Mixing Rules and Process

Sandy KemsleyKemsley Design Ltd.www.column2.com

Business Rules Forum, October 28th, 2008

Agenda

Business process management (BPM) defined

Business rules management (BRM) defined

BPM + BRM = greater than the sum of the parts

Techniques for mixing rules and process

Business Processes

Chain of activities producing a business result

Usually spans functional silos Requirement to “manage the white

space” between functional groups

BPM Defined

A management discipline for improving cross-functional business processes.

The methods and technology tools used to manage and optimize business processes.

What’s in a BPMS?

Process modeler Repository Execution engine System integration (web services) Work-in-progress management Monitoring and analysis Simulation and optimization

Process Lifecycle

Model

Automate

Monitor

Optimize

BPM Goals

Efficiency Automating steps and handoffs Integrating systems and data sources

Compliance Achieving and proving standardization

Agility Changing processes quickly and easily

Visibility See what’s happening in a process

Business Rules

Business policies that define an actionDecisionConstraint

Implicit in systems and procedures Explicit in BRMS

BRM Defined

Discipline for discovery and management of business rules

Methodologies and tools used to manage rules

What’s in a BRMS?

Rules modeler Rules repository Execution engine Monitoring and analysis Simulation

Doesn’t BPM Have Rules?

Typically not full-featured BR: Simple Boolean rules for routing decisions Rules defined for a specific process step

Rule changes may require redeploying processes with IT involvement

Rule changes may not affect in-flight processes

Many process models don’t automate decisions

Separating rules from process

Externalize decisions from processRouting decisionsWork assignmentSet parameters

Call BRMS from BPMS for decisionStandard web services callTight integration by vendors

Claims Process Before…

Source: Corticon

Claims Process After…

Source: Corticon

Splitting rules between platforms In process model:

Simple routing decisionsRarely changing

In rules system:“Business decisions”Frequently changing

Process and rules may be from same vendor

Benefits of Separation

Full BR functionality: Complex rules automate manual processes Advanced rule design, harvesting, simulation

Reuse rules across processes/applications Change rules without changing process

Rule changes affect in-flight processes Business can change rule parameters

Challenges of Separation

BPM and BRM may be acquired independently with no thought of integration

Processes and their rules may be modeled in different environments

Summary

Externalizing and automating decisions is the key to process agility

More sophisticated capabilities of BRM allow more process automation

BPM + BRM turns policies into action and builds for change

Questions?

Sandy KemsleyKemsley Design Ltd.www.column2.com