Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!haven!grebyn!schultz
From: schultz@grebyn.com (Ronald)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Getting Started in Expert Systems
Keywords: Expert Systems, Business, Lifecycle
Message-ID: <14097@grebyn.com>
Date: 14 Dec 89 15:50:34 GMT
Organization: Grebyn Timesharing, Vienna, VA
Lines: 49


 
 
We are beginning to contemplate developing expert systems for
internal use within our business.  Our management has questioned
us on a number of points, and I am respectfully requesting anyone
provide me some assistance based on their own experiences on
answering these questions.  
 
      o     What are the attributes of a business application
            suitable for being incorporated into an expert system ?
 
      o     What approach does one take to domain analysis to
            identify candidate expert system applications, and how
            is this analysis presented to senior manegement to get
            buy-in from them for the efforts identified ?
 
      o     How does one reduce user expectations associated with all
            the hype behind expert systems ?
 
      o     How many rules are reasonable to implement into an expert
            system running on an IBM PC using software such as M1 or
            Level 5 ?
 
      o     What attributes does one look for in a potential
            knowledge engineer ?
 
      o     What success have people had in getting experienced
            procedural language programmers with business systems
            development expertise in becoming knowledge engineers ?
 
      o     What is the application lifecycle for an expert system,
            and how long should a successful expert system take to
            complete ?
 
      o     What techniques can be used to improve the possibility
            of success for introducing expert systems into a company
            ?
 
Any support, personal experiences, anecdotes, or literature
references to help me address any of the above points would be
sincerely appreciated.
 
 
                                  Ron Schultz
                            Network Solutions, Inc.
                                Columbus, Ohio
                                (614) 841-1110
                              schultz@grebyn.com