Smart (Enough) Systems

Submitted by dwright on Mon, 2007-11-05 15:23.

Is anyone else here reading "Smart (Enough) Systems" by James Taylor and Neil Raden?

I am about half-way through, and it is a 'good read'; anyone want to discuss it here?

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It's a Good (Enough) Book ;-)

Submitted by ScottWAmbler on Tue, 2007-11-06 14:48. *

I was one of the tech reviewers. Yes, I think it's a pretty good book which puts some solid ideas into perspective for people. It's one of the balanced books out there that's leading the way in the movement away from the "prescriptive engineering" mindset that we've had driving things for the past several decades.

- Scott
Scott W. Ambler
Practice Leader Agile Development, IBM Rational

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...even amusing!

Submitted by dwright on Wed, 2007-11-07 09:56. *

So far, I particularly like the history of IT that is part of describing why systems are not smart. Maybe its just me, but I actually laughed out loud at the description of Operational Data Stores as "a sort of kludge..."... now I am heading into the "Core Concepts" chapter.

Also, there is a related website (of course) smartenoughsystems.com, where J. Taylor has a blog, and there is a wiki for adding your own thoughts on the topic, I recommend checking it out.

David Wright
Member, IIBA
"As a general rule the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information."
Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

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As is the author

Submitted by ssehlhorst on Thu, 2007-11-08 23:03. *

I was fortunate to be able to interview James Taylor, one of the authors of the book (http://tynerblain.com/blog/2007/06/25/smart-enough-systems/). Then James and I developed a presentation that we delivered together at the IBRF.

Coming from a requirements background, I did not have an appreciation for how "novel" the notion of abstracting decisions from processes appeared to be to many members of the audience in our (and other) presentations.

It's one of those "duh" ideas, once you think about it. The book does a really good job of helping you think about it. And James knows his stuff. I love it when people can abstract and articulate theory from years of practice. Most of us have to do it the other way around.

Scott Sehlhorst, President
Tyner Blain LLC, http://tynerblain.com/blog

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Smart Enough Systems --> Data and Analytics

Submitted by dwright on Thu, 2007-11-15 13:02. *

I am through the chapter on Data and Analytics, a very useful overview for me on the analytics side. It is a specialty that the book rightly describes as requiring a skilled practitioner, the Analytical Modeler. As described, the analytical model-building process reminds me somewhat of the statistical modeling of Six Sigma process improvement, perhaps Black Belts in that discipline could be a source for needed analytical modelers.

Next up: Business Rules.

David Wright
Member, IIBA
"As a general rule the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information."
Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

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