What is the best way to evaluate the technical properties of a Decision Management System?
By first figuring out what you need. So, I have to think about which decision technology I need in advance. Are business rules enough for me, is Machine Learning a requirement, is streaming analysis important, and do I perhaps also need some optimization procedures? You have to be clear about these four requirements at the beginning. They should be put in writing and formulated as a basis for selecting providers via RFIs and RFPs.
The next step is often a proof-of-concept (PoC) to show that the selected solution is able to meet the requirements. Some customers ask for a trial license to experience the system for themselves and find out what it can do. Others have a specific project for which we, as a provider, set up a PoC to demonstrate how the system can be deployed.
But we also often work with IT specialists who would like to get involved themselves and are not interested in us taking on the project management for the implementation of the Decision Management System. These are mostly people who have decided that they need a Decision Management System solution – for example because they want to decouple the logic from the application. It’s also often about agility, because you can develop within the system very quickly. In our system, you can set up a logic snippet rapidly using drag and drop. I have already programmed a lot in Java myself, but with templates and ready-made modules you can reach your goal much faster.
What does that look like in the real world?
For example, you don’t have to write a test case and insert a new category. You click on “Create new rule test” and see the possible input and output data. Then you just have to select them and define what should come out at the other end. We also have ready-made rule sets for typical compliance scenarios that occur repeatedly at banks and insurance companies, so that you don’t have to create them from scratch. For example, a bank must ensure that transactions are not carried out with people who are on a blacklist and who could be terrorists or other criminals. There is, for example, a template that performs exactly this kind of check based on rules technology.
Are there any other decision criteria?
If, for example, you have an event stream platform that continuously produces data, and the Decision Management System needs to be integrated into this platform, it makes sense to choose a provider who delivers this as part of the solution. In this environment, however, customers often opt for an open source solution like Kafka, which they integrate using Java and the appropriate rules.