This topic applies only to the IBM Business Automation Workflow Advanced configuration.

Example Scenario

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This topic only applies to BAW, and is located in the BAW repository. Last updated on 2025-03-13 12:15
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Intelligent Business Services pave the way for advanced integration solutions that can dynamically select and run endpoints. Dynamic endpoint selection and execution can be achieved by using the combination of a type of business rule called policy and message payload. This selection pattern solves the problem of integrating diverse back-end services, third-party systems, and older applications. The complexity of applications commonly used by the Telecom and Healthcare industry domains are good examples to illustrate this problem. This scenario demonstrates how you can solve this problem by customizing and employing the built-in dynamic endpoint selection pattern provided by IBM® Integration Designer and IBM BPM Telecom Pack assets to create rules-based routing implementations.

Dynamic endpoint selection is a rules-based router pattern that can be used to find a required service provider endpoint from a pre-configured list of endpoints. It exposes a well-defined and self-contained set of SOA services known as business services. These business services represent high level, horizontal business functions such as Activate Service, Perform Customer Order Feasibility and Check Credit Status.

Let us consider a scenario of creating a customer billing account for a subscribed Telecom service such as a Triple-Play product bundle that includes VoIP, IPTV, High-Speed DSL whose accounts are maintained in different back-end systems. This is a common pattern among communication service providers that offer multiple telecommunications products and services and bundle them as well for their customers.

A simple rule for selecting an endpoint resembles one of the following:

  • When CustomerOrder.productType equals 'VoIP' Then Invoke Create Billing Account for VoIP Provider
  • When CustomerOrder.productType equals 'High-Speed DSL' Then Invoke Create Billing Account for High-Speed DSL Provider
  • When CustomerOrder.productType equals 'IPTV' Then Invoke Create Billing Account for IPTV Provider
This rule can get quite complicated as more conditions get added to the 'When' clause. A decision table is recommended for scenarios where a complex rule is needed to model actions based on set conditions.
  • Business rules employing decision tables can be constructed easily using a rules implementation functionality or a tool such as IBM WebSphere® Business Process Rules Manager or IBM Operational Decision Manager business rules management system (BRMS). However for constructing rules, it is a prerequisite to have a rules vocabulary model defined.
  • Rules vocabulary can be constructed manually or by importing schemas from a pre-defined data model provided as part of IBM BPM Telecom Pack.
  • The data model packaged as part of IBM BPM Telecom Pack follows a common industry standard known as Shared Information Data Model (SID) defined by the Tele Management Forum (TMF).
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