Oracle Intelligent Advisor

Oracle Intelligent Advisor (OIA) – formerly known as Oracle Policy Automation (OPA) – is a suite of decision automation software products for modeling and deploying business rules within the enterprise. Oracle Corporation acquired OPA in December 2008 when it purchased Australian software company RuleBurst Holdings, then trading as Haley.[2] Oracle Intelligent Advisor transforms legislation and policy documents into executable business rules, for example for the calculation of benefit entitlements or discount amounts. Although OPA was originally developed for and sold to the public sector,[3] it is now widely used in industry.[4]

Oracle Intelligent Advisor
Developer(s)Oracle
Initial releaseDecember 2009 (2009-12)
Stable release
12.2.24 / 1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)[1]
Written inJava & .NET
Available in19 languages
TypeCollaborative software
WebsiteOracle Intelligent Advisor
Part of a series on
Algocracy
Examples

Oracle Intelligent Advisor continues to be available as an on-premise offering (known as private cloud) and as a public cloud solution. Web Service and generic connectors provide integration interfaces for applications or platforms using JSON and XML, enabling them to be the source of input data and the target of the results of the automated decision. Full auditing, traceability, transcripts and decision reporting helps organizations understand and justify the decision automation outcomes.

Features and components

Oracle Policy Modeling is a Windows desktop application for transforming legislation and business policy into executable business rules. Rules are written in Microsoft Word and Excel documents using phrases in languages such as English, Chinese and French.[5] These rule documents can be shared amongst business and information technology stakeholders, and commentary can be added into the documents without affecting the structure of the rules themselves. Other features of Oracle Policy Modeling include integrated test case execution and debugging capabilities, and the definition of interviews for interactive rule-based assessments. Interview screen order and branching logic can be defined using rules and attributes. The concept of relevancy is used to dynamically show only pertinent Screens.

The Oracle Intelligent Advisor decision automation comprises five main run-time elements:

  • Web Determinations: An interview application that uses screens and stages defined in Oracle Policy Modeling to deliver Internet- and intranet-based interactive HTML assessments. Data entered is used in combination with backward chaining to determine which screens need to be shown to the user in order to reach a decision.
  • Determinations Server: A WS-I Basic Profile compliant SOAP-based web service that exposes decision-making endpoints for deployed policy models. By passing data to the Determinations Server, and receiving responses in return, enterprises can integrate rule-based decision-making with other applications and BPM solutions. Examples include Oracle's Siebel, or BPEL- orchestrated business processes. If insufficient data is provided to reach a decision, Oracle Determinations Server is able to explain what additional data may be required. The Determinations API also provides REST-based services for the same purpose.
  • Decision Services, introduced in 2020, allow for the rapid creation and deployment of REST-powered services without the need for a desktop deployment of Oracle Policy Modeling. The entire design, test and deployment cycle is performed in a Web browser.
  • The Intelligent Advisor Hub, a web-based application to manage the development repository, deployments, connections and other administrative features.
  • REST APIs[6] are provided to execute assessments both single and in batches, to provide management of Intelligent Advisor Hub users, permissions and administrative tasks and to provide programmatic access to deployments of Intelligent Advisor Policy Models. An OpenAPI 2.0 description is available.[7]

Oracle Intelligent Advisor Cloud Service is available as a SaaS product. Oracle Intelligent Advisor is also available as an "on-premise" product, supported on Oracle WebLogic Server, Microsoft IIS, IBM WebSphere AS and Apache Tomcat in version 10, standardizing on Oracle WebLogic Server in version 12.

Connectors for enterprise applications such as Oracle's Siebel, Oracle CRM On Demand and SAP are also available in version 10. The Oracle Intelligent Advisor platform in version 12 includes both XML and JSON-based connection APIs to allow standards-based integration with any application or data source using a standardized API. These are known as the Connector API (XML based) and the Generic Integration Protocol (REST based). Connectors for use in Oracle Intelligent Advisor HTML interviews are known as Interview Extension Connectors and use the Mozilla fetch() API to enable real-time integration of external sources into the Interview experience.

Versions

The product now known as Oracle Intelligent Advisor has been sold under several different names, including Oracle Policy Automation (OPA), Haley Office Rules, and RuleBurst.

RuleBurst 7.0 was the successor to STATUTE Expert.[8] Although customers of STATUTE Expert were able to upgrade to the later versions, RuleBurst 7.0 was the first version of the product that has become known as Oracle Intelligent Advisor today.[9]

Oracle has released several versions of Oracle Intelligent Advisor since it was acquired. The product is now updated on a quarterly cycle with monthly updates between releases.

Product VersionReleasedComments
10.0December 2009 (2009-12)[10]A major release with significant enhancements for both policy modeling and deployment.[11]
10.1March 2010 (2010-03)Update release with several minor enhancements, including ability to build and continue in the rule debugger while retaining session data.[11]
10.1.1April 2011 (2011-04)Maintenance release. Included critical fixes from 10.2. Replaces 10.1
10.2December 2010 (2010-12)[12]Major release. New features included translation support for interview content, and ribbons for Word 2007 and Excel 2007 for marking up rule documents.[13]
10.3September 2011 (2011-09)Incremental release. Added ability to use Oracle BI Publisher to define documents to generate during an interview. New syntactic language parsers were also added for Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Russian.[14]
10.3.1November 2011 (2011-11)Maintenance release.[15] Replaces 10.3
10.4March 2012 (2012-03)Major release.[16] New features included what-if analysis, a new batch processor and modules.[17]
10.4.1May 2012 (2012-05)Maintenance release.[18] Replaces 10.4
10.4.2October 2012 (2012-10)Maintenance release.[19] Replaces 10.4.1
10.4.3April 2013 (2013-04)Maintenance release.[20] Replaces 10.4.2
10.4.4July 2013 (2013-07)[21]Maintenance release.[22] Replaces 10.4.3
10.4.5April 2014 (2014-04)[23]Maintenance release.[24] Replaces 10.4.4
10.4.6May 2015 (2015-05)Maintenance release.[25] Replaces 10.4.5
10.4.7October 2016 (2016-10)[26]Maintenance release.[27] Replaces 10.4.6
12.0August 2014 (2014-08)Major release. First release of Oracle Policy Automation for Private Cloud.[28]
12.0.1December 2014 (2014-12)First release of Oracle In-Memory Policy Analytics (built on Oracle Policy Automation 12.0).[29]
12.1February 2015 (2015-02)Minor release.[30]
12.1.1May 2015 (2015-05)Maintenance release. Works side by side with 12.1
12.2August 2015 (2015-08)[31]Minor release. New features included inferred entity rules in Excel, custom language support, Finnish and Turkish parsers.[28]
12.2.1November 2015 (2015-11)[32]Minor release. New features included policy usage statistics, project inclusions, reference tags, signature and photo capture on mobile devices, and an enhanced data mapping experience.[33]
12.2.2February 2016 (2016-02)[34]Minor release. New features included interview checkpoints, touch-friendly interviews, free navigation in interviews and multi-level value lists.[35]
12.2.3May 2016 (2016-05)[36]Minor release. New features included multi-channel interviews, interview checkpoints, signatures in forms and HR self-service example.[37]
12.2.4August 2016 (2016-08)[38]Minor release. New features included RuleScript and enhancement of interview statistics and relationship handling.[39]
12.2.5November 2016 (2016-11)[40]Major release. New features included next-generation interviews, dynamic interview behaviour, enhanced navigation and access control for policy models.[41]
12.2.6February 2017 (2017-02)[42]Minor release. New features included Service Cloud connection enhancements, programmatic & identity manager-based Hub user management, an integration user account type and exporting project data model.[43]
12.2.7May 2017 (2017-05)[44]Minor release. New features included PDF form templates, interview extensions, embeddable interviews and batch Assess REST API.[45]
12.2.8August 2017 (2017-08)[46]Minor release. New features included checkpoints for Service Cloud agents, mobile assessments for Service Cloud and deployments REST API.[47]
12.2.9 / 17DNovember 2017 (2017-11)[48]Minor release. New features included dynamic reference data loading, Engagement Cloud interview styling and Identity Cloud Service integration.[49]
12.2.10 / 18AFebruary 2018 (2018-02)[50]Minor release. Enhancements included populating lists from rules, obsolete API warning and managing API clients programmatically.[51]
12.2.11 / 18BMay 2018 (2018-05)[52]Minor release. Enhancements included embeddable JavaScript models, inline customer portal interview widget, session-based REST API licensing and the Integration Cloud Service (ICS) OPA assessment adapter.[53]
12.2.12 / 18CAugust 2018 (2018-08)[54]Minor release. Enhancements included locale awareness enhancements, OPA Hub Connections REST API and the Hub action audit log.[55]
12.2.13 / 18DNovember 2018 (2018-11)[56]Minor release. Enhancements included enhancements to file uploads, pinning the version of a Policy Modeling project and client authentication for web service connections.[57]
12.2.14 / 19AFebruary 2019 (2019-02)[58]Minor release. Enhancements included using uploaded images in generated forms, using any interview data in interview extensions and providing conversational auditable advise via the OPA Chat API.[59]
12.2.15 / 19BMay 2019 (2019-05)[60]Minor release. Enhancements included enhancements to the OPA Chat API, interview extensions API and deployments REST API.[61]
12.2.16 / 19CAugust 2019 (2019-08)[62]Minor release. Enhancements included Integration OPA interview adapter, generic integration protocol for interviews, importing batch assess REST requests into Policy Modeling debugger and single-click updating all project inclusions.[63]
12.2.17 / 19DNovember 2019 (2019-11)[64]Minor release. Enhancements included new Hub user interface, Entity level forms, and the ability to modify and resubmit interview data[65]
12.2.18 / 20A February 2020 Minor release. Enhancements included new data loading capabilities in Oracle Engagement Cloud and Oracle B2C Service.
12.2.19 / 20B May 2020 Minor release. Enhancements included new chart types in the administration platform, better connector management for Oracle Engagement and B2C / B2B Cloud, some new entity control extension features for custom interview content using the JavaScript API, decision report support in the Batch Assess API and updated documentation.
12.2.20 / 20C August 2020 Major release. Launch of the Decision Service concept to create and deploy decision-making services in a web browser. This alleviates the need to install and manage a desktop development tool. Other enhancements included new performance analysis output from test cases and rule profiling report, plus branching of projects in the repository. This version introduces the concept of a component version. This is the version of the interface between Oracle Policy Modellng and Intelligent Advisor Hub. It is independent of the product version, meaning that it could change during a release without the product version changing, and that it might not change even though the product version changes. It is visible on the Welcome page of Oracle Policy Modeling.
12.2.21 / 20D November 2020 Minor release. Enhancements included attachment support in Oracle integration, enhanced Chat integration with Oracle Digital Assistant and introduction of the Redwood Theme as an interview theme.
12.2.22 / 21A February 2021 Minor release. Enhancements included native Oracle Digital Assistant integration, translation file enhancements, styling extension additions and support for viewing reference relationships in the debugger.
12.2.23 / 21B June 2021 Minor release. Enhancements include live inspection of results in Decision Services and some REST API enhancements, as well as the ability to reference Decision Services in Oracle Policy Modeling projects.
12.2.24 / 21C September 2021 Minor release. Enhancements include accessibility features in the JavaScript Extension API, further updates to the Decision Service capabilities and improvements to the Intelligent Advisor adapter in Oracle Integration / generic provider connections.
12.2.25 / 21D December 2021 Minor release. Enhancements include graphical comparison between any local project and any repository project version, and automatic inclusion of the built project in repository uploads.
12.2.26 / 22A March 2022 Minor release. Enhancements include a new read-only Role for Hub access and improved handling of checkpoints when integrating with Oracle Visual Builder applications. Monthly update 2 (released April 13, 2022, introduced French and Spanish for Decision Service Rule Authoring. In Oracle Policy Modeling, a new debug feature allows for the viewing of unsubmitted values, useful to debug single-screen projects or projects where Error or validation rules prohibit submittal.
12.2.27 / 22B May 2022 Minor release. Enhancements include support for the Oracle B2C Service Cloud Decimal data type in connection mappings and a new capability to attach a transcript of the interview as output to a connected application.

Applications and academic interest

The Oracle Policy Automation software has been publicly deployed within many government web-sites. Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship uses it for visitors to check their eligibility for visas.[66] The UK Revenue and Customs agency uses it for their Employment Status Indicator assessment tool;[67] the UK government's old online portal for businesses also used OPA for over 60 interactive tools,[68] while the United States IRS uses the software for guidance on tax law.[69] In France, the CNAF uses Oracle Intelligent Advisor for benefit calculations. In the private sector, Oracle Intelligent Advisor is widely represented amongst different industries and brands.[70]

Oracle Policy Modeling's controlled natural language approach to rule authoring has been the subject of some research.[71] The product was also used to help establish the viability of the Legal Knowledge Interchange Format[72] standard developed by the Estrella Project.[73][74]

Dr Jason Sender of Rule Analytics Ltd produced a paper entitled "The Application of Design Patterns to Oracle Policy Automation" extracts of which are presented on this Intelligent Advisor Community website.[75]

Acquisition and product name changes

RuleBurst acquired the assets of Haley Systems in November 2007.[76] At the time, RuleBurst and Haley were both marketing "natural language business rules" software and were considered competitors. Prior to being acquired, Haley Systems had licensed its HaleyAuthority rules product to Siebel Systems. HaleyAuthority was made available in Siebel 8.0 with the integration going under the name "Siebel Business Rules[77]". When Oracle acquired RuleBurst,[78] Oracle standardized naming across the entire platform, first as Oracle Policy Automation, then with Oracle Intelligent Advisor representing the overall family comprising desktop tools, server components and integration capabilities starting in December 2019.[79]

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