Agile Systems with Reusable Patterns of Business Knowledge: A Component-Based Approach by Amit Mitra, Amar Gupta

Agile Systems with Reusable Patterns of Business Knowledge: A Component-Based Approachby Anonymous

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November 25, 2005: Agile Systems by Amit Mitra and Amar Gupta, addresses a major and growing business need: how to better leverage legacy and current knowledge assets in a world characterized by increasing globalization,? rapid proliferation of new computer and communications equipment, and fast changing organizational structures. The book focuses on three key themes: business agility, process resilience, and leveraging of corporate knowledge.? This three-pronged emphasis is reflected in the full title of this book: Agile Systems with Reusable Patterns of Business Knowledge: A Component-Based Approach. Using examples from diverse application areas, the book delineates the use of business knowledge to attain major strategic benefits through decomposition of knowledge into components. It highlights how these components of knowledge can be re-configured in step with innovation and new learning, and how business processes and information systems can be designed to automatically flex in step with the evolving configurations of knowledge in support of business agility. ? Agility is becoming the most important challenge for the long-term success of businesses. However, current business process engineering, outsourcing, and information system approaches provide inadequate attention to innovation and agility. They only address issues of operational efficiency and economics. The slow, methodically structured manufacturing and mass production paradigms of the industrial age are crumbling under the onslaught of information bolstered by new knowledge.? The physical products of the industrial age were fixed, structured and stable they were developed to fulfill a stable need. The book emphasizes that knowledge and information are inherently unstructured in nature, and need to be handled in new ways in order to gain optimal benefits from them. Chapter 1 of this book introduces the notion of knowledge in business organizations and applications, and the reuse of knowledge in diverse situations. The text and the accompanying figures provide a rich intuitive mechanism for appreciating the concept of knowledge. Thankfully, the authors have minimized the use of technical jargon in this chapter. Chapter 2 identifies common patterns and the underlying semantics of business knowledge. The pivotal role of 'components' is described in a fashion that emphasizes pragmatism rather than intense mathematical rigor. Chapter 3 focuses on the idea of a 'Knowledge Machine' that incorporates a set of autonomous business models that are geared to adapt to evolving situations and business needs. Chapter 4 addresses a range of implementation issues, ranging from technical aspects to risk aspects. Chapter 5 concentrates on the human aspect of the change. Chapter 6 deals with the process of taking small experimental efforts and broadening their scope to cover the whole organization, as well as to institutionalize the change. A unique aspect of this book is that it addresses critical issues in a manner that would appeal both to the average person on the street as well as to persons with computer background. The book considers issues the complex issue of how information systems can be designed to better adapt to changing operational needs and market conditions. The suggested strategy involves the reuse and reconfiguration of business...