Implior Exalt Process and Knowledge

Description:

• Integrated process and rule engines based on a unique theoretical foundation.

Functionality:

• The theoretical foundation can be used to prove characteristics in programs.
• Combined backward- and forward chaining based on pure logic.
• Access rules for processes.
• High level script language for both user-level programming and advanced system programming.
• A single mechanism for state transitions enabling both parallel and sequential programming.
• Built-in support for fine grained authorization constraints through side effect free logic rules.
• Advanced concepts like distributed architecture, transactional safety, audit management and more.

The platform:

• For a new type of automation, intelligence and compliance in applications.
• For improvements in productivity, quality and agility.
• A new approach for managing complexity.

[Terms: Business Process Management (BPM) / Business Rules Management (BRM) / Knowledge Management (KM)]

Supported by:

• Repository: Provides storage, versioning, metadata and more to processes and rules.
• Portal: Provides presentation, navigation, sharing, integration and security for processes and rules.
• Wiki: Enables documentation and discussions around processes and rules.
• PRC: Provides user interface for simple Process & Knowledge applications.

It is time for a comprehensive view

Companies are built on policies and procedures:

• Procedures are needed to do activities and can be expressed in processes.
• Policies are needed to control or guide activities and can be expressed in rules.

Lately compliance has become a requirement in a complex business world:

• Compliance is needed to show and prove activities and can be expressed in rules.

Despite the importance of policies, procedures and compliance few companies:

• Have IT systems that can handle their processes and rules.
• Have IT systems that can automate their processes and rules.
• Have IT systems that support their compliance of internal and external regulations and quality systems.
• Have IT people that have a comprehensive view and think about more than data.

Existing applications are full of simple rules in the form of "IF ... THEN ... ELSE ...". The problem is that they are hidden in programming code or database stored procedures where users can't see them. Since they can't be seen they are difficult to understand and update. Since they are hard-coded only programmers can change them and at a considerable cost.

A much better way is to keep all these rules in a separate place where both users and programmers can access them. This is what rule based programming is all about. The benefits are more intelligent applications, decreased development cost and much decreased support and maintenance cost.

Almost all rule engines on the market today are based on so called forward-chaining through the well-established Rete algorithm. The alternative to forward-chaining is of course backward-chaining. Forward-chaining is less complicated but backward-chaining scales better on large rulebases. Implior Exalt is quite unique by having both forward- and backward chaining rule resolution based on pure logic.