An updated version of this course is available. For more information, click Managing Decisions in IBM Operational Decision Manager V8.6 (WB391G).

This course is also available as self-paced virtual (e-learning) course Managing Decisions in IBM Operational Decision Manager V8.5 (ZB386G). This option does not require any travel.

This course introduces business analysts to IBM Operational Decision Manager V8.5.You learn the concepts and skills that are necessary to capture, author, validate, and manage business rules with Operational Decision Manager.

IBM Operational Decision Manager provides a complete platform for managing business rules by helping to automate and govern decisions across processes and applications. Version 8.5 introduces the decision governance framework, which provides prescriptive tools for managing decision governance.

This course focuses on the iterative nature of working collaboratively with business policy experts and development teams on rule projects. Through instructor-led presentations, product demonstrations, and hands-on lab exercises, you learn about the core features of Operational Decision Manager. You also receive intensive training in modeling business rule vocabulary, rule discovery, rule authoring, and rule governance and management. The course uses realistic scenarios and a case study to illustrate the principles and good practices for discovering, analyzing, and authoring business rules.

The course begins with an overview of Operational Decision Manager and the modeling concepts that are related to business rule applications. You work with Unified Modeling Notation (UML) to document use cases and draw class diagrams. You also work with real-life business models, use cases, and business policies during the rule discovery and analysis labs. After learning how to transform business policy into rules, you learn how to write rules in Decision Center and Rule Designer.

This course covers rule authoring topics such as working with conditions, defining variables for definition statements, and creating decision tables and decision trees. You then learn how to create queries and reports, and you also learn how to run tests and simulations with Decision Validation Services.

In addition, the course covers Decision Center management features, such as permission management, version control, baselines, and multiple release management of business rule projects. You learn how to identify governance issues and use the Operational Decision Manager decision governance framework to support decision governance and rule management.

The lab environment for this course uses the Windows 2008 Server platform.

For information about other related courses, visit the IBM Training website:
http://www.ibm.com/training

• Describe the benefits of implementing an Operational Decision Manager solution, and the collaboration that is required between the business and development teams
• Identify the main user roles that are involved in designing and developing an Operational Decision Manager solution, and the tasks that are associated with each role
• Explain modeling concepts and the Unified Modeling Language (UML) notation that is relevant to modeling for business rules and events
• Define and implement object models for business rules
• Use good practices to discover and analyze business rules for implementation
• Set up the rule authoring environment in Designer by working with rule projects, and synchronizing across development and business environments
• Customize the vocabulary that is used in rules
• Use the Operational Decision Manager rule editors to author business rules and decision tables
• Run tests and simulations in Decision Center to validate decision logic and rule changes
• Use various Decision Center features that support project management, such as permission management, version control, smart folders, and multiple release management
• Explain governance issues and work with Operational Decision Manager features that support decision governance

This intermediate course is designed for business analysts.

You should have:

• Experience with identifying and defining business policies and rules
• A basic understanding of business models

• Course introduction
• Introducing IBM Operational Decision Manager V8.5
• Operational Decision Manager: Business rules
• Exercise: IBM Operational Decision Manager in action
• Modeling for business rules
• Exercise: Building the model on paper
• Exercise: Implementing the model
• Exercise: Understanding the case study
• Discovering and analyzing rules
• Exercise: Discovering rules
• Exercise: Analyzing rules
• Understanding rule projects
• Exercise: Setting up a rule project
• Working with the BOM
• Exercise: Working with the BOM
• Introducing rule authoring
• Introducing Decision Center: The Business console and the Enterprise console
• Exercise: Exploring the Decision Center Business console
• Exercise: Exploring the Decision Center Enterprise console
• Working with conditions in rules
• Exercise: Working with conditions in rules
• Working with definitions in rules
• Exercise: Working with definitions in rules
• Writing complete rules
• Exercise: Writing complete rules
• Authoring decision tables and trees
• Exercise: Authoring decision tables and trees
• Exercise: Authoring rules: Putting it all together
• Reviewing rules
• Exercise: Reviewing rules
• Running tests and simulations with Decision Validation Services
• Exercise: Running tests and simulations
• Introducing Decision Center Enterprise console management features
• Exercise: Working with the Decision Center Enterprise console management features
• Introducing decision governance
• Exercise: Working with the decision governance framework
• Course summary