Oracle Policy Automation
Encyclopedia
In computing
, Oracle Policy Automation (abbreviated OPA) is a suite of software products for modeling and deploying business rules within enterprise applications. Oracle Corporation
acquired OPA in December 2008 when it purchased Australian software company RuleBurst Holdings, then trading as Haley. Oracle Policy Automation was designed by RuleBurst
to transform legislation and policy documents into executable business rules, particularly for the calculation of benefit entitlements and payment amounts. Although OPA was originally developed for and sold to the public sector
, it can be used in other industries.
Oracle Policy Automation continues to be available as a standalone offering and an integrated rules solution for Siebel.
, Chinese
and French
. These rule documents can be shared amongst business and information technology
stakeholders, and commentary can be added into the documents without affecting the structure of the rules themselves. Other features of Oracle Policy Modeling include integrated test case execution and debugging capabilities, and the definition of interviews for interactive rule-based assessments. Interview screen order and branching logic can be defined using visual flow diagrams.
The Oracle Policy Automation runtime comprises three technologies:
Both Oracle Web Determinations and Oracle Determinations Server are supported on a wide variety of application servers, including Oracle WebLogic Server
, Microsoft IIS, IBM WebSphere AS and Apache Tomcat
.
Connectors for enterprise applications such as Oracle's Siebel and SAP
are also available.
RuleBurst 7.0 was the successor to STATUTE Expert. Although customers of STATUTE Expert were able to upgrade to the later versions, RuleBurst 7.0 was the first version of the product that has become known as Oracle Policy Automation today.
Oracle has released three new versions of OPA(Oracle Policy Automation)
ORACLE OPA VERSION 10.1.0
this was the first version where Haley's rule engine was combined with web-determinations.
ORACLE OPA VERSION 10.2
This version has a connector to integrate with Siebel and SAP.
ORACLE OPA VERSION 10.3
This version supports you to make custom function that can be used in while writing rules.
uses the software for guidance on tax law.
Oracle Policy Modeling's controlled natural language approach to rule authoring has been the subject of some research. The product was also used to help establish the viability of the Legal Knowledge Interchange Format standard developed by the Estrella Project
At the time, RuleBurst and Haley were both marketing "natural language business rules" software and were considered competitors. Prior to being acquired, Haley Systems had licensed its HaleyAuthority rules product to Siebel Systems
. HaleyAuthority was made available in Siebel 8.0 under the name Siebel Business Rules. When RuleBurst acquired Haley, it adopted the better-known Haley name for both its company and product branding. HaleyAuthority then became known as Haley Expert Rules and the RuleBurst product became known as Haley Office Rules. When Oracle acquired RuleBurst, Oracle also began jointly marketing OPA with the Siebel CRM solution. The plurality of names has led some commentators to incorrectly refer to Oracle Policy Automation and Haley products interchangeably as Haley or Haley Rules. However, the two products are separate and distinct offerings.
Computing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...
, Oracle Policy Automation (abbreviated OPA) is a suite of software products for modeling and deploying business rules within enterprise applications. Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
acquired OPA in December 2008 when it purchased Australian software company RuleBurst Holdings, then trading as Haley. Oracle Policy Automation was designed by RuleBurst
RuleBurst
RuleBurst Limited is a Canberra, Australia-based independent software vendor that develops and distributes the RuleBurst 8 and Oasis suites of software products.RuleBurst 8 is a Business Rule Management System, or business rules engine...
to transform legislation and policy documents into executable business rules, particularly for the calculation of benefit entitlements and payment amounts. Although OPA was originally developed for and sold to the public sector
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
, it can be used in other industries.
Oracle Policy Automation continues to be available as a standalone offering and an integrated rules solution for Siebel.
Features and Components
Oracle Policy Modeling is a Windows desktop application for transforming legislation and policy documents into executable business rules. Rules are written in Word and Excel documents using phrases in languages such as EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. These rule documents can be shared amongst business and information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
stakeholders, and commentary can be added into the documents without affecting the structure of the rules themselves. Other features of Oracle Policy Modeling include integrated test case execution and debugging capabilities, and the definition of interviews for interactive rule-based assessments. Interview screen order and branching logic can be defined using visual flow diagrams.
The Oracle Policy Automation runtime comprises three technologies:
- Oracle Web Determinations: An interview application that uses screens, rules and flows defined in Oracle Policy Modeling to deliver InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
- and intranetIntranetAn intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to securely share any part of an organization's information or network operating system within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network...
-based interactive assessments. Data entered is used in combination with backward chainingBackward chainingBackward chaining is an inference method that can be described as working backward from the goal...
to determine which screens need to be shown to the user in order to reach a decision. - Oracle Determinations Server: A WS-I Basic ProfileWS-I Basic ProfileThe WS-I Basic Profile , a specification from the Web Services Interoperability industry consortium , provides interoperability guidance for core Web Services specifications such as SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI...
compliant SOAPSOAPSOAP, originally defined as Simple Object Access Protocol, is a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of Web Services in computer networks...
-based web service that exposes decision-making endpoints for deployed policy models. By passing data to Oracle Determinations Server, and receiving responses in return, enterprises can integrate rule-based decision-making with other applications and BPMBusiness process modelingBusiness Process Modeling in systems engineering is the activity of representing processes of an enterprise, so that the current process may be analyzed and improved. BPM is typically performed by business analysts and managers who are seeking to improve process efficiency and quality...
solutions. Examples include Oracle's SiebelSiebelSiebel, originally Flugzeugbau Halle, was a German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1937 in Halle an der Saale. It was revived as Siebelwerke in 1948. In 1952, it merged with ATG to form Siebelwerke-ATG Gmbh...
, or BPEL-orchestrated business processes. If insufficient data is provided to reach a decision, Oracle Determinations Server is able to explain what additional data may be required. - Oracle Determinations Engine: The engine used by both Oracle Web Determinations and Oracle Determinations Server, it is also available as a native JavaJava (programming language)Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
and .NET.NET FrameworkThe .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
API. Oracle Determinations Engine provides both full forward chainingForward chainingForward chaining is one of the two main methods of reasoning when using inference rules and can be described logically as repeated application of modus ponens. Forward chaining is a popular implementation strategy for expert systems, business and production rule systems...
and backward chaining capabilities, as well as low-level access to the interview engine. Unlike ReteRete algorithmThe Rete algorithm is an efficient pattern matching algorithm for implementing production rule systems. The Rete algorithm was designed by Dr Charles L. Forgy of Carnegie Mellon University, first published in a working paper in 1974, and later elaborated in his 1979 Ph.D. thesis and a 1982 paper...
-based rule engines, a full audit trail of how a decision was reached can always be generated.
Both Oracle Web Determinations and Oracle Determinations Server are supported on a wide variety of application servers, including Oracle WebLogic Server
Oracle Weblogic Server
Owned by Oracle Corporation, Oracle WebLogic consists of a Java EE platform product-family that includes:* a Java EE application server, WebLogic Application Server* an enterprise portal, WebLogic Portal* an Enterprise Application Integration platform...
, Microsoft IIS, IBM WebSphere AS and Apache Tomcat
Apache Tomcat
Apache Tomcat is an open source web server and servlet container developed by the Apache Software Foundation...
.
Connectors for enterprise applications such as Oracle's Siebel and SAP
SAP ERP
The SAP ERP application is an integrated enterprise resource planning software manufactured by SAP AG that targets business software requirements of midsize and large organizations in all industries and sectors...
are also available.
Versions
The product now known as Oracle Policy Automation has been sold under several different names, including Haley Office Rules and RuleBurst.RuleBurst 7.0 was the successor to STATUTE Expert. Although customers of STATUTE Expert were able to upgrade to the later versions, RuleBurst 7.0 was the first version of the product that has become known as Oracle Policy Automation today.
Oracle has released three new versions of OPA(Oracle Policy Automation)
ORACLE OPA VERSION 10.1.0
this was the first version where Haley's rule engine was combined with web-determinations.
ORACLE OPA VERSION 10.2
This version has a connector to integrate with Siebel and SAP.
ORACLE OPA VERSION 10.3
This version supports you to make custom function that can be used in while writing rules.
Applications and Academic Interest
The Oracle Policy Automation software has been publicly deployed within several government web-sites. Australia's Department of Immigration uses it for visitors to check their eligibility for visas. The UK Revenue and Custom's agency uses it for their Employment Status Indicator assessment tool, the UK governments online portal for businesses also uses OPA for over 60 interactive toolswhile the United States IRSInternal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
uses the software for guidance on tax law.
Oracle Policy Modeling's controlled natural language approach to rule authoring has been the subject of some research. The product was also used to help establish the viability of the Legal Knowledge Interchange Format standard developed by the Estrella Project
Acquisition and Product Confusion
RuleBurst acquired the assets of Haley Systems in November 2007.At the time, RuleBurst and Haley were both marketing "natural language business rules" software and were considered competitors. Prior to being acquired, Haley Systems had licensed its HaleyAuthority rules product to Siebel Systems
Siebel Systems
Siebel CRM Systems, Inc. was a software company principally engaged in the design, development, marketing, and support of customer relationship management applications. The company was founded by Thomas Siebel in 1993. At first known mainly for its sales force automation products, the company...
. HaleyAuthority was made available in Siebel 8.0 under the name Siebel Business Rules. When RuleBurst acquired Haley, it adopted the better-known Haley name for both its company and product branding. HaleyAuthority then became known as Haley Expert Rules and the RuleBurst product became known as Haley Office Rules. When Oracle acquired RuleBurst, Oracle also began jointly marketing OPA with the Siebel CRM solution. The plurality of names has led some commentators to incorrectly refer to Oracle Policy Automation and Haley products interchangeably as Haley or Haley Rules. However, the two products are separate and distinct offerings.