Blaze Advisor 6.0 Released

Fair Isaac has released Blaze Advisor 6.0. What the press release doesn’t get across is that this is the most significant release ever of the business rules product.

I worked on Blaze Advisor for four years until I left Fair Isaac in April, 2004, and for most of the time I was there, work was being done on what would turn into the 6.0 release. I’m glad to see it finally be released, because now I can tell everyone how cool it is.

Version 6.0 does away with the two different modes in the IDE (one mode for rule editing, one mode for template development) which was the most irritating thing about previous versions. The new “management properties” feature allows you to add typed metadata to entities in the repository. The new queries feature is fully extensible, and it allows you to write queries off of the metadata or off of the semantic structure of the rules themselves. The coolest thing about the query system is how underneath the easy to use GUI, the queries themselves are written in the Blaze SRL language. You can use the powerful Blaze template system to create complex query templates.

Version 6.0 also changes the repository structure so that it is much easier to share object models, rules, or other entities across multiple projects. There are also many minor enhancements to the IDE that improve the ease of use, such as streamlined editors and the ability to hide the console windows. Even in the early build I tested the small improvements added up to a much more enjoyable experience.

This release is a huge accomplishment, and the entire Blaze development team should be proud. In my opinion it makes competing products look like toys in comparison. Here is an Easter egg in the product that lets you see who did all the hard work: Click Help > About Blaze Advisor, and on the splash screen do a Ctrl + Shift + Click.

Update: I didn't see a link to it in the press release, but on the Fair Isaac website I did find this overview of what's new in Blaze Advisor 6.0. In typically FI fashion this document doesn't dig into the technical details, but it does mention a few features I didn't talk about, like WSIWYG rule maintenance editors and release management.

Comments

[mcs11]

Hey Alan,
I came across your blog and wanted to say hi. Drop me an email sometimes! Hope all is well with you.
Michael

[andy peet]

I reviewed Alan's comments. While I salute his enthusiasm, I denounce his evaluation. This product is targeted to business users. After 4 years with fair isaac, I could not find one business user capable of working with the software. Java programmers are the best to use this software as it is bulit around java centricities. The product did solve a bunch of questions, but left open a bunch and asked a bunch more. If FICO was truly interested in an easy to use GUI interface, it would create drag and drop features and alleve most developers from typing in the code. The software is one of the tops on the market, but the software and the business rules market are just beginning.

[Marc]

As you work at eBay. You should probably know that eBay uses ILOG JRules. Have you had the opportunity to compare the two?

[Alan Lewis]

Hi Marc,

Yes.

-Alan