Oracle Permitting and Licensing is unique. We made strategic, intentional choices in the design and development of our cloud-native solution. In this blog series, we’ll explore a few of the most important parts of the product, what we do differently and why it matters.
The cloud configuration conundrum
Today, most new software implementations take place in the cloud. It makes sense – software vendors have the knowledge, resources, and scale to maintain critical business systems, and keep them secure. And customers see the benefit of digitizing their regulatory processes for planning, permitting, licensing and code enforcement.
But, candidly, one of the biggest questions asked about a cloud transition is configurability. Government agencies are forced to adapt to changing requirements that can be described in three categories:
- Regularly adopting new industry standards and best practices levied by regulatory bodies or professional associations (i.e. International Code Conference, American Planning Association, etc.).
- New regulatory policy or legislation that is self-imposed or mandated by related governing entities. Timely examples include licensing of short-term rentals, recreational cannabis, and recent changes to environmental permitting.
- Reaction to specific events, such as the collapse of a building that failed inspections, but appropriate action was not taken.
For these reasons, agencies need a solution that has the tools to adapt to change. That’s why Oracle Permitting and Licensing includes no-code tools we built for your functional users to quickly and easily make changes.
In this post we’ll focus on one of those tools: the Business Rules Framework.
Oracle’s unique approach to configuration
What is the Business Rules Framework?
The Business Rules Framework is an easy to use, no-code tool that allows agency staff to define processing rules using simple, human-readable screens. In short, you define what happens and when.
What kind of processing rules can you create?
The framework can be used to create rules for all offerings in the solution – permits and inspections, planning and zoning, code enforcement, or licensing. Examples of rules include:
- When a deposit has been received, update workflow and send a communication
- When an inspection fails, assess a fee
- When a hearing decision is appealed, apply a condition
- When a license application is withdrawn, send a communication and resolve a condition
- When a code case is assigned to a code officer, relay a message to an integrated system
Why is the Business Rules Framework a game-changer?
In the past, agencies had poor configuration options with any software, whether on premise or in the cloud. Existing solutions either force a one-size-fits-all approach, with all customers tied to the same limited processing rules, or they require complex custom ‘configurations’ written in technical programming languages that are expensive and risky to change.
We were determined to break that no-win cycle for agencies, so we took a radically different approach.
The Business Rules Framework is powerful – rules can run real-time or in batch, can assess multiple conditions, supports date and time evaluations and comparisons, supports field value comparisons, support GIS objects, automatically reads your lists of values, offers an advanced mode, and provides a log viewer for trouble-shooting.
It’s flexible – when the criteria on a rule is met, it can send messages to integrated third party systems, send communications, generate reports, add one time or recurring fees, apply or resolve conditions, update workflow, and prevent actions from taking place. And it’s continuing to grow and improve as we work with our customers to uncover all the ways they can use it.
And finally – it’s an important part of enabling adaptability in an ever-changing regulatory environment. Take the example we listed above about a building collapse. With the Business Rules Framework, a failed inspection can automatically send letters to all appropriate parties, assess fees or fines, and put a hold on all other work being performed at that location.
As this example illustrates, the value of the Business Rules Framework lies in its ability to automate business processes according to your unique, agency-defined requirements to ensure consistency and reliability.
Real configurability, in your hands
The Business Rules Framework is just one of the powerful configuration tools we built into the Oracle Permitting and Licensing solution to make it extensible, flexible, and capable of scaling to meet your needs.
Our Permit Designer, Planning Application Designer, Licensing Application Designer, Workflow Modeler, Fee Modeler, and Hearing Body Scheduler are a few more examples of the tools your agency can now use to configure a solution to meet your precise needs. And it’s all in the cloud.
Learn More
Modern cloud technology solutions can help public-sector organizations overcome many of the challenges they face. By migrating to the cloud with Oracle Permitting and Licensing, organizations can embrace innovation and push the limits of what their employees and constituents have come to expect from their government. Oracle is excited to be able to partner with government organizations on their journey to the cloud, and you can discover more about our Permitting and Licensing product here.