Revolutionizing Business Rules Management on IBM Z
with Decision Runtime for z/OS
Produced by
James Taylor (DR4z Lead Developer) Chris Backhouse (DR4z Architect) Lucinda Croft (DR4z team Manager)
In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to swiftly adapt to changing needs is crucial. Managing business rules within COBOL and PL/I code presents significant challenges, such as lengthy development cycles and limited agility.
IBM's Decision Runtime for z/OS is a transformative solution that redefines how business rules are managed and enforced on the IBM Z platform, shifting decision logic from within these traditional languages to a more accessible, web-based environment where developers and business users can easily modify rules. This enhances agility and reduces the time to make changes from months to hours.
Commonality across platforms
At the core of Decision Runtime for z/OS is IBM Operational Decision Manager (ODM)— a mature, widely adopted rules engine. For organizations already using ODM on distributed platforms, this z/OS offering brings immediate value by enabling the same rule sets to be deployed across both mainframe and distributed systems.
This consistency reduces duplication, minimizes risk, and ensures seamless alignment in areas such as compliance, pricing, and eligibility logic. For example, maintaining consistent eligibility rules for loans across both mainframe and distributed systems becomes seamless with Decision Runtime for z/OS.
What’s in a name?
The answer: Three rules engines & One Unified Solution
Recent enhancements have expanded ODM for z/OS into a broader offering now called Decision Runtime for z/OS—integrating three rule engines:
· ODM (existing) – A proven rules engine for enterprise-grade decision logic.
· ADS - Offers a low-code approach to rule definition, allowing business users to create and modify rules with minimal IT support. ADS is also cloud and container-ready, seamlessly integrating with workflows, content services, and robotic process automation. With support now available on the z platform, commonality of rules across the organization is comprehensive.
· DMOE - An open-source decision engine that provides developers with greater flexibility and customization options. As a more developer-centric offering, DMOE allows for highly configurable and customizable rule sets, catering to complex decision-making scenarios.
Enhanced machine learning support
The latest 9.5 release of Decision Runtime for z/OS has further broadened its horizons by enhancing support for machine learning. Alongside its long-standing support for Machine Learning on z/OS, it now also allows access to WatsonX on cloud scoring services. This integration enables businesses to leverage advanced predictive analytics, to make smarter, real-time decisions. By integrating machine learning with business rules, organizations can improve risk assessment, personalize customer experiences, and optimize resource allocation.
An intuitive import wizard simplifies the process—automatically generating the necessary ODM data model and integration points from a WatsonX endpoint definition. This no-code approach allows organizations to harness predictive analytics and natural language processing to make smarter, real-time decisions.
Summary
In conclusion, Decision Runtime for z/OS, with its integration of ODM, ADS, and DMOE, and its expanded support for machine learning, is a powerful tool for modernizing business operations on the IBM Z platform.
It not only simplifies rule management but also fosters collaboration between IT and business units, ensuring that organizations can respond swiftly and effectively to changing market demands.
Explore Decision Runtime for z/OS and unlock the potential of agile, consistent, and AI-driven decision-making for your enterprise.