From the Business Model to the Systems Model

One advantage of this approach to business modeling is the clear and concise way of showing dependencies between models of the business and models of the system (Figure 6-3). This clarity improves the productivity of the soft ware development process and also helps ensure that the system being developed solves the real business need.

Figure 6-3. Business/system models

The translation between the two can be summarized briefly as follows .

• Business workers will become actors on the system we are developing.

• Behaviors described for business workers are things that can be automated, so they help us find system use cases and define needed functionality.

• Business entities are things we may want the system to help us maintain, so they help us find entity classes in the analysis model of the system.

In performing the translation, business modeling facilitates the process of moving from an understanding of the business and problems within the business to the potential applications that may be implemented to deliver solutions to the problems identified.