Modern SOA-based applications integrate a
Business Process Management (BPM) system with a BR system such as
OpenRules considering its Rule Engine as another loosely coupled
service. When an event controlled by a rule occurs, BPM engine invokes
the associated rule service to make application specific decisions.
These rule services usually receive clearly specified input/output
objects and a reference to the business rule sets to be examined during
service execution. At run-time, the rule service executes a rule engine
passing to it input/output objects and rule sets from a Business Rules
Repository.
To manage the rule repository, different BRM
systems provide tools for Rule Authoring and Maintenance, Rule Project
Management, and Integration. A good BRMS presents the
business logic in the form of business rules that are intuitive for business
users, and can be easily maintained by them through a friendly GUI.
Most organizations initially represent their
business rules using MS Excel and/or MS Word. Then they select a BRMS system
that in most cases provides an Excel-like graphical tool for Rules
Management. In contrast to the most commercial BRMS system, OpenRules
recommends using Excel itself as the ultimate Rule Management tool
for business analysts. Alternatively you can use OpenOffice or Google
Spreadsheets. To make this happen, OpenRules integrate Excel with a set of
Open Source tools to support both business and
technical people during BR harvesting, automation, testing, and integration.
For Rule Project management we recommend using a free Open Source
Eclipse, the de-facto standard integrated development environment
with plug-ins that support business terms, rules, forms, and processes
presented in Excel tables.
OpenRules allows
you to develop complex Web applications without being an expert in various
Web development techniques. Using the commonly known Excel interface, you
can define your business logic in a form of Excel-based
business rules and make them available as
fine-grained Web services. Then, you may define your presentation logic
using Excel-based web forms with associated
interaction rules. Being deployed as a
presentation-oriented Web application, it will invoke the related rule
services whenever necessary. Frequently, such a service-oriented approach to
web application development also involves a workflow engine that uses a
publish/subscribe paradigm for automatic invocation of different web
services.
