Frontline Systems Enters Business Rules Market with Cloud-Based RASON® Decision Services API

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev., July 1, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Frontline Systems, developer of the Solver in desktop Microsoft Excel® and the RASON® Analytics API, has released RASON Decision Services V2019: a cloud service that enables companies to easily apply business rules powered by advanced analytics, to embed 'intelligent decisions' in a manual or automated business process. Unlike existing 'heavyweight' Business Rule Management Systems, which typically require year-long implementation efforts by IT and six-figure or higher budgets, RASON Decision Services is designed for 'lightweight practical' projects, often using Microsoft Flow, implemented in weeks to months on a nominal initial budget.

Designed to be usable by business analysts and domain experts, not just data scientists and IT professionals, RASON Decision Services makes it easier to define business rules and decision tables by embracing the new open standard: DMN 1.2 (Decision Model and Notation) and its FEEL (Friendly Enough Expression Language) – first published by the OMG (Object Management Group) in 2015, and now a widely used alternative to proprietary business rules languages.

"We've made it easy to combine advanced analytics with business rules and decision tables for intelligent decisions," said Daniel Fylstra, Frontline's President and CEO, "and the RASON API makes this combo readily available to web, mobile, server and desktop applications."

RASON Decision Services provides everything needed for both advanced analytics and business rules: SQL, OData and Spark data access, forecasting, text mining, machine learning, Monte Carlo simulation, and mathematical optimization. Use of a predictive model as input to a decision table or set of business rules – considered an advanced use case today by many analysts – is a simple case in RASON Decision Services, where results from any analytics method can be used in decision tables, and decision tables in turn can be used to define business logic inside optimization or simulation models.

Business analysts and developers can sign up for free trial accounts to try out RASON Decision Services at https://rason.com. They can use tools to compose RASON models, exercise the REST API, try out dozens of example models illustrating use of decision tables, predictive models and machine learning, optimization and simulation, and download the RASON User Guide and Reference Guide in PDF form.

RESTful Analytic Solver® Object Notation

RASON®, an acronym for RESTful Analytic Solver® Object Notation, denotes a high-level, declarative modeling language that is embedded in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation), the popular structured format widely used to pass data between Web clients and servers. A REST API at https://rason.net enables applications to submit RASON models to Frontline's servers, solve them, and obtain results in JSON.

First introduced in early 2015, RASON has become steadily more powerful and comprehensive as an analytics API. Frontline's public RASON server cluster handles thousands of optimization, simulation, data mining and machine learning models from users every day, through its REST API; the company also offers a RASON Standalone Server, with a compatible API, for on-premise use.

Multiple Linked Decision Tables

Decision tables effectively encapsulate the business rules needed to make a discrete decision, and are far preferable to repositories of thousands of rules, as used in older Business Rule Management Systems – which become very difficult to maintain. But even a moderate-size decision problem will typically use several decision tables, where the results of one table may be used as input to another table. A RASON Decision Services model can contain any number of linked decision tables, with easy symbolic name references between them.

Individual Decisions with Request Parameters

RASON models can easily define data sources such as SQL databases, OData endpoints, and Excel and CSV files; these have typically been used in data mining, optimization or simulation models, which work with large tables or "data frames" at once. But business rules and decision tables are typically used to make a decision about a single case at a time: one order or application, or one employee assignment. RASON Decision Services makes it easy to supply standard query parameters in a REST API call; these values can serve as direct inputs to a decision table, or as keys in parameterized SQL queries to look up just the data needed for that one order, application or employee assignment.

Rason.com makes it easy to get started with RASON Decision Services, at no cost or risk. But Frontline Systems can offer help, through the firm's consulting partners, to companies who need a solution, but may have limited experience with advanced analytics, decision tables or REST APIs. For information please contact [email protected].

Frontline Systems Inc. (http://www.solver.com) is the alternative to analytics complexity, helping business analysts and managers gain insights and make better decisions for an uncertain future, without the cost, delays and risk of 'big vendor' tools. Its products integrate forecasting and data mining for "predictive analytics," Monte Carlo simulation and risk analysis, and conventional and stochastic optimization for "prescriptive analytics." Founded in 1987, Frontline is based in Incline Village, Nevada (775-831-0300).

Analytic Solver® and RASON® are registered trademarks of Frontline Systems, Inc.

SOURCE Frontline Systems Inc.