System and method for designing effective business policies via business rules analysis

• US 20060190310A1
• Filed: 06/20/2005
• Published: 08/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: YASU Technologies Pvt Ltd. (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Chandrasekaran, Vijay, Gudla, Rahul, Bhosle, Amit Madhukar
• Granted Patent: US 8,731,983 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for analyzing the business rules, business metrics, and decision parameters for a firm or organization, processing a subset of such data to form output, and offering access to selective views of such output including evaluation and comparative data regarding execution of such business rules, information on corresponding business metrics or sets of business metrics, information on corresponding decision parameters or sets of decision parameters or scenarios, and other useful analytic information which can help a firm or organization evaluate and modify business policies based on said rules, metrics, and parameters. In addition to said rules, metrics and/or parameters, the data for the business rule analysis can include conventional historical data or hypothetical data based on simulations which the current system and method provide based on prescribed random and non-random algorithms. The simulated or hypothetical data enables users to conduct rule analysis based on historical data, simulated data, or hybrid models. In this manner, the methods and systems described in this invention provide for both an evaluation of a firm'"'"'s current policies as well as an evaluation of policy modifications not actually executed but for which hypothetical data can be provided and analyzed.

Claims

1. A computer-based method, comprising:

identifying a business metric for a business to be analyzed;

identifying or generating at least one business rule relevant to the business metric;

selecting at least one decision parameter of the business rule for variation during simulation of a business event;

selecting an input data set for analysis, the input data set relating to a plurality of business events; and

simulating the effect of varying of the decision parameter(s) on the business metric.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the input data set is selected from the group consisting of a real-time data set, a historical data set, a simulated data set, and a hybrid data set.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the hybrid data set includes any combination of historical data, real-time data and simulated data.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the simulation is selected from the group consisting of but not limited to a Monte Carlo simulation, a random walk simulation, a least squares simulation, a min-max simulation, a game theory simulation, a statistical simulation, a scenario-based simulation, an event-based simulation, a model-based simulation, and a formula-based simulation.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein information relevant to the business metric is stored in a register associated with the business metric.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the register stores information related to different events that are simulated, so that a user can evaluate the impact of different parameters on different business metrics.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising determining a business policy based on the results of the analysis.

8. A computer based method, comprising:

identifying the business metrics, selecting the business metrics to be tracked, and deciding on the registers to be maintained for each of them;

selecting the business rules that affect the chosen business metrics, and, if applicable, generating rulesets or specific rules corresponding to such business metrics or sets of business metrics;

identifying the decision-parameters to be varied during the analysis, the range of values which the decision parameters can assume, and also deselecting or eliminating any decision parameters or sets of decision parameters not related to the ultimate business objects and metrics being analyzed;

configuring the input data source, selecting historical, simulated, or hybrid data including historical, realtime or simulated data, using specified algorithms to create simulated or hybrid data model;

using the various input data sources, business metrics, decision parameters, scenario, and register data, to execute various rules and rulesets, and to analyze outcomes, corresponding business metric data, and corresponding decision parameter data;

storing the results of each such execution or run independently and storing the corresponding outcomes and data independently so that it can be accessed, queried, or investigated as and when desired; and

repeating the above steps to generate additional data and fine-tune analysis.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the computer based method is carried out by interface of a single user or multiple users through single or multiple user devices.

10. A method according to claim 8, wherein business policy recommendations can be generated on specific sets of the data as specified by the user according to the desired business metrics, decision parameters, and scenarios which such user chooses to analyze.

11. A method according to claim 8, wherein the user categorizes parameters in business rules and decision tables as decision parameters, and sets up an analytics model to determine the values for these parameters in order to evaluate, analyze, and optimize the business metrics of the organization.

12. A method according to claim 8, wherein the user can focus on a specific ruleset, rule, rule outcome, ruleset outcome, decision table, business metric, set of business metrics, decision parameter, and set of decision parameters, using any such focus to adjust business policy and measure specific effects of business policy.

13. A method according to claim 8, wherein the user can automatically generate values or combinations of values for decision parameters.

14. A method according to claim 8, wherein the input data set is selected from the group consisting of a real-time data set, a historical data set, a simulated data set, and a hybrid data set.

15. A method according to claim 8, wherein the user may store configurations of simulated data and simulated data outcomes for reuse with subsequent analyses, where the body of such configurations can be stored as a library and accessed.

16. A method according to claim 8, wherein the user may progress from coarse to fine grain analysis through iterative use of simulated, historical, and hybrid data, narrowing the values of a particular decision parameter with each iteration, and thereby determine with a higher degree of accuracy the most significant value range for a given decision parameter.

17. A method according to claim 8, wherein the user may use statistical metrics including, but not limited to “

MINIMUM”

, “

MAXIMUM”

, “

SUM”

, “

AVERAGE”

, “

COUNT”

, “

THRESHOLD” and

“

RANGE”

to determine specific effects on particular business metrics.

18. A method of claim 17, wherein the user is further provided with the ability to impose logical constraints defined in connection with certain business terms of a given policy on the registers to be tracked and analyzed for business metrics.

19. A method of claim 8, wherein a user may employ a reverse lookup functionality or other such query functionality to determine the combination of values for the decision-parameters which corresponds to a particular desirable impact on the business metrics.

20. A method of claim 8, wherein a user may profile the decision tables and thereby determine the frequency of each cell or groups of cells of the decision tables being fired/activated.

21. A method of claim 8, wherein the user can simultaneously analyze the impact of decision parameter changes on multiple business metrics.

22. A method of claim 8, wherein the user is provided the ability to classify certain result sets as unacceptable by specifying certain unacceptable values for certain business metrics, wherein the user can use such classification to focus analysis on a limited set of values of the relevant business metrics.

23. A method of claim 8, wherein the user is provided with the ability to identify the most critical decision-parameter of a policy, which is defined as a decision-parameter which, if changed by a certain percentage, has the greatest impact on the business metrics as compared to the impact by changing any other decision-parameter by the same percentage.

24. A method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises using the analytic outcomes or results generated for a particular business policy or set of business rules to activate a mechanism which automatically replaces the current or deployed version of the policy or set of business rules with a modified and more effective version which incorporates the rule changes recommended by such outcomes or results.

25. A method according to claim 8, wherein the output is used to improve or monitor the business metrics of a given firm or organization.

26. A method according to claim 8, wherein the user will generate one or a plurality of reports generated from the output.

27. A method according to claim 26, wherein the information included in the report has been aggregated, analyzed, processed, compiled, or organized.

28. A system comprising:

a facility for identifying the business metrics, selecting the business metrics to be tracked, and deciding on the registers to be maintained for each of them;

a facility for selecting the business rules that affect the chosen business metrics, and, if applicable, generating rulesets or specific rules corresponding to such business metrics or sets of business metrics;

a facility for identifying the decision-parameters to be varied during the analysis, the range of values which the decision parameters can assume, and also deselecting or eliminating any decision parameters or sets of decision parameters not related to the ultimate business objects and metrics being analyzed;

a facility for configuring the input data source, selecting historical, simulated, or hybrid data including historical, realtime or simulated data, using specified algorithms to create simulated or hybrid data models;

a facility for using the various input data sources, business metrics, decision parameters, scenario, and register data, to execute various rules and rulesets, and to analyze outcomes, corresponding business metric data, and corresponding decision parameter data;

a facility for storing the results of each such execution or run independently and storing the corresponding outcomes and data independently so that it can be accessed, queried, or investigated as and when desired;

a facility for repeating the above steps to generate additional data and fine-tune analysis.

29. A system according to claim 28, wherein a single user or multiple users can interface through single or multiple user devices.

30. A system according to claim 28, wherein a facility permits business policy recommendations to be generated on specific sets of the data as specified by the user according to the desired business metrics, decision parameters, and scenarios which such user chooses to analyze.

31. A system according to claim 28, wherein a facility permits a user to categorize parameters in business rules and decision tables as decision parameters, and to set up an analytics model to determine the values for these parameters in order to evaluate, analyze, and optimize the business metrics of the organization.

32. A system according to claim 28, wherein a facility enables a user to focus on a specific ruleset, rule, rule outcome, ruleset outcome, decision table, business metric, set of business metrics, decision parameter, and set of decision parameters, using such focus to adjust business policy or measure specific effects of business policy.

33. A system according to claim 28, wherein a facility automatically generates values and combinations of values for decision parameters.

34. A system according to claim 28, wherein a facility is provided to store configurations of simulated data or simulated data outcomes for reuse with subsequent analyses, where the body of such existing configurations can be stored as a library and accessed.

35. A system according to claim 28, wherein a facility is provided for the user to proceed from coarse to fine grain analysis through iterative use of simulated, historical, and hybrid data, to narrow the values of a particular decision parameter with each iteration, and to thereby determine with a higher degree of accuracy the most significant value range for a given decision parameter.

36. A system according to claim 28, wherein the system includes a facility employing statistical metrics including, but not limited to “

MINIMUM”

, “

MAXIMUM”

, “

SUM”

, “

AVERAGE”

, “

COUNT”

, “

THRESHOLD” and

“

RANGE”

to determine specific effects on particular business metrics

37. A system of claim 36, wherein a functionality is provided to extend the statistical metrics to all such metrics that can be computed on a streaming data model.

38. A system of claim 36, wherein the user is further provided with a facility to impose logical constraints defined in connection with certain business terms of a given policy on the registers to be tracked and analyzed for business metrics.

39. A system of claim 28, wherein a reverse lookup functionality or other such query functionality is provided for the user to determine the combination of values for the decision-parameters which corresponds to a particular desirable impact on the business metrics.

40. A system of claim 28, wherein a facility is provided to simultaneously analyze the impact of decision parameter changes on multiple business metrics.

41. A system of claim 28, wherein a facility is provided to classify certain result sets as unacceptable by specifying certain unacceptable values for certain business metrics, wherein the facility enables a user to use such classification to focus the analysis on a limited set of values of the relevant business metrics.

42. A system of claim 28, wherein a facility is provided to identify the most critical decision-parameter of a policy, which is defined as a decision-parameter which, if changed by a certain percentage, has the greatest impact on the business metrics as compared to the impact by changing any other decision-parameter by the same percentage.

43. A system of claim 28, wherein the system further comprises a facility which uses the analytic outcomes or results generated for a particular business policy or set of business rules to activate a mechanism which automatically replaces the current or deployed version of the policy or set of business rules with a modified and more effective version which incorporates the rule changes recommended by such outcomes or results.

44. A system of claim 28, wherein an analytics model derived from such system or the results produced by such system is persisted to disk or other storage medium for future reuse and investigation and comparison with other variations of the same model or comparison with other different models.

45. A system according to claim 28, wherein the output is used to improve or monitor the business metrics of a given firm or organization.

46. A system according to claim 28, further comprising one or a plurality of reports generated from the output.

47. A system according to claim 46, wherein the information included in the report has been aggregated, analyzed, processed, compiled, or organized.

48. A computer-based method, comprising:

identifying business metrics of interest, including related business rules and decision parameters;

selecting the data source or sources to be used;

performing analysis by varying the decision parameters across all values of interest and in all combinations of interest; and

storing the results of the analysis.

49. A method according to claim 48, wherein the data source includes any one or more of historical data, realtime data and simulated data.

50. A method according to claim 48, wherein the stored results may be queried.

51. A method according to claim 48, wherein reports may be generated based on the stored data.

52. A method according to claim 48, where the method may be repeated with at least one change based on the results.

53. A method according to claim 48, where a user may simultaneously analyze the impact of decision parameter changes on multiple business metrics.