we can have a look at those.
Next we will look at some general ideas about modeling, then drill down to the specifics of Business
Modeling, and finally look at how these are being applied here at Campus Management.
Meta Languages

14. Introduction To Business Modeling
14
Models …
What we model
What Models can
tell us

15. Introduction To Business Modeling
15
Which model of North America is correct?

16. Introduction To Business Modeling
16
Sometimes
One model
Is simply wrong

17. Introduction To Business Modeling
17



18. Introduction To Business Modeling
18
More typically
We need more than
one model to get
A complete picture

19. Introduction To Business Modeling
19
Plan.

20. Introduction To Business Modeling
20
Elevation.

21. Introduction To Business Modeling
21
Result.

22. Introduction To Business Modeling
22
The same applies when
modeling business
processes AND Business
requirements

23. Introduction To Business Modeling
23
This presentation
focuses on two
models

24. Introduction To Business Modeling
24
The Domain Model
And
The Requirements
Model

25. Introduction To Business Modeling
25

26. Introduction To Business Modeling
26
 In agile software development, a domain model describes the application domain responsible for creating a shared language
between business and IT. (http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/domain-model.)
 The domain model is one of the central artifacts in the project development approach called Feature Driven Development (FDD).
(http://www.reference.com/browse/domain+model.)
http://practicalanalyst.com/a-requirements-model-graphic/
 Requirements Model: the sum of approved artifacts for capturing requirements – e.g. Use Case + Functional Requirements.

27. Introduction To Business Modeling
27
Some uses of the
Domain Model

28. Introduction To Business Modeling
28
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
The Domain Model is the totality of models such as Feature Model, Functional Model, ERD, BPM. It may also include a State Model (not
shown here.) Functional Model is not a widely recognized or standardized artifact but can prove useful. (May also be referred to as a
Functional Decomposition.)

29. Introduction To Business Modeling
29
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
We will look at each of the models in more detail.
First, the Feature Model.

30. Introduction To Business Modeling
30
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
Feature Model

31. Introduction To Business Modeling
31
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
Next, the Functional Model.

32. Introduction To Business Modeling
32
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
Functional
Model

33. Introduction To Business Modeling
33
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
Next, the ERD Model.

34. Introduction To Business Modeling
34
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
ERD Model

35. Introduction To Business Modeling
35
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
Next, the BPM Model.

36. Introduction To Business Modeling
36
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
Business Process Model
BPM

37. Introduction To Business Modeling
37
BPM is multi layered
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
‘Configure
Campus’
decomposes to
activities

38. Introduction To Business Modeling
38
class Artifact Meta Model
Feature Model
Functional Model
Domain Model
ERD Model
BPM Model
Activity
Domain
1..*
Aggregation
1..*
Association
1..*
Aggregation 1..*
Association
Aggregation
1..*
1..*
1..*Association
1..*
1..*
Aggregation
Aggregation
The individual Activity may serve as a
link from the domain mode to the
Requirements Model

39. Introduction To Business Modeling
39
An activity from BPM will map to one or more
use cases in the Requirements Model

40. Introduction To Business Modeling
40
This can enable navigation from the lowest level
artifact all the way to the highest
For example you can start with a change to single
requirement and find which business processes and
entities may be impacted
For now we focus on questions that may be
answered within the domain model
The same principles apply within the Requirements
Model

41. Introduction To Business Modeling
41
 We can query EA to find out:
 Feature-N depends on Functional Nodes A, B, C.
 Functional Node A depends on Architectural Components X, Y, and Z.
 This will help us capture everything in-scope to roll out a given feature, and enables automated impact analysis.
 If the mapping between product, feature set and feature ever needs to change, that can be done in the Feature Model without disturbing the
other models.
 If we have a future need to carve out subsets of a product or ecosystem as new products in their own right, again the Feature Model makes this
straightforward.

42. Introduction To Business Modeling
42
The Domain Model may be extended … allowing us to answer
more questions in an automated fashion … Quantified and
repeatable
Feature Model
Functional Model Architectural Model

43. Introduction To Business Modeling
43
This is just a foretaste of what may be done
using formalized business modeling
languages such as UML and BPMN
Many of the questions that used to rely on
gut feel and historical data may be answered
more rigorously using models

44. Introduction To Business Modeling
44
You could eventually reach the point where the
models can answer questions such as …
“How many customers would be affected?”
“Would this require a change to a business rule?”
“Would this require a change to a database table?”
“Which Service Level Agreements would be affected?”
“What is the level of effort?”

45. Introduction To Business Modeling
45
This concludes the main
presentation
There are a couple of
Appendices to note …

46. Introduction To Business Modeling
46
Appendix A: Three extensibility Mechanisms for UML.
 Stereotypes.
 Tagged Values.
 Constraints.
 See for example http://umlguide2.uw.hu/ch02lev1sec2.html.
class Feature Model
«#Product»
ProductSet
tags
#FSD = 1
Stereotype
Tagged
Value

47. Introduction To Business Modeling
47
Appendix B: Graphic illustrating Domain Model – Requirements Model linkage.

48. Introduction To Business Modeling
48
Appendix C: Cheat Sheet on Domain Modeling.

49. Introduction To Business Modeling
49
Appendix D: Cheat Sheet on Business Process Modeling using EA.

50. Introduction To Business Modeling
50
End