DaveBirchall.com on Business Technology

Archive for June 17th, 2008

Where were you?

The first ‘meet up’ was a bit of an experiment so it was great that a small but targeted group turned up to see what I have been banging on about The group ranged from ‘hardcore technologists’ to people with much more of a business related interest.

If you want to join us next time around, then join us at

http://ia.meetup.com/65/calendar/8164216/

Business Rules Engines

Its how we make sense of the world and crucial to the way we run our business. Without our systems, policies and procedures can we really say that we have a business?

So if we can understand our business rules, you can not only take control of your business but can take steps to automate it. This is approach is by no means new. The term business process automation has been around for some time. The problem has been that in todays ever changing business environment, the technology can’t always keep pace with the change.

Imagine if a technology existed where rules could be changed on the fly and set free to evolve as the business grows. Image the possibilities and the effect it could have on you business if you could automate major parts of it.

Business rule engines are one of the most exciting technologies of the modern age. I hope to meet people as excited this concept as I am.

SydneyNetworkers.net is starting to gather some momentum.

What started as a hair brained idea is starting to bring in a fresh influx of new people, keen to network and share ideas.
A site like Sydneynetworkers can only work well if we reach a critical mass of people.

So I thought we could have some fun with this. I have two free tickets to the forthcoming<b> Think and Grow Rich</b> seminar up fro grabs for the 100th member to sign up. Think and Grow rich is a a book that is said to have changed many peoples life. Whilst it was written decades ago, the principles are true today. TGR started a wave of professional development courses and books and some of the themes can be seen in todays business leaders.

What price would you put on learning the secrets to success?

I am giving this away FREE to the 100th subscriber

So do your friends and colleagues a favor and invite them to SydneyNetworkers.net by logging in and clicking ‘Invite.’

I was recently asked to add to a column to give my hottest tips to get your technology start up off the ground. This is what I said…

My advise is to find yourself the largest piece of butchers paper you can find and and identify the possible inputs (customer arrives on website, customer call in) and desired outputs. (Customer pays invoice, Money arrives in account) Make a flow chart of all the steps that happen in the middle. Identify processes and artifacts that assist in the process and get down to some detail.

Now for the fun bit! Ask yourself, what processes can be done automatically and what tasks are more humanistic? How much of your business can be automated and what kind of efficiencies do we have as a result?

I know this can take some time, but there is an enormous payoff around the corner. The old adage is true in this case ”not planning is planning to fail” There are some clear payoffs in this area. Not only can this unify your team and clarify your goals, but it can also become a framework for the selection of your business systems as you progress with your idea. In short, this exercise helps you avoid the pitfall that I see people falling into every week…

Whether you are thinking about selecting or designing technology for your business, remember…

Technology enables good business processes, Its not a magic wand to replace them.

Get this right and enjoy the benefits for years to come.