For many years, there has been a call for a comprehensive
book on the IDEF0 method and its use in BPR. This book, written in answer to that
call, is designed to introduce the method, its usage, and the benefits that can
be achieved. It is also written to serve as a "do's and don'ts" document
to identify the ways the method has been misused in the past and to specify ways
to correct these misuses.
This
book presents essential information about the IDEF0 method -- its definition,
basic rules of usage (including the standard language syntax and semantics as
contained in the Federal Standard) -- and lessons learned from many years of application
in the real world. The examples depict actual commercial client and government
agency models, from which names and proprietary information have been removed.
Who Should Read This Book The material
presented in this book is suitable for three categories of IDEF0 users:
people
who wish to explore the concepts and the application potential of IDEF0 for enterprise
reengineering
people
who wish to determine how IDEF0 might be helpful to them in their systems analysis
efforts
people who
have been introduced to IDEF0 concepts, and who wish to understand the theory
behind the concepts so that they can use the method more effectively
The Department of Defense (DoD) Corporate Information Management
(CIM) Office reports that more than 600,000 people worldwide fall into the third
category, and one goal of this book is to provide meaningful assistance to such
people during their IDEF0 analysis efforts.
After reading the book, a person should be familiar enough with IDEF0 to read
and understand any IDEF0 model and should be able to understand how the method
might be applied to enterprise or systems analysis and what goals and benefits
are reasonable to expect from its application. However, to be considered an "author"
of IDEF0 models, he must complete additional formal training and a brief apprenticeship
period with an experienced IDEF0 author. [1]
Training courses in IDEF0 modeling are available from commercial
vendors and at various universities, primarily in the United States; [2]
SADT training courses are available worldwide. [3] In addition,
there are more than a dozen good computer tools that support the IDEF0 method.
My hope is that this book will guide a new generation of
modelers in producing the maximum benefit from IDEF0.
Winchester, Massachusetts
C.G.F.
April 1998
1.
Throughout this book, the male pronoun is used generically to include both males
and females. Also, please note that in IDEF0 terminology, a reader is someone
who knows the rules of the IDEF0 graphics and can therefore understand the diagrams.
An author is someone who is a reader but who also is trained in creating IDEF0
models.
2. For a list of registered vendors of courses and
computer support tools for the IDEF family, write to Society for Enterprise Engineering,
attn: Secretariat, c/o The Koop Foundation, 15825 Shady Grove Road, Suite 22,
Rockville, MD 20850.
3. SADT is the precursor to IDEF0.
For more on SADT and the history of IDEF0, see Chapter 1 and Appendix C.
