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IBM Operational Decision ManagerVersion 8 Release 5
Overview: Operational DecisionManager product family
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NoteBefore using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page 43.
This edition applies to version 8, release 5, modification 1 of Operational Decision Manager and to all subsequentreleases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2008, 2013.US Government Users Restricted Rights – Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contractwith IBM Corp.
Contents
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 1What's new in V8.5.1 . . . . . . . . . . . 1
What's new for business users . . . . . . . 1What's new for developers. . . . . . . . . 1What's new for administrators . . . . . . . 5
Introducing Operational Decision Manager . . . . 6What is Operational Decision Manager . . . . 7Business agility through synchronized businessand IT cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Complementary decision management strategies 12Operational Decision Manager roles and activities 14Business rule application development . . . . 19
Business rule applications based on Java orXML. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Business rule applications for .NET platforms 22
Event rule application development . . . . . 24Decision management for business users . . . 26
Decision governance . . . . . . . . . 26Decision management for rule projects . . . 28Decision management for event projects . . . 29
Understanding your Operational Decision Managerinstallation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Composition of Operational Decision Manager 31
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Communication protocols . . . . . . . . 36Third-party tools and SAM . . . . . . . . 37
Third-party tools . . . . . . . . . . 37Open source software . . . . . . . . 37Eclipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Apache Ant . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Software Asset Management system . . . . 38About Software Asset Management . . . 38SAM, license files, and the productinstallers . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Making the SAM license visible . . . . 39Licenses and archive repackaging . . . . 39Licenses and multiple rule applications . . 39
Accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Accessibility features of the information center 41
Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2008, 2013 iii
iv IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Overview: Operational Decision Manager
To implement a decision management solution you must understand the variousmodules that make up the product and choose the architecture that best suits yourneeds.
What's new in V8.5.1Version 8.5.1 includes new features for the different users of the product.
What's new for business usersV8.5.1 includes features that were introduced with the last release, such asimproved project governance and side-by-side comparison of decision tables in theDecision Center Business console.
Versions 8.5.1 and 8.5.0 introduce the following features:
Readme information moved to Installing (V8.5.1)
The product documentation no longer includes a readme. You can find the readmeinformation in Installing, the product installation section in the information center.Platform support and defect information is still available on the IBM® support site.
Learn more...
Decision governance framework (V8.5.0)
Decision Center offers a ready-to-use prescriptive method for change managementand governance. The method is based on a framework that uses decision services,releases, and activities. This framework is available in the Decision Center Businessconsole. Learn more...
All-in-one decision table editor (V8.5.0)
The Decision Center Business console provides all its decision-table editingcapabilities in one editor. You can test your rules as you write them, and optimizethe order of rows in tables. A new tutorial takes you through the steps forupdating a decision table. Learn more...
Version comparison in the Business console (V8.5.0)
You can compare two versions of an action rule or a decision table side by side inthe Decision Center Business console. Learn more...
What's new for developersV8.5.1 introduces support for new versions of the application servers, and extendsthe decision engine to the distributed platforms. V8.5.1 introduces more supportfor PL/I and COBOL, and extends the decision engine to the distributed platforms.
Versions 8.5.1 and 8.5.0 introduce the following features:
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2008, 2013 1
Stand-alone server installation option removed from thelaunchpad (V8.5.1)
The launchpad no longer provides an option for installing a stand-alone server.There remain two ways to create a stand-alone server profile:v You can create a profile by setting values in the standalone.properties file, and
then running the standalone.bat script file. Both files are located in the<installdir>/shared/standalone directory.
v You can create a profile by using the Profile Management Tool and the providedprofile templates.
Learn more ...
New application server versions (V8.5.1)
V8.5.1 supports the following new versions of the application servers:v Oracle WebLogic Server 12cv WebSphere® Application Server 8.5.5
The Decision Center Business console now supports the same application serverversions as the Decision Center Enterprise console. Learn more...
Decision engine available on all supported platforms supportsmore features (V8.5.1)
V8.5.1 offers the users of distributed platforms the choice of two rule engines:decision engine and classic rule engine. Originally available for only z/OS®, thedecision engine now works with all the supported platforms.
Whether you deploy your rulesets from Rule Designer or Decision Center, theruleset build mode is taken into account for rule execution, and forsynchronization of your rule projects between Rule Designer and Decision Center.
The decision engine is designed to improve the overall performance of ruleexecution. The engine compiles rule artifacts into an archive that contains code thatis ready to run. The ruleset loading in the engine is faster because no code isparsed or interpreted at run time.
For the decision engine, V8.5.1 adds support for the following features:v Rule Execution Server:
– Hosted transparent decision services– Monitored transparent decision services– Decision Warehouse
v Rule Execution Server console:– Updated list of properties in the main ruleset view– Warning if the decision engine version of a ruleset is not compatible with the
version of the Rule Execution Server– Ruleset testing– Ruleset statistics– Ruleset archive content view
v Rule Designer:– Client projects for RuleApps
2 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
– Remote and local debugging
The classic rule engine remains the default engine in V8.5.1. You must regenerateand then redeploy existing ruleset archives to use them with the decision engine. Ifyou used the compiled archives cache feature with earlier versions of OperationalDecision Manager, make sure that you clean out the entire directory of thecompiled archives cache, and then restart the Execution Unit (XU). Learn more...
Readme information moved to Installing (V8.5.1)
The product documentation no longer includes a readme. You can find the readmeinformation in Installing, the product installation section in the information center.Platform support and defect information is still available on the IBM support site.
Learn more...
Deprecated features
The following table shows the deprecated features.
Table 1. Deprecated features
Deprecated Module Description
JSR-94 (V8.5.1) Decision Server Rules The JSR-94 implementation isdeprecated in V8.5.1. Thisfeature will be removed in afuture release of the product.Use the rule session APIinstead. Learn more...
IlrRuleInformation.getActions() method (V8.5.1)
Decision engine for RuleDesigner and DecisionCenter
Unlike previous versions, adecision engine rule can beassociated with only a singleaction.
V8.5.1 replaces thedeprecated method withString getActionName()..Learn more...
Extended PL/I support (V8.5.1)
The BIT string in PL/I is now supported when you generate a PL/I XOM from aPL/I include file. The single-bit BIT is mapped to the Java™ boolean type, and themultiple-bit BIT is mapped to the Java BitSet class. Learn more...
Extended COBOL support (V8.5.1)
Char, Enum, and Map data types in Java are now supported when you generate aCOBOL copybook from an existing Java BOM. They can be mapped to COBOLdata types. Learn more...
NIST SP800-131A support (V8.5.0)
Operational Decision Manager supports the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST) Special Publications 800-131a security standard in transitionmode and in strict mode with the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2.
Learn more...
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 3
WebSphere Application Server profile templates are installed asa component (V8.5.0)
You can install the profile templates that are required to create an OperationalDecision Manager cluster on WebSphere Application Server as a component whenyou use the launchpad to install a custom configuration, or you use InstallationManager. The profile templates component extends the repository on the computerthat hosts the target WebSphere Application Server. Learn more...
Operational Decision Manager Express® (V8.5.0)
The product installer includes an option to install Operational Decision ManagerExpress, which is a new entry-level offering. You must check this option if youhave the corresponding license. Learn more...
PL/I support for rule authoring and rule execution (V8.5.0)
PL/I is supported to generate a PL/I XOM from a PL/I include file. You candesign a BOM from a PL/I model, author rules, and enable rule execution of PL/Iapplications. Learn more...
REST decision service for ruleset execution (V8.5.0)
The Representational State Transfer (REST) decision service enables clientapplications to access a server through HTTP requests and provides integrationwith IBM Worklight® and other systems. Learn more...
Rule Designer uses Eclipse SDK 3.6.2 with JDK 7 (V8.5.0)
Rule Designer requires Eclipse SDK 3.6.2, which includes JDK 7 by default. To useJDK 6, you must reset the parameters for Eclipse. Learn more...
Manage embedded rules in Operational Decision Manager(V8.5.0)
Business Rules Embedded can export embedded rules so that you can managethem in Rule Designer or Decision Center. Learn more...
Deprecated features
The following table shows the deprecated features.
Table 2. Deprecated features
Deprecated Module Description
IlrRuleInformation.getActions() method (V8.5.1)
Decision engine for RuleDesigner and DecisionCenter
Unlike previous versions, aDecision Engine rule can beassociated with only a singleaction.
V8.5.1 replaces thedeprecated method withString getActionName().Learn more...
4 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Table 2. Deprecated features (continued)
Deprecated Module Description
COBOL code generation(V8.5.0)
Rule Designer and DecisionCenter
Instead of using generatedCOBOL subprograms, youcan deploy RuleApps tozRule Execution Server forz/OS and execute rules.
Learn more...
If you are using the COBOLcode generation feature inRules for COBOL, you canuse the COBOL GenerationProject Migration wizard tomigrate your rule project to azRule Execution Server forz/OS compatible rule project.
Learn more...
In Versions 8.5.0 and 8.5.1,the COBOL code generationuser interface is notdisplayed in Rule Designerby default. To display theCOBOL code generation userinterface in Rule Designer,stop Rule Designer, and addthe following parameter inthe file <InstallDir>/eclipse.ini:
-Dcobol.code.gen=true
Save the file, and restart RuleDesigner.
What's new for administratorsV8.5.1 introduces support for the progressive migration of databases from previousversions of Decision Center. V8.5.1 updates the System Management Facility tocollect execution data on a logical partition (LPAR).
Versions 8.5.1 and 8.5.0 introduce the following features.
Progressive migration of Decision Center database (V8.5.1)
If you have a 7.0, 7.5, or 8.0 Decision Center database, you can migrate part ofyour database to V8.5.1, work on these migrated projects, and then run an Ant taskwhen you are ready to migrate the rest of your database. Learn more...
Recording the number of decisions that run on an LPAR (V8.5.1)
The System Management Facility (SMF) is now used to collect execution data suchas the number of decisions that are requested by your application at run time. Touse the feature, you must do a configuration step that depends on your executionenvironment. Learn more...
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 5
Readme information moved to Installing (V8.5.1)
The product documentation no longer includes a readme. You can find the readmeinformation in Installing, the product installation section in the information center.Platform support and defect information is still available on the IBM support site.
Learn more...
Support of NIST SP800-131A (V8.5.0)
Operational Decision Manager supports the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST) Special Publications 800-131a security standard in transitionmode and in strict mode with the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2.
Learn more...
WebSphere Application Server profile templates are installed asa component (V8.5.0)
You can install the profile templates that are required to create an OperationalDecision Manager cluster on WebSphere Application Server as a component whenyou use the launchpad to install a custom configuration, or you use InstallationManager. The profile templates component extends the repository on the computerthat hosts the target WebSphere Application Server. Learn more...
TCP/IP management mode monitors remote XU instances(V8.5.0)
In the Rule Execution Server console, the TCP/IP management mode can monitorand manage XU instances, both Java EE and Java SE, outside the JVM or clusterwhere the console is running. Learn more...
zRule Execution Server for z/OS console mode provides greaterflexibility (V8.5.0)
The zRule Execution Server for z/OS can optionally run in console mode, if theHBRMODE=CONSOLE runtime variable is specified. Console mode delegates themanagement of all server connections in the same group to the console. Thisoption provides greater flexibility and control during system administration andmanagement. Learn more...
Extra support for IMS™ users can provide enhanced performance(V8.5.0)
When a COBOL application is running in a Message Processing Region, IMS canuse a preinitialization routine to establish a connection to zRule Execution Serverfor z/OS. The routine removes the requirement for the COBOL application toconnect and disconnect each time that it is run, and can result in improvements tothe overall performance. Learn more...
Introducing Operational Decision ManagerOperational Decision Manager enables the business to respond to real-time datawith intelligent, automated decisions. With Operational Decision Manager, IT andbusiness users alike can manage the business decision logic used by operationalsystems within an organization.
6 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
What is Operational Decision ManagerOperational Decision Manager combines decision making and change detectiontools to provide a business rule management system that is easy to evolve, trace,audit, and test.
Operational Decision Manager includes two main components:
Decision Server for managing decisions and detecting events
Decision Server provides the runtime and development components toautomate the response of highly variable decisions based on the specificcontext of a process, transaction, or interaction. You can monitor a businessnetwork to discover and take action on event-based data patterns, and thenprocess this information against hundreds or even thousands of businessrules in order to determine how to respond within front-end and back-endsystems.
Decision Center for putting decision management in the hands of those whodrive the business
With Decision Center, business users can manage decisions and eventsdirectly based on organizational knowledge and best practices, withlimited dependence on the IT department. The degree of dependence canrange from a limited review by business users of the business logicimplemented by developers, to complete control over the specification,creation, testing, and deployment of the business logic by business users.Business and IT functions can work in collaboration, aligning the entireorganization in the implementation of automated decisions andaccelerating the maintenance lifecycle as they evolve based on newexternal and internal requirements.
The following figure shows the components that Operational Decision Managerprovides for rule application development, rule management and authoring, andthe execution environment.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 7
From business policy to business rules
Business policies are statements that are used to make decisions such as pricing forinsurance or loan underwriting, eligibility approvals for social or health services, orproduct recommendations for online purchases. Business policies are typicallyfound inside application code, in the form of if-then statements, although they mayalso be stored elsewhere for documentation purposes, such as in proceduralmanuals and other documents.
A business policy can be expressed as several business rules. Here is an example ofthe kind of business policy that might be familiar:
Customers who spend a lot of money in a single transaction need an upgrade.
The process of capturing rules consists of formalizing the vocabulary required toexpress the policy as a conceptual object model and representing the logic of thebusiness policy as if-then statements.
After the vocabulary has been created, the above business policy can beimplemented with the following business rule:if
the customer’s category is Goldand the value of the customer's shopping cart is more than $1500
thenchange the customer’s category to Platinum
8 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
When a business policy also has an IT policy or security policy embedded in it,you can combine business rule management with additional capabilities to handlethe business policy aspects. For example, customers who spend a lot of money shouldbe routed to a preferential service or customers who spend a lot of money require additionalsecurity on their transactions.
In the form of business rules, the business logic can be packaged and called fromthe application code as a business rule application. Therefore, changes to thebusiness policy do not require changes to the application or process code.
From event pattern detection to event rules
An event is an electronic signal indicating that a change in the state of the businesshas occurred. Orchestrating business events so that the right applications run at theright time for the right purpose is a challenge that can be particularly difficult withthe large variety of business systems currently running in the enterprise. A widerange of technologies is also employed, ranging from batch processing applicationsto client/server, and to browser-based intranet and internet applications.Orchestrating the processing of the events that occur in these systems, as well asthe events that occur manually, might potentially mean major system redesign andmany months of modifications, tests, and deployment.
A rapid business systems orchestration requires an alternative approach to complexand expensive redesign and redeployment of existing systems is required. Thesolution is to implement a Business Event Processing layer that sits across existingsystems, takes advantage of functions already developed in those systems, andmanages the complex interactions (business events) that can occur between thosesystems. This layer of architecture is known as Business Event Processing. TheBusiness Event Processing layer communicates significant events in one businesssystem to other systems that require the information to respond to the criticalevent.
In large organizations, tens of millions of events occur everyday, but not all eventsor event occurrences are of equal importance. Providing insight requires the abilityto determine when a pattern of seemingly unrelated events from one or moresources has occurred and then to coordinate the execution of the responses to thatpattern of events.
Business Event Processing is the ability to sense when a business event or eventpattern has occurred (or not occurred), indicating an actionable business situation,and to coordinate the right response or action, at the right time.
Event rules help detect, and respond to, event patterns among like or relatedevents, missing events and aggregate events. Event rules also relate the patterndetection to a context and apply a dimension of time to the pattern. So, forexample, the following logic can be created:if events A and B occur and event C does not occur in <time frame>,then do actions X, Y and Z after time frame
For example, on a retail web site, if a customer adds a book to a shopping basket(event A) and views the delivery information page (event B) but does not completethe purchase at the online checkout (event C) within one week, then send anE-mail to this customer (action X). After one more day has passed, update thecustomer favorites database with the book details (action Y), and send a messageto the Sales department to tell them this customer did not complete the purchase(action Z).
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 9
By using predefined logic that describes how business systems are to interact, theevent runtime can notify those systems in real time so that they take theappropriate action.
Why use decision management
Business events and Business Rule Management Systems (BRMS) are highlycomplementary technologies that in combination enable intelligent and responsivedecision automation. These technologies enable organizations to flexibly buildsolutions that can detect and react to data patterns as they occur within a specifiedtime period, and then provide the appropriate automated decision response totransactional and process-oriented business systems.
The combination of business events and business rules increases business agilityand decision automation capabilities to achieve consistently better businessoutcomes and maximize resources and value. A decision management solutionenables businesses to reuse sources of insight:v Historical datav Predictive knowledgev Simulation and events
Operational Decision Manager enables business users to manage decisions andmake changes in a very short timeframe, increasing enterprise responsiveness tounforeseen events, as well as shortening response times as a result of higher levelsof automation.Related information:“Composition of Operational Decision Manager” on page 31The Operational Decision Manager comprises a set of components, which areinstalled on a distributed operating system.
Business agility through synchronized business and IT cyclesBusiness agility depends on responsive, intelligent decision automation.Operational Decision Manager helps manage decisions separately from businessapplications, with more flexibility and responsiveness to the changing needs of thebusiness.
The ability to deal with change in operational systems is directly related to thedecisions that they are able to make. Every transaction, order, customer interactionor process is dependent on decisions, which are in turn dependent on particularinternal or external requirements and situational contexts. Every change thereforeaffects decisions, many of which are handled automatically within businesssystems.
When decision management is separate from application code, business experts candefine and manage the business logic, reducing the amount of time and effortrequired to update that business logic in production systems, and increasing theability of an organization to respond to changes in the business environment.
Operational Decision Manager provides an environment for designing, developing,and deploying business rule applications and event applications. The IT cycleconsists of developing and maintaining this infrastructure. After the infrastructureis set up, distributed business teams can start collaborating through a Web-basedenvironment to create and maintain business rules and events.
10 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
The lifecycles of decision management and application development can evolve inparallel. Decisions can evolve as required by the business context, without puttingan extra load on the development of the application. Each time the applicationevolves, the decision management environment synchronizes with the application.
With this separation, decisions and application architecture can be managedasynchronously. For example, application developers can develop a newapplication version in response to changing application infrastructure andadditional core business requirements. At the same time, policy managers canwork on new decisions delivered in response to an evolving market, changingregulatory environment, or new patterns of events.
In addition to working on different time lines, developers and business users alsoexpect to work with different tools, reflecting their different skill sets and views ofthe application.
For example, developers are accustomed to the Java world. They use source-codemanagement systems to work simultaneously on separate copies of a projectwithout interfering with each other.
Business users, on the other hand, do not concern themselves with the details ofapplication development, but are interested in testing and managing decisions.Therefore, they need tools that can help them author, organize, and search for rulesin the context of the overall policy.
With developers and business users working in their own environments at theirown pace, the work of these two groups must be synchronized and merged.
Finally, both developers and business users require access to a rule executionenvironment to deploy rules to enable testing, validation, and rollout to productionof new and changed business logic.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 11
Related information:“Operational Decision Manager roles and activities” on page 14Operational Decision Manager comprises a set of modules that operate in differentenvironments, but also work together to provide a comprehensive decisionmanagement platform.“Complementary decision management strategies”Business rules and real time events can help your enterprise achieve businessprocess agility.Synergies with other IBM productsOperational Decision Manager complements other IBM products to empowerbusinesses to automate, manage and improve the decision cycle in the face ofgrowing complexity and change.
Complementary decision management strategiesBusiness rules and real time events can help your enterprise achieve businessprocess agility.
Operational Decision Manager provides tools that support two complementarydecision management strategies: business rules and event rules. Depending on thetype of data you are dealing with and the sort of reasoning that you want to applyon this data, one of the two strategies prevails.
Rules and events are complementary services within the decision managementdomain, and together they enable users to author and manage rules by usingaligned concepts, terminology, and tooling to support combined use cases.
Usage pattern
Decision management
Business rules Event rules
Type of data Snapshot view of static data. Data over variable timeframes.
Reasoning Executes rules by using adefined order of ruleexecution or an order thatthe inference-based algorithmof the rule enginedetermines.
Processes multiple unrelatedevents from varied sources toidentify a pattern andresponds asynchronouslywhen this pattern isidentified.
Processes enterprise eventsover extended periods oftime, from milliseconds tomonths.
ExecutionResponds to each call as aunique transaction.Called byan API, for example as a webservice, or from a businessprocess.
Receives individual eventsfrom the network and reactsif the event completes apattern of interest, and reactsby initiating actions on othersystems.
Outcome Calculates one or morevalues to decide andrespond.
Initiates actions whenpatterns of business activitydo not occur as expected.These actions can be alerts orfollow-on processing.
12 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
The combination of business rules and events can offer intelligent decision makingthat enables a business to take insightful, timely action of changes within theirbusiness network. Rules and events can be combined in runtime environments.The event runtime can execute business rules by using a web service interface. Formore information about runtime integration between rules and events, seeInvoking Decision Server Rules from Decision Server Events.
The following table illustrates how you could combine business rules and businessevents for two use cases.
Use case
Decision management
Business rules Event rules
Car insurance v
Determine whether tomake an offer, and if so,for what.
v
Tailor price based on alarge combination offactors.
v
Monitor customerbehavior and identify theright timing for apromotion.
v
Detect multiple requestsfor insurance quote over ashort period of time.
v
Detect quote requests thathave not been acceptedwithin a period of time.
v
Follow up on customerpromotional offers.
Credit card services v
Detect whethertransactions go over agiven threshold, and allowor reject the transaction.
v
Notify customers based oncustomer profile andbehavior.
v
Detect events on creditcards (payments).
v
Aggregate data on creditcards (payments andwithdrawals allowed byrules).
v
Call business rules when adecision needs to becomputed for allowing orrejecting the transaction.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 13
Related information:“Business agility through synchronized business and IT cycles” on page 10Business agility depends on responsive, intelligent decision automation.Operational Decision Manager helps manage decisions separately from businessapplications, with more flexibility and responsiveness to the changing needs of thebusiness.“Operational Decision Manager roles and activities”Operational Decision Manager comprises a set of modules that operate in differentenvironments, but also work together to provide a comprehensive decisionmanagement platform.
Operational Decision Manager roles and activitiesOperational Decision Manager comprises a set of modules that operate in differentenvironments, but also work together to provide a comprehensive decisionmanagement platform.
Two categories of users are involved in developing and maintaining a decisionmanagement solution:v IT users
Architects, developers, and administrators develop and maintain the ruleapplication.
v Business users
Business analysts, policy managers, and rule authors develop and maintain thedecision logic.
The following table describes the different types of IT and business users that areinvolved in developing and maintaining a decision management solution.
14 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Table 3. User roles for the development of business rule applications and event applications
Role Activities Description
Design
Integrate
Deploy
Architects work mainly inDesigner and have thefollowing responsibilities:
v Managing the overalldeployment organizationof the rules and make surethat the execution isoptimized.
v Defining the projectorganization so that it isconvenient for developersand business users alike.
v Defining the granularity ofthe rule applications andhow they fit into the widerbusiness process.
v Provide valuable contextfor the application’s role inthe managed businessdecisions.
Design
Author
Test
Integrate
Deploy
Developers work mainly inDesigner and have thefollowing responsibilities:
v Developing, testing,debugging, and deployingbusiness rule applicationsand event applications.They provide input to thedesign of the rules.
v Writing the code for ruleexecution.
Developers are familiar withobject models, APIs, and thedevelopment environment(Java EE application servers,Java SE.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 15
Table 3. User roles for the development of business rule applications and eventapplications (continued)
Role Activities Description
Deploy
Administer
Monitor
Audit
System administrators workon the servers to ensure thatthey run smoothly. Theseservers can be for DecisionCenter or runtimeenvironments.
Administrators have thefollowing responsibilities:
v Deploying and configuringthe server and databasefor Decision Center andRule Execution Server.
v Managing user access toDecision Center and RuleExecution Server.
v Ensuring that the businessobject model and rules aredefined consistently for allthe phases of the project.
v Ensuring that the rules canbe shared across platforms.
v Configuring trace datasources for testingpurposes.
v Deploying applications.
v Redeploying rulesets andevent assets as changes aremade.
v Generating detailedexecution reports.
v Tracking and monitoringrule execution.
v Restoring a particularapplication state.
16 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Table 3. User roles for the development of business rule applications and eventapplications (continued)
Role Activities Description
Design
Author
Test
Synchronize
Review
Validate
Business analysts work inDesigner and DecisionCenter.
They act as the bridgebetween business and ITdepartments, from design tointegration inside a softwareapplication.
Business analysts have thefollowing responsibilities:
v Designing a formalspecification for the rules,with validation from bothdevelopers and policymanagers.
v Defining the vocabularythat is used in rules.
v Identifying candidatebusiness rules.
v Writing and organizingbusiness rules and eventrules so that rule authorscan maintain them.
v Validating that ruleexecution yields theexpected results.
Depending on their level oftechnical knowledge,business analysts canperform tasks that arecurrently described asdeveloper tasks. However,business analysts generallydo not write code.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 17
Table 3. User roles for the development of business rule applications and eventapplications (continued)
Role Activities Description
Review
Validate
Author
Policy managers are theowners of the decisionswithin an organization andwork mainly in DecisionCenter.
Policy managers have thefollowing responsibilities:
v Participating in the designof a formal specificationfor the rules.
v Defining vocabularyelements with the help ofbusiness analysts.
v Creating and updatingrules.
v Reviewing how theexecution of rules isorchestrated.
v Reporting on the status ofthe business policy.
v Testing rules to ensure thatthey are written correctly.
v Running simulations toensure that the rules givethe intended businessoutcome.
v Managing releases andvalidation activities in thecontext of decisiongovernance.
Author
Review
Rule authors work inDecision Center.
Rule authors have thefollowing responsibilities:
v Updating and sometimescreating rules.
v Reviewing the businessrules and event rules.
v Creating change activitiesin the context of decisiongovernance.
18 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Related concepts:“Business rule applications based on Java or XML”As an IT user, you work in Rule Designer to define a rule authoring andmanagement infrastructure for business users, and business users do not have tobe aware of the underlying production platform. They author, review, and managebusiness rules in the same way regardless of the platform.“Event rule application development” on page 24To develop event applications, developers, architects, and business analysts worktogether to design a data model, orchestrate event execution, author, review, andtest events, and deploy the resulting event application to various productionplatforms (Java SE, Java EE, or z/OS).“Decision management for business users” on page 26Decision Center is a scalable decision management server and repository withcollaborative web environments for authoring, managing, validating, anddeploying business rules and events.Related information:“Business agility through synchronized business and IT cycles” on page 10Business agility depends on responsive, intelligent decision automation.Operational Decision Manager helps manage decisions separately from businessapplications, with more flexibility and responsiveness to the changing needs of thebusiness.“Complementary decision management strategies” on page 12Business rules and real time events can help your enterprise achieve businessprocess agility.
Business rule application developmentTo develop business rule applications, developers, architects, and business analystswork together to design a data model, orchestrate ruleset execution, author, review,and test rules, and deploy the resulting business rule application to variousproduction platforms (Java SE, Java EE, z/OS or .NET).
Business rule applications based on Java or XMLAs an IT user, you work in Rule Designer to define a rule authoring andmanagement infrastructure for business users, and business users do not have tobe aware of the underlying production platform. They author, review, and managebusiness rules in the same way regardless of the platform.
You develop rule applications based on Java or XML and can deploy them to adistributed platform or WebSphere Application Server on z/OS, see Architecture ofa business rule application. For a hands-on introduction to rule applicationdevelopment based on Java, see Introduction: Getting started with business rules.
The following diagram illustrates the different tools you use to develop a businessrule application based on Java or XML, and the tasks you must carry out for thisdevelopment.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 19
Designing
You and business analysts first design the business rule application, by using RuleDesigner.v You define how you want to organize the business rule application into rule
projects, see Guidelines for organizing your application into rule projects. A ruleproject is a type of Eclipse project dedicated to the development of business ruleapplications, which you can store in a Source Code Control (SCC) system, seeDesigning a rule project.
v The set of business rules that are put together as one executable decision unit iscalled a ruleset. You define ruleset parameters to pass data from the callingapplication to the ruleset, and to retrieve data from the ruleset.
v You work with business analysts to define the vocabulary used in business rules.In Rule Designer, you then develop the business object model (BOM) whichdefines the elements and relationships in the vocabulary, see Tutorial: Defining avocabulary. You can define the vocabulary in a top-down manner, by mappingthe BOM to the Execution Object Model (XOM), a Java or XML model used at runtime. You can also create the vocabulary in a bottom-up manner, by generatingthe BOM from the XOM, and then filtering and configuring the BOM to be asuitable basis for the business vocabulary, see Designing business object models.
v In the rule project, you then organize a rule package structure for storingbusiness rules and define a ruleflow to specify the high-level flow of executionfor the business rules, see Orchestrating ruleset execution and Tutorial: Creatingyour first ruleflow.
v With the help of business analysts, you define properties for managing andtracking business rules, by using rule model extensions, see the Business rulemanagement extensions samples. Rule Designer provides editors for rule modelextensions.
v You set up business user validation tools, by configuring and customizing howtests and simulations are run with Decision Validation Services, see Tutorial:Configuring the BOM for Excel testing.
20 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Authoring
If you are responsible for creating and managing the rules, you might author mostof the business rules in the project, see Authoring rules. If business users areresponsible for the creation and management of business rules, you then createcomplex rules only and set up some tools to facilitate business rule authoring forbusiness users.v You and business analysts can create the following types of business rules:
– Action rules, see Tutorial: Creating action rules.– Decision tables, see Tutorial: Editing decision tables.– Decision treesThese business rules are all based on the Business Action Language (BAL), whichis designed to look like natural language. In addition, you can create technicalrules, which are based on the ILOG® Rule Language (IRL) and requireprogramming skills (see the Rule-based programming samples).
v You and business analysts can create business rule templates.v With the help of business analysts, you define vocabulary categories. With these
categories, you can filter the vocabulary elements that are available whenauthoring business rules.
v You can create rule authoring extensions, for example to integrate value editorsfor some vocabulary elements, or to define dynamic domains that retrieve valuesfrom a data source, see the Authoring extensions samples.
Testing
You debug the business rule application in Rule Designer. Business analysts testthat the business rule application implements the expected business logic.v You debug the ruleset (see Tutorial: Debugging a ruleset). For this purpose you
use an embedded rule engine to manage rule execution, see Debugging a ruleproject and Executing rules with an embedded rule engine .
v You or business analysts perform rule analysis by using constrained semanticqueries, see Reviewing a rule project. These queries check the consistency andcompleteness of individual rules and of the ruleset as a whole. You cancustomize the rule analysis reports.
v You or business analysts run test scenarios on rules. You can run these testsdirectly in Rule Designer, without the full Rule Execution Server environment.For more information about scenario testing, see:– Testing with Decision Validation Services– Validating ruleset execution on z/OS– Tutorial: Debugging an Excel scenario file– Sample: DVS archive testing using JUnit
v You create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can be included withsimulations to display business outcomes in Decision Center.
Integrating and deploying
You integrate and deploy the business rule application from Rule Designer.Deployment can also be done from Decision Center.v You package the ruleset into an executable archive, called a RuleApp, and write
the code to run the rule engine on this RuleApp, see the Rule engine integrationsamples.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 21
v You decide how you want to expose the RuleApp to the calling application.– Java SE rule session, see Sample: Java SE rule session.– Java EE rule session, see Sample: Java EE rule session.– Message-driven rule bean (see Sample: Message-driven rule bean)– Transparent decision service, see Sample: Web or monitored transparent
decision service and Tutorial: Executing a hosted transparent decision serviceon Java or .NET.
v You configure Rule Execution Server for the chosen application server. RuleExecution Server is a managed, monitored execution environment for deployedbusiness rules. Rule Execution Server handles the creation, pooling, andmanagement of ruleset instances so that applications can call the resultingdecisions as easily as possible. See Tutorial: Creating a web application to callDecision Server on IBM Rational® Application Developer.
v You deploy the RuleApp to Rule Execution Server. In the Rule Execution Serverconsole, you manage the RuleApps.For more information about managing RuleApps in Rule Execution Server, see:– Tutorial: Managing RuleApps– Managing the Java rule execution environment
v
To enable test execution and in particular for scenario testing, you deploy theScenario Service Provider (SSP) and the XOM to the Rule Execution Server storage.
Administering and monitoring
Rule Execution Server provides tools to administer and monitor business ruleapplications.v You use the Rule Execution Server console, Ant scripts, or enterprise
management tools (such as IBM Tivoli® or HP OpenView) and JMX MBeans tomonitor the execution of rulesets within Rule Execution Server.
v You can debug a business rule application running in Rule Execution Server, seeTutorial: Debugging a remote Rule Execution Server application.
v You create backup versions of rulesets and revert to a previous version ifnecessary.
v You also monitor and archive execution results in Decision Warehouse. You canalso gather statistics on performance.
Auditing
Ruleset execution trace data provides an audit trail of past decisions, sometimesrequired to satisfy regulatory requirements. In addition, this type of data providesa means to investigate or justify a decision rendered in a past transaction byshowing all the rules associated with that decision.v By using Decision Warehouse, Rule Execution Server you can manage, backup,
and remove stored decisions, see Auditing executed decisions.v Decision Warehouse also stores and retrieves detailed reports on rulesets for
which monitoring is enabled, see Sample: Decision Warehouse customization.v You create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Business users often use reports
to adjust business policies to reflect changing business conditions and improveperformance based on these KPIs.
Business rule applications for .NET platformsYou can deploy and execute your rules on a .NET environment.
22 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
You can run rule applications in .NET by using rulesets developed in RuleDesigner. You can deploy the ruleset as a .NET DLL into a native .NETenvironment, or expose the ruleset as a web service that you can call from a .NETenvironment. The following figure illustrates how you deploy a ruleset DLL to anative .NET environment.
Decision Server includes a .NET version of the rule engine and provides a set oftools to remap the BOM to a version that can be loaded and used in a native .NETenvironment.v You develop the BOM. If you want to execute on both Java and .NET platforms,
you can create this BOM from a Java XOM and then translate the Java XOM to a.NET XOM, for example by using the Java 2 CSharp Translator for Eclipse. Ifyour target platform is .NET only, you develop a .NET XOM. You must map theBOM to .NET classes by using BOM to XOM mapping. You cannot use the BOMEditor in Rule Designer to define this BOM to XOM mapping. You must defineit in a separate B2X file.
v In Decision Server, you generate a deployable .NET DLL. This DLL contains theruleset and the BOM. On the .NET platform, you provide a .NET ExecutionObject Model (XOM) and the associated BOM to XOM mapping. Then, youdeploy and execute the .NET DLL on the .NET platform, see Executing ruleswith the rule engine for .NET and Sample: Execution to .NET: rule engine for.NET.
To execute your rules on the .NET platform, you can also use Decision Server toexpose a ruleset as a hosted transparent decision service based on object modelsfrom the Java or the .NET environment. You write and manage rules in RuleDesigner and create a decision service to expose the business logic on the .NETplatform, see Tutorial: Executing a hosted transparent decision service on Java or.NET.v You generate XML schemas from your .NET classes by using a .NET
Framework tool. You then use the generated schema as the XOM against whichyou write rules in Rule Designer.
v You define the decision service interface by setting the ruleset parameters andadding business rules to your rule project.
v You expose the ruleset as a decision service by deploying the ruleset to RuleExecution Server. You then call the decision service from a .NET application byadding a web reference to your .NET project, see Calling decision services on.NET.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 23
Event rule application developmentTo develop event applications, developers, architects, and business analysts worktogether to design a data model, orchestrate event execution, author, review, andtest events, and deploy the resulting event application to various productionplatforms (Java SE, Java EE, or z/OS).
You develop event rule applications to implement real-time event coordinationbetween business systems (see Decision Server Events as the hub of business eventprocessing). For a hands-on introduction to event application development, seeGetting started with event rules.
You and business analysts design a data model (see Building the data model). Thedata model consists of business objects that identify where data comes from (eventobjects, data connections), and where the results of business event evaluation are sent(action objects). Business objects provide a data environment in which to processrules. Event objects construct business objects, and action objects are defined frombusiness objects.v In Event Designer, you create event assets in an event project. In this event
project, you can create a folder for each business system you want to integrate.In the business system folder, you create the following elements:– Events and event objects for events that initiate processes between business
systems.– Actions and action objects for actions that might be performed when an event
occurs.v For most events and actions, you define a connector. Event connectors pass data
to the event runtime, action connectors retrieve data from the event runtime. Thefollowing types of connectors are available:– Email– File system– FTP– HTTP– JMS
24 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
– Relational database– SOAP– User Console
v You define data connections (typically relational databases) that supply datathat is required to complete the evaluation of the business logic. For example,the logic might use the customer service level, but that data might be availableonly in a DB2® database containing a master customer table.
You and business analysts author the business logic in Event Designer, seeBuilding the business logic.v You create event rules, which determine how to interact with different business
systems. For example, an event rule can state that when a customer makes alarge financial transfer from the Transaction Processing business system, theCustomer Service business system must contact the customer, and offer aninvestment alternative.
v An event rule group consists of one or more event rules. Each event rule istriggered by an event and can trigger one or more actions. Optionally, you canuse filters to share logic among rules.
You deploy and integrate the data connections and the event assets into the eventruntime (see Deploying assets to an event runtime server).v The event runtime monitors events as they enter the system and tracks the
progress of events and corresponding actions as they move through a process(see Decision Server Events components).
v When an event occurs in a business system and potentially requires one or moreactions in another system, the relevant data (field name, field type, and value) iscalled an event payload. The connector for the business system passes this eventpayload to a JMS queue. The event runtime retrieves the message from the JMSqueue and populates the appropriate business objects with the values containedin the event payload. The event runtime parses the event, identifies the eventrule groups that reference the event, and determines whether any filters existthat require further evaluation. If an action includes an event rule, the eventruntime attempts to evaluate it to determine whether the conditions for anaction are met. If any values are missing, the event runtime attempts to retrievethe missing information from an external data connection. The action is initiatedonly if the condition is true. If the action does not include any conditions, theappropriate action is initiated.
You and business analysts test the business logic by using Event widgets.v In the Event Tester widget, you test the event logic in a business process. You
define an event template and evaluate it. You can then view the result of anyfilters that were evaluated, and look at what actions were executed. You can alsolook at time-based events that have not yet been evaluated, and time-basedactions that have not yet been executed (see Testing event logic using the EventTester widget).
v In the Event Capture widget and the Event Replay widget, you capture eventsfrom a production system, and replay a sequence of one or more of them,typically on a test system (see Testing and analyzing event logic using the EventCapture widget and the Event Replay widget).
You monitor business event processing in the runtime environment.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 25
v To gather statistics on performance, you enable Performance MonitoringInfrastructure (PMI) on WebSphere Application Server (see Monitoring DecisionServer Events).
v In the Event Chart widget, you view charts in real time that display the historyfor events, actions, and filters used in event rule group evaluation (see Usingevent widgets for monitoring Decision Server Events and testing event rules).
You administer the development and runtime environments.v In the Administration browser-based interface, you monitor and manage the
development and runtime environments, see Administering WebSphereApplication Server and Decision Server Events for more information. In thedevelopment environment, you use Administration to view system events andevent rule group processing, to ensure that the application is processing eventsand generating actions as designed. You can also run reports and view contextprocessing.
v You define user authentication and access to Event widgets (see SecuringDecision Server Events).
Decision management for business usersDecision Center is a scalable decision management server and repository withcollaborative web environments for authoring, managing, validating, anddeploying business rules and events.
Decision Center provides project governance, including role-based security, historymaintenance, and custom metadata. Business users use the same underlying rulelanguage technology for business rules and event rules, and they have access tothe same management and authoring environment. Decision Center providesenhanced collaboration between teams through multi-user access for business usersand synchronization between IT and business user environments (see “OperationalDecision Manager roles and activities” on page 14).Related information:Overview: Decision Center
Decision governanceIn the Decision Center Business console, business users can work with aready-to-use approach to change management and governance, which is based onreleases and change activities. This approach is called decision governance.
For a hands-on introduction to decision governance in Decision Center, seeTutorial: Exploring governance workflows in the Decision Center Business console.
The following diagram illustrates the main tools and tasks for decision governancein Decision Center.
26 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Synchronizing
As an IT user to enable decision governance, you publish rule projects as adecision service to Decision Center (see Decision services and Creating a decisionservice). The decision service is then available in the Decision Center Businessconsole with an initial release that business users can start managing (seeReleases). At any time, you can synchronize the decision service release thatbusiness users modified (see Synchronizing and storing rules).
Authoring
Business analysts and rule authors create change activities to author business rulesin the Decision Center Business console (see Change activities). You can integratecustom value editors that are developed in Rule Designer into the Decision CenterBusiness console (see Sample: Business console custom value editor).
Validating
Policy managers create validation activities to track and manage a test plan for therelease and the results (see Validation activities). You can then use the Enterpriseconsole to run test suites and simulations on the release. Policy managers canincorporate the report into the validation activity results (see Validating rules).
Administering
You can use the Decision Center Enterprise console to administer user access andthe configuration of the Decision Center repository. In addition, you can configureprofiles for users of the Business console (see User configuration in the Businessconsole and Sample: Business console user service integration). The DecisionCenter repository provides services that support auditing and rollback of businessrules (see Administering Decision Center).
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 27
Deploying
When all change and validation activities are complete, policy managers approveand complete the release, at which point deployment can occur. You, or policymanagers, deploy a RuleApp to Rule Execution Server from the Decision CenterEnterprise console. If the Decision Center repository is the production storage forbusiness rules, you deploy directly to the production platform. You can also deployto a test platform (see Deploying rules).
Decision management for rule projectsAs an IT user, you publish rule projects to Decision Center. By using the DecisionCenter repository, business analysts and policy managers maintain the businessrules. Reporting tools are available in the Decision Center Enterprise console, whileRule Solutions for Office is used for offline sharing of the business rules. Abusiness analyst or policy manager can then deploy the business rules to RuleExecution Server from the Enterprise console, either directly or by a staged processin cooperation with a system administrator.
For a hands-on introduction to business rule management in the Enterpriseconsole, see Getting started with business rules and Tutorials.
The following diagram illustrates the main tools and tasks for business rulemanagement in Decision Center.
When the business rule application is ready to be made available to businessanalysts and policy managers, you publish rule projects to Decision Center. At anytime, you can synchronize your working copy of the rule project with the contentsof the Decision Center repository as changed by policy managers and businessanalysts (see Synchronizing rules between business users and developers).
Policy managers and rule authors can author business rules in the Decision CenterEnterprise console, the Decision Center Business console, and in Rule Solutions forOffice. With Rule Solutions for Office, rule authors write rules in Microsoft Wordand edit decision tables in Microsoft Excel. They can create mixed rule andnon-rule content in a RuleDoc, and retain semantic information together with the
28 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
actual implementation content of the rules (see Authoring rules). You can integratebusiness rule authoring and management extensions developed in Rule Designerinto the Decision Center console and Rule Solutions for Office (see the samples:Authoring extensions for Decision Center and Business rule managementextensions for Decision Center).
Policy managers use branches to work on multiple releases of the business logic,write queries on the business rules in their rule project, and create reports toreview the results of the queries. Policy managers can use these queries to definesmart folders, a business-oriented way of viewing the contents of a rule project inthe Enterprise console. They can see the result of their work, or review the changesmade by others, by searching the business rules in their rule project (see Reviewingand managing rules).
Policy managers must be confident that business rules are written correctly andany update will not break the business logic encapsulated in the ruleset (seeValidating rules). Policy managers use the Enterprise console to validate thebusiness logic against well-defined usage scenarios, by running tests andsimulations against their rules. The Scenario Service Provider (SSP) calls RuleExecution Server to execute the rulesets and produce a report. The report providesdetails of the tests that passed and failed from a test suite or a simulation. You canstore the results of execution (input data, output data, execution flow, and whichrules were executed) in Decision Warehouse, a Rule Execution Server facility (seethe samples: Testing in Decision Center).
You can use the Enterprise console to administer user access and the configurationof the Decision Center repository. Decision Center provides history and versioningservices that support auditing and rollback of business rules (see AdministeringDecision Center).
You or policy managers deploy a ruleset to Rule Execution Server from theEnterprise console. Depending on whether the Decision Center repository is usedas the production storage for business rules, you deploy directly to the productionplatform or to a test platform (see Deploying rules).
Decision management for event projectsYou publish event projects to Decision Center. By using the Decision Centerrepository, business analysts and policy managers maintain the event rules.Reporting tools are available in the Decision Center Enterprise console. Policymanagers then deploy the event rules to the event runtime from the Enterpriseconsole, either directly or by a staged process in cooperation with a systemadministrator.
The following diagram illustrates the main tools and tasks for event managementin Decision Center.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 29
When the event application is ready to be made available to business analysts andpolicy managers, you publish event projects to Decision Center. At any time, youcan synchronize your working copy of the event project with the contents of theDecision Center repository as changed by policy managers and business analysts(see Synchronizing rules between business users and developers).
Policy managers and rule authors can author event rules in the Enterprise Console.You can integrate rule model extensions developed in Event Designer into theEnterprise console (see Authoring rules).
Policy managers use branches to work on multiple releases of the business logic,write queries on the event rules in their rule project, and create reports to reviewthe results of the queries. Policy managers can use these queries to define smartfolders, a business-oriented way of viewing the contents of an event project in theEnterprise console. They can see the result of their work, or review the changesmade by others, by searching the event rules in their event project (see Reviewingand managing rules).
Policy managers must be confident that event rules are written correctly and anyupdate will not break the business logic. To validate the business logic, policymanagers can use the Event Testing widgets. In the Event Tester widget, they cantest the event logic in a business process (see Testing event logic by using theEvent Tester widget). In the Event Capture widget and the Event Replay widget,they can capture events from a production system and replay a sequence of one ormore of them, typically on a test system (see Testing and analyzing event logic byusing the Event Capture widget and the Event Replay widget).
You can use the Decision Center Enterprise console to administer user access andthe configuration of the Decision Center repository. Decision Center provideshistory and versioning services that support auditing and rollback of business rules(see Administering Decision Center). In the Event Chart widget, you can also viewreal-time charts which display the history for events, actions, and filters used inthe evaluation of event rule groups (see Using event widgets for monitoringDecision Server Events and testing event rules).
30 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
You or policy managers deploy event assets to the event runtime from theDecision Center Enterprise console. Depending on whether the Decision Centerrepository is used as the production storage for event rules, you deploy directly tothe production platform or to a test platform (see Deploying rules).
Understanding your Operational Decision Manager installationAn overview of how the product family is divided and where the components areinstalled.
Composition of Operational Decision ManagerThe Operational Decision Manager comprises a set of components, which areinstalled on a distributed operating system.
Operational Decision Manager is divided into a number of components. Thecomponents are installed using IBM Installation Manager. Some components areinstalled by default, other components are optional. You can install what you needat any time, and make updates to your installation when and if required.Installation Manager checks your system for the prerequisite software beforeinstalling each component.
Operational Decision Manager makes use of the basic Installation Managerfeatures, including:v Select a language pack within the installerv Update an existing product packagev Modify an existing product packagev Roll Back a product packagev Uninstall a product package
The following figure shows the installable high level Operational DecisionManager components:
Decision Server and Decision Center are separate components but work incombination with each other. For example, to run the Decision Center samples andtutorials you must install both components on the same computer, and the installdirectory for one component must be known by the other. By default, theinstallation directory for both components is the same, that is, they share the sameInstallation Manager package group directory.
The following set of components can be installed on a distributed platform:v “Decision Server ” on page 32
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 31
v “Decision Center” on page 33
Decision Server
Table 4. Decision Server Rules
Component Description
Rule Designer A business rule application developmenttool for developers, modelers, and architects.
Installed by default:
v
Rule engine
An instance of a rule engine evaluates theconditions of the business rules againstthe objects to determine which rules areeligible to be executed.
v
Rule engine for .NET
A rule engine that evaluates rules on the.NET platform.
v
COBOL Management
Management capabilities to be able tocreate rule projects that are based on aCOBOL model.
Non default options:
v
Scorecard Modeler
Scorecard Modeler extends the capabilitiesof Rule Designer by providing aready-to-use scoring model complete withpredefined scoring and reasoningstrategies.
Rule Execution Server A managed business rule execution platformthat embeds the rule engine.
Rule Execution Server application serverarchives
The Rule Execution Server Java EEdeployment archives for each supportedapplication server.
If you want to configure Rule ExecutionServer on a supported application serverother than WebSphere Application Server,you must select the option for the supportedapplication server.
Table 5. Business Rules Embedded
Component Description
Business Rules Embedded You use the Business Rules Embedded toembed business rules into your applications.
32 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Table 6. Decision Server Events
Component Description
Event Designer Event Designer is used to design, develop,test, deploy, maintain, and monitor eventapplications.
Event runtime The event runtime manages the real-timebusiness event coordination that was definedduring application development. The eventruntime can be deployed and configured onWebSphere Application Server.
Event Widgets The Event Capture widget and Event Replaywidgets are typically used by business userswho, for testing purposes, want to captureevents from a system, and replay a sequenceof one or more of them, typically on a testsystem.
The Event Tester widget is typically used bybusiness users who want to test the eventlogic in a business process.
The following figure shows a complete Decision Server installation:
Decision Center
Component Description
Decision Center A set of business rule management tools forpolicy managers and business users,including an Enterprise console, a Businessconsole, and a shared repository.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 33
Component Description
Rule Solutions for Office Rule Solutions for Office provides add-insfor Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel,enabling you to author and manage businessrules using Microsoft Office.
Decision Center Installed by default:
v
Event Capture widget and Event Replaywidget
The Event Capture widget and EventReplay widgets are typically used bybusiness users who, for testing purposes,want to capture events from a system, andreplay a sequence of one or more of them,typically on a test system.
v
Event Tester widget
The Event Tester widget is typically usedby business users who want to test theevent logic in a business process.
v
Event Chart Manager widget, Event Chartwidget, and Event Layout widget
These widgets are used to develop anddisplay charts that show system activityin real time, including event processing,action creation, event rule groupevaluation, and total and average valuesof numeric fields.
v
Events User Console
The User Console provides the capabilityof integrating human activities into theprocess flow.
Decision Center application server archives The Decision Center Java EE deploymentarchives for each supported applicationserver.
If you want to configure Decision Center ona supported application server in other thanWebSphere Application Server, you mustselect the option for the supportedapplication server.
The following figure shows a complete Decision Center installation:
34 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
SecurityTo help you configure applications safely, application servers check access to theresources and manage access rights.
Operational Decision Manager has been certified to support Federal InformationProcessing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 and the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST) Special Publications 800-131a security standard.
The FIPS 140-2 standard is an information technology security accreditationprogram to certify cryptographic modules for use in government departments andregulated industries that collect, store, transfer, share, and disseminate sensitive butunclassified information.
To configure WebSphere Application Server V8.5 to run in NIST SP800-131A mode(transition mode or strict mode) go to the following page: Configuring WebSphereApplication Server for SP800-131 standard strict mode.
Configuration of a secure mode on an application server provides ways to increasethe security of the application that you deploy.
In secure mode, an application server:v Checks access to the resources: access to a class using the Java reflection
mechanism is not permitted without the appropriate security rights.v Manages access rights: Rule Execution Server Console access is managed with
this mechanism.
By default, Rule Execution Server is installed with a minimum of security. TheRule Execution Server Console application defines three specific roles:resAdministrators, resDeployers, and resMonitors. The roles control access to thevarious JSP/Servlets.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 35
There is no specific permissions implementation for Rule Execution Server MBeans.All that is required to access the MBeans using JMX are the correct credentials.
Java 2 Security provides a policy-based, fine-grain access control mechanism thatincreases overall system integrity. Java 2 Security is independent of Java EErole-based authorization. Java 2 Security can be disabled and enabledindependently of global security. However, on certain application servers whenglobal security is enabled, Java 2 Security is also enabled. Note that Java 2 securitycan be disabled even though global security is enabled.
Note: Security configuration of Rule Execution Server might relate to yourapplication, domain, or server-scoped security policy in your enterprise. Reviewsecurity settings for applications that call Rule Execution Server with your Java EEapplication architect or system administrator as appropriate.
You complete the installation of Decision Center and Rule Execution Server byusing an Installation Settings wizard. For Decision Center, the Installation Settingswizard helps you create the correct groups in your application server when you setup security access. For Rule Execution Server, the Installation Settings wizard helpsyou create the correct type of database schemas.
Communication protocolsRule Execution Server support HTTP and the secured HTTPS communicationprotocol. You can customize the protocol factory.
Communication with Rule Execution Server supports the HTTP or HTTPScommunication protocols. Communication with Rule Execution Server can occurfrom Decision Center or Rule Designer.
You can customize the communication in two ways:v To support nontrusted certificates in secure mode.v To support custom protocols.
Secure mode
By default, HTTPS supports only trusted certificates. As a consequence, when youcommunicate with Rule Execution Server in secure mode, you cannot connectusing a demo certificate that is not trusted by the default JVM. Your applicationserver raises an SSL handshake exception if you try to connect using a nontrusteddemo certificate. To enable communication to work with nontrusted certificates,add the following Java system property in the start script of the application server:
-Dilog.rules.res.allowSelfSignedCertificate=true
To allow HTTPS on nontrusted self-signed certificates for Ant tasks, set the Javasystem property ilog.rules.res.allowSelfSignedCertificate to true, as follows:
<property name="ilog.rules.res.allowSelfSignedCertificate" value="true"/>
Custom protocols
You can customize the protocol factory for a specific protocol by using thefollowing system properties:v custom.protocol.factory: The fully qualified name of the protocol factory.
36 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
v custom.protocol.scheme: The protocol name for which the protocol factory iscustomized.
v custom.protocol.defaultPort: The default port used for the protocol if no port isspecified in the URL.
You must launch the JVM that initiates the HTTP communication with thesesystem properties and your implementation of the protocol factory classorg.apache.commons.httpclient.protocol.ProtocolSocketFactory in the class path.
The protocol factory specified in custom.protocol.factory is instantiated andregistered if both the following conditions are satisfied:v The HTTP client is instantiated.v The protocol in the URL used for communication is the same as the value of the
property custom.protocol.scheme.
You can implement the protocol in one of the following ways:v Execute an Ant task with the system properties:
-Dcustom.protocol.factory=com.ilog.MyProtocolFactory-Dcustom.protocol.scheme=https -Dcustom.protocol.defaultPort=443
v Add the properties to the build.xml file:<property name="custom.protocol.factory" value="com.ilog.MyProtocolFactory"/><property name="custom.protocol.scheme" value="https"/><property name="custom.protocol.defaultPort" value="443"/>
Third-party tools and SAMThe Operational Decision Manager installers install open-source third-partysoftware.
Third-party toolsThird-party open-source software tools are included with Operational DecisionManager.
Open source software:
Operational Decision Manager includes a number of third-party open-sourcelibraries and tools to enhance your user experience with the product.v “Eclipse”v “Apache Ant” on page 38
IBM gratefully acknowledges the work of the Open Source community and themany independent developers that build and support these Open Source packages.
The open source packages are provided to enhance Operational Decision Manager.The packages are not supported by IBM and IBM does not endorse their suitabilityfor production use. For support, refer to the relevant user community through theHome Page for each package.
Eclipse:
Optionally, you can install Eclipse if you do not already have a version of this IDEinstalled.
The standard Operational Decision Manager installer provides Eclipse as anoptional environment for the convenience of users. Eclipse is required for
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 37
successful application development with Operational Decision Manager, but userscan choose to install Operational Decision Manager onto an existing, versioncompatible, Eclipse installation. You do not have to incorporate Eclipse intoapplications that you develop using Operational Decision Manager. However,certain features might require that specific Eclipse libraries be included in the finalapplication.
Apache Ant:
Apache Ant is installed to provide a preconfigured build and deployment scripts.
Version 1.7.1 of Ant, the Java-based build tool, is provided in the<InstallDir>/shared/tools/ant directory.
For more information about Ant, see http://ant.apache.org.
Ant is installed as part of the Operational Decision Manager installation. Itprovides a preconfigured build and deployment scripts. These scripts are integralto development of applications that incorporate Operational Decision Manager andcan be useful as an element of the final application. However, they are notmandatory elements of Operational Decision Manager applications. In OperationalDecision Manager powered applications, all product features are fully functionaleven if Ant has not been incorporated into the final application.
Software Asset Management systemSoftware Asset Management (SAM) is installed as the license enforcement system.
About Software Asset Management:
You must include the sam.jar file in the business rule applications that youdevelop.
Software Asset Management (SAM) is the license enforcement system ofOperational Decision Manager. SAM takes the form of a JAR file, named sam.jar,that must be included in the class path of any business rule application developedwith Operational Decision Manager.
The sam.jar file is specific to a particular customer, but it can be used on multiplemachines belonging to that customer.
Note:
There can be many copies of the sam.jar file across the Operational DecisionManager distribution. To enable the use of any Operational Decision Managermodule, the SAM file must be visible in the class path of the module.
SAM, license files, and the product installers:
During the installation of the products, the installer creates or updates the sam.jarfiles to include the licenses you have purchased for the modules that you areinstalling.
The license details are based on the installer that you used (evaluation orcommercial version) and the installation passwords that you provided.
38 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
v If you are granted extra access over previously installed modules (an evaluationextension, for example), you must launch the installer to reinstall the moduleswith the new rights.
v If you are granted access to extra modules, you must launch the installer toinstall them and to update all the SAM JARs for the entire file tree to include thenew access, typically, to the SAM JARs of the old and the new modules. Tobenefit from the extra access beyond the installed tree, in Eclipse or on anapplication server), you must redeploy from the updated tree.
Making the SAM license visible:
After you have installed a module, make the SAM license visible in the class pathof this module.
About this task
To be able to use the product, you must make sure that the license details arevisible in the SAM file for each module.
Procedure
To make the license visible:1. Install the module on your machine.
The installer inserts a license file in the installation. The license file is includedin the sam.jar.
2. Make sure the JAR file is in the appropriate class path such that the license fileswithin the JAR are visible when you run the Operational Decision Managermodules.
Note:
If you use the classpath_*.xml file to set your class path, the license file isautomatically included. The classpath_*.xml file is located in the libsubdirectory of the corresponding Operational Decision Manager component.
Licenses and archive repackaging:
If you repackage the module archives containing the sam.jar file, you mustrepackage this file, too.
For information on Decision Center repackaging, see the configuring anddeployment documentation for your application server.
Licenses and multiple rule applications:
If you develop more than one business rule application, a message is displayed inthe console output when you run your application. In this case, you must specifythe SAM application name for each application.
Depending on the components that you include in your application, you canspecify the SAM application name in any of the following ways:v By setting a property within your ruleset: see the IlrPropertyNames interfacev By using the IlrRuleset.setApplication(java.lang.string) method
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 39
v By setting the Java system property ilog.sam.application when starting yourapplication
v By using the ruleset property ilog.sam.application in the Rule Execution ServerConsole
AccessibilityAccessibility features enable people with disabilities, such as restricted mobilityand limited vision, to work successfully with Operational Decision Manager.
This product supports the following accessibility features:
Keyboard shortcuts
You can navigate through the different Operational Decision Managerenvironments and their documentation using keyboard shortcuts. The rulemanagement environments, including Eclipse and Microsoft Office, providedocumentation on their accessibility features. You can also find topics thatcover keyboard shortcuts in the documentation for Operational DecisionManager.
Magnification
You can use the settings of display systems to magnify developmentinterfaces and supporting documentation
Screen reading
You can use a screen reader with a digital speech synthesizer, such as IBMEasy Web Browsing, to hear what is displayed on your screen. Consult thedocumentation with your assistive technology for details on using it withthis product suite and its documentation.
Technical documentation
The IBM product information centers share a browser-based environment that youcan access using a web browser.
Keyboard shortcuts
The following table lists Operational Decision Manager modules and their topicson keyboard shortcuts.
Product module Keyboard shortcut topics
Rule Solutions for Office v Ruleflow Editor keyboard shortcuts
v Rule editor keyboard shortcuts
Decision Center v Business rules: User options
v Event rules: User options
Decision Server Events v Accessibility
40 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Related concepts:“Accessibility features of the information center”Accessibility features help users with physical disabilities, such as restrictedmobility or limited vision, to use information technology products successfully.
Accessibility features of the information centerAccessibility features help users with physical disabilities, such as restrictedmobility or limited vision, to use information technology products successfully.
Use the major accessibility features in this product to complete the followingactions:v Use assistive technologies, such as screen-reader software and digital speech
synthesizer, to use what is displayed on the screen. Consult the productdocumentation of the assistive technology for details on using those technologieswith this product.
v Operate specific or equivalent features using the keyboard only. Use thefollowing keyboard combinations to navigate the information center:– To go directly to the right Topic pane, press Alt+K, and then press Tab.– In the Topic pane, to go from link to link, press Tab.– To move to the contents (navigation) view, complete one of the following
actions:- For Microsoft Internet Explorer, press Alt+C, and then press Enter or the
Up arrow.- For Firefox, press Alt+C.
– To move to the Search Results view, complete one of the following actions:- For Microsoft Internet Explorer, press Alt+R, and then press Enter or the
Up arrow.- For Firefox, press Alt+R.
– To expand or collapse a node in the navigation tree, press the Right or Leftarrows.
– To move to the next topic node, press the Down arrow or Tab.– To move to the previous topic node, press the Up arrow or Shift+Tab.– To go to the next link, button, or topic node from inside one of the views,
press Tab.– To scroll to the beginning or end of a pane, press Home or End.– To move to the previous topic, press Alt+Left arrow; to move to the next
topic, press Alt+Right arrow.– To go to the next pane, press F6.– To move to the previous pane, press Shift+F6.– To print the active pane, press Ctrl+P.– To use Open Quick Menu to search or print a topic and its subtopics:
- Open the menu by pressing Alt+M on a topic in the content (navigation)view.
- Move to the previous item on the menu by pressing the Up arrow.- Move to the next item on the menu by pressing the Down arrow.- Select an item on the menu by moving to the item and pressing Enter.- Close the menu by pressing Esc.
– Magnify what is displayed on the screen. Consult your Web browserdocumentation for information on how to change the text size.
Overview: Operational Decision Manager 41
The information center documentation includes the following additional features toaid accessibility:v The documentation is available in HTML formats to help users apply
screen-reader software technology.v Images in the documentation are provided with alternative text so that users
with vision impairments can use the contents of the images.
42 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Notices
This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A.
IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document inother countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on theproducts and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBMproduct, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBMproduct, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product,program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right maybe used instead. However, it is the user's responsibility to evaluate and verify theoperation of any non-IBM product, program, or service.
IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matterdescribed in this document. The furnishing of this document does not grant youany license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to:
IBM United Kingdom Laboratories,Mail Point 151,Hursley Park,Winchester,Hampshire,England SO21 2JN
For license inquiries regarding double-byte character set (DBCS) information,contact the IBM Intellectual Property Department in your country or sendinquiries, in writing, to:
Intellectual Property LicensingLegal and Intellectual Property LawIBM Japan, Ltd.19-21, Nihonbashi-Hakozakicho, Chuo-kuTokyo 103-8510, Japan
The following paragraph does not apply to the United Kingdom or any othercountry where such provisions are inconsistent with local law:INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION PROVIDES THISPUBLICATION "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHEREXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIEDWARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESSFOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some states do not allow disclaimer of express orimplied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not applyto you.
This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will beincorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvementsand/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in thispublication at any time without notice.
Any references in this information to non-IBM Web sites are provided forconvenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2008, 2013 43
websites. The materials at those websites are not part of the materials for this IBMproduct and use of those websites is at your own risk.
IBM may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way itbelieves appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.
Licensees of this program who wish to have information about it for the purposeof enabling: (i) the exchange of information between independently createdprograms and other programs (including this one) and (ii) the mutual use of theinformation which has been exchanged, should contact:
IBM United Kingdom Laboratories,Mail Point 151,Hursley Park,Winchester,Hampshire,England SO21 2JN
Such information may be available, subject to appropriate terms and conditions,including in some cases, payment of a fee.
The licensed program described in this document and all licensed materialavailable for it are provided by IBM under terms of the IBM Customer Agreement,IBM International Program License Agreement or any equivalent agreementbetween us.
Any performance data contained herein was determined in a controlledenvironment. Therefore, the results obtained in other operating environments mayvary significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-levelsystems and there is no guarantee that these measurements will be the same ongenerally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may have beenestimated through extrapolation. Actual results may vary. Users of this documentshould verify the applicable data for their specific environment.
Information concerning non-IBM products was obtained from the suppliers ofthose products, their published announcements or other publicly available sources.IBM has not tested those products and cannot confirm the accuracy ofperformance, compatibility or any other claims related to non-IBM products.Questions on the capabilities of non-IBM products should be addressed to thesuppliers of those products.
This information contains examples of data and reports used in daily businessoperations. To illustrate them as completely as possible, the examples include thenames of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of these names arefictitious and any similarity to the names and addresses used by an actual businessenterprise is entirely coincidental.
COPYRIGHT LICENSE:
This information contains sample application programs in source language, whichillustrate programming techniques on various operating platforms. You may copy,modify, and distribute these sample programs in any form without payment toIBM, for the purposes of developing, using, marketing or distributing applicationprograms conforming to the application programming interface for the operatingplatform for which the sample programs are written. These examples have notbeen thoroughly tested under all conditions. IBM, therefore, cannot guarantee or
44 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
imply reliability, serviceability, or function of these programs. The sampleprograms are provided "AS IS", without warranty of any kind. IBM shall not beliable for any damages arising out of your use of the sample programs.
Each copy or any portion of these sample programs or any derivative work, mustinclude a copyright notice as follows:
© (your company name) (year). Portions of this code are derived from IBM Corp.Sample Programs. © Copyright IBM Corp. _enter the year or years_.
TrademarksIBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks ofInternational Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies.A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright andtrademark information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, othercountries, or both.
Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks of MicrosoftCorporation in the United States, other countries, or both.
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and othercountries.
Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Notices 45
46 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
Index
Aaccessibility
disabilitykeyboard shortcuts 40
administratorsroles 14, 19, 24, 26
architectsroles 14, 19, 24
archivesrepackaging, license aspect 39
Bbusiness agility 10business analysts
roles 14, 19, 24, 26business and IT cycles
synchronizing 10Business Event Processing 10, 12
as an expression of event patterndetection 10
business rule applications 14developing 19, 23integrating 19, 23licenses 38on .NET data 19, 23on COBOL data 19on Java or XML data 19
Business Rule Management 10, 12, 26as an expression of business
policy 10business users 26
managing business rules 26managing event rules 26
Ccommunication protocols
customizing 36in secure mode 36
customizingcommunication protocol 36
Ddecision management
activities 14for business users 26roles 14separated of applications 10
decision management for businessusers 14
decision management strategiesBusiness Event Processing 12Business Rule Management 12choosing 12
developersroles 14, 19, 24
EEclipse
as an installation option 37event rule applications 14
developing 24integrating 24
FFederal Information Processing Standards
FIPS 35
Ggovernance 26
rule validation 26
Iinstalling components
overview 31
Llicenses
Software Asset Management 38
MMicrosoft Excel
authoring business rules 26Microsoft Word
authoring business rules 26
Nnew features
overview 1, 5
Oopen source software 37
Ppolicy managers
roles 14, 26
Rroles
administrators 14architects 14business analysts 14developers 14policy managers 14
roles (continued)rule authors 14
rule authorsroles 14, 26
SSAM
See Software Asset Management(SAM)
scenarios 26secure mode
in communication protocol 36security
for archive deployment atinstallation 35
simulations 26Software Asset Management (SAM)
license enforcement system 38synchronizing
business and IT cycles 10
Vvalidating
decisions 26
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2008, 2013 47
48 IBM Operational Decision Manager: Overview: Operational Decision Manager product family
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Printed in USA
