This is my final post in this series.In part 1, I introduced Decision Services, in part 2, I talked about the challenges in implementing Decision Services.

In this post, I will attempt to come up with a set of capabilities that you need to aim to have when using rule driven Decision Services

The SOA Life Cycle

Before I go into my checklist, here is a small reference to a simplified SOA Life cycle.

The MS SOA Life Cycle.

• In Step 1, you would create a Decision Service.
• In Step 2, you would smoke test and deploy the service
• In Step 3, you would compose a larger service using other (possibly generated) services.

This is a very simple model for illustration purposes only!

What capabilities would you need?

If I was a Project Manager, or an Architect in an Organization that is adopting SOA and wants to use rule driven Decision Services, then these are the questions I would ask to begin with. You can use these questions to begin to formulate your own checklist

• What if you could create a Decision Service from the Business Rules without writing code? How about something simple and neat like a Wizard?
• What if you could deploy the service without understanding the underlying technology?In the Windows world, possible deployment options include an ASMX Web Service, as a Windows Service, as a Stand alone EXE etc.
• How can I make using Decision Services with Workflow tools like Windows Workflow Foundation or BizTalk easier?
• Can you use Decision Services with Workflow tools without bothering to understand the BRMS vendors tools? May be generate a Decision Service on the fly during development & testing from these tools?
• How can I enable quick and instant testing of the generated Decision Service easy for my Business Rules Developer?

Final Words

The objective of this 3 part series was to brush upon the subject of using rule driven Decision Services in an SOA environment. As is always the case, I have only scratched the surface.

More could have been said, further detail is possible. Because of lack of time, and the desire to be brief, I have listed only the top 3-4 challenges and not an exhaustive list, and in the process, might be seen as having missed out certain items. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have opinion on this subject