Re: Enterprise information system

On 2/26/15 12:44 PM, Paul Houle wrote:
> I'd go back to Microsoft Access to highlight the problem with status quo.
>
> I think Access is a pretty good tool that punches above its weight, 
>  but when businesspeople want to make a "database" they frequently 
> pick Excel.  Even though you can use Excel to visually create database 
> tables and forms and sprinkle in just a little bit of Visual Basic to 
> make a real app,  untrained people have a difficult time with data 
> modelling.  Even if you could make all the "coding" go away,  you'd 
> still have extreme difficulties because people would (i) pick a bad 
> data model,  and (ii) realize it later when there is a lot of data in 
> the system.
>
> Two angles to these problems are:
>
> (1) The OMG has developed a large number of standards centered around 
> the "model driven architecture",  which,  like the Semantic Web,  is a 
> work in process.  The OMG has more of an enterprise focus so it is 
> worth understanding what they've done.  UML started out as a 
> diagramming tool,  but eventually wants to become executable,  because 
> so long as you have a separate map and territory,  these will diverge.
>
> (2) "Business rules engines",  primarily based on forward chaining, 
>  have been promised as another technology that lets businesspeople 
> express their will in something human readable but this too is a 
> challenge.  To be specific,  I've built some systems that are based on 
> a first-order logical theory,  and many of these rules engines don't 
> have a real query optimizer so the order that I write the conditions 
> in can be the difference between something that runs in 1ms and 
> something that takes 20 seconds.  If somebody who isn't hep to that 
> makes a change to the system,  they can break it.
>
> The are multiple angles of attack on this problem,  like ultimately 
> you need the query optimizer,  but I think semantics have a lot to 
> offer both (1) and (2) in the sense of being able to start with a 
> general domain model for something like CRM and then specialize for a 
> particular company without doing a lot of programming.
>

Yes!


-- 
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Kingsley Idehen 
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OpenLink Software
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