I heard this true customer story from our Professional Services Team in YASU.Now beat this !.

1. A brand new Loan Origination System
2. Built for one product line, say Alt A !
3. Add 10 - 15 Investors for the product line!
4. Up & running & in operation in less than 5 months!

So, what got automated?

1. Eligibility
2. Underwriting
3. Pricing

So, how was that done ?

1. The Eligibility Guidelines from the Manuals were captured as Business Rules in a BRMS
2. The underwriting guidelines were captured as business rules in a BRMS
3. The pricing & discounting guidelines were captured as Business Rules in a BRMS
4. Used a Rule Repository to provide Loan Lock capability using Historical Rule Execution
5. Used Decision Tables to capture Ratesheets (changes 3-4 times daily)

This is one example of how Business Rules Technology can be used to deliver extreme results.The advantages for a Business Rules approach that I have raised till now have been mainly the following:

1. Agility (Respond to change quickly)
2. Reduced maintenance costs
3. Greater collaboration between IT & the Business
4. Reduce costly mistakes
5. Reduce training costs
6. Improve consistency of your Service delivery
7. And more ..

One of the points that I have not raised till now is how Business Rules technology can really help speed up implementation, and rocket speed your delivery time lines. Now, one may ask, why would this be the case?

The answer is Simple really!

1. 1. Business Rules, like in Mortgage Loan Processing are numerous, complex.
2. It is very difficult to correctly implement all these guidelines in code or database stored procedures.
3. Even if they are written in code or stored procs, to verify, correct these rules, and you will be lucky to find some MBA who will understand these formats
4. Business Rules Management Systems offer a wide variety of rule formats that easily represent most of the business policies that you come across
5. Decision Tables are best for capturing tabular rules normally found in Spreadsheets
6. Flow Rules defined in the form of a Flow Chart in Visio can help analysts define the sequence in which their rules needs to be applied to arrive at the desired business decision
7. Mutual Exclusion Rules allow analysts to clearly define business priorities when a conflicting situation arises (2 rules satisfied at the same time, which should be applied?)
8. Datatypes or Enumerations allow for Data dictionaries to be captured for the domain in question (for example, a data dictionary built out of the MISMO XSD). Using Data dictionaries will make Rule Development easier & error free
9. And of course, your business analysts will be able to see the rules in a friendly English like format, validate and verify them
10. BRMS allow you to test your rules independently, even using live/real data.
11. Talking of regression testing, what if you can regression test only your rules as they change over time !You can do that with a BRMS

And finally ..

The list is really getting big. But the point is clear. BRMS allow complex business systems that are expected to provide critical decisioning to be built at unheard of speeds, while delivering hard to beat maintenance experience and business agility.

Now, You think about it!