Founder, Author, and Instructor
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Business rules are often called the “engine room” of S1000D projects. They are also very misunderstood. In this session, Contiem welcomed Victoria Ichizli-Bartels, a published author and long-time contributor to the S1000D community. With years of experience chairing the Business Rules Working Group and helping organizations navigate the complexity of BREX and business rule documentation, Victoria brought clarity to a topic critical to every successful S1000D implementation.
Rather than a purely technical discussion, this webinar focused on the why, what, and how of business rules: why they exist, what problems they solve, and how organizations can implement them without falling into common traps. Victoria highlighted the need to treat business rules as strategic project decisions, not just technical settings, and offered practical guidance for teams at every stage of their S1000D journey.
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At its core, S1000D is designed to be flexible. That flexibility allows it to serve multiple industries, domains, and projects. Since no two projects are the same, establishing a clear set of business rules for an S1000D implementation bridges the gap between specification and actual project requirements.
Without business rules, projects run into:
With strong business rules in place, organizations benefit from:
In short, business rules turn S1000D from a specification
into a workable system tailored to your project.
New projects often attempt to define hundreds of rules up front, leading to confusion and analysis paralysis. Victoria recommended starting with a smaller, core set of rules, testing them in practice, and then expanding iteratively as project needs become clearer.
Even within the same organization, different programs and contracts require different sets of rules. Reuse is possible, but adaptation is inevitable. Teams should avoid assuming that a “one-size-fits-all” ruleset will work across all projects.
Clear, consistent business rules allow organizations to automate validation, streamline authoring, and reduce the manual burden of review cycles. Without consistent rules, automation breaks down and S1000D becomes harder, not easier.
Victoria reminded attendees that business rules are not the same as those in the BREX file. The BREX is simply a machine-readable way of enforcing the rules. The rules begin as human decisions—project agreements about how S1000D will be applied and must be documented clearly for both people and tools.
As projects evolve, rules must be maintained. They are not “set and forget.” Governance processes should ensure that rules are updated as specifications change, new tools are adopted, or customer requirements shift.
| Misconception | Reality |
|---|---|
| “Business rules are optional.” | They are essential. Without agreed rules, projects collapse under inconsistency and rework. |
| “The BREX is the business rules.” | The BREX enforces rules, but the rules themselves are broader agreements documented in multiple forms. |
| “One set of rules works everywhere.” | Each project has unique requirements; rules must adapt to fit. |
| “Once defined, rules never change.” | Business rules evolve alongside the project and specification updates. |
Victoria emphasized that business rules are not simply a technical concern, but also a business concern. They affect delivery schedules, costs, compliance, and, ultimately, customer satisfaction. Organizations that treat rules as strategic project assets gain more than just technical consistency: they gain the ability to scale, to collaborate seamlessly across suppliers, and to deliver documentation that is reliable, reusable, and audit-ready.
Whether you’re defining your first set of business rules or optimizing a mature S1000D program, our team has the experience and technology to guide you at every step.