BRDP Business Rules - Latest and Greatest News

The Haley Enterprise is going for growth: "The Haley Enterprise is going for growth
Sewickley software developer that's plugged along for years hires veteran to help broaden firm's reach
Thursday, July 29, 2004"

Equifax selects ILOG's Business Rules Management System to power InterConnect: "Equifax selects ILOG's Business Rules Management System to power InterConnect

Press release
28 July 2004 - ILOG(r) (NASDAQ: ILOG; Euronext: ILO, ISIN: FR0004042364) today announced that Equifax, Inc., the premier information and intelligence company, has selected ILOG JRules, a core offering in ILOG's Business Rule Management System (BRMS) product line, to enable an adaptable and reusable business rules-based foundation for the InterConnect product suite of Equifax Technology Solutions LLC.

...Equifax, a leading credit reporting entity and provider of decisioning and analytical tools, chose ILOG JRules as an important component of its InterConnect product suite. Leveraging ILOG JRules software, InterConnect provides advanced decisioning for Equifax customers.

...Embedded within InterConnect's technology infrastructure, ILOG JRules supports a centralised foundation for business rules that can be tailored to meet specific customer needs. Ranging from point of sale risk management and marketing decisioning to loan requests and small business decision support, InterConnect customers rely on business rules to determine customer eligibility and product offers as well as facilitate compliance with state and federal regulations."

Avid Selects Firstlogic's IQ8 Integration Studio for Its Next-Generation Data Quality Platform: "Avid Selects Firstlogic's IQ8 Integration Studio for Its Next-Generation Data Quality Platform
Wednesday July 28, 8:34 am ET
Avid, a World Leader in Digital Media Technology, Will Use IQ8 Integration Studio to Provide Real-Time Data Cleansing, Matching and Consolidation for Its Multiple Web Sites
LA CROSSE, Wis., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Firstlogic, Inc., a global provider of enterprise information quality solutions, announced today that Avid Technology, Inc., the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, has purchased IQ8 Integration Studio, Firstlogic's next-generation integration environment for designing, deploying and managing data quality solutions.

According to Chad Wright, an applications manager in the Information Systems department at Avid, the company had successfully employed Firstlogic's data quality solutions in a batch environment, but business requirements increasingly demanded a real-time environment to better support its multiple Web site e-business initiatives going forward. In addition, Avid wanted the business rules it had created to be portable -- able to be reused by multiple data quality initiatives.
....."In addition, IQ8 enables us to reuse the same source code without having to reinvent the business rules for each and every instance," Wright added. "This will enable us to provide address validation and powerful matching technology at all points of entry.""

OMG's Business Enterprise Integration Task Force Issues Request for Information on Business Rule Management: "OMG's Business Enterprise Integration Task Force Issues Request for Information on Business Rule Management

NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 28, 2004--The Object Management Group(TM) (OMG(TM)) announced today that its Business Enterprise Integration Domain Task Force (BEIDTF) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on Business Rule Management. The BEIDTF is building a framework of standards that provides Business Process Management (BPM) with a foundation for modeling of business rules, workflow, and other aspects of business process, and brings the advantages of OMG's Model Driven Architecture(R) (MDA(R)) to rule-based business computing.


Led by OMG member companies IBM, EDS, Fair Isaac and others, the BEIDTF has nearly completed work on standard metamodels for business process definition, business semantics for business rules, and production rules executable by an inference engine, and is now considering how, exactly, to extend this work to Business Rule Management. The RFI is a request to the industry for information and advice on how to proceed. Any company, OMG member or not, is encouraged to respond to this Business Rule Management RFI; OMG members will consider responses as they determine the direction of this next part of the standard framework and the products that will implement it. To respond, download the RFI document from www.omg.org/busrulesmgmtrfi.

The Task Force co-chair Fred Cummins of EDS Technology Strategy and Architecture, remarked, "There are a multitude of rules that control and direct the operation of an enterprise. In order to ensure that rules are consistent, properly deployed and changed when necessary, there is a need to manage these rules and provide useful access to the people and systems that use them. We hope that development of key standards in this area can enable the development of interoperable products to improve enterprise management and support more effective regulatory compliance such as that required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act."

To respond, download the RFI document from www.omg.org/busrulesmgmtrfi. Deadline for responses is on October 11, 2004. Responders may be asked to attend an OMG Technical Meeting, most likely one scheduled for the week of November 1-5 in Washington, DC, USA, to present their material in person.

Three New Business Process Metamodel Specifications to Take Final Form at Upcoming OMG Meeting; August 23-27, 2004, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: "Three New Business Process Metamodel Specifications to Take Final Form at Upcoming OMG Meeting; August 23-27, 2004, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
NEEDHAM, Mass. --(Business Wire)-- July 27, 2004 -- Members of the Object Management Group(TM) (OMG(TM)) will meet in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from August 23-27, 2004 at a Technical Meeting to advance the organization's standards work and attend information days and tutorials.

New Business Process Metamodel (BPM) Specifications

OMG's Business Enterprise Integration (BEI) Domain Task Force (DTF) is building a framework of standards that provides Business Process Management (BPM) with a foundation for modeling of business rules, workflow, and other aspects of business process, and brings the advantages of OMG's Model Driven Architecture(R) (MDA(R)) to rule-based business computing. Led by member companies IBM, EDS, Fair Isaac, and others, the BEIDTF expects to complete evaluation of draft specifications for business process runtime interfaces (similar to workflow, but broader in scope and concept), and standard metamodels for business process definition and business semantics for business rules. With evaluations complete, the drafts will start the series of votes leading to adoption as official OMG specifications at the end of the meeting week. "

Haley Secures Funding to Advance Leading Position in Business Rules and Process Management Market: "Haley Secures Funding to Advance Leading Position in Business Rules and Process Management Market
Tuesday July 27, 10:34 am ET
Company Raises $5.5 Million in Series A Venture Funding
PITTSBURGH, July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Haley Enterprise, Inc., a technology leader in business rules and process management, announced today it recently closed a $5.5 Million Series A round of venture capital funding. The Series A round was led by Pequot Ventures, with participation from Draper Triangle Ventures, LP, and PA Early Stage. Haley will use the investment to expand sales and marketing in the rapidly growing business rules and process management market, and to assist with the ongoing development of the company's innovative and technology-leading software products."

Compliance: "IT Isn't Tapped for Compliance
Julie Gallagher
May 18, 2004 (7:00 AM)"
The insurance industry fails to embrace the full business value of IT when it comes to addressing regulatory requirements and instead relies primarily on manual processes and ad hoc measures, according to a study conducted by ACORD (Pearl River, N.Y.) and business rules solutions provider ILOG (Mountain View, Calif.). The survey is based on responses from employees of P&C, life insurance and reinsurance companies, who were asked to consider how effectively their companies address compliance mandates. According to Beth Grossman, assistant vice president, industry relations, ACORD, there were no real surprises in the study, which illustrates the caution of carriers in reacting to regulatory requirements.

@First Tool Helps MetLife Auto & Home Fight Fraud: "@First Tool Helps MetLife Auto & Home Fight Fraud
Julie Gallagher
Jun 16, 2004 (2:00 PM)"

...With the help of CSC, MetLife Auto & Home has also developed three rules engines that work with @First. Sargent related that the carrier's business rules are applied to industry data sources. For instance, if no police report can be located for a corresponding accident that a claim has been filed for, that claim is flagged as suspicious.

Farmers Can Plow the Web for a Better, Scientific Harvest at ProfitableFarming.com: "... The calculators operate by business rules and do all the mathematical work” The site also helps farmers avoid forgetting necessary calculations in their ...
"

InfoWorld: Your business, live on screen: July 23, 2004: By Leon Erlanger : APPLICATION_DEVELOPMENT : APPLICATIONS : DATA_MANAGEMENT : NETWORKING : PLATFORMS : STORAGE : WEB_SERVICES: "Your business, live on screen
Business activity monitoring serves up a dashboard readout of key performance indicators, updated in real time
By Leon Erlanger July 23, 2004 "
... BAM also filters the information it monitors based on user-defined business rules, sending out alerts when key thresholds are reached, including inventory ...

Techweb > News > Versata Logic > Versata Ships Time-Saving App Dev Tools For JBoss Server > July 23, 2004: "Versata Ships Time-Saving App Dev Tools For JBoss Server
July 23, 2004 (6:49 p.m. EST)
TechWeb News

Versata Inc. this week launched application development tools for the JBoss application server.The JBoss version of the Versata Logic Suite provides a declarative, model-driven approach to building data-intensive applications and business processes for the open source, Java-based JBoss.
Versata Logic enables developers to replace programming with a development approach based on business rules and data models, which reduces development time and eliminates the need for error-prone programming of service components, officials with the Oakland, Calif., company said.
In addition, Versata's declarative approach reduces life-cycle costs by enabling developers to make application changes by modifying the underlying business rules.

 
other articles
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040722006029&newsLang=en"

 "Intec wins substantial mediation and activation deal with Kenyan mobile leader Safaricom"

SourceWire (press release) - London,United Kingdom ... It will also give Safaricom the flexibility to implement its own business rules for mediation processing, enabling the company to launch new products and ...

IRS taxpayer database processes first live returns

......IRS and lead Prime contractor Computer Sciences Corp. in the fall will apply tax law changes to CADE for next year’s filing season. That version of CADE, Release 1.2, will be used in 2005. IRS will then replace that CADE version with the 1.3 release, which layers in the business rules engine, software that will encode tens of thousands of business rules.
The business rules engine will tell CADE how to process the tax returns. IRS and CSC will build 1.3 during 2005 for use in 2006, IRS has said.

other articles
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0719/web-irs-07-22-04.asp

New Fair Isaac Enterprise Decision Manager Provides Powerful Toolkit for Building Advanced, Customized Decision Systems MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2004-- 

Configurable Software Solution Allows Companies to Define, Control and Execute More Consistent and Precise Automated Decisions
 
Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FIC), the leading provider of analytics and decision technology, today announced the immediate availability of its Enterprise Decision Manager(TM) software solution. Enterprise Decision Manager gives organizations in multiple industries unprecedented control of their automated decisions and significantly reduces the time and costs required to incorporate important changes in business priorities into their decision systems.
Enterprise Decision Manager is the first software solution that combines industry-leading predictive analytics, business rules and business user control into a complete platform for managing decisions across an enterprise. It integrates proven Fair Isaac decision management tools -- such as Fair Isaac Blaze Advisor for rules management, Model Builder for model development and Decision Optimizer for improved decisions -- that have been successfully used by more than 250 organizations. Combined and extended, these tools provide any business that makes large numbers of dynamic, high-impact operational decisions with more complete capabilities for accelerating the development and deployment of decision management applications.

Oracle Gains Industry's Leading Native BPEL Engine Through Collaxa Acquisition    REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oracle(R)(Nasdaq: ORCL) today unveiled the industry's first and most complete ServiceOriented Architecture (SOA) and integration platform, featuring Oracle BPEL(Business Process Execution Language) Process Manager.  Through itsacquisition of Collaxa Inc., Oracle gained technology that makes it easier fororganizations to coordinate Web services and automate business processes.

Moving from Business Process to Business Management Hurwitz & Associates
By Judith Hurwitz
President
 
Business process management (BPM) has become a big factor in the technology arsenal of most corporations today. BPM is a broad category that encompasses many different capabilities that help companies codify business practices into software. Many of the solutions today are focused on helping to solve departmental business processes. This is a practical way to implement business process at the departmental level. However, organizations need to begin to think about implementing business management on top of business process capacities in order to have a corporate view of processes and their company-wide relationships.
 
It is becoming increasingly clear that organizations have to be able to automate processes, measure business performance, add and track key business rules and implement workflow within their key corporate applications.
 
.....The problem occurs when corporate management needs to understand rules, processes, and workflow across the corporation and between departments.
 
....What does this mean in practical terms? While automated processes and rules bring incredible efficiencies to a business, they can also bring risks. For example, are there contradictory rules implemented across departments? Do business processes in one area override rules in a related area of the business? Are there whole areas of the business that have been left out of the automation process? Ironically, the incredible productivity gains from automation over the last few years are one reason that these issues are becoming increasingly important. To achieve greater levels of productivity, management needs to be able to look holistically at the business level rather than at the departmental level. Management needs to be able to assess ways to reduce costs by looking for duplication and redundancies across organizations.
 
.....What is most important for customers to understand is the imperative to link the silos of processes and rules across organizational boundaries. This means looking from the top down at how all the parts of the organization work together to meet defined business objectives. Just as important is the goal of understanding where processes and rules are out of synch and where there things fall through the cracks. These cracks - where processes and rules are not well defined-must be the focal point for improving productivity..
 

.....How should you approach business management? Here are some starting points:

o Make sure that you have a clear understanding of rules and processes within each critical application within departments and across departments

o Determine what your most important business level management rules and processes are. Focus only on the ones that are at the heart of your strategy and that are closely aligned with your regulatory obligations, your revenue objectives, and customer satisfaction goals

o Compare your business level view to the departmental view. If there are contradictions, they need to be fixed quickly

o Begin to create a strategy that enables you to link your key corporate applications and your departmental systems based on your high level business objectives

In the long run, much of these capabilities will be supported in software. Look for software that makes this business approach achievable. It will be an important investment in corporate IT success.

full article

.......................
The Business Rules Community's
Business Rules Journal (BRJ) Update
July, 2004 Vol 5 No. 7
.......................

In this issue of your periodic Business Rules Journal Update...
1. A Metamodel for Business Vocabulary and Rules: Object-Oriented Meets
Fact-Oriented, by Don Baisley
2. Premise & Conclusion: Best-Fit Decision Points ~ How They Fit into
the Business Rule Approach, by Ronald G. Ross
3. Foundation Matters: Two Remarks on SQL's UNION ~ Relational UNION Is
Simple, But SQL's UNION Isn't, by C.J. Date
4. Modeling Concepts: Verbalizing Business Rules (part 7), by Terry Halpin
5. Technology Review: Rule Technology in Finance, Agile Compliance
Solutions for Combating Terrorism, by Stefanie Peitzker
6. "Oldies-but-Goodies" posting, by Ronald G. Ross

If you'd like to read all our articles on the web, visit:
http://www.brcommunity.com

1. A Metamodel for Business Vocabulary and Rules: Object-Oriented Meets
Fact-Oriented, by Don Baisley
...............................................................
A group of experts and practitioners of the business rules approach is working within the Object Management Group (OMG) to produce a metamodel for the Business Semantics of Business Rules (BSBR). In this month's feature, Don Baisley presents a new fact-oriented approach that Unisys has proposed for generating a metamodel for business vocabularies and business rules as a part of that work. The approach provides important advantages for business-level data interchange.

to read more, visit:
http://www.BRCommunity.com/a2004/b197.html


2. Premise & Conclusion: Best-Fit Decision Points ~ How They Fit into
the Business Rule Approach, by Ronald G. Ross ...............................................................
The business rule approach generally assumes immediate enforcement of rules. However, conducting allocation on that basis -- i.e., allocating one instance at a time immediately as they become available -- often produces far-from-optimal results from a business perspective. Fortunately, commercial inference engines offer special (and powerful) rule-based capability to optimize such allocations. In this month's column, Ron Ross explores the nature of such 'best fit' problems.

to read more, visit:
http://www.BRCommunity.com/a2004/b200.html

3. Foundation Matters: Two Remarks on SQL's UNION ~ Relational UNION Is
Simple, But SQL's UNION Isn't, by C.J. Date ...............................................................
In this month's 'Foundation Matters' column, C.J. Date expands on his initial message about SQL's UNION operator -- that (a) SQL includes such a notion but the relational model doesn't, and therefore (b) SQL runs into a lot of complications that the relational model doesn't. "In the course of examining the SQL UNION operator," he writes, "I realized there were some additional complications involved, ones that didn't arise from column ordering ..., but ones I felt were still worth documenting somewhere." He presents these in this article.

to read more, visit:
http://www.BRCommunity.com/a2004/b199.html

4.Modeling Concepts: Verbalizing Business Rules (part 7), by Terry Halpin ..................................................................
Business rules should be validated by business domain experts, and hence specified using concepts and languages easily understood by business people. This is the seventh in a series of articles on expressing business rules formally in a high-level, textual language. In this month's column, Terry Halpin discusses verbalization of subset constraints

to read more, visit:
http://www.BRCommunity.com/a2004/b198.html


5. Technology Review: Rule Technology in Finance, Agile Compliance
Solutions for Combating Terrorism, by Stefanie Peitzker ..................................................................
In this month's installment of Technology Review Stefanie Peitzker describes the use of rules technology in compliance solutions for finance.
Within the wider field of risk management, it focuses on combating terrorism and maintaining the reputation of financial institutions.
Stefanie explains why the graphical approach of "visual rules ... is best suited to this business case.

to read more, visit:
http://www.brcommunity.com/a2004/n011.html


6. "Oldies-but-Goodies" Collection
..................................................................
BRS is releasing hidden treasures from past print issues of the Data Base Newsletter and DataToKnowledge Newsletter. This month's contribution to our "Oldies-but-Goodies" collection is...

"Never-ending On-the-Job Training "
by Ronald G. Ross
from the May/June 1997 issue

to read more, visit:
http://www.BRCommunity.com/a1997/a508.html

The Business Rules Journal (BRJ) Update is distributed electronically free-of-charge on a monthly basis by the Business Rules Community.
www.BRCommunity.com
Gladys S. W. Lam, Publisher
Ronald G. Ross, Executive Editor
Keri Anderson Healy, Editor
John Hall, Technology Editor

BRCommunity.com is sponsored by Business Rule Solutions, LLC, the world leader in business rule techniques.

Copyright 2004. www.BRSolutions.com. All rights reserved.

Lanner and Corticon form strategic alliance to take Intelligent BPM to the next level


Lanner Group and Corticon Technologies, Inc. today announced they have formed a strategic alliance to take intelligent Business Process Management (BPM) to the next level. Lanner’s simulation and optimization expertise, combined with Corticon’s business rules management technology, will give enterprise customers the opportunity to execute ultra efficient, intelligent BPM.

SpiritSoft Delivers SpiritCache 4.0 with Business Rules

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2004--
Combination of embedded rules and object caching enables faster response to shifting market needs and allocates data resources for best service levels to high value customers

SpiritSoft today announced SpiritCache(TM) version 4.0 with business rules-based caching technology, enabling enterprises to improve customer service, reduce network and database costs, and efficiently allocate system resources. It is the first caching solution to combine the reliability of enterprise messaging with the flexibility of an embedded rules engine to respond more quickly to shifting market needs. This unique combination of embedded rules and object caching enables businesses to better allocate network and data resources to provide the right service level to the most profitable customers.

SpiritCache 4.0 is a distributed, hierarchical data caching solution that intelligently distributes and manages application data across all tiers of the enterprise. Using an embedded rules engine, SpiritCache enables IT departments to dynamically configure caching strategies and assign resources based on changing business requirements - without modifying the application logic. Application service levels can then be segmented to the business value of each customer, providing the best user experience and system reliability to its most profitable segment of customers.

SpiritCache utilizes automatic memory sizing with rules-based eviction policies. System administrators can prioritize user categories and apply business rules to align system resources and reallocate memory accordingly. When memory requirements ebb and flow, prioritized system resources can grow or decrease as needed.

Businesses currently deployed with SpiritCache are experiencing network traffic cuts of 90 percent or more. In addition, network and database cost savings have been realized as a result of applications sharing existing resources or through the reduction of hardware and related software. By such methods, existing users of SpiritCache have achieved eight-fold returns on their investment.

"SpiritSoft embedded a rules engine into its popular object caching product to meet the business requirements of several existing customers, who are deploying the business rules engine for a broad range of applications," said Robert Davies, Chief Technology Officer for SpiritSoft. "One investment bank will specify different time-to-live data strategies in order to meet its new auditing requirement guidelines, and by using SpiritCache 4.0, it can do this without the need to purchase additional hardware or rewrite the application when the guidelines change. This is just one of the many possible applications for using business rules to cache preloading and eviction policies, which will clearly provide a strong return on investment for our customers."

Other customers deploying SpiritCache with an embedded rules engine include a major retail bank that will automatically preload checking and savings account information for high value customers who log into their retirement accounts. Additionally, an online retail customer is segmenting its product availability based on customer purchasing history, enabling it to preload a greater volume of product choices for high volume customers.

SpiritCache 4.0 is built entirely on open-standards and integrates seamlessly with leading application servers and messaging systems from BEA, IBM, HP, SUN, TIBCO, JBOSS, Sonic and others. SpiritCache 4.0 provides the highest reliability in session management, data caching and page caching.

SpiritCache 4.0 features

Versata Unveils a New Partner Program; ``Running with Versata'' Partner Program Enhances Developer Productivity While Adding Marketing Support

SAN FRANCISCO --(Business Wire)-- June 29, 2004 -- Versata, Inc. (Nasdaq:VATA), a leading provider of software and services that automate the development and ongoing management of data-intensive applications, today announced the "Running with Versata" partner program. This new Independent Software Vendor (ISV) program is the first of three partner initiatives that will further broaden the adoption of Versata as a development and runtime platform for data intensive J2EE applications. Versata provides a software development platform that can increase developer productivity, reduce development costs and deliver a positive impact in the development, deployment and maintenance of enterprise applications.

... Versata utilizes a declarative development and maintenance model based on business rules that speed the deployment of applications from months to weeks. ...

RulesPower Launches Latest Version of Rules-driven BPM Software Suite that Prevents Costly Business Mistakes and Accelerates Process Management Strategies
BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2004--
Enhanced Process Logic Modeler and New Rete III Logic Engine Key New Features to Help Companies Manage Complexity and Cost of Getting from Concept to Validated Business Case

RulesPower Inc., the leading provider of rules-driven Business Process Management (BPM) software, today announced the latest version of its flagship RulesPower BPM software suite. Version 1.5 of the RulesPower suite includes an enhanced Process Logic Modeler that makes it easier for business analysts to capture, analyze and detect errors in the interaction between business rules and processes during the early stages of process design. RulesPower 1.5 also includes a new process automation "engine" based upon technology created by RulesPower, called the RETE III Logic Engine. This engine natively combines rules and workflow in order to automate processes that solve the most complex problems for companies, such as fraud and classification of risk, which alternative technologies have not been able to address.

read more in article.....

ILOG Acquires JLOOX Business from Engenuity

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 5, 2004--ILOG(R) (NASDAQ:ILOG)(Euronext:ILO)(ISIN:FR0004042364), a leading provider of enterprise-class software components and services, today announced it is acquiring the intellectual property and other selected assets of the JLOOX product line for EUR 1.4 million (USD 1.7 million) from eNGENUITY Technologies Inc. (CA: EGY), a Montreal, Canada-based maker of software. JLOOX is used for the development of advanced visual applications.


In addition to JLOOX intellectual property, ILOG will acquire the JLOOX customer base and prospects. Also included in the acquisition are 10 eNGENUITY employees who will transfer to ILOG's offices in Gentilly, France from a nearby facility. ILOG also plans to enter into a three-year OEM agreement with eNGENUITY that will allow eNGENUITY to continue to use ILOG's visualization technology in its STAGE products.

This acquisition is meant to solidify ILOG's leadership position in the area of advanced graphics tools for creating visually-rich user displays and will complement the award-winning ILOG JViews(TM) product line. JLOOX also has competencies in the defense, transportation management and manufacturing markets that should help grow ILOG's market share in these areas. The move also means customers can now get the best features of both product lines. ILOG's strengths in network management and advanced business process modeling and graphics tools will be advantageous to current JLOOX customers, while the animated maps functionality in JLOOX will benefit ILOG customers.

VisiRule: a new graphical business rules tool from LPA.
LPA today announced VisiRule, a graphical charting tool which lets you draw, test and generate business-rules applications and/or components.

(PRWEB) July 10, 2004 -- VisiRule allows developers to design and deliver commercial rule-based systems, expert systems, and knowledge-based systems on the Pcs and Internet without writing any code. You simply draw the decision logic using a point-and-click paradigm and state the conditional logic to use at the relevant branching points.

This means that you no longer have to be a sophisticated AI programmer to build decision support systems which may involve complex
and interconnected logic.

VisiRule allows you to rapidly produce accurate charts which you can share and discuss with non-technical collegaues who understand the business process at hand.

VisiRule generates applications thru its delivery of Flex KSL code. Flex is a hybrid Expert System development toolkit based in Prolog and used in many commercial knowledge-based systems. Prolog is a logic-based AI language which includes support for theorem proving.

Basic features of VisiRule include:
. simple point and click drawing interface
. interactive editing of decision charts
. layout tools for alignment of boxes and links
. export to meta-file facility for using charts in Word etc
. logic-based syntax analyser to detect typos
. logic-based semantic analyser to check for completeness and
consistency

VisiRule runs on all version of Windows and requires 128 Mb memory. Prices start from 2,000 USD.

The LPA web-site contains an overview of VisiRule on:
http://www.lpa.co.uk/vsr.htm
The LPA web-site contains a suite of interactive Flex demos on:
http://www.lpa.co.uk/wfs_dem.htm

Partnership Formed to Introduce a New Paradigm for the Core Communication Practices of the Business
AMSTERDAM, June 17, 2004 – At the European Business Rules Conference today, Business Rule Solutions, LLC (BRS), and LibRT B.V., the world leaders in business rule techniques, announced they are joining forces to produce an authentic business rules environment. Responding to numerous requests from major organizations around the world, the partners will provide automation addressing today’s strategic business challenges. Their vision is a work environment where management has direct control over the corecommunication and guidance practices of the company.

BRS Principal Ronald G. Ross, known as the father of business rules and author of several best-selling books on the subject, explains: “Difficulties with current communication and guidance practices are even more basic than ‘process’ problems.” The solution, he points out, is not more of the same. “Since the problem is not rooted in technology, new-and-improved IT approaches won’t solve it. What’s needed is an altogether new approach for undertaking business projects.”

The new work environment will proactively address the costs of business-level miscommunication, stovepipe vocabularies, and misinterpretation of policy. Its heart will be business-oriented support for measuring and improving quality in: capturing, assessing and changing business rules; retaining core business-worker knowledge; and ensuring compliance with regulation. The bottom line is acceleration of business engineering in the broadest possible sense.

BRS and LibRT possess complementary areas of applied knowledge, and are both highly experienced long-standing innovators in the field. The partnership will work closely with select early adopters.