Business Decision Models Inc.

The Product Camp Toronto 2010 event is fantastic.  The Camp team has put together a superb event involving presenters and discussions that provide terrific insights into Product Management and Product Marketing Management.   Starting with Stephen Pollack's keynote, we've been taken through a non-trivial exploration of the art and science of translating vision into saleable product.  The world of product management is far removed from the popular conception of the "eureka moment" that is at the core of popular conceptions of the invention process.  Instead here today we have a tour of the "productization process".  Interestingly, this process is not new:  Thomas Edison's labs a hundred years ago were very much about t . . . read more

Your host is off to ProductCamp Toronto (http://www.productcamp.org/toronto/) tomorrow (May 30th).  This full-day volunteer-run event presents almost 20 sessions in three tracks:  Product Management 101, Start Me Up! and Advanced Product Management.  Your host is particularly looking forward to the item on "Product Marketing In The Overall Scheme Of Product Management".
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For the final Invited Talk, this afternoon Dr. Alan Rector, of the University of Manchester, gave a very nice overview of ontology, contained within a talk covering ontologies and clinical systems.  The talk was widely appreciated by the audience, and from your host's perspective, Dr. Rector's overview of the state of the art was terrific. As a bonus Dr. Rector included at least a dozen or so pithy insights about what you might call "the ontology business".  . . . read more

Almost 10 years ago, your host attended FOIS '01, in Ogunquit, Maine.  Having been introduced to the world of software ontologies in conversation with Prof. Graeme Hirst of the University of Toronto, he developed a serious interest in the world of ontologies, on both a personal and a business level.  . . . read more

A celebration of diversity is not what one would expect from what a colleague characterized as the "dry world of ontology".  Yet this was the topic of several presenters at today's morning sessions at FOIS 2010.  Especially, at this morning's "Invited Talk", by John Bateman, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Bremen, the topic of ontological diversity was presented as both requirement and artifact for successful ontological engineering. . . . read more

Yesterday's FOIS 2010 Workshop participants enjoyed scheduled morning presentations by Antony Galton, Fabian Neuhaus, Barry Smith and Michael Grüninger. This blog item is a report of those proceedings, along with a few editorial comments. A companion blog item will offer some analysis of the intersection of ontological engineering and practical opportunity, from the perspective of the sociology and business.

Ontological engineering may be reaching a tipping point in capability and acceptance, and if that tipping point is reached, the construction of dramatically more powerful and effective software would be expected in the foreseeable future (although how steep the post-inflection-point curve is, remains to be seen.) But this ideal vision will only be reached if the market for ontology sciences, services and products takes off. . . . read more

Almost 10 years ago, the idea of ontologies as applied to information systems was still in its infancy.  Your host attended FOIS 2001, only the second-ever FOIS conference, and was nevertheless intrigued by the possibilities -- not only from a research and engineering perspective, but also from that of business and evangelization.  

Now in 2010, your host's role as sales manager for an open source BPM platform provider gives him opportunities to see how the application of productized ontological science can make an impact in addressing some of the vexing challenges of today's organizations.  . . . read more

After decades of achievement in the development of software technologies and software engineering, the software industry is rightly acknowledged as having contributed enormously to every aspect of business, social and personal life.  It is a general belief, fostered by both science and culture that a "long revolution" based on IT will continue on, bringing ever more amazing, delightful and useful innovations.

This expectation of progress can probably be depicted as a linear function with a nice upward slope.  While Whiggish expectations of continual progress are nice, the reality of software engineering is less rosy.  The realization of future progress based on software technology may not be so easily achieved and the immediate future of software development is probably more of a step function.

The current state of software engineering and data management is characterized by what could be called a "semantic ceiling".  On the software engineering side, the newest software products and software development are, while often quite wonderful, still rather limited in what they accomplish:  mashups, social applications, situational applications, modeling tools, more SOA, point business applications etc.  The scope of these new applications is typically either siloed or trivial in some sense.  On the data management side, the growth of data resources has exacerbated the chaos of data that confront both business and individual trying to make use of technology.  It is not surprising that master data management (MDM) . . . read more

How much time do you have?  Front and centre, the question of time is one of the most important questions facing any technology vendor. 

In high-technology, product lifecycles are probably a year or two.  Whether this information comes from personal experience, a scan of the trade press, or a review of serious literature on the subject by Geoffrey Moore or Clayton Christensen, the answer is the same.  You have a very short window of opportunity in which to establish your footprint.  You can call it "high -velocity technology diffusion" or you can call it a high-pressure lifestyle.  Regardless, when you deliver and win and establish your footprint -- that's only a ticket to play the next round! . . . read more

A Seven-Step Recipe For Success

Assess the following seven steps either as risk reduction or as opportunity acquisition:

1. SEE HOW CUSTOMER BUSINESS MODEL CHANGES DRIVE OPPORTUNITIES: Evolving business models and business architectures demand new business information platforms. Standards-driven open source platforms provide the technical capabilities, comparatively low-cost investment requirements and attractive risk profiles that CEOs and CIOs need.

2. DEFINE THE OPEN SOURCE SALES CHALLENGE: In response to these new business demands, the open source BPO and B2B technical platform market is rapidly taking shape, whether that market is named as SaaS, PaaS or something else. Technology originators targeting these markets have two challenges: (1) how is monetize open source knowledge and (2) how to build footprint fast. How do you establish a wide enough market footprint to ensure longevity? And how do you monetize your knowledge while still adhering to (or submitting to) the dictates of open source technology?

3. ASK HOW MANY MONTHS DO YOU HAVE? If you are bringing a new open source technology to market, how many months do you think you have to establish a viable presence? 12 months? 18 months at most? Given the odds, it is perhaps astonishing that so many companies are still willing to compete. There are so many tasks that have to be performed well. BDM can assist in only one specific area, but it is an area that is both important -- and not typically a core capability for technology pioneers. . . . read more