07/29/2004

The Object Management Group (OMG) says its Business Enterprise Integration Domain Task Force (BEIDTF) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on Business Rule Management.

OMG explains:

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® (MDA®) 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.