This approach facilitates the discovery of different
business perspectives that were not provided by other clustering techniques. The overlapping
method enables logical and visual inspection of relationships between different clusters.
108 Ch. 5 Conceptual Service Identification
What does the overlapping clusters paradigm offer? There are three major goals that
can be attained by utilizing this process. First, the overlapping mechanism uncovers reusability
opportunities among disparate clusters. During this analysis session, it may become clear that
two or more clusters can share a conceptual service that provides common functionality. Second,
overlapping clusters can unveil process redundancy that may be carried out by a number of
services. Third, the overlapping cluster approach facilitates the discovery of new conceptual
services that may not have been previously observed during the service conceptualization process.
Exhibit 5.18 depicts an overlapping cluster scenario in which three major conceptual
services are examined for reusability. Each cluster is identified by its driving business context and
attributes: The first cluster (marked as 1) is affiliated with tax benefit and liquidity properties; the
second is based on diversification, liquidity, and stability attributes; and the third on safety and
stability. As might be noticed, there is no clear delineation in this example between these various
business concepts because of their overlapping functionalities.
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