How many different kinds of decision management are there?

Well at least one more as of today – Jim Sinur, over on his Gartner blog – has finally started to use the phrase he has been threatening to use for a while “Intelligent Decision Management”. While Jim has not published a formal definition – I expect he will soon now he is back at Gartner – a few clues exist in the post.

1. The post is called “Are you driving through your rear view mirrors”
   So I think we can safely assume that predictive analytics and using data not for reporting but to look forward will be part of it
2. He explicitly mentions business rules, constraints and heuristics
3. A decision sandbox gets a few lines
   Clearly simulation, like that provided by Chordiant’s Visual Business Director, should be part and parcel of it.
4. Processes and Events
   The decision management he envisions will be integrated with both processes and events so that simulation and design can take account of the operational environment into which the decisions are being injected.

Like the phrase Neil and I use in Smart (Enough) Systems – Enterprise Decision Management – Intelligent Decision Management is going to use business rules, analytics, optimization and simulation to take control of the critical decisions that run your business. Jim will, I am sure, add his own twist to this but I suspect he is on very much the same page as we are.

Whether you call this Enterprise Decision Management (EDM), Intelligent Decision Management (IDM), Deciison Management or Business Decision Management the overall direction is clear. It is time to start managing decisions.