Any organization today is a complex set of departments and communication is crucial between them. For example, the IT department knows how to build a computer system and the business teams have knowledge of how the system should behave. How can the IT and business teams communicate effectively? How do they manage business rules that are always in flux, especially in the benefits administration area that is frequently subjected to policy changes?            

The answer is a platform that allows the business team to directly send IT the exact logic the system will run on, already tested for accuracy. The solution should combine a powerful business rules engine with an intuitive and easy-to-use business rules editor to allow business users to model and test.

With such a platform, business users can make a graphical rule whenever they want. They don’t have to wait for any of the actual system code to exist. As soon as your business team knows for sure what you need the future system to do, they can write the rules; after which, your IT team can apply that rule to the system once they create it.

Business users don’t even have to wait for the rules to go to IT to test the logic they created. As soon as a business user models a rule, they can test that rule before even a single line of application code exists. You don’t have to wonder how the rule will work in the months between writing the requirement and testing the application. You can find out instantly.

When your business team has modeled and tested all their rules, they hand the files directly to IT. IT directly uses these files when they build the system, resulting in a perfect transfer of information from one team to the other, and a system that behaves exactly as intended.

Sagitec offers the Sagitec Software Studio (S3), a web-based XML generator that serves as an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for binding your benefits administration solution with business entities (including data) during design time. S3 lets you take advantage of one integrated system rather than switching between multiple tools for system design. The IDE provides comprehensive facilities for modeling business entities and defining business rules (e.g. logical rules, decision tables, Excel rules) associated with these entities, and scenarios for verifying the accuracy of the rules.

Instead of using lines of code, S3 uses an intuitive drag-and-drop graphical user interface. S3 offers three different kinds of graphical rules:

Logical Rule: Use a simple point-and-click interface to drag and drop flowchart elements to create a logical rule with actions, conditions, loops, and breaks. This is the kind of rule you’ll use to determine eligibility and calculate benefits.

Decision Table: Insert rows and columns to create a decision table to represent dozens or hundreds of if-then statements. This is the kind of rule you’ll use to apply rates, such as contribution rates.

Testing Rule: As soon as a business user models a rule, they can test that rule before even a single line of application code exists. You don’t have to wonder how the rule will work in the months between writing the requirement and testing the application.

With S3, your business and IT teams can work seamlessly as one unit and develop the benefits administration you need to solve all of your challenges. Want to know more about S3? Click the button below.