Whitepaper: Effective Business Modeling with UML: Describing Business Use Cases and Realizations
Using UML and use cases to model business. A RationalEdge article by Pan-Wei Ng.
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Main Description

This whitepaper provides in-depth instructions about defining business use-case realizations and business use-case models. It closely follows the tasks and guidelines outlined in this practice.

Whitepaper Abstract

As most software development practitioners know, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) excels at representing "real world" phenomena. This capability led to development of the UML Business Modeling Profile, which provides extensions and stereotypes to facilitate communication between users and analysts.

Organizations that are thinking about applying the UML Business Modeling Profile often have practical questions, such as:

  • When do I really need a business model? When are use-case models alone sufficient?
  • Which UML diagrams are used for particular business modeling situations? How do I know whether to use a sequence diagram or a collaboration diagram, for example?
  • How does the UML business model relate to other UML models (domain model, use-case model, etc.)? How are these models organized?

Unfortunately, the literature that addresses these questions, as well as best practices for applying the UML Business Modeling Profile, is relatively sparse compared to that for system modeling. This frustrates users and analysts who recognize the benefits of using the UML for business modeling but are forced to struggle with the notation.

This article addresses their concerns by walking through an example case that models the acquisition process within an IT department responsible for managing outsourced development. Comprised of legal advisors, enterprise architects, and project managers, the department is responsible for contractual, system architecture, and project management issues. Its mission is to free end-user departments from IT-related issues so they can concentrate on business operations. When these departments need to acquire new systems or enhance existing ones, they get the IT department to prepare tender specifications, and IT then selects suitable vendors to deliver the required system.

View the entire whitepaper on the RationalEdge site.