DOAG SIG Day - Siebel Business Rules. Alexander Heinze Principal Sales Consultant

Transcription

1 DOAG SIG Day - Siebel Business Rules Alexander Heinze Principal Sales Consultant

2 The preceding is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle s products remain at the sole discretion of Oracle.

3 Topics Covered The Business of Business Rules Scenario Business Rules Concepts Siebel Business Rules Summary Demo Siebel Business Rules

4 Topics Covered The Business of Business Rules Scenario Business Rules Concepts Siebel Business Rules Summary Demo Siebel Business Rules

5 What are Business Rules? Wikipedia: Business rules or business rulesets describe the operations, definitions and constraints that apply to an organization in achieving its goals. Business perspective: A directive intended to influence or guide business s behavior in the application Guidance that there is an obligation concerning conduct, action, practice, or procedure within a particular activity or sphere. IT perspective: A statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the business It is intended to assert business structure or to control or influence the behavior of the business.

6 What are Business Rules? Declarative Expressed in Natural Language Follow an If-Then Syntax Atomic a Single Rule is Either True or False Examples: If the customer has spent more than $1, in the past year Then the customer s status is Premium. If the customer has spent more than $5, in the past year Then the customer s status is Premium-Super. If the customer s status is not Premium or Premium-Super Then the customer s status is Regular.

7 Traditional Sequential Solutions Traditionally, business rules like these are recorded by business analysts. Developers than implement a sequential algorithm that sets customer status by using code, script, or another sequential approach.

8 Business Rules Approach Business Rules are stored in their business analyst, If-Then, natural language representation. During execution, the Business Rules Engine uses an algorithm known as RETE to determine the rules that apply and the order they need to run in.

9 Business Rules Approach Siebel Application Servers Object Manager Rules Web Admin Bus Server Logic Proxy Layer Service EAI Data Layer Database Haley Inference Engine Haley Knowledge Base Rules Authoring

10 Benefits of Business Rules Increased Quality Business Spec to Implementation translation errors removed Becomes rare to break existing logic by making a change! Increase Agility Time to market/deployment is significantly reduced Business specification is the implementation Elimination of key time consuming operations Where does this change need to be made? What has been broken by making this change? Increase Transparency & Traceability Reduce black-box behavior of business applications Retain link between application logic and business policies Business can see and understand the current logic

11 Topics Covered The Business of Business Rules Scenario Business Rules Concepts Siebel Business Rules Summary Demo Siebel Business Rules

12 Usage Scenarios Dynamic business processes Business processes are frequently dynamic; that is, their requirements and parameters can change. For example, insurance application approval, credit card approval, and insurance claim processing prerequisites can change over time. Complex business processes Business processes frequently contain branches that depend on results of previous steps. By processing data with rules in order to provide input to branching logic, changes to the business logic can be made declaratively instead of relying on entirely scripted solutions. Field validations Besides easier implementation and maintenance during the life of a Siebel release, basic field validations that are implemented with a rules engine are more easily and directly maintained across a Siebel upgrade than scripts used to do validations. Auto-populating field values You can declaratively populate fields that depend on other field values, instead of doing such populating with scripting.

13 Sample Scenario Siebel customer has concept of Pods for Service Request types Pods are assigned based on the Service Request s area/subarea/geo/topic. Pods are dynamic! Sudden increase in volume of types of SR s drive the creation of new Pods to manage the situation. Siebel customer wants to assign SR Priority from Profitability and potentially Customer Status. Profitability is tracked as Low, Medium or High Customer Status is currently tracked, not yet used for Priority. Skip

14 Scenario SR s s entered and Rules determine Pod and Priority SR s s Managed and Resolved New Business Rules Trend Analysis Product/Geo/Topic

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20 Scenario SR s s entered and Rules determine Pod and Priority SR s s Managed and Resolved New Business Rules Trend Analysis Product/Geo/Topic

21 Scenario Summary Siebel Business Rules support custom logic on any Siebel data Logic can be rapidly changed, tested, and deployed Changes to SRF, Database, not required. Complex scripting is avoided.

22 Topics Covered The Business of Business Rules Scenario Business Rules Concepts Siebel Business Rules Summary Demo Siebel Business Rules Skip

23 Terminology Rete Algorithm Efficient pattern matching algorithm for implementing rule-based systems used by the Business Rules Engine Efficiency is asymptotically independent of the number of rules. Rete is several or many times faster than any known, alternative algorithm.

24 Terminology Knowledge Base (KB ) DB to hold rules metadata Modules A logical grouping of Rules statements Concepts Relations The Business Rules Engine Object Model types are: Entity maps to Siebel BC Value maps to BC field Link concepts Entities to Entities (Account_Opportunity) Entities to Values (Account_Name)

25 Terminology (cont) Phrasings Natural language syntax created for Concepts and Relations. Account Concept: Account Accounts Account s Account_Name Relation: an Account s Name is an Account has a Name the Name of the Account is Account_Opportunity Relation: an Account has Opportunities associated to it Phrasing is the core of natural language syntax that is used to define Rule Statements.

26 Terminology (cont) Actions Used in the then clause of the rule definitions Performs callbacks to the Siebel application Returns list of values: Invalidates the input: Pass back an error text to UI: add currency literal add currency value add - value invalidate with - reason raise error - text Set a field in Siebel BC: Validate the input: set currency field value set currency field value literal set field - value validate

27 Terminology (cont) Functions Procedural relation that returns values: large number of standard functions Siebel specific e.g. GetProfileAttr Predicate Special type of Function that returns True or False

28 Mapping Siebel Metadata Business Component Business Rules Engine Concept (Entity) Fields BC relationships BC and Field relationships Concept (Value) Relations Relations

29 Topics Covered The Business of Business Rules Scenario Business Rules Concepts Siebel Business Rules Summary Demo Siebel Business Rules

30 Value Prop Across Modules and Industries Application group Business Requirement Siebel Field Service Siebel Technology Siebel Public Sector Siebel Automotive Siebel Financial Services Siebel Pharmaceuticals Siebel Marketing Siebel PRM Siebel UAN/UCM Siebel ISS/Communications* SR escalation based on contracts Validation of warranty claims Declarative Data validation rules Personalization Assignment manager Workflow branching rules Eligibility determination for case processing Automated response to customers Validation of warranty claims Insurance approval rules Claim processing Research distribution rules Service and order management rules Product eligibility and compatibility Loyalty promotions management Partner entitlement rules Data quality rules Quote and order approval Product eligibility and compatibility

31 Your Height Why? Rules Engine Supports Specialized Applications Height and Weight Guidelines Maximum Weight Height Preferred Plus Preferred Standard 5'7" '8" '9" '10" '11" '0" '1" '2" Underwriting Criteria History of Cancer Aviation Hazardous Activities (i.e. Skydiving, Hanggliding, Rock climbing, Scuba diving etc) Medical Guidelines Preferred Plus Preferred Standard Depending on company, only available on certain types of skin cancer. Commercial airline pilots accepted. Private pilots - may qualify with aviation exclusion. Available only if no flat extra premium would be required. Only available on certain types of skin cancer. Commercial airline pilots accepted. Private pilots- flat extra may apply depending on experience. Available; however, may have flat extra. Available depending on type and duration of cancer. Commercial airline pilots accepted. Private pilots- flat extra may apply depending on experience. Available; however, may have flat extra. Script Implementation Rules implementation Rules provide a declarative alternative to writing code for creating and managing custom applications

32 Why? Rules Engine Can Reduce Scripting Rules engine will reduce configuration costs by 5-15% by reducing scripting (saving of 80K- 240K for $1.6M project) Customers can rely on a Business analyst instead of a more expensive consultant or developer Reduce expensive production downtime for updating business logic. No srf compile necessary. Reduce upgrade costs by replacing scripts with declarative rules 50% Reasons for Writing Business Component Scripts 2% 7% 31% 10% Auto-propagation of field values Dynamically read-only business component Dynamically required fields Dynamically read-only fields Other 20-50% of customer scripts can potentially be replaced by Rules* * Data based on analysis of 10 real customer repositories

33 Architecture Overview Basic Siebel Object Model Siebel Application Server UI Layer Business Logic Layer EAI Data Layer EAI Inference Engine Integrate with industry leading Business Rules Management vendor. Haley Systems. HaleyAuthority the authoring tool for rules. Natural English language editor Plug-in to HaleyAuthority to import Siebel metadata definitions Integrated via Proxy BS Haley Inference engine for runtime integration with Siebel

34 Architecture Overview Detailed Haley Knowledge Base Rules Invocation 1. Runtime Events 2. Script 3. WF/Task UI HaleyAuthority Deploy ment Plug-in MS SQL Server/Oracle/DB2/Access Import Wizard Plug-in Unicode Support Siebel Application Servers Object Manager Rules Admin Web Bus Server Logic Proxy Layer Service EAI Data Layer Haley Inference Engine Master Repository Runtime Tables Supported on all Siebel Server platforms (AIX, Windows etc)

35 Object Importer Plug-In to the Siebel Metadata objects Invoked via File->Import->Siebel Object Allows importing of Siebel business objects, business components, and fields into the Haley Knowledge base to be represented as Haley metadata allowing an analyst or developer to create business rules.

36 Authoring Leverage HaleyAuthority to define rules statements Identify business outcomes, or actions to be taken. Write this as an English statement. Compose if-then-else constructs via definitions of rules statements Apply appropriate applicability conditions if conditions at least one must be true ( or ) only if conditions all must be true ( and ) Unless conditions must all be false ( not )

37 Authoring Identify under what conditions does some conclusion hold Determine if there are exceptions when the conclusion does not hold. Define Modules to organize rules statements that contain similar decisions. Modules that makes decisions Modules that specify actions

38 Test Harness Plug-In to simulate your rules in the standalone HaleyAuthority tool. HaleyAuthority has its own Test s and Case s tab you can choose when testing rules Can create standalone test case that run individually Can create regression tests where can run many test cases at once Manually provide examples and the facts that the rules will use.

39 Deployment Plug-in Siebel Plug-in within HaleyAuthority that allows Rule Modules and Statements to be compiled into and deployed to the Siebel runtime environment. Explicitly choose the rule Modules that you wish to deploy to the runtime environment Has ability to synch Siebel metadata definitions to Haley

40 Rules Administration New Screen Business Rule Administration Rule Module List View Assign the appropriate business object and the relationships your rule modules require when invoked at runtime

41 Rules Invocation Runtime Events Task UI/Workflow Programmatic

42 Topics Covered The Business of Business Rules Scenario Business Rules Concepts Siebel Business Rules Summary Demo Siebel Business Rules

43 Summary Siebel Business Rules will makes a business more agile in changing business logic without requiring a new srf Reduces downtime costs by allowing dynamic deployment Reduces maintenance cost since logic stored in single location Empowers the business analyst to write business logic in natural English language Incorporates powerful simulation features to test rules before deploying to an environment Tightly integrated plug-ins for importing and deployment that insulate a analyst/developer from the object model mappings between Siebel and Haley. Flexible integration within Siebel as a business service to allow invocation from any application touch point whether it s a runtime event, a workflow or task ui, and from scripting.

44 Pro s and Con s Upsides Overall, you can use Siebel Business Rules to validate raise an error message set a business component field value set a User Profile Attribute Potentially very powerful, reduces scripting needs Easy to change without re-compiling Easier for BA / Customer to design & maintain Possible Downsides Not simple will require thorough training, not just on how to use it, but to decide when (or if) it should be used (i.e. during Design) Complementary skills areas are necessary Task UI, Workflow, Business Services, Runtime Events, Scripting, etc. First time use on a project will be a steep learning curve

45 Topics Covered The Business of Business Rules Scenario Business Rules Concepts Siebel Business Rules Summary Demo Siebel Business Rules

46 Create a new knowledge base

47 Start the Siebel Object Import Wizard

48 Connect to Master Repository

49 Select Runtime Database

50 Choose Business Object

51 Select (child) BusComps

52 Select BusComp Fields needed for rules

53 Create new module to hold the rules

54 Define rule applicability (if, only if, unless)

55 Define submodules and applicability

56 Add rule statements to submodule

57 Rule examples invalidate Check for a value s existence whether it is filled in or not if an opportunity's account is unknown then invalidate the opportunity with Work with simple numbers (less than/greater than) if an opportunity's primary revenue win probability is less than 70 then invalidate the opportunity with Work with currency values if an opportunity's primary revenue amount is less than 1 in "USD" then invalidate the opportunity with Work with dates (special keyword: Today ) if an opportunity's primary revenue close date occurs before today then invalidate the opportunity with " Check for sub records if an opportunity does not have an opportunity product then invalidate the opportunity with "

58 Deploy module to Siebel

59 Siebel runtime Register new Rule Module

60 Register all BusComps and activate Module

61 Define action set...

62 ...and associate it to a runtime event

63 Test Rules

64 Rule example: Set field values based on rules

65 Rule example: Override rules

66 Siebel Business Rules Siebel Architecture Technology Overview