COMP208 BRFplus for ABAPThe Framework for Business RulesCarsten Ziegler, Application Platform SAP AGSudhir Sangani Rao, NW BPEM BRMS SAP AG

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Disclaimer

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SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *About Business Rules Quick Demo of BRFplusBRFplus Features and ComponentsScenario: Insurance Eligibility and PricingConnectivityFurther InformationAgenda

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *A little bit about Business Rules...Business rules or business rule sets describe the operations, definitions and constraints that apply to an organization in achieving its goals. (Wikipedia)Business rules represent the policies, guidelines that drive operational business decisionsBusiness rules are owned by Business, not by IT

Examples for Business RulesBusiness Rules are expressed intext rules (if then else )decision tables/treesformulas

Examples from across IndustriesRules are Ubiquitous. Rules are Everywhere !! SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

TelecomContent Based Customizable BillingInsuranceNew Products, Claims Settlement, Agent CommissionsMortgageEligibility, Pricing, UnderwritingLogistics & ShippingParts Management, Duties Calculations, Pricing CalculationsPublic SectorTax Calculations, Customs Duties, Land Regulations, License Fee CalculationsStock ExchangesAlert EnginesEducationFee Calculations, Course SelectionsCRMQuotations, Campaigns, Discounts, Recommendations, Pricing, Cross Sell HealthCareClaims, Patient Monitoring, Fraud DetectionBankingRelationship based Pricing, Scorecards, Credit Decisioning

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Enforcing Business Rules Conventional MethodsRules as Tacit KnowledgeNo/Semi AutomationAutomated EnforcementRules In DocumentsRules in CodeRules inside Databases

Typical Customer ChallengesZero visibility into business decisions Critical business rules are locked in code or databasesBusiness has no visibility into how systems take decisions

Change resistant IT systemsBusiness rules can be very volatileHardwired business rules make change difficult for ITUnacceptably long testing and change cycle timesHigh costs of correction and rework

Inefficient and Costly Human ExpertsNeed to maintain a pool of trained expertsContinuous training and hiring costsVery complex rules and error prone & time consuming human decision making

Scattered knowledgeBusiness rules not centrally managedScattered across code, manuals and as tacit knowledgeInadequate, ambiguous and inconsistent business rules across the EnterpriseHigh risk of compliance violation

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *How is it achieved?Can't we just have faster application development lifecycles?What to change?Where to change?Test the applicationPerform unit tests, functional tests, integration testsWith Business Rules FrameworksProvide a constrained environment for changeEnable Business Users to changeProvide integrated testing; impact of change is clearClear inputs and clear outputsRules are versioned and are auditable and are self documenting"Empower" users to feel comfortable about making the change

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *How do you "Empower" business users..?Empowerment of business usersProvide a lifecycle management for rule changes.Provide integrated testing and simulation capabilities.Provide easy to use user interfaces and "Not Code.Provide expressive concepts such as decision tables, decision trees and if-then rules for modeling business rules.

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Examples of Business Rules..Decision TableDecision TreeIF-THEN Rule

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *The key benefits of Business RulesHigher degree of transparencyExplicit documentation of business practice decisions instead of secrets kept in code or some peoples headsBetter understanding and predictability of application behaviorDecreased maintenance and testing costs because business rules are decoupled from application codebusiness users can modify, test and simulatereduction in modification cycle timequicker response to changing conditionsno downtime, no code change neededImproved administration of business practice decisions because of change history and clear ownership of rulesFaster development by modeling approachSAP applicationsPartners and customers in composite scenarioConvenient graphical representationRules can be displayed in the most practical and natural wayDecision TablesDecision TreesFlow ModelsScorecardsText Rules

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *About Business Rules Quick Demo of BRFplusBRFplus Features and ComponentsScenario: Insurance Eligibility and PricingConnectivityFurther InformationAgenda

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Quick Demo of BRFplus

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *About Business Rules Quick Demo of BRFplusBRFplus Features and ComponentsScenario: Insurance Eligibility and PricingConnectivityFurther InformationAgenda

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *BRFplus OverviewBRFplusDecision TableDecision TreeFormula(Quantity * 1.19) + ServCharge/*-+7894561230+/-,CustomerGroupOpenItemsOpenItemsAB,C< 1000$>= 1000$Customizing TablesSystem TablesRules ProcessorRules Repositoryfront-endback-endToolsServicesWorkbenchObject CatalogsWebService GenerationXML Export/ImportQueryTrace and SimulationTransportVersioning and HistorizationCode GenerationExtensibilityDDIC BindingUnit/Currency conversionMaster Data Tables

AmountTransactionCheckType0$..100$None> 100$InternalNone> 100$External4-Eye

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Functional Mode of Operation

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Event Mode of Operation

Some Expression TypesBRFplus allows to define new expression types, most features and services can be reused SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

BooleanBoolean arithmetic supporting any number of operands, parenthesis, AND, OR, NOTBRMS ConnectorConnects BRFplus with SAP NW BRM or partner productsCaseMapping of cases with results; when then , when then Database LookupPerforms a database select to retrieve values for processingDecision TableSequentially processes a table of value ranges and returns the first row/all rows for which all rangesreturned trueDecision Tree/Search TreeTraverses a binary/non-binary tree with nodes being conditions and leafs being results FormulaAllows the definition of complex formulas to be evaluated at run-timeRandom NumberGets a random number ordetermines whether a certain probability is metStatic ABAP MethodCalls a static ABAP method of a class that implements a specific interfaceStep SequenceSequentially processes a number of expressions/functions keeping all available values (context / results)in a central work area Value RangeChecks whether a certain valuelies within a value range

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Some FactsInitial Shipments NW 700 Enhancement Package 1 NW 710 Enhancement Package 1integrated into many SAP applicationsDevelopment LanguageBackend: ABAP Objectscomprehensive API to define and evaluate Business RulesUser Interface: WebDynpro for ABAPstandalone and reuse UIsCustomer/Partner EnhancementsUser interface is based on Model-View-Controller paradigm Backend and user interface are modularBackend: usage of customer defined expression types easily possibleUser Interface: configuration of screens, development and replacement of screens possibleUser Interface: stand alone usage or embedding into another application possible

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *About Business Rules Quick Demo of BRFplusBRFplus Features and ComponentsScenario: Insurance Eligibility and PricingConnectivityFurther InformationAgenda

Insurance Eligibility and PricingEligibility Determination of the eligibility status of the insurer from his demographic detailsCheck for completeness of required mandatory detailsValidation of given inputs and provide error messagesPricingCalculation of the premium quote for the insurer for the chosen insurance product and the face amountRisk class categorization based on the health status of the insurerCalculation of premiums

ObjectiveTo ascertain eligibility and obtain a premium quote for the selected insurance product, given his/her basic demographic details. SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Scenario

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *About Business Rules Quick Demo of BRFplusBRFplus Features and ComponentsScenario: Insurance Eligibility and PricingConnectivityFurther InformationAgenda

BRMS ConnectorBenefitsConnection with NW BRM or any other BRMS possibleenables usage of existing BRMS enables use of very specialized BRMSConnection between ABAP and Java stack

FeaturesConnects external rules engines and NW BRM with BRFplusCommunication based on RFC/JCO and Web ServicesAllows you to export the BRFplus design time information (XML Schema)Provides runtime data exchange (XML)Built-in integration with NW BRM for Java

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

Connectivity Architecture BRFplus - BRM SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

Modeling Steps SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

How does the modeling of rules happen? SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

How does the modeling of rules happen? SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

How does the modeling of rules happen? SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

Execution Steps SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Demo of BRFplus- NW BRM Connector

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *About Business Rules Quick Demo of BRFplusBRFplus Features and ComponentsScenario: Insurance Eligibility and PricingConnectivityFurther InformationAgenda

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Planned ImprovementsExpressivenessExpression and Action Type improvements (e.g. BRMS Connector, DB Lookup)New Expression and Action Types (e.g. Email Action, BPM Connector, Loop Expression)Better integration of Decision Tables/Trees into the Rule setDeep ContextWorkbenchMerge of Catalog and RepositorySimplifications/Usability improvementsNew and improved Tools (e.g. for versioning)Excel import and export (for decision table data or test data)UI ConfigurationMiscellaneousRule Debugger for non-developersMigration tools for migration to BRFplusRuntime Trace improvementsOptimization of generated code

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Further Information

SAP 2008 / SAP TechEd 08 / COMP208 Page *Thank you!

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SAP TechEd 08SAP TechEd 08SAP TechEd 08SAP TechEd 08SAP TechEd 08SAP TechEd 08SAP TechEd 08Business rules describe or represent constraints on the behavior of the business. Business rules represent the core business logic of each organization; they guide and control the basic business processes that form the back bone of any business transaction.Business rules represent a set of standard business practices or policies that need to be applied consistently across business activities. Therefore it is important to understand the difference between a Rule in software applications and a Business rule.A Rule can be defined as a set of conditions with some associated actions. These are typically introduced in the form of an If -> Then statement. Examples include: Database Constraints, Object Model Rules, etc. These Plain Rules are owned by IT and not by the Line of Business (LoB).Business rules on the other hand represent organization policies and guidelines and are always owned by the Business. Examples of business rules include Loan Product Eligibility Guidelines, Product Configuration Rules, etc. When introducing business rules organizations have to take in consideration that rules are inherent in:Corporate charters Management practices and regulatory forces Human resources managementMarketing strategies Pricing policies Products and services offerings Customer relationship practices Business rules are the most dynamic component of any application. Therefore their constant and correct identification and externalization improve the organization's adaptability to industry changes and competition. Externalizing business logic in the form of simple rules ensures that these rules are easily communicated across the organization and managed separately from the application code: business adaptability and flexibility via IT stability.

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