Because of the size and scope of this type of project, users would be foolish not to validate that figure and confirm that the actual business numbers are not significantly above or below the calculated Economic Value Add. One approach is to analyze each influencing factor, such as procurement, inventory reduction, and distribution efficiency, and have the business experts attach a level of variability to the numbers for the Economic Value Add. The company in our example went a step further. For this company, even the worst-case scenario showed a positive Economic Value Add. With this type of validation in hand, IS and business managers were able to prove to upper management that the company should proceed with the rules-standardization project.
Business rules are a fundamental building block for information management.
They are the key link between business policies and procedures and the systems that support them. The challenge users must address is convincing upper management of the urgency of correcting and standardizing these business rules. The only way to do this is to provide compelling evidence in language business management can easily understand. IS managers are responsible for managing the data necessary to carry their company into the next millennium. Justifying massive project expenditures based on intuition or industry direction is simply not enough.