DMN

Decision Model and Notation (DMN) is an open standard from the Object Management Group (OMG) for modeling and executing business decisions. It provides a unified notation and execution semantics that allow decision logic to be described, validated, and reused independently of process flow, enabling collaboration between business analysts and developers and improving portability across systems.

A DMN model centers on decision requirements diagrams (DRDs), which map the dependencies among inputs, knowledge sources, and the decisions to be made. The actual decision logic can be implemented in various forms, most commonly as decision tables, but also as literal expressions or FEEL (Friendly Enough Expression Language) expressions. FEEL is designed to be human-readable while expressive enough to support typical decision rules, calculations, and temporal operations.

DMN models are designed to be executable by DMN engines. They are often used alongside BPMN process models to handle decision points within a broader workflow, providing a clear separation between process logic and decision logic. This separation supports governance, reuse, and easier maintenance of complex rule sets.

Adoption of DMN has grown across industries such as financial services, insurance, healthcare, and government, where consistent decisioning is important. Tools and platforms from various vendors support DMN authoring, validation, and runtime execution, contributing to interoperability and faster deployment of decision-enabled applications.