Modeling and Consuming Business Policy Rules

Abstract

Concepts and technologies are described herein for modeling and consuming business policy rules. A policy server executes a policy application for modeling and storing the business policy rules. The business policy rules are modeled and stored in a data storage device according to an extensible policy framework architecture that can be tailored by administrators or other entities to support business-specific needs and/or operations. The modeled business policy rules can be used to support enforcement of business policy rules against various business operations, as well as allowing histories and/or other audits of business policy rules to be completed based upon information stored as the business policy rules.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for consuming business policy rules, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for:
 calling, during execution of an application, a policy application to identify the business policy rules;   receiving the business policy rules, in response to calling the policy application;   determining if a conflict exists among the received business policy rules;   resolving the conflict, in response to determining that the conflict exists among the received business policy rules;   applying at least one business policy rule of the business policy rules to an action associated with execution of the application; and   determining if the action associated with execution of the application complies with the at least one business policy rule.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising denying completion of the action, in response to determining that the action associated with execution of the application does not comply with the at least one business policy rule. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising allowing completion of the action, in response to determining that the action associated with execution of the application does comply with the at least one business policy rule. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining if the conflict exists among the received business policy rules further comprises:
 determining that a conflict exists among the received business policy rules in response to determining that the received business policy rules include more than one business policy rule; and   determining that a conflict does not exist among the received business policy rules in response to determining that the received business policy rules include one business policy rule.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the business policy rules are generated by an administrator system in communication with the policy application. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein generating the business policy rules comprises presenting a user interface for:
 specifying an organization to which a business policy comprising business policy rules is to apply;   identifying a business process associated with the business policy comprising business policy rules;   defining policy rules associated with the business policy, the policy rules comprising data defining a rule to be applied to the business process; and   generating the business policy rule based, at least partially, upon the organization, the business process, and the policy rules.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein defining the policy rules further comprises defining effective date information associated with the business policy rules. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the effective date information comprises data defining at least one of an effective date, a termination date, or a time during which the business policy rule is to be effective. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating a request for a business policy rule audit. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising receiving, in response to the request, a history associated with the business policy rule, the history comprising data defining at least one version of the business policy rule and at least one effective date associated with the at least one version. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method for consuming business policy rules, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for:
 calling, during execution of an application, a policy application to identify the business policy rules;   receiving the business policy rules, in response to calling the policy application, the business policy rules identified by the policy application as being related to an action associated with execution of the application;   determining if a conflict exists among the plurality of business policy rules;   resolving the conflict, in response to determining that the conflict exists among the received plurality of business policy rules;   applying at least one business policy rule of the plurality of business policy rules to the action, the at least one business policy rule being determined during resolution of the conflict; and   determining if the action complies with the at least one business policy rule.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 denying completion of the action, in response to determining that the action associated with execution of the application does not comply with the at least one business policy rule; and   allowing completion of the action, in response to determining that the action associated with execution of the application does comply with the at least one business policy rule.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein resolving the conflict comprises identifying the at least one business policy rule based, at least partially, upon respective effective dates associated with the plurality of business policy rules. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein resolving the conflict comprises identifying an entity associated with the plurality of business policy rules and selecting, based upon the identified entity, one of the plurality of business policy rules. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein resolving the conflict comprises:
 identifying policies associated with each of the plurality of business policy rules; and   selecting the at least one business policy rule based, at least partially, upon identifying a most restrictive business policy rule of the plurality of business policy rules.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the business policy rules are generated by presenting a user interface for:
 specifying an organization to which a business policy rule is to apply, the business process comprising the action;   identifying a business process associated with the business policy rule;   defining policy rules associated with the business policy rule, the policy rules comprising data defining a rule to be applied to the business process and effective date information associated with the business policy rule; and   generating the business policy rule based, at least partially, upon the organization, the business process, and the policy rules.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the effective date information comprises data defining at least one of an effective date, a termination date, or a time during which the business policy rule is to be effective. 
     
     
         18 . A computer storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereupon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
 receive organization data via a user interface, the organization data specifying an organization to which a business policy rule is to apply;   receive business process data via the user interface, the business process data identifying a business process associated with the business policy rule;   receive policy data via the user interface, the policy data defining a rule to be applied to the business process and effective date information associated with the business policy rule; and   generate the business policy rule based, at least partially, upon the organization, the business process, and the policy rules.   
     
     
         19 . The computer storage medium of  claim 18 , further comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:
 store the business policy rules at a data storage location accessible by a policy server;   receive a call from an application, the call requesting identification of business policy rules associated with execution of the application;   retrieve the business policy rules, in response to the call; and   provide the business policy rules to the application.   
     
     
         20 . The computer storage medium of  claim 19 , wherein providing the business policy rules to the application comprises providing the business policy rules to an application configured to:
 determine if a conflict exists among the plurality of business policy rules;   resolve the conflict, in response to determining that the conflict exists among the received plurality of business policy rules;   apply at least one business policy rule of the plurality of business policy rules, the at least one business policy rule being determined during resolution of the conflict; and   determine if the action complies with the at least one business policy rule.