Business Rule

Intro

A Business Rule is a specific directive that governs behavior or decisions in a process or system. In EA, rules provide consistency, compliance, and traceability.

Key points:

• Defines conditions, constraints, and decision logic
• Supports automation and quality control
• Common use cases: eligibility checks, validations, routing, authorizations
• Pitfall: rules scattered across systems without a single source of truth

Examples:

• Eligibility rule for customer discounts
• Validation rule for mandatory data fields
• Routing rule for approvals above a threshold

In practice:

Link rules to process and application designs in Enterprise Architecture.

Related terms: Decision Table; Policy; Automation

FAQs:

Q: Where should business rules be managed?
A: In a governed repository or rule engine linked to processes and apps.

Q: How do we avoid rule drift?
A: Centralize ownership and review changes through governance.

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