Decision Automation
Decisioning fits naturally into an automated systems framework. External events occur that require business responses. Where the business has a selection of possible responses, a decision is required to determine the most beneficial response. In fact, the business already knows how to select the most beneficial response based on either experience or declared policy. Decision automation is about encapsulating that knowledge into decisioning 'components' for insertion into computer systems.
In legacy systems the decision maker is usually human, so the process must be interrupted to acquire the decision. Modern systems seek responses that are 'zero touch'. To achieve zero touch, we must automate the decisioning that was performed by human 'actors' within the process, replacing them with automated proxies that immediately return accurate, regulated and auditable decisions.
It is necessary but not sufficient to incorporate decisioning know-how into the system code-base. The decisioning knowledge results in a different class of system component to the data and processes that define the rest of the system. Events, data, and processes are generic by industry - they are relatively stable and generally do not differentiate individual businesses. For example, all insurers have customers and risks - both of which exist completely and independently of any particular insurer. Similarly, all insurers have processes to issue policies. But all insurers will use different decisions to determine how to accept customers and risks, and how to price and qualify the policies.
Decisioning demands a new development approach. When implemented as plug and play components within the comparatively static application framework, decisioning can allow the system to respond rapidly to business changes without affecting the underlying code base. The decisions driving business behaviour can adapt as fast as the business can learn.
For systems vendors, this plug and play approach also allows 'mass customisation' by mixing and matching bespoke decisioning components within a common application.
For management, decisioning is a critical implementation of business policy and practice and so independent testing, verification, and audit-ability of decisioning components is essential.
For the developer, the components must integrate easily, execute quickly and robustly, and not otherwise constrain architectural options.
All in all, decisioning components look more like programmable logic controllers that exist entirely independently from the systems they control - they are remote controls that allow the business to directly govern systems operation through controlled decision making.
Find out how the Idiom Decision Suite can help with Decision Automation