Introduction
In a business process, decision-making is essential because it defines the logic that guides the execution of activities. Historically, this logic was externalized into rule engines such as Drools, separating decision-making from orchestration. However, in today’s environments where transparency and collaboration are key, this separation reveals its limitations: rules often remain hidden in technical files, difficult to understand and maintain.
To address these challenges, organizations now seek more integrated approaches. This is exactly what OrqueIO DMN offers: a model in which decisions and processes are brought together within the same ecosystem, providing consistency, clarity, and traceability.
1.OrqueIO — The future of open-source orchestration
Before introducing DMN, it’s important to present the execution platform.
OrqueIO is a 100% open-source fork of Camunda, ensuring the long-term future of BPMN automation, maintaining full compatibility with existing workflows while extending and modernizing the engine.
What OrqueIO brings:
- 100% open-source and fully compatible with your current BPMN/DMN models, connectors, scripts, and APIs
- Ongoing maintenance and guaranteed security updates, ensuring long-term reliability and stability
- New, practical features for daily use, including improved Cockpit monitoring and native DMN integration
- Enhanced performance and engine stability, even under high load
- Expert technical support, transparent and reliable — with no vendor lock-in
In summary, OrqueIO enables organizations to preserve their existing investments while adopting a modern, sustainable, and open orchestration platform — an environment where integrated decision logic with DMN naturally thrives.
2. The limitations of Drools
Excessive separation from the BPMN process:
The rules are stored in .drl files, often isolated in a separate project or module, which scatters business logic and makes it difficult to understand the relationship between decisions and the process.
Maintenance complexity:
This separation between the rule engine and the process leads to difficulties in maintaining overall system consistency over time.
Barrier for business teams:
The rules are written in technical languages such as DRL or MVEL, requiring development skills.
Non-technical users cannot read or modify these rules without IT involvement.
Lack of traceability and transparency:
Drools does not natively provide decision traceability (which rules were applied and why).
This makes audits and regulatory compliance much more difficult.
Rigid update cycle:
Any modification to a rule requires a full redeployment of the engine or application module, slowing down update cycles and reducing responsiveness.
Limits in agility and governance:
The Drools model does not encourage collaboration between business and IT teams, nor does it provide clear governance of decision rules integrated into BPMN processes.
3. OrqueIO DMN: a unified, readable, and open-source approach
OrqueIO natively integrates the DMN standard (Decision Model and Notation), enabling the unification of process logic (BPMN) and decision logic within the same platform.
Whereas Drools externalizes rules into a separate rule engine, OrqueIO provides an integrated, visual, and transparent approach within a recognized open-source automation ecosystem.
Clear and accessible rule representation
In OrqueIO, decisions are modeled as DMN decision tables.
Each row represents a rule, and each column represents a condition or an output.
This visual format is understandable to both business users and developers, replacing the DRL or MVEL source code used in Drools.
Business analysts can define, adjust, and validate decision logic without heavy reliance on technical teams.
Native BPMN ↔ DMN Integration
In OrqueIO, a Business Rule Task can directly invoke a DMN decision table from within the same project.
No external connectors, no complex integration: the process and the decision belong to the same executable model.
This results in a decision logic that is coherent, centralized, and fully traceable across the entire workflow.
Built-in traceability and audit
Every decision execution is automatically logged.
Teams can easily review:
- which rules were evaluated,
- the input values,
- and the resulting outputs.
This greatly simplifies audits, gap analysis, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement.
A complete and consistent ecosystem
OrqueIO provides a unified environment combining:
- BPMN for process orchestration,
- DMN for decision logic,
- Cockpit for monitoring and analysis.
Everything is centralized, extensible, interoperable, and designed to enhance collaboration between business teams and IT.
4. Why migrate to OrqueIO DMN?
The transition from Drools is not just a tool replacement —
it is the adoption of a more agile, readable, and collaborative decision model.
Centralization of decisions and processes
Decisions are no longer isolated in a separate technical module.
They coexist with business processes within the same execution environment, ensuring a unified and coherent view of the system’s behavior.
Simplified maintenance
Modifying a rule no longer requires redeploying the application.
A simple update to the DMN decision table is enough to adjust the business logic, reducing delivery cycles and improving operational responsiveness.
Enhanced collaboration
Business teams design and adjust rules, while developers focus on integration and robustness.
The result: fewer misunderstandings, fewer back-and-forth steps, and greater overall efficiency.
Monitoring and transparency
With the Cockpit interface, every executed decision is observable, explainable, and interpretable.
This transparency simplifies optimization, control, and regulatory compliance.
Below is a comparison table summarizing the main differences between Drools and OrqueIO:
5.Concrete example of the transition: from Drools to OrqueIO DMN
We want to apply discounts based on:
- the customer type (Standard, Premium, VIP)
- the order amount (orderAmount)
Drools version (Before)
This .drl file contains the rules, written in Drools syntax
import io.orqueio.bpm.exemple.dmn.model.Order;
rule "Standard < 100"
when $o : Order(clientType == "Standard", orderAmount < 100)
then $o.setDiscount(0);
end
rule "Standard 100..500"
when $o : Order(clientType == "Standard", orderAmount >= 100 && orderAmount <= 500)
then $o.setDiscount(5);
end
rule "Standard >= 500"
when $o : Order(clientType == "Standard", orderAmount > 500)
then $o.setDiscount(8);
end
rule "Premium < 100"
when $o : Order(clientType == "Premium", orderAmount < 100)
then $o.setDiscount(10);
end
rule "Premium 100..500"
when $o : Order(clientType == "Premium", orderAmount >= 100 && orderAmount <= 500)
then $o.setDiscount(15);
end
rule "Premium >= 500"
when $o : Order(clientType == "Premium", orderAmount > 500)
then $o.setDiscount(20);
end
rule "VIP < 500"
when $o : Order(clientType == "VIP", orderAmount < 500)
then $o.setDiscount(20);
end
rule "VIP 500..1000"
when $o : Order(clientType == "VIP", orderAmount >= 500 && orderAmount < 1000)
then $o.setDiscount(25);
end
rule "VIP >= 1000"
when $o : Order(clientType == "VIP", orderAmount >= 1000)
then $o.setDiscount(30);
end
Implementation with DMN in OrqueIO
With DMN, the decision logic is defined in the form of a decision model, in which we explicitly describe:
- which data serves as inputs to the decision,
- which conditions are applied,
- and which result must be produced.
This model can be edited visually, either as a table or as a diagram, which allows business teams to understand and adjust the logic more easily.
At the same time, that same logic is stored in a standard DMN XML file, which is used by the engine for execution.
The graphical view and the XML view are simply two representations of the same model, always kept in sync.
In the BPMN diagram, you simply add a Business Rule Task:
Calling a decision does not require any complex configuration.
In the BPMN diagram, a simple Business Rule Task is enough.
You only need to specify the decision reference (the ID defined in the DMN model), and the engine takes care of the evaluation.No additional technical configuration is required.
The decision is executed automatically when the BPMN flow reaches the decision task.
Conclusion
Migrating from Drools to OrqueIO DMN is more than a modernization effort — it is a strategic shift toward transparency, agility, and collaboration. By bringing decision logic closer to BPMN processes, organizations eliminate silos, simplify maintenance, and empower business teams to directly contribute to the evolution of rules. The result is a unified, traceable, and adaptable system where decisions are easier to understand, update, and audit.
With OrqueIO DMN, your business logic becomes clearer, your delivery cycles faster, and your governance stronger. This transition enables organizations to move from rigid rule engines to an integrated decision model that supports continuous improvement and operational efficiency.
🌐 Learn more about OrqueIO
📂 Explore the example Order Process from the OrqueIO webinar
