Post on 07-Feb-2018
Business Rules Management with SAP Busines Rule Framework plus
Christopher Naab, Solution Architect, Active Global Support, SAP America
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 2
Agenda
Key Trends and Issues
SAP Solution Overview
Roadmap: Decision Service Management
Examples
Key Trends and Issues
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 4
Key Trends and Issues Driving Change in Application
Development
Transparency
Transparent
business logic and
repository for
business rules
Increased demand
for governance, risk,
and compliance /
policy enforcement
Flexibility at low cost
Fast time from initial
idea to realized
solution
Decrease
dependency on
highly specialized IT
resources
Allow for on-going
optimization and
adaption of business
logic
Business user empowerment
Enable business
user to adapt
application to
constantly changing
environment w/o IT
expertise
Role specific user
experience
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 5
Problems with Conventional Methods
Rules inside Code
Business
User
Rules
Roles
UI
Workflow
& Task
Event
Data
Process Context
Create Claim
Analyze Budget Impact
Analyze Resource Impact
Rules
Roles
UI
Workflow
& Task
Event
Data
Process Context
Create Claim
Analyze Budget Impact
Analyze Resource Impact
Out
of
stock
Product
15 min
Reple-
nish-
ment
order
Out
of
stock
Product
15 min
Reple-
nish-
ment
order
Business
Expert
Rules
Roles
UI
Workflow
& Task
Event
Data
Process Context
Create Claim
Analyze Budget Impact
Analyze Resource Impact
Rules
Roles
UI
Workflow
& Task
Event
Data
Process Context
Create Claim
Analyze Budget Impact
Analyze Resource Impact
Out
of
stock
Product
15 min
Reple-
nish-
ment
order
Out
of
stock
Product
15 min
Reple-
nish-
ment
order
Business
Analyst
Rules
Roles
UI
Workflow
& Task
Event
Data
Process Context
Create Claim
Analyze Budget Impact
Analyze Resource Impact
Rules
Roles
UI
Workflow
& Task
Event
Data
Process Context
Create Claim
Analyze Budget Impact
Analyze Resource Impact
Out
of
stock
Product
15 min
Reple-
nish-
ment
order
Out
of
stock
Product
15 min
Reple-
nish-
ment
order
Rules as Tacit Knowledge
Rules in Documents
Rules inside Application
Sales Commissions
Premium Calculations
… Triggers
Stored
Procedures
Costs, archiving, backups, compliance? Agility, visibility for business, changes?
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 6
Support of Rules within traditional SAP components
Condition technique (lean vs. full blown)
VSR (Validations, Substitutions, Rules): used
in FI, CO, FI-AA, Funds Management, JV
Accounting, PS, Real Estate, Warranty,…
Variant configuration / object dependency
“BRF” (without “plus”!)
ERMS (Email Response Management
System) in CRM
Workflow rules
Application specific rule engines in SRM,
SCEM, IS AUTO (JIT, JIS, VMS, DBM, WTY)
…
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 7
Evolution of Business Application Architecture
■ Separate data and application logic by putting an application’s data into a database managed by a
database management system (DBMS)
■ Put business rules into a Business Rules Management System (BRMS) and business processes
into a Business Process Management System (BPMS)
■ Once the connection between application code and BRMS is established, programming skills and
code changes for updates of the business rules are not required
■ With a BRMS business rules can be centrally managed, easily found and compared
Processes
Rules
Data
Processes
Rules
Data Data
Pro
ce
ss
es
Ru
les
Business Application Business Application Business Application
Usage of
Database
Usage of
BPMS and
BRMS
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 8
Shipping Cost Determination
Application
• Completeness check
• Data validation
• No-go criteria
Determine Shipping
Cost Surcharge
• Determination of shipping cost
• Calculation of surcharge and total order value
Exception Handling
• Send email
• Trigger workflow
Business
Application ► Order Management
Business
Process ► Shipping cost
determination
Business
Rule ► Free shipping for
order value > $100
Rules Vers.
1
Rules Vers.
2
Rules Vers.
3
Rules Vers.
4
Rules Vers.
5
Rules Vers.
6
Business Application Release 1 Business Application Release 2
Process Version 1 Process Version 2 Process Version 3
Rules Vers.
7
SAP Solution Overview SAP Business Rule Framework plus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ouhJeH02HU
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 10
BRFplus is a Best of Bread Rules Engine
Personalization
Personalization and
segmentation of rules
Rapid Time-to-Value
Rapid prototyping with feedback-
based build cycle (build, simulate,
optimize) leading to shorter idea-to-
value cycles
Business User
Empowerment
Graphical approach and
business semantics for
intuitive rule composition
and management (modeling
rather than programming)
Transparency
Transparency of rule
execution and tracing for
audit
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 11
What is in from an Infrastructure Perspective?
User
Interface
API allowing for role
specific User Interface
Integration
Fully integrated with DDIC, ABAP
data base, backend routines,
authorization, security,
transportation management
Backend Call
Easy to call – 6 lines of ABAP or
RFC or Webservice
No Setup
Zero initial setup effort
Timeless Software
Allows to build timeless, flexible,
and customizable business
applications with less code lines
and efforts
Low TCO
BRFplus comes for free –
it is covered by the general
SAP license
High Performance
High performance and nearly
no footprint
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 12
Business Rule Services with BRFplus
Business Rules Service
Web Service
RFC Application
Business Rules
BRFplus Function: Service Definition Input (Context), Output (Result), Purpose
Can be called by ABAP API, RFC, or Web Service
1
*
BRFplus Rulesets: Service Implementation Collection of rules
Preconditions, priorities, validity
Context enrichment (additionally needed data)
BRFplus Rule: step implementation IF <condition(s)>
THEN <operation(s)>
ELSE <operation(s)>
Usage of expression types (decision tables, decision trees,
formulas, table operations, …) to define complex
conditions and value derivations/calculations
Usage of action types (message log, workflow, email, …) to
trigger side effects
Code Exit
BADI
Result triggers follow-up actions
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 13
Shipping Cost Determination
Application
• Completeness check
• Data validation
• No-go criteria
Determine Shipping
Cost Surcharge
• Determination of shipping cost
• Calculation of surcharge and total order value
Exception Handling
• Send email
• Trigger workflow
Business
Application ► Order Management
Business
Process ► Shipping cost
determination
Business
Rule ► Free shipping for
order value > $100
Rules Vers.
1
Rules Vers.
2
Rules Vers.
3
Rules Vers.
4
Rules Vers.
5
Rules Vers.
6
Business Application Release 1 Business Application Release 2
Process Version 1 Process Version 2 Process Version 3
Rules Vers.
7
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 14
BRFplus Impressions Function
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 15
BRFplus Impressions Ruleset
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 16
BRFplus Impressions Expression Type Decision Table
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 17
BRFplus Impressions Expression Type Formula
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 18
BRFplus Impressions Simulation
Decision Service Management
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 20
Decision Service Approach: Customer Landscape
Decision Service Manager
Extremely low hardware requirements
Requires NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Package 3 or NetWeaver 7.3
Enhancement Package 1
Managed Systems
Existing servers with customer business applications
No Upgrade required, works with NetWeaver 6.40 or higher (>6 years old)
Any number of managed systems can be connected with the Decision Service Manager (RFC)
Co
nn
ecto
r
Managed System 1
e.g. Business Suite
Managed System 2
e.g. CRM
Co
nn
ecto
r
Decision Service Manager
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 21
Decision Service Manager
Decision Service Approach: Modeling
Decision Service Modeling with BRFplus
Central creation, test and management of all rules and
decisioning logic
Service implemented in rulesets using decision tables,
trees, text rules, formulas, …
Transparency - no code but graphical modeling
Access to all relevant data in the managed systems
(e.g. master data used in value help of decision table
rules)
Co
nn
ecto
r
Managed System 1
Managed System 2
Co
nn
ecto
r
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 22
Decision Service Manager
Decision Service Approach: Deployment
Decision Service Deployment
Deployment describes the transfer of the decision service
into one or many managed systems
Hot deployment - immediate use with no downtime for
deployment
Activity periods - deploy today with as-of usage timepoint
Overview about all decision services in all systems,
deployment statistics
C
on
necto
r
Managed System 1
Managed System 2
Co
nn
ecto
r
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 23
Decision Service Approach: Use
Decision Service Use
Local execution of generated code, mass-enabled
Best performance
No dependency on Decision Service Manager
Execution traces (inputs, result, decision path for decisioning analytics or legal compliance)
Decision Service Manager
Co
nn
ecto
r
Managed System 1
Managed System 2
Co
nn
ecto
r
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 24
Decision Service Manager
Decision Service Approach: Continuous Improvement
Co
nn
ecto
r
Optimize
Co
nn
ecto
r
Managed System 1
Managed System 2
Co
nn
ecto
r
Decision Service Optimization
Rapid change cycles in the hand of the domain experts: Analyze
Optimize
Implement
Automated business decisions with full transparency for better decision quality
Immediate ROI
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 25
ERP BW
Decision Service Manager
CRM
SRM
Co
nn
ecto
r
Custom
App
Non-SAP Web Service
Decision Service Approach
Decision Service enabled customer system landscape
Deployment of one service into multiple systems
Reuse of decision services and single rules, decision tables, etc.
Non-SAP systems connected by web service
Co
nn
ecto
r
Co
nn
ecto
r C
on
necto
r
Co
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ecto
r
Examples
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 27
SAP Applications Powered by BRFplus
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 28
BRFplus in SAP Standard Components
Business by Design: multiple usages
Transportation Management: freight cost determination, printer determination,
loading time calculation,…
CRM (Loyalty Management, Territory Management, RTOM)
GRC: determination of Key Risk Indicators (KRI) to automate reporting and
trigger follow-up actions
Business Context Viewer (BCV): BRFplus calculates values which are being
used as decision criteria
IS-U Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI): determination of follow-up
actions for smart meter events
…
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 29
SAP ERP Shopping Cart empowers all company employees to create and manage their own requisitions with a user-
friendly Web interface
Easy-to-use shopping cart for employees, that manages their requisition
Supports internet-like search that helps the employees to easily find their products
The workflow supports approval or rejection of the shopping cart items by the manager
High Integration into existing Processes
Re-use of existing Configurations and Data
Very minimum configuration effort
Provision of Default Values via Switch BC Sets
ERP Self Service Procurement
BRFplus
Create
Shopping
Cart
Generate
Workitem
and Assign
Approve/
Reject
workitem
Determine
Approver
BRFplus Use Cases
Determine workflow agent and routing of workflow
Approved/
rejected
Shopping
Cart
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 30
BRFplus (for flexible workflow control)
Master Data Governance (MDG) addresses the customers challenges around master data
MDG enables organizations to gain overall consistency of their different master data that is spread
across their system landscape by providing one central view and a trusted knowledge about this data
MDG is the out-of-the-box, domain-specific master data governance solution to centrally create,
change and distribute master data
MDG ensures governance, compliance, and transparency through integrated staging, approval, and
central audit trail
Master Data Governance
BRFplus (for data derivation & validation)
Start Change
Request
Validation & Data
Quality
Approval &
Distribution Data Maintenance
BRFplus Use Cases
Data derivation to default values from existing input
resulting in less manual data entry for everyone
Data validation to check data entries and validate
the content which allows for modification-free
modelled checks
Decision tables integrated into business workflow
providing for flexible workflow definition by
business analysts
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 31
When does it make sense to introduce BRFplus into your
application architecture?
High transactional volume
High level of automation required
Dynamic business environment, i.e. rules are changing frequently during
the normal cause of business
Logic can be externalized of the application in rules, i.e. decision points
can clearly be separated from the process flow (e.g. checks, validations,
substitutions, exceptions, prerequisites, calculations, etc.)
Rules, checks, validations, calculations, etc have a shorter lifecycle than
the application they require to be embedded in
High flexibility required cannot sufficiently be addressed by the standard
applications used for transactional processing
© 2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 32
Business Rules Management Flexible & agile business systems Precise & informed decision making
Faster turnaround times for changes Improved visibility for the business
Reduced cost for changes
Benefits of Using Business Rules Management
Rules
Roles
UI
Workflow
& Task
Event
Data
Process Context
Create Claim
Analyze Budget Impact
Analyze Resource Impact
Rules
Roles
UI
Workflow
& Task
Event
Data
Process Context
Create Claim
Analyze Budget Impact
Analyze Resource Impact
Out
of
stock
Product
15 min
Reple-
nish-
ment
order
Out
of
stock
Product
15 min
Reple-
nish-
ment
order
Model
Refine
Automate
Manage
Business Rules Management Benefit
Separation of business rules
and code
Agile and maintainable systems
Modeling of complex business
logic
Automation of key business
decisions
Central management of
business rules
Consistent application of
corporate policy and
government regulations
Business Experts can find,
change and test critical
business rules
Visibility, accountability and
error-free business
Thank You!