Testimonial

“The data warehouse and business intelligence industry has been struggling for two decades to figure out how to deliver compelling business value. What we see is a return to our roots of figuring out how to help organizations leverage data and analytics to make better decisions. James and Neil outline what companies need to do [...]

Taylor and Raden’s central manifesto highlights that it’s critical to embody more intelligence in today’s business decision-making and have consistent, automated decisioning built into business processes in order to remain agile and competitive in today’s fast-moving market. They take you through the core concepts of enterprise decision management (EDM), dive into the underlying technologies, then [...]

“Very thought provoking! After spending 10 years in the business rules space, Smart (Enough) Systems takes EDM to a new level for me.  This book is a blue print to creating systems that are in tune with the customer and their needs.  Real time decisions that are consistent, accurate and specific to the situation would [...]

“This book provides an excellent introduction to the key issues addressed by the technology, the related core concepts and it also provides guidance for its implementation including readiness assessments for your business units and technology departments.” David Luce Information Technology Architect

“This is a good survey book of the subject of smart systems and many related fields. If you want to understand what they are and why you should care (and you should), read this book.” Charlie Lewis, Air Products and Chemicals, Global IT Chief Architect and Innovation Champion, Instructor Pennsylvania State University

“Even though Business Rules has around as a discipline and a methodology for many years, it is a field that is poorly understood by management. Because Business Rules is dominated by technologists and a confusing mix of data modeling and artificial intelligence, managers and executives struggle with the benefits and necessity. “Smart (Enough) Systems” overcomes [...]

“A masterful presentation of an important new idea, Enterprise Decision Management (EDM). Like BPM, EDM is destined to provide a focal point where business minds and IT engineers can find common and very fertile ground to plan for success. As the authors say, the business rule approach has evolved and proven itself convincingly over the [...]

“Smart (Enough) Systems delivers razor sharp insight into the power of people and technology to deliver organization impact and competitive advantage.  Taylor and Raden do a masterful job providing depth and color around industry and technology trends, illuminate some hard truths about organizational change and expose the delta between business strategy and operational reality.  They [...]

“This book is an excellent introduction to Enterprise Decision Management. It is sufficiently detailed to help choose which decisions are ripe of automation and to develop the rule sets for them. It explains how EDM fits in the organization and how to interface with existing IT systems. Most sections have brief real-world examples that help [...]

“A must read for anyone that is serious about improving the art and practice of organizational decision-making.” Mark Clare, Vice President, Parkview Health. Adjunct Faculty, Northwestern University

“The book is more than a primer and handbook, it is an instruction manual that can be used collaboratively by both sides of the organization. The business-oriented sections of the book justify and explain the need for the technical requirements, which ought to make for constructive leadership and better decisions that are understood throughout the [...]

“While growing up, the big rhetorical question I often heard asked was, “If we can send people all the way to the Moon and back, why can’t we… ? (Fill in the blank with a frustration – predict tomorrow’s weather, design a car that runs on something besides oil, make a good omelet…). The same [...]

“Enterprise decision management (EDM) is a leading-edge concept that brings together business intelligence, business rules and business modeling: three areas that have heretofore been progressing along separate paths. By bringing them together, businesses could realize substantial gains through more effective and understandable enterprise decision making, and apply automation where possible to overcome the cost and [...]

“A thorough examination of the business value and technologies enabling decision management, positioned as the next major wave of business process automation. The book is filled with examples that should help the reader learn from the experiences of other organizations in deploying decision management technologies. Traditional business intelligence addresses the delivery of information, but not [...]

“Smart (Enough) Systems blazes a new trail in the crucial territory of finding the business value in information systems. With a well-tuned blend of technology and business, this book is a great read for anyone trying to discover the potential of decision management in the enterprise. The book contains dozens of helpful case studies that [...]

“James Taylor and Neil Raden have produced a substantive work that explores what will soon be recognized as the next arena for competitive advantage in our fast-paced global economy. Their central thesis is that organizations must treat decisions as an enterprise asset and take action to increase their “decision yield”. The combined effect of improving [...]

“This is the first book, that I have read, that brings together the technologies and techniques needed to make systems smart enough for a modern business. James and Neil have provided a concise and accessible book that both business and technical managers can use to make their business processes smarter. “Smart (Enough) Systems” is very [...]

“James and Neil provide a clear, concise, and well written book offering both the breadth and depth to make sense of an exciting yet difficult subject. Not only does ‘Smart (Enough) Systems’ cover all aspects of decision automation from the technologies and approaches needed to their impact on existing and future technology architectures; it is [...]

“Enterprise Decision Management (EDM) is a key facet of high-value operational business intelligence. James Taylor and Neil Raden do an excellent job explaining EDM and helping the readers work those concepts and technologies into future BI development to the benefit of their organizations.” Alan Simon, author of 27 books including Data Warehousing for Dummies and [...]