Issue 9114: BMM Comment (bmm-ftf) Source: Hendryx & Associates (Mr. Stan Hendryx, stan@hendryxassoc.com) Nature: Severity: Summary: The Business Motivation Model appropriately defines a Means as a “device, capability, regime, technique, restriction, agency, instrument, or method that may be called upon, activated, or enforced to achieve Ends”. However, there is no provision in the model to define referenced elements of business model that are devices or instruments. Main categories of resources of a business are man, machine, material, money, and real property. Referenced elements of business model defined externally in the BMM are limited to Organization Unit, Business Process, and Business Rule. (RFC 1.4.2). The recommended solution is to add "Asset or Liability", or a suitable synonym, to the model as an externally defined thing. An Asset would include machine, animal, computer system, software program, raw material store, in-process inventory, finished goods, supply, real estate, and money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets. Contracts may also be included as assets. Liabilities would include certain unfilled contracts, debt, lawsuits, and other obligations. Human resources would presumably appear to be handled in Organizational Unit models. Processes employ assets, which need to be defined and are the subject of policies and rules. Assets can be defined in models, including UML models and SBVR models. Many business policies and business rules of a company are related to the definition, acquisition, operation, and maintenance of its assets and liabilities. Resolution: Add placeholders for two new concepts: · Asset, with two specializations: · Resource: short-term, consumed and replenished · Fixed Asset: long-term, maintained, reused, with one specialization: · Offering: specification of a product or service · Liability: claim on Resources to meet commitments Add associations between the placeholders: · Fixed Asset provides Resource · Offering uses Fixed Asset · Offering requires Resource · Liability claims Resource Emphasize that: · These new items are placeholders. The real Assets and Liabilities are described in other systems. The BMM placeholders are references to them · An enterprise BMM includes only those Assets and Liabilities the users want to include for their governance decisions. These do not have to be a complete and coherently-connected set. The full specifications and 'joined-up' structure are in the systems the placeholders refer to. · This is an operational view. Although some of the terms have an accounting flavor, BMM users will usually want to refer to the actual things in the business, not their monetary values (the accounting view). Connect the new placeholders to: · Core BMM concepts: Course of Action, Directive · Other Placeholders: Business Process, Organization Unit Consequential effect: · "Resource" in Annex G becomes "Resource Quality", an Influencer that is the quality or availability of Resources. Revised Text: In Clause 7, add the following to Figure 7.4 BMM Placeholders Classes: Asset, Fixed Asset, Liability, Offering, Resource Specializations: Asset (Fixed Asset, Resource), Fixed Asset (Offering) Associations: as listed below for the mapping table in Clause 9 Add the following section to the end of Clause 8 8.5.3 Asset and Liability When Courses of Action are being defined, 'things' that are used in operating the enterprise often have to be considered. They are represented in the Model as Assets, of two kinds: · Fixed Assets: things that are kept long-term, maintained, reused and, perhaps, eventually replaced. They can be tangible, such as equipment and buildings, or intangible, such as patents and licenses. · Resources: things that are consumed and replenished, such as raw materials, parts, finished goods and cash. Two things should be borne in mind. Firstly, the term "Asset" has an accounting flavor, but it is not used in that sense in the Model. Most BMM users will probably have an operational perspective. They will want to refer to the real things in the business - the actual equipment, buildings, and stocks of materials - and that is what "Asset" means in the Model. The accounting perspective would be the monetary values, rather than the things themselves. Also, a BMM can include Assets that might not be explicitly valued financially, such as skills of people in the enterprise. Secondly, Asset, Resource and Fixed Asset are placeholders - references to things defined in detail elsewhere the enterprise, outside its BMM. Only those that are relevant to governance decisions need be included. There is no requirement for a coherent, complete structure of Assets within a BMM; that will be maintained in the system(s) referenced by the BMM placeholders. One type of Asset that is often explicitly referenced is the enterprise's products and services, called "Offering" in the Model. An Offering is a specification of a product or service - an intangible Fixed Asset. Instances of it, such as quantities of finished goods, would be a Resource. As well as Assets, enterprises also need to consider Liabilities - again, not in an accounting sense. A Liability in the Model is a reservation of Resource(s) to meet commitments, such as materials needed to fulfill a contract, or cash to pay taxes. These concepts are illustrated in Figure 8.19. Figure 8.19: Asset and Liability Some Fixed Assets provide Resources in the form of capacity over time; for example: production equipment, storage buildings, skills possessed by people. The Resources they provide are either consumed, or are dissipated as time passes without their being used. Offerings - specifications of products and services - may use intangible Fixed Assets, such as designs, licenses, patents and brands. An Offering requires Resources - materials, equipment capacity, people's time - for production of things that meet the specification. A Liability claims Resources; it reserves resources needed to meet commitments - which means that the resources cannot be used for other purposes. Figure 8.20 illustrates connection of Asset and Liability to the rest of the Model. Figure 8.20: Asset and Liability Associations Courses of Action may · deploy Assets: determine how Assets will be assigned and used in realizing the Courses of Action. · define Offerings, the products and services that can be supplied by the enterprise · discharge Liabilities: ensure that commitments are met. A Directive may govern use of Assets, regardless of which Courses of Action deploy them. Other placeholders may be associated with Assets and Liabilities. Business Processes may: · deliver Offerings · manage Assets An Organization Unit may be responsible for Assets and/or Liabilities. In Clause 9 add the following asset General Concept: motivation element Definition something of value owned by the enterprise Note: An asset is an actual thing (tangible or intangible) owned by the enterprise, rather than the accounting sense of "asset" - the monetary value of the thing. Note: Categories of asset are: fixed asset, resource. Dictionary Basis an item of value owned [MWUD 'asset' 3] business process delivers offering business process manages asset course of action deploys asset Definition the course of action determines which assets will be used and how they will be used in realizing the course of action course of action discharges liability Definition the course of action ensures that the commitment for which the liability claims resources is met directive governs use of asset Synonymous Form: asset has use governed by directive Definition the course of action governs use of the asset regardless of which courses of action deploy the asset fixed asset Definition asset that is maintained over time and reused Example: Production equipment, IT equipment, buildings, vehicles. Example: Patents, brands, licenses, designs, people's skills. Dictionary Basis tangible assets (as land, buildings, machinery, equipment) of a permanent or long-term nature [MWUD, 'fixed assets'] Dictionary Basis long-term assets either tangible or intangible (as land, buildings, patents, or franchises) [MWUD, 'capital assets'] fixed asset provides resource Note: Some fixed assets provide resources as capacity that is available over time, e.g. production equipment, buildings, people's skills. These are usually tangible, but could be, for example, software licenses that limit the number of concurrent users. Note: Some intangible fixed assets, such as patents, designs, specifications and brands, are not limited by capacity and can be used wherever and whenever neededs. liability General Concept: motivation element Definition reservation of some resource to meet commitments Note: A liability is a reservation of actual resources (materials, finished goods, people's time, cash etc.) to meet commitments, rather than the accounting sense of "liability" - the monetary value of these resources. Dictionary Basis something for which one is liable : as a (1) : an amount that is owed whether payable in money, other property, or services [MWUD] offering Definition fixed asset that is a specification of a product or service that can be supplied by the enterprise Note: Instances of offerings, such as finished goods, are a kind of resource. Dictionary Basis a thing produced for entertainment or sale [ODE, 'offering' 2nd bullet] Dictionary Basis to make available or accessible [MWUD, 'offer' 5] offering requires resource Definition The resource is required for making and delivering instances of the offering offering uses fixed asset Note: An offering may use an intangible fixed asset, such as a patent, design, license or brand. This is different from the resources required to make and deliver the offering - see 'offering requires resource'. organization unit is responsible for asset Synonymous Form: asset is responsibility of organization unit organization unit is responsible for liability Synonymous Form: liability is responsibility of organization unit resource Definition asset that is consumed in the operations of the enterprise and replenished Example: Raw materials, parts, finished goods, cash. Example: Some resources are capacity of fixed assets over time; for example production capacity, storage space, people's time - they are consumed, or dissipated by not being used. Dictionary Basis a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively [ODE] Dictionary Basis assets of a short-term nature (as cash, accounts receivable, or merchandise) [MWUD, 'current asset'] In Clause 9, under motivation element Add asset and liability to the note beginning "Categories of motivation element …" In Clause 9, add the following entries to the table mapping SBVR fact types to UML association names BMM fact type in SBVR Structured English UML Association Name business process delivers offering BusinessProcessDeliversOffering business process manages asset BusinessProcessManagesAsset course of action deploys asset CourseOfActionDeploysAsset course of action discharges liability CourseOfActionDischargesLiability directive governs use of asset DirectiveGovernsUseOfAsset fixed asset provides resource FixedAssetProvidesResource offering requires resource OfferingRequiresResource offering uses fixed asset OfferingUsesFixedAsset organization unit is responsible for asset OrganizationUnitIsResponsibleForAsset organization unit is responsible for liability OrganizationUnitIsResponsibleForLiability In Clause 9, add the following entries to the table mapping SBVR fact types to UML role names BMM fact type in SBVR Structured English 'From' Role 'To' Role business process delivers offering deliveringBusinessProcess deliveredOffering business process manages asset managingBusinessProcess managedAsset course of action deploys asset deployingCourseOfAction deployedAsset course of action discharges liability dischargingCourseOfAction dischargedLiability directive governs use of asset governingDirective governedAsset fixed asset provides resource providingFixedAsset providedResource offering requires resource requiringOffering requiredResource offering uses fixed asset usingOffering usedFixedAsset organization unit is responsible for asset responsibleOrganizationUnit managedAsset organization unit is responsible for liability responsibleOrganizationUnit managedLiability In Annex G, replace the content in the box below with the content that follows it Note: resource is a placeholder introduced by this proposal resourceDefinition influencer that is a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by an enterprise in order to function effectively resource quality Definition influencer that is the quality or availability of resources Disposition: Resolved Actions taken: October 21, 2005: received comment January 15, 2008: closed issue Discussion: Notes This resolution is almost is the same as the one sent out on 14 and 20 August, and included in the summary "BMM as if all resolutions were resolved as proposed". There was some feedback, about Liability and whether the concepts were too accounting-oriented, to which I responded in email. The change is that Asset has been made a generalization of Resource and Fixed Asset (formerly Asset), which reduced some of the "association spaghetti". At first sight, this proposal looks like a significant expansion of the BMM. It is not really - it adds 4 related placeholders that allow BMM users to refer to 'things' in the enterprise when making and recording their governance decisions. It could be removed from the BMM (or not included in the first place) without changing anything else in the BMM. Placeholders in BMM have no substance. They are references to things defined elsewhere in the enterprise's systems. BMM users can choose to include references to just those Assets and Liabilities that are relevant to their governance decisions. There is no requirement for these to be a complete set, or to be associated in a coherent way. That happens in the underlying systems the placeholders refer to. If BMM users need completeness and detail, they will need to go to the places referenced in the placeholders and "drill down" [Of course, a vendor could implement the BMM as part of an integrated suite; the placeholders would be replaced by connections to the operational systems. But this is not a BMM requirement] The associations between placeholders are redundant. They are defined in full detail in the systems referenced by the placeholders. But including them in the BMM allows BMM users to have a self-contained, "joined-up" governance model. Some of the terms have an accounting flavor. In fact, they represent the real things in the business, not just the monetary values of those things. Please read the concept definitions before reacting to the words. The associations (and the special recognition of "Offering") have been chosen pragmatically, on the basis that in practice they seem to be frequently required in governance. They should be regarded as a "starter set", to be refined over the next few years from experience with wider use of the BMM. End of Annotations:===== m: "Stan Hendryx" To: Cc: Subject: BMM Comment Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 11:37:17 -0700 X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 11 thread-index: AcXWbnApLGiULiX9QUSbSBAl7kazjQ== The Business Motivation Model appropriately defines a Means as a .device, capability, regime, technique, restriction, agency, instrument, or method that may be called upon, activated, or enforced to achieve Ends.. However, there is no provision in the model to define referenced elements of business model that are devices or instruments. Main categories of resources of a business are man, machine, material, money, and real property. Referenced elements of business model defined externally in the BMM are limited to Organization Unit, Business Process, and Business Rule. (RFC 1.4.2). The recommended solution is to add "Asset or Liability", or a suitable synonym, to the model as an externally defined thing. An Asset would include machine, animal, computer system, software program, raw material store, in-process inventory, finished goods, supply, real estate, and money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets. Contracts may also be included as assets. Liabilities would include certain unfilled contracts, debt, lawsuits, and other obligations. Human resources would presumably appear to be handled in Organizational Unit models. Processes employ assets, which need to be defined and are the subject of policies and rules. Assets can be defined in models, including UML models and SBVR models. Many business policies and business rules of a company are related to the definition, acquisition, operation, and maintenance of its assets and liabilities. Stan Hendryx Hendryx & Associates Sunnyvale, CA 94086 www.hendryxassoc.com From: "Colbourn, David C." To: Juergen Boldt , bmi@omg.org Subject: RE: BMM Comment --> issue # 9114 Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 11:25:18 -0400 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2657.72) I can understand adding 'Process' and 'Asset' under the existing 'Business Rule' and 'Business Policy' respectively and then defining 'Process' as an association of 'Business Rule' and 'Assets'.(Although some will argue that Business Rule and process should be synonymous.) But where exactly do you see Liability fitting? Liabilities as a child of 'Directives' or as a child of 'Policy' leaves it under 'Means' which doesn't seem right. Liabilities as a child of 'Ends' or 'Influencers' seems more appropriate but I am not sure how you see this as fitting. (You may be exposing another fuzzy spot in the model that has directives as being parents to Policy rather then as exceptional children of Policy.) David Colbourn (443) 436-6439 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Juergen Boldt [mailto:juergen@omg.org] Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 10:02 AM To: bmi@omg.org Subject: Fwd: BMM Comment --> issue # 9114 From: "Stan Hendryx" To: Cc: Subject: BMM Comment Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 11:37:17 -0700 X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 11 thread-index: AcXWbnApLGiULiX9QUSbSBAl7kazjQ== The Business Motivation Model appropriately defines a Means as a "device, capability, regime, technique, restriction, agency, instrument, or method that may be called upon, activated, or enforced to achieve Ends". However, there is no provision in the model to define referenced elements of business model that are devices or instruments. Main categories of resources of a business are man, machine, material, money, and real property. Referenced elements of business model defined externally in the BMM are limited to Organization Unit, Business Process, and Business Rule. (RFC 1.4.2). The recommended solution is to add "Asset or Liability", or a suitable synonym, to the model as an externally defined thing. An Asset would include machine, animal, computer system, software program, raw material store, in-process inventory, finished goods, supply, real estate, and money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets. Contracts may also be included as assets. Liabilities would include certain unfilled contracts, debt, lawsuits, and other obligations. Human resources would presumably appear to be handled in Organizational Unit models. Processes employ assets, which need to be defined and are the subject of policies and rules. Assets can be defined in models, including UML models and SBVR models. Many business policies and business rules of a company are related to the definition, acquisition, operation, and maintenance of its assets and liabilities. Stan Hendryx Hendryx & Associates Sunnyvale, CA 94086 www.hendryxassoc.com ================================= Jürgen Boldt Director, Member Services Object Management Group 250 First Avenue, Suite 100 Needham, MA 02494 Tel. +1 781 444 0404 ext. 132 Fax: +1 781 444 0320 email: juergen@omg.org www www.omg.org Date: Tue, 07 Nov 2006 10:19:16 -0500 From: John Hall Reply-To: john.hall@modelsys.com Organization: Model Systems User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.7 (Windows/20050923) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en To: BMM FTF Subject: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset X-Proofpoint-Spam-Details: rule=notspam policy=default score=0 mlx=0 adultscore=0 adjust=0 reason=mlx engine=3.1.0-0610180000 definitions=main-0611060054 Hello all, Attached is my proposal for Issue 9114. I have tried to incorporate Stan's proposal, but make the concept as general as possible given that: 'Resource' is meant to be only a placeholder in BMM Unlike 'Organization Unit' and 'Business Process', there is not an OMG specification (like OSM and BPDM) in development that would provide a view of a Resource metamodel Regards, John BMM Issue 9114 Asset.doc Disposition: Resolved OMG Issue No: 9114 Title: Title Source: Hendryx and Associates Stan Hendryx Summary: The Business Motivation Model appropriately defines a Means as a .device, capability, regime, technique, restriction, agency, instrument, or method that may be called upon, activated, or enforced to achieve Ends.. However, there is no provision in the model to define referenced elements of business model that are devices or instruments. Main categories of resources of a business are man, machine, material, money, and real property. Referenced elements of business model defined externally in the BMM are limited to Organization Unit, Business Process, and Business Rule. (RFC 1.4.2). Resolution: Add "Asset or Liability", or a suitable synonym, to the model as an externally defined thing. An Asset would include: machine, animal, computer system, software program, raw material store, in-process inventory, finished goods, supply, real estate, and money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets. Contracts may also be included as assets. Liabilities would include certain unfilled contracts, debt, lawsuits, and other obligations. Human resources would presumably appear to be handled in Organizational Unit models. Processes employ assets, which need to be defined and are the subject of policies and rules. Assets can be defined in models, including UML models and SBVR models. Many business policies and business rules of a company are related to the definition, acquisition, operation, and maintenance of its assets and liabilities. Revised Text: 1) Add the following new subsection to the end of chapter 8: 8.5.3 Resource Resources are needed to support Courses of Action. Resource acquisition and management is beyond the scope of the BMM. Resource is included in the BMM as a placeholder, facilitating reference from BMM to resources that are defined in detail and managed in other parts of en enterprise.s business model. Categories of resource would include machines, animals, computer systems, software programs, raw material stores, in-process inventory, finished goods, supplies, real estate, money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets. Some contracts may also be categorized as resources. Resources may be: · Assets - resources that are available to support Courses of Action. · Liabilities - commitments of resource, so that they are not available to support further Courses of Action. Liabilities would include commitments of resources to unfilled contracts, debt, lawsuits, and other obligations. Figure 8.19: Resource Organization Units are responsible for Resources. Business Processes use Resources. Directives govern the use of Resources. 2) Make the corresponding additions to the overview diagram in Chapter 7 3) Add the following entries to Chapter 9: New catalog entry asset Definition: resource that is available to support courses of action Under business process business process uses resource Under course of action See: resource supports course of action Under directive directive governs use of resource New catalog entry liability Definition: resource that is committed to support courses of action Under organization unit organization unit is responsible for resource New catalog entry resource Definition: money, materials, staff, facilities and systems that can be drawn on by an enterprise to support its business operations Example: Categories of resource include machines, animals, computer systems, software programs, raw material stores, in-process inventory, finished goods, supplies, real estate, money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets. Some contracts may also be categorized as resources. See: business process uses resource See: directive governs use of resource See: organization unit is responsible for resource Note: .resource. is a placeholder for a concept that will be defined in detail in other specifications. Dictionary Basis: a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively [ODE, .resource (1)] resource supports course of action Disposition: Open Subject: RE: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2006 22:00:57 -0600 X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: Thread-Topic: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset Thread-Index: AccCgTRZy6UybP3qQj2bqnXBk7vNMwAaTSSQ From: "Cummins, Fred A" To: , "BMM FTF" X-OriginalArrivalTime: 08 Nov 2006 04:00:59.0879 (UTC) FILETIME=[8023EF70:01C702EA] John, I don't see liabilities as resources. They may define a resource requirement. Fred -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Hall [mailto:john.hall@modelsys.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 10:19 AM To: BMM FTF Subject: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset Hello all, Attached is my proposal for Issue 9114. I have tried to incorporate Stan's proposal, but make the concept as general as possible given that: 'Resource' is meant to be only a placeholder in BMM Unlike 'Organization Unit' and 'Business Process', there is not an OMG specification (like OSM and BPDM) in development that would provide a view of a Resource metamodel Regards, John Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2006 09:42:14 -0500 From: John Hall Reply-To: john.hall@modelsys.com Organization: Model Systems User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.7 (Windows/20050923) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en To: "Cummins, Fred A" Cc: BMM FTF Subject: Re: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset Fred, I defined liability as "resource that is committed to support courses of action". If you have a liability, you need to have the resources to meet it, or to have made provision to get them, or a t least to know what they are so that you can make provision to get them. But I take your point, that a liability itself (e.g. an unfulfilled contract or a lawsuit) is different from the resources needed to meet it (e.g. the products to be delivered from inventory or the money to pay the lawyers and the fines). I was trying to avoid adding complexity to the BMM, especially as we don't have a resource metamodel, or an RFP for one, to give us a target for the external references. I may have oversimplified. How would you like the model to be changed? One possibility is to merge Asset into Resource and show Liability as an independent class, with an n-to-n association "Liability has claim on Resource". Regards, John Cummins, Fred A wrote: John, I don't see liabilities as resources. They may define a resource requirement. Fred -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Hall [mailto:john.hall@modelsys.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 10:19 AM To: BMM FTF Subject: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset Hello all, Attached is my proposal for Issue 9114. I have tried to incorporate Stan's proposal, but make the concept as general as possible given that: 'Resource' is meant to be only a placeholder in BMM Unlike 'Organization Unit' and 'Business Process', there is not an OMG specification (like OSM and BPDM) in development that would provide a view of a Resource metamodel Regards, John Subject: RE: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 20:59:39 -0600 X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: Thread-Topic: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset Thread-Index: AccDRFhUESVVGPmZSpCrHYL9H0zoZwATDVLQ From: "Cummins, Fred A" To: Cc: "BMM FTF" X-OriginalArrivalTime: 09 Nov 2006 02:59:39.0702 (UTC) FILETIME=[18FF3D60:01C703AB] John, The liability might just have a description that might be a dollar amount or some other expression of the nature of the obligation. It seems like assets and liabilities should be complementary, particularly when talking about dollars. It may be that assets and liabilities could be (optionally) associated with resources that have a dollar value. Of course there are other resources (e.g., humans) that do not have a dollar value per se, and are not generally considered assets, at least in an accounting sense. Fred -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Hall [mailto:john.hall@modelsys.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 9:42 AM To: Cummins, Fred A Cc: BMM FTF Subject: Re: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset Fred, I defined liability as "resource that is committed to support courses of action". If you have a liability, you need to have the resources to meet it, or to have made provision to get them, or a t least to know what they are so that you can make provision to get them. But I take your point, that a liability itself (e.g. an unfulfilled contract or a lawsuit) is different from the resources needed to meet it (e.g. the products to be delivered from inventory or the money to pay the lawyers and the fines). I was trying to avoid adding complexity to the BMM, especially as we don't have a resource metamodel, or an RFP for one, to give us a target for the external references. I may have oversimplified. How would you like the model to be changed? One possibility is to merge Asset into Resource and show Liability as an independent class, with an n-to-n association "Liability has claim on Resource". Regards, John Cummins, Fred A wrote: John, I don't see liabilities as resources. They may define a resource requirement. Fred -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Hall [mailto:john.hall@modelsys.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 10:19 AM To: BMM FTF Subject: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset Hello all, Attached is my proposal for Issue 9114. I have tried to incorporate Stan's proposal, but make the concept as general as possible given that: 'Resource' is meant to be only a placeholder in BMM Unlike 'Organization Unit' and 'Business Process', there is not an OMG specification (like OSM and BPDM) in development that would provide a view of a Resource metamodel Regards, Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:49:03 +0000 From: John Hall Reply-To: john.hall@modelsys.com Organization: Model Systems User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0.7 (Windows/20050923) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en To: BMM FTF , John Alden Subject: [BMM] Issue 9114 Hello all, After some off-line discussions I have been asked to make the following changes to the resolution of Issue 9114: Add an association .organization_unit is_responsible_for liability. Extend the concept .asset. to include such non-tangible assets as intellectual property (patents, licences, vocabulary, designs, techniques, etc.), brand and image, customer base and relationships, supplier base and relationships. The second one gave two specializations of .asset.: Capacity-limited asset, such as manufacturing plant, person, real estate, which has capabilities that provide resources over time - production capacity, person.s time, storage space, etc. This was the definition of .asset. in version 2 of this resolution. Intangible asset - the additional type requested - that is not capacity-limited. Use of IP, brand, supplier relationships, etc. is limited only by enterprise directives. The names are rather cumbersome, but I think are acceptably understandable by business people. Suggestions for better (but still neutral) names are welcome. This specialization of .asset. led to two specializations of .resource. (already there in the definition but not shown on the model diagram) tangible, consumable resource, such as raw materials, products in inventory, money capacity of capacity-limited asset - production capacity, person.s time, storage space, etc. This specialization enables an association between capacity-limited asset and the resource it provides. I.m concerned about extending the scope of BMM with placeholders like .asset., .liability., .resource. and .offering. for which we don.t have OMG specifications in the pipeline. The case for these four is reasonable. They resolve issues 9114 and 9176, and the BMI DTF required that the FTF address these as a condition of recommending the BMM RFC to the AB,. But I think we would need a very strong case to extend the scope further. Attached is an update of the issue resolution, with changes marked. Regards, John BMM Issue 9114 Asset V3.doc Disposition: Resolved OMG Issue No: 9114 Title: Title Source: Hendryx and Associates Stan Hendryx Summary: The Business Motivation Model appropriately defines a Means as a .device, capability, regime, technique, restriction, agency, instrument, or method that may be called upon, activated, or enforced to achieve Ends.. However, there is no provision in the model to define referenced elements of business model that are devices or instruments. Main categories of resources of a business are man, machine, material, money, and real property. Referenced elements of business model defined externally in the BMM are limited to Organization Unit, Business Process, and Business Rule. (RFC 1.4.2). Resolution (Version 2): Notes: · This resolution also resolves .Product. from Issue 9176 · I have removed Add "Asset., .Resource., .Liability. and .Offering. to the model as externally defined things. Assets would include: machine, person, animal, computer system, software program, real estate. Contracts may also be included as assets. Assets provide some kinds of resource. Resources would include: · raw material, in-process inventory, finished goods, money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets · capacity available from assets, e.g. people.s time, production capacity, storage space Liabilities would include certain unfilled contracts, debt, lawsuits, and other obligations. Liabilities make claims on resources, e.g. materials and production capacity to meet unfulfilled contracts, money to pay lawyers and possible settlements in lawsuits. Offerings are the products and services provided by the enterprise. .Product. is meant not in the sense of products in inventory, but as something with market demand, cost, quality, etc. Revised Text: 1) Add the following new subsection to the end of chapter 8: 8.5.3 Resource and Offering Offerings are the products and services provided by the enterprise (.product. is meant not in the sense of products in inventory, but as something with market demand, cost, quality, etc.). Resources are needed to create the Offerings Management of resources and delivery of products and services are beyond the scope of the BMM. Resource and Offering are included in the BMM as placeholders, facilitating reference from BMM to resources and offerings that are defined in detail and managed in other parts of an enterprise.s business model. Offerings consume Resources, which include: · Tangible consumables such as raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods, money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets. · Capacity available from Assets such as production machinery, people, computer systems, software programs, real estate; some contracts may be viewed as assets. Such assets provide production capacity, storage space, people.s time, etc., over time. Enterprises often have Liabilities, including unfilled contracts, debt, lawsuits, and other obligations. Liabilities make claims on resources, e.g. materials and production capacity to meet unfulfilled contracts, money to pay lawyers and possible settlements in lawsuits. Courses of Action (Strategies and Tactics) define what Offerings the enterprise will provide, and deploy the required Resources. In the enterprise.s operational systems, Business Processes that realize those Courses of Action deliver the Offerings and consume Resources in doing so. Business Processes also maintain the Resources, i.e. ensure that they are available as needed for delivery of Offerings. Organization Units have responsibility for Assets and Resources. Figure 8.19: Resource and Offering Organization Units are responsible for Resources. Business Processes use Resources. Directives govern the use of Resources. 2) Make the corresponding additions to the overview diagram in Chapter 7 3) Add the following entries to Chapter 9: New catalog entry asset Definition: a useful or valuable thing or person that is owned by or available to the enterprise Example: production machinery, person, computer system, software program, real estate; some kinds of contract Dictionary Basis: a useful or valuable thing or person [ODE] Note: .asset. is a placeholder for a concept that will be defined in detail in other specifications. asset provides resource Description: Some resources are the availability of capability of assets, such as production capacity, storage space, person.s time. Under business process business process delivers offering business process maintains resource Definition: the business process ensures that the resource is available as and when needed Under course of action course of action defines offering course of action deploys resource New catalog entry liability Definition: an obligation that the enterprise has to meet Dictionary Basis: a thing for which someone is responsible, especially an amount of money owed [ODE, liability (1)] liability claims resource Description: The enterprise needs to make some provision of resources to meet the liability. New catalog entry offering Definition: product or service offered by the enterprise to its customers Dictionary Basis: a thing produced for entertainment or sale [ODE, offering (1)] See: business process delivers offering See: course of action defines offering offering consumes resource Under organization unit organization unit is responsible for asset organization unit is responsible for resource New catalog entry resource Definition: money, materials, staff, facilities and systems that can be drawn on by an enterprise to support its business operations Example: Raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods, money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets. Example: Capacity available from assets such as production machinery, people, computer systems, software programs, real estate; some contracts may be viewed as assets. The resources provided are production capacity, storage space, people.s time, etc., over time. See: asset provides resource See: business process maintains resource See: liability claims resource See: offering consumes resource See: organization unit is responsible for resource Note: .resource. is a placeholder for a concept that will be defined in detail in other specifications. Dictionary Basis: a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively [ODE, .resource (1)] Disposition: Resolved John X-Originating-IP: [86.2.188.23] From: John Hall To: BMM FTF Subject: [BMM] Issue 9114 Asset and Liability Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2007 19:17:53 +0000 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 20 Aug 2007 19:17:56.0423 (UTC) FILETIME=[D0491570:01C7E35E] Hello all, One of the documents that didn't make it to everyone last week. John BMM Issue 9114 Asset V4.doc Disposition: Open OMG Issue No: 9114 Title: Title Source: Hendryx and Associates Stan Hendryx Summary: The Business Motivation Model appropriately defines a Means as a .device, capability, regime, technique, restriction, agency, instrument, or method that may be called upon, activated, or enforced to achieve Ends.. However, here is no provision in the model to define referenced elements of business model that are devices or instruments. Main categories of resources of a business are man, machine, material, money, and real property. The recommended solution is to add "Asset or Liability", or a suitable synonym, to the model as an externally defined thing. An Asset would include machine, animal, computer system, software program, raw material store, in-process inventory, finished goods, supply, real estate, and money and monetary instruments such as securities and budgets. Contracts may also be included as assets. Liabilities would include certain unfilled contracts, debt, lawsuits, and other obligations. Human resources would presumably appear to be handled in Organizational Unit models. Processes employ assets, which need to be defined and are the subject of policies and rules. Assets can be defined in models, including UML models and SBVR models. Many business policies and business rules of a company are related to the definition, acquisition, operation, and maintenance of its assets and liabilities. (RFC Comment 1.4.2) After the first proposed resolution, there was strong encouragement from the BMI DTF also to include Product, not in the sense of products in inventory, but as something with market demand, cost, quality, etc. Resolution (Version 4): Notes: · Version 3 of the proposed resolution met with resistance as being too complicated and detailed. The approach proposed here is more general. · This resolution also resolves .Product. from Issue 9176 Concepts Add "Asset., .Resource., .Liability. and .Offering. to the model as externally defined things. The proposed concepts are: · An asset is something of value to the enterprise that is used and maintained and, perhaps, eventually replaced. Assets may be tangible, such as production equipment, buildings, people with skills, or intangible, such as designs, brands, goodwill. · A resource is something that is consumed by the enterprise and has to be replenished, such as cash, raw materials and parts, stocks of finished goods. Some resources are provided by use of assets over time, such as capacity of production machinery, storage space in buildings, time available of people with skills. Generally, assets that provide resources in this way are tangible, but not always; for example, a software product with a licence limiting the number of concurrent users. Others resources are replenished as needed from outside the enterprise, such as raw materials, cash. · A liability is a claim on resources. Part of the resources has to be reserved to meet the liability, such as cash to pay debts, materials to meet contractual obligations. · An offering is a product or service that can be provided by the enterprise. The concept proposed is the specification of the offering, rather than actual quantities of it on hand, which is a resource. An offering (specification) is a kind of asset. Producing instances of the offering may use resources, such as materials or intangible assets, such as designs and methodologies. Note: the distinction made here between asset (maintained and reused) and resource (consumed and replenished) has been well-received by BMM users. This is an operational perspective. From a financial perspective, e.g. enterprise valuation, most operational resources (e.g. stocks of raw materials and finished goods) would be treated as assets, while some operational assets (such as employees with skills) might not be treated financially as assets. Connecting the concepts to the BMM To connect these concepts to the rest of the BMM, it seems that we would need, at minimum, associations to support: · Courses of action that define offerings, deploy resources, and discharge liabilities · Directives that govern the use of assets Coherent BMM An enterprise may develop and use a BMM as a stand-alone artefact, e.g. on a tool that is not integrated with operational systems, but just references things in them with text descriptions or hyperlinks; this is one way of realizing .placeholders. for externally-defined things. Users of this type of BMM tool generally want support for associations between BMM placeholders. Then they can include high-level associations between, for example, business processes and organization units. This supports creation of a coherent, self-contained BMM (although there is a requirement to maintain consistency if the corresponding detailed associations in the operational systems change). There are some important associations between the new concepts: · Asset provides resource: some types of asset provide resources consisting of their capacity over time, e.g. production equipment, storage space, people with skills · Offering requires resource: the offering (a specification) references the kinds of resource required to produce it · Offering uses asset: an offering may use an asset that is not capacity-limited, such as a specification or a brand. · Liability claims resource: if an enterprise has liabilities, some resources usually have to be reserved to meet them. Then it would be useful to have some associations with other placeholders already in the BMM, to support: · Business process managing resource and delivering offering · Organization unit being responsible for asset, liability and resource Revised Text: I will develop the detail of the revised text after seeing responses to the approach Disposition: Open X-Originating-IP: [86.2.188.23] From: John Hall To: BMM FTF Subject: [BMM] Ballot 5 - Tues 4-Sep-2007 - last issue Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2007 01:19:32 +0000 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 03 Sep 2007 01:19:32.0934 (UTC) FILETIME=[7BC8AE60:01C7EDC8] Hello all, Attached is a resolution for Issue 9114. This is the last unballoted issue in the BMM FTF This resolution is almost is the same as the one sent out on 14 and 20 August, and included in the summary .BMM as if all resolutions were resolved as proposed.. There was some feedback, about Liability and whether the concepts were too accounting-oriented, to which I responded in email. The change from the earlier version is that Asset has been made a generalization of Resource and Fixed Asset (formerly Asset), which reduced some of the .association spaghetti.. Please vote by 3:00 pm EDT on Tuesday 4 September. PROPOSAL FOR RESOLUTION Issue 9114: Asset and Liability yes [ ] no [ ] abstain [ ] Thanks, John Voting members are: 88solutions, Manfred Koethe Adaptive, Pete Rivett Business Rule Solutions, Ron Ross Business Semantics Ltd, Donald Chapin Deere & Company, Duane Clarkson EDS, Fred Cummins Inferware, Allan Kolber KnowGravity, Markus Schacher MEGA International, Antoine Lonjon Model Driven Solutions, Cory Casanave NIST, Ed Barkmeyer Neumont University, Tony Morgan Pegasystems, John Pellant Rule ML Initiative, Said Tabet TIBCO, Paul Vincent Unisys, David Bridgeland Xactium, Andy Evans BMM Issue 9114 Asset V5.doc