What UML diagrams should be used for business modeling

[fatass]

When deciding to use UML diagrams a rule that is often forgotten is
that all UML diagrams are optional. Often we model for the sake of
modelling sake and create many unnecessary diagrams that are never
used or referred to again after its creation.

To determine the diagrams you will use on a specific project, or in
modelling the business architecture, it is necessary to determine the
purpose of the project and its audience.

The audience will determine which models are useful to them, although
the purpose of the project may have other objectives which may lead to
the modelling of diagrams that may never be shown to the audience.
Business models are normally modelled from the perspective of the
business process participant.

The subset of UML diagrams useful to business modelling are:
1. Package diagrams - package diagrams are used to divide the entire
scope into smaller more manageable pieces and are used to describe the
dependencies between the packages.
2. Use case diagrams - business use case diagrams are useful to define
the business roles
(actors) and the business functions (business use cases).
3. Class diagrams - useful for identifying business entities (classes)
about which information is to be collected and managed and the
relationships between these business entities.
4. Composite structure diagrams - to model the internal structure of
use cases and classes. These may be used to show how business entities
collaborate within the execution of a business use case, or describe
the internal structure of the parts within a business class.
5. Activity diagrams - to model business workflow, or processes.
6. State machine diagrams - to model and explain the business entity
lifecycles in the business from creation to archival and more.

The abovementioned diagrams would give any audience a comprehensive
description of a business and would form a marvellous basis for system
requirements models.

Happy modelling!!