Are you considering the cost/benefit trade-offs of Model-Based Engineering (a.k.a. Model Driven Development, Model-Driven Engineering, Business Process Modeling), but are confused about the “alphabet soup” of acronyms (UML, BPMN, SysML, DoDAF/MODAF/UPDM, TOGAF, OpenUP) and the “Muddle Driven Marketecture” tool vendor hype surrounding them?

You should evaluate Model-Based Engineering technologies if ...

Your organization should perform a cost/benefit analysis of Model-Based Engineering technologies if it has one or more of the following problems:

• Your enterprise system architecture and/or your product architectures are out of control.
  • If your software-intensive systems are monotonically increasing in complexity and no individual fully understands how they work, then Model-Based Engineering technologies can help you capture their architectures in a precise and concise manner that can be understood by multiple system stakeholders, ranging from customers and operators to business analysts (systems engineers) and designers (software engineers, software developers).
  • Management Questions: Does your system/product maintenance budget dwarf your R&D budget? Can you reliably and predictably expand your system or product with new features without blowing your schedule and budget?
• Your technology processes are ad hoc, chaotic, or unpredictable.
  • If your software and systems engineering processes are ad hoc, chaotic, and unpredictable (CMMI Level 1), then your technology-dependent organization likely cannot operate or compete efficiently. Note that many (perhaps most) engineering and development processes, despite what they claim, are CMMI Level 1! Model-Based Engineering technologies can help standardize your process workflows and improve their rigor and reproducibility.
  • Management Question: What percentage of your technology projects are completed on time and under budget?
• Your business processes are ad hoc, chaotic, or unpredictable.
  • It's not only technology processes that can be ad hoc, chaotic, or unpredictable. Business processes can also suffer from chaos, especially after long years of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) leave your enterprise business with a motley accumulation of legacy business processes that are poorly integrated. Model-Based Engineering technologies can help standardize your business process workflows and improve their rigor and reproducibility.
  • Management Question: Can you reliably estimate (+/- 10% margin-of-error) the cost/benefits of changing "as is" business processes to result in more competitive "to be" business processes?
• Your most valuable corporate asset, your corporate Intellectual Property (IP),  is at risk.
  • The most valuable corporate asset for most companies is their corporate Intellectual Property (IP), which can consist of both business process and technical information. Although some IP may be captured and protected by copyrights, patents, etc., most of it is usually not written down and resides in the neurons of senior business analysts and technologists. Considering that analysts and technologists are humans who can resign to work for competitors, retire, or become incapacitated, your corporate IP is potentially at risk unless you have a means to capture, preserve, and protect it. Model-Based Engineering technologies can help you capture and preserve your corporate IP in a precise and concise manner that can be further protected by copyrights, patents, etc.
  • Management Question: What would your organization do if your lead business analyst or chief architect/chief engineer unexpectedly resigns, retires, or becomes incapacitated?
• Your poor product/system quality is adversely impacting your bottom line.
  • If your software-intensive system products are error-prone or fail to satisfy system requirements, then Model-Based Engineering can help you identify errors earlier in your System Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and automate Verification & Validation so that you "build the system right, and build the right system".
  • Management Question: Do you have an established baseline for measuring error reduction rates and cost savings? If you don't, you likely have a chaotic system development process. (See the Your technology processes are ad hoc ... section above.)

If your organization is large and you do not have one or more of the problems cited above, you are to be congratulated for being an exception to the general case. However, if your organization consists of humans and you have one or more of the problems cited above, you should exercise healthy skepticism when evaluating Model-Based Engineering technologies.

If you are clueless about Model-Based Engineering then ...

If you are clueless about what Model-Based Engineering (MBE) technologies are, and how they can help your organization, then the first thing you need to do is to become clued. To be more specific, you first need to learn how to differentiate between MBE and non-MBE approaches. If you fail to do this, you may fall prey to the Muddle-Driven Marketecture hype propagated by modeling tool vendors who promise business nirvana ("better, faster, cheaper") systems if you buy their "silver bullet" modeling tools with their "magic bullet" modeling languages (UML, SysML, BPMN, MumbleML) and architecture frameworks (DoDAF, MODAF, NAF, DNDAF, UPDM, TOGAF, MumbleAF). If you are naive or dumb enough to fall for this marketecture, then you likely deserve to squander your technology budget and blow your project schedule without significant ROI (Return On Investment).

How can you get become quickly and efficiently clued about MBE? It should be obvious that you cannot depend upon a modeling tool vendor for this, since they tend to drink their own marketecture kool-aid and are biased toward their silver-bullet solutions. Consequently, we recommend engaging tool-independent training or consulting services that will help you learn the benefits and pitfalls of MBE technologies.

If you want an executive or management briefing regarding the benefits and pitfalls of MBE technologies, we recommend that you consider one of our Model-Based Engineering seminars. If you want to determine a comprehensive MBE strategy regarding modeling languages, tools, frameworks, and processes, we recommend that you consider one of our Model-based Architecture & Process Strategy™ (MAPS) workshops.

If you are clued about Model-Based Engineering, but skeptical, then ...

If you are already clued about the benefits MBE technologies, but are skeptical about their practical applications, then we encourage you to maintain your skepticism and learn how to practically apply MBE to your projects. In fact, not only our Model-based Architecture & Process Strategy (MAPS) workshops, but all of our workshops encourage healthy skepticism as part of the MBE technology transfer process. We find that healthy skepticism facilitates the MBE technology learning process, and ensures that it can be practically applied to your real-world work problems. Please check out our comprehensive selection of MBE language (UML, SysML, BPMN), tool (Enterprise Architect, Magic Draw, et al.), and architecture framework (DoDAF, UPDM, TOGAF) workshops on the Training page of our web.

For reasons why you should choose a PivotPoint workshop or seminar check out our "Why Train with Us?"... and our Client Testimonials... pages.

Flexible Venues: All of our Model-Based Engineering workshops and seminars are available onsite (Client provides the training facility), offsite (PivotPoint training facility), and via webconference.

WORKSHOP Customization: All of our workshops and seminars are based on flexible learning modules and can be customized to meet your specific project and team training needs. Please check contact us... to discuss details.

Follow-Up CONSULTING/COACHING Services: All of our workshops and seminars can be followed up with consulting/coaching services that will keep your Model-Based Engineering project on track. Please check out our Consulting Services page or contact us... to discuss details.

Scheduling: Workshops and seminars must be reserved in advance by Purchase Order or prepayment. We generally require at least 4 weeks lead time for scheduling workshops, but longer lead time is desirable to reserve your preferred training dates.

Cost: Workshop cost depends upon workshop duration (number of days), venue choice (onsite, offsite, webconference), and number of students.  We offer volume discounts for multiple workshops ordered at the same time, and special discounts for smaller groups (6 or fewer students), non-profits, research organizations, etc.

Further Info & Price Quotes: Select a Model-Based Engineering workshop or seminar that meets your training needs and contact us... to discuss your training needs and receive a custom price quote.