Your Core Business Processes Need a Rule Engine

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YOUR CORE BUSINESS PROCESSES NEED A RULE ENGINE

By Ronald G. Ross, May 1999

Prediction: Within five years, the idea of building a business application without a rule engine for business rule support will seem as silly as building one today without a DBMS for data support.

I have recently had the opportunity to review rule engines from Platinum (Aion), Neuron Data, and ILOG. Also, we have looked at a new one coming out from Business Rule Machines. And, of course, there's USoft.

Let me tell you something. These products are good. Not perfect-but good!

Here's something else I've learned. Over the past several years, I have been involved in re-engineering and requirements development for core business processes in a variety of industries. All these core business processes have proven to be loaded with rules-far more rules than I ever would have anticipated.

It's simple math-one plus one equals two. I believe rule engines will explode onto the scene over the next five years.

They probably will come at us from many directions. It's clear, however, that there are at least two principal points of origin. First is the type of technology pioneered by USoft. I anticipate there will be significant successors to rule engines of that class, extending the capabilities and making them more usable. (USoft itself is now making a reappearance in the North American marketplace.)

Second is the technology represented by Platinum (Aion), Neuron Data, ILOG, and similar products traditionally focusing on inference. This is a solid technology with a long and impressive track record. Over the years, these technologies have done four things to help move them closer to the IT mainstream.

They have shed a lot (although not all) of the stand-off-ishness you find in the knowledge-engineering subculture.
They have made rule specification much easier (although still not as easy as it needs to be).
They have fit the rule engines into an OO world (that seems to be an imperative these days).
They have componentized the software (so you can plug and play).

Here's the bottom line. In every business process you find two things: workflow rules and constraints (lots!), and at least some knowledge-intensive tasks (each with lots of rules). To make your business processes adaptable, you need to externalize all those rules. (We call that Rule Independence.) The only means I know to do that effectively is with rule engines. Within five years, most professionals won't give it a second thought.