A Business Rules Management System or BRMS is a complete set of software components for the creation, testing, management, deployment and ongoing maintenance of business rules in a production environment.
BRMSs offer many advantages over traditional code. A BRMS requires the elements shown in the diagram below:
An enterprise-class rule repository with audit trails and versioning
Design tools that allow technical users to integrate business rules with the rest of the environment.
Intuitive rule maintenance applications for business users
Verification and validation tools for both technical and business users
Testing and Simulation tools
Deployment tools supporting multiple platforms
A high-performance Business Rules Engine
A BRMS gives business users and analysts the ability to make routine changes and updates to critical business systems while freeing IT resources to concentrate on higher value-add projects and initiatives.
Example Commercial BRMSs*:
Actico Platform
FICO Blaze Advisor
IBM Operational Decision Manager
SAP BRFplus/Decision Service Manager
Sparkling Logic SMARTS
Example Open Source BRMSs*:
JBoss Drools
Open Rules
Red Hat JBoss BRMS
*Not intended to be an exhaustive list
Example of a Business Rules Management System