Question
Cognizant Technology Solutions
US
Last activity: 17 Jul 2017 1:55 EDT
Difference between Business Rules and Functional Requirements
Can anyone clarify the difference between business rules and functional requirement. In the DCO Essensials 7.1 course the below example is given. Business rules, Enterprise standard, Change control and Functional requirement types examples - All look same to me. They all talk about field level validation. How do I differentiate between them
Can anyone clarify the difference between business rules and functional requirement. In the DCO Essensials 7.1 course the below example is given. Business rules, Enterprise standard, Change control and Functional requirement types examples - All look same to me. They all talk about field level validation. How do I differentiate between them
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Business rule | Related to the business processes in the specific application. Is usually associated with a specific use case or step in a process, and identifies the system behavior at that step. | First Name should not be longer than 20 characters |
| Change control | Related to the needs of making modifications in the application and system, and managing those changes. | System shall support two-digit version numbers |
| Enterprise standard | Identifies an enterprise- or industry-wide standard to which the application or system must adhere. | Routing Transit Number must be 9 digits |
| Functional | Similar to the business rule type, identifies what the system has to do. Typically used to identify a function that will be used in the application, such as a data transformation or calculation, rather than describing system behavior. | Remaining budget must be calculated to two decimal points |
State of New Jersey
US
Hi,
If I am not mistaken Functional Requirements refer to what is expected from the system to do versus Business Rules defining how the system will implement that. As an example if the system needs to route cases to an approval when they are processed by a user is a Functional Requirement. On the other hand based on what logic this will be routed is a Business rule. In short a business rule defines how a Functional Requirement is implemented.
Pegasystems Inc.
US
Hi - Yeah, with the descriptions above the difference is not all that obvious. It looks like those descriptions were written by someone with a development focus. I would point you to the BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) as having a pretty good requirement categorization scheme and explanations. As far as the difference between a business rule and a functional requirement, I would suggest that most business rules would exist across systems and even without the system, whereas functional requirements are more specific behaviors and actions needed in the system.
Here is a little example.
Business Rule: A customer's gym membership must be cancelled if they are more than 30 days late on their payment.
Functional Requirements: Here we could have a variety of requirements that help support and implement this business rule. It could be that the system is expected to do it automatically or it could be that the system creates a case for a user to review and confirm the cancellation, etc.
NBFC
CA
Business Rule - this is tied to Business Capability definitions.
Functional Requirements - this is tied to Application layer and how the application itself should behave.
We create business rules to do a business, such as running a lemonade stand at the corner of the street!. However when you want to automate aspects of your lemonade stand / enable digital systems, those systems will have functional requirements that are informed by the business rules.
NBFC
CA
Business rules evaluate case data to determine outcomes that direct a business process. These rules are used in applications to direct flows, hide or display form elements, and even calculate property values. Pega provides four types of business rule decisions: when conditions, map values, decision tables, and decision trees.
COFORGE
GB
Hi,
A business rule relates to the way an organisation or company operates. In addition to applying to individuals, business rules might apply to general corporate behaviour or business processes. They might also apply to specific elements of an organisation, such as data management. The overall objective is to ensure an organisation is meeting its goals. The best business rules are clearly defined and written down. There should also be accountability to understand who has ownership of the business rules, whether it is a company's president, the board of directors or another individual or body.
A functional requirement outlines what needs to be done to meet a functional need or objective. They state what the end result or future state. Functional requirements are typically developed for a specific business activity or project. They are usually developed when looking for solutions to address a functional need or implement a business goal or objective.
Thanks,
Jibran