James Taylor of Decision Management Solutions and Claye Greene of Technology Blue present some advice and best practices on adopting open source business rules for decision management. The webinar recording is available here: http://decisionmanagement.omnovia.com/archives/64461

1. Best practices for using JBoss Drools James Taylor, CEO

2. Your presenters Claye Greene Managing DirectorTechnology Blue 15 years of decision-centric solution experience Decision Management strategist SOA practitioner Kristy Sanders Principal ConsultantTechnology Blue 15 years of decision-centric solution experience Decision Management architect and developer Drools practitioner Senior project leader and client liaison

3. Decision Management An approach or business discipline for automating and improving decision-making It improves day to day business results by Supporting Automating and Improving operational decisions It builds on existing enterprise applications to put data to work manage uncertainty increase transparency give the business control

4. ©2009 Decision Management Solutions 4 5 core principles of decisioning Identify, separate and manage decisions Use business rules to define decisions Analytics to make decisions smarter No answer is static Decision-making is a process

5. ©2009 Decision Management Solutions 5 JBoss Drools Drools 5 Rule Engine Web-based management framework (Guvnor) Ruleflow and workflow Event handling Two versions Community Edition JBoss Enterprise BRMS

7. Traditional benefits of open source technologies are not wholly applicable when considering open source Decision Management.

8. Successful open source Decision Management adoption requires both strategic and tactical perspective.

9. Success requires balancing expectations between open source benefits and Decision Management benefits.

10. Recent lessons learned can be used to perform the balancing act and create meaningful ROI. Key takeaways Key takeaways from today’s webinar

11. Spotlight: open source Decision Management

12. Introduction Assessing the value of open source solutions: the debate is longstanding, and the considerations are well-known. Introduction Is the solution easier to customize? Are there established, proven best-practices and solutions? Is it scalable, maintainable and performing? Is the product mature enough? Will it reduce my overall cost of ownership? Are there available resources to assist me? Can I reduce my dependency on vendors? Is there quality support available?

13. Introduction Top reasons enterprises are embracing open source solutions Introduction

14. Introduction Open source maturity From stand alone, to integration, to enterprise Introduction Maturity Time

15. Introduction Ready for prime time? First, the strategic considerations. Decision Management requires a different perspective. Open source reasons are not wholly applicable. Introduction

17. Decision Tables

18. Rule flows

19. Guided editor

20. Debug tools

21. API for integration

23. Best practice 1: Debunk the myths

24. Best practice 1: Debunk the myths Myth #1 Open source solutions cost less Proven methodologies, practices and standards are key to lower TCO. Best practice 1: Debunk the myths Open source COTS Cost License Development Maintain TCO Perspective estimates from technical-oriented solution (estimated 92% TLC)

25. Best practice 1: Debunk the myths Myth #2 Open source solutions are easier to customize While customizations might be easier, the cost of maintenance can skyrocket. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Customize judiciously. Best practice 1: Debunk the myths $

26. Best practice 1: Debunk the myths Myth # 3 Free exchange of solutions, components and applications Decision Management enables strategic advantage over the competition. Our strategic advantage is our livelihood. Not all things are worth sharing. Best practice 1: Debunk the myths

27. Best practice 2: Know your audience

28. Best practice 2: Know your audience Technically-oriented implementation Best practice 2: Know your audience Business-oriented implementation

29. Best practice 2: Know your audience The business should play a critical path role in the BRMS solution. Don’t forget about the “Business” in Business Rules Management Systems Best practice 2: Know your audience

30. Best practice 3: Remember why you are here

33. Don’t forget about governance.

34. Don’t move your legacy application to a new platform.You are here to better manage your decisions, not manage more code. Best practice 3: Remember why you are here

35. Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls

36. Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls rule "initialize cross sell products" when $req:CISCrossSellProductServiceRequest(type=="web") $log:Logger() then $log.info("rule fired: initialize cross sell products" ); ArrayList productList = $req.getProductList(); for (int i = 0; i< productList.size(); i++) { Product p = (Product)productList.get(i); calculateDaysSinceLastCS(p.lastCSDate); if (p.daysSinceLastCS <= p.minDaysBetweenCS) { p.eligibleForCrossSell = true; } else { p.eligibleForCrossSell = false; } $log.info(" eligibleForCrossSell =“ + p.eligibleForCrossSell ); } update($req); end Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls Original Rule Illustrative example

37. Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls Make rules atomic rule "initialize cross sell products" when $req:CISCrossSellProductServiceRequest(type=="web") $log:Logger() then $log.info("rule fired: initialize cross sell products" ); ArrayList productList = $req.getProductList(); for (int i = 0; i< productList.size(); i++) { Product p = (Product)productList.get(i); calculateDaysSinceLastCS(p.lastCSDate); if (p.daysSinceLastCS <= p.minDaysBetweenCS) { p.eligibleForCrossSell = true; } else { p.eligibleForCrossSell = false; } $log.info(" eligibleForCrossSell =“ + p.eligibleForCrossSell ); } update($req); end Illustrative example

38. Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls rule "initialize cross sell products" when $req:CISCrossSellProductServiceRequest(type=="web") $log:Logger() then $log.info("rule fired: initialize cross sell products" ); ArrayList productList = $req.getProductList(); for (int i = 0; i< productList.size(); i++) { Product p = (Product)productList.get(i); calculateDaysSinceLastCS(p.lastCSDate); if (p.daysSinceLastCS <= p.minDaysBetweenCS) { p.eligibleForCrossSell = true; } else { p.eligibleForCrossSell = false; } $log.info(" eligibleForCrossSell =“ + p.eligibleForCrossSell ); } update($req); end Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls No nested if statements Illustrative example

39. Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls rule "initialize cross sell products" when $req:CISCrossSellProductServiceRequest(type=="web") $log:Logger() then $log.info("rule fired: initialize cross sell products" ); ArrayList productList = $req.getProductList(); for (int i = 0; i< productList.size(); i++) { Product p = (Product)productList.get(i); calculateDaysSinceLastCS(p.lastCSDate); if (p.daysSinceLastCS <= p.minDaysBetweenCS) { p.eligibleForCrossSell = true; } else { p.eligibleForCrossSell = false; } $log.info(" eligibleForCrossSell =“ + p.eligibleForCrossSell ); } update($req); end Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls No business logic in functions Illustrative example

40. Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls rule "initialize cross sell products" when $req:CISCrossSellProductServiceRequest(type=="web") $log:Logger() then $log.info("rule fired: initialize cross sell products" ); ArrayList productList = $req.getProductList(); for (int i = 0; i< productList.size(); i++) { Product p = (Product)productList.get(i); calculateDaysSinceLastCS(p.lastCSDate); if (p.daysSinceLastCS <= p.minDaysBetweenCS) { p.eligibleForCrossSell = true; } else { p.eligibleForCrossSell = false; } $log.info(" eligibleForCrossSell =“ + p.eligibleForCrossSell ); } update($req); end Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls Use event listeners Illustrative example

41. Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls rule "initialize cross sell products" when $req:CISCrossSellProductServiceRequest(type=="web") $log:Logger() then $log.info("rule fired: initialize cross sell products" ); ArrayList productList = $req.getProductList(); for (int i = 0; i< productList.size(); i++) { Product p = (Product)productList.get(i); calculateDaysSinceLastCS(p.lastCSDate); if (p.daysSinceLastCS <= p.minDaysBetweenCS) { p.eligibleForCrossSell = true; } else { p.eligibleForCrossSell = false; } $log.info(" eligibleForCrossSell =“ + p.eligibleForCrossSell ); } update($req); end Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls Flatten object model Illustrative example

42. Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls rule “calculate days since last cross sell" when $req:CISCrossSellProductServiceRequest(type=="web") $product:Product(daysSinceLastCS == 0) then int days = (today.getTime() - $product.getTime()) / (1000L*60L*60L*24L); modify( $product ) { setDaysSinceLastCS(days) }; end rule “determine if eligibile for cross sell" when $req:CISCrossSellProductServiceRequest(type=="web") $product:Product(daysSinceLastCS > 0, daysSinceLastCS <= minDaysBetweenCS) then modify( $product ) { setEligibileForCrossSell(true) }; end Best practice 4: Avoid common rule writing pitfalls Refactored When in doubt, increase rule count and reduce rule complexity

43. Best practice 5: Preserve the past to predict the future

44. Best practice 5: Preserve the past to predict the future Best practice 5: Preserve the past to predict the future Tracking, storing and analyzing decision outcome data is critical to creating smarter businesses. Drools Flow allows for the capture and storage of meaningful rule invocation data Business rules are update to improve the consistency, precision and efficiency of decisioning Business process Rule Author Customer Interaction Rule invocation data Determine Eligibility Analyze and adjust Rule Repository Business Intelligence Data Warehouse Customer Retention Business Analytics strategically address forecasted trends, opportunities and challenges Business Analytics

45. Best practice 6: Consider your environment

46. Best practice 6: Consider your environment Standalone or integrated? Knowing how you will use Drools is critical to making the right design decisions. Best practice 6: Consider your environment

48. Don’t forget about the “Business” in Business Rules Management Systems

49. Don’t forget the “Decision” in Decision Management

50. Avoid J.A.B.O.R. = Just A Bunch Of Rules

51. Follow rule writing best practices

52. Think about the future

53. Consider your environmentKey takeaways

54. Questions

55. Additional information Decision Management Solutions & Technology Blue: Training workshops and strategy sessions Project assessments to accelerate projects Best practices and knowledge transfer Full support for systems implementation Real-world Drools experience ©2010 Decision Management Solutions 37 kristysanders@technologyblue.com clayegreene@technologyblue.com james@decisionmanagementsolutions.com