The Case-Decision-Process Tripod Methodology

Business fulfillment — the process of delivering on customer requests through coordinated business activities — lies at the core of every organization’s value creation. Whether the request concerns an insurance claim, a loan, an HR recruitment request, or a customer order, each represents a commitment that must be managed from initiation through delivery and closure.

Traditional IT development and ERP systems have long attempted to automate fulfillment processes through rigid workflows and predefined business logic. However, in a modern service economy characterized by variability, human judgment, and dynamic business rules, these traditional approaches often prove inflexible, slow to change, and costly to maintain.

The Case-Decision-Process (CDP) Tripod methodology addresses this challenge through a model-driven architecture based on three complementary open standards:

• CMMN (Case Management Model and Notation) — for managing dynamic, event-driven case lifecycles.
• DMN (Decision Model and Notation) — for modeling and executing explicit decision logic.
• BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) — for orchestrating structured, repeatable workflows.

Together, these standards provide a unified framework for modeling, simulating, and automating complex business fulfillment lifecycles — enabling agility, transparency, and consistent decision-making across the enterprise.

Business Fulfillment as a Case

In the CDP methodology, every customer request is represented as a case, a central construct that encapsulates all data, tasks, decisions, and processes required to fulfill that request.

A case is identified by a unique identifier and acts as a container for the complete lifecycle of the business object it handles — for example, a claim, a loan, a service ticket, or an order. The case structure provides an end-to-end view, grouping all related data, tasks, and decisions, while enabling full traceability across the lifecycle.

This lifecycle is organized into stages, which define the logical phases of business fulfillment:

Unlike traditional process workflows, these stages are event-driven, not sequential. Several stages may be active concurrently, and their activation or completion depends dynamically on data and context, evaluated by decision logic modeled in DMN.

The Tripod Architecture

The Case-Decision-Process methodology rests on three technical pillars: CMMN, DMN, and BPMN. Each standard contributes a distinct capability, and together they form a cohesive architecture for intelligent business fulfillment.

Case Handling with CMMN

The Case Management Model and Notation (CMMN) standard provides a declarative framework for modeling and executing event-driven, knowledge-intensive business services.

Unlike procedural process models, CMMN does not define strict control flows. Instead, it defines a case plan — a set of possible tasks, stages, and milestones that can be triggered dynamically based on conditions or external events.

CMMN is ideally suited to model business fulfillment because:

• The lifecycle is non-linear and driven by real-world events.
• Case workers, AI agents, or systems may intervene at any time.
• Tasks and stages can be enabled, completed, or terminated based on changing conditions.

Through CMMN, organizations gain the ability to simulate, test, and automate complex fulfillment lifecycles while preserving flexibility and human oversight.

Decision Logic with DMN

The Decision Model and Notation (DMN) standard provides the intelligence behind the case.

It separates decision logicrom process control, allowing organizations to model and execute decisions independently.

In a CDP-based fulfillment model, a central DMN decision service continuously evaluates the case data to determine:

• Which stages should be enabled or completed.
• Which tasks (human, system, robotic, or AI) need to be generated.
• What the next best action is for progressing the case.

For example, in an insurance claim scenario, a DMN model might evaluate:

• Whether the claimant is an active customer.
• Whether the vehicle is covered by the policy.
• Whether the incident occurred within the coverage period.

If any condition fails, the DMN model can immediately terminate the case — allowing the organization to fail fast and minimize unnecessary effort.

By externalizing business rules in DMN, decision transparency and auditability are achieved, and business users can modify policies without altering core process logic.

Process Flows with BPMN

While CMMN manages the overall case lifecycle, and DMN governs decisions, BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) defines structured, repeatable process flows that can be embedded as process tasks within a CMMN model.

Typical examples include:

• Executing a customer verification process.
• Handling payment authorization.
• Performing automated document generation or data validation.

BPMN processes can be triggered conditionally by events in the case and can return results that update the case data.

This hybrid modeling approach — integrating CMMN, DMN, and BPMN — enables both structured automation and adaptive case handling within a single execution environment.

Example: Automotive Insurance Claim

An automotive insurance claim illustrates the methodology in action:

1. Case Creation — A customer submits a claim; a case is instantiated with a unique identifier.
2. Eligibility Stage — A DMN model evaluates coverage, policy validity, and customer identity. If any condition fails, the case is closed immediately.
3. Acceptance Stage — The insurer assesses whether conditions justify proceeding with claim handling.
4. Solution Development Stage — If accepted, either an off-the-shelf solution (standard payout) or a custom solution (repair arrangement) is developed.
5. Solution Delivery Stage — The agreed solution is executed, possibly through BPMN workflows (e.g., payment authorization).
6. Closing Stage — Administrative and accounting actions finalize the case.

Throughout the process, CMMN orchestrates case states, DMN governs decision logic, and BPMN executes transactional workflows — forming a cohesive, event-driven fulfillment cycle.

Comparison to Traditional IT and ERP Approaches

By decoupling case management, decision logic, and process orchestration, the CDP methodology supports faster adaptation, greater transparency, and lower maintenance costs than traditional IT development or ERP implementations.

Benefits and Outcomes

Organizations adopting the Case-Decision-Process methodology typically achieve:

• Agility – Rapid modification of business rules and case logic without system redevelopment.
• Transparency – Full visibility into decision rationale and case progress.
• Reusability – Shared decision and process models across multiple domains.
• Human-AI Collaboration – Seamless integration of manual, robotic, and AI-driven tasks.
• Compliance and Auditability – Traceable, documented logic across all cases.

About the Methodology

The Case-Decision-Process Tripod methodology provides an integrated framework for documenting, modeling, simulating, and automating business fulfillment cases using international standards. It can be applied across industries and domains — from insurance and banking to HR, logistics, and manufacturing — to modernize fulfillment operations and enable true digital agility.

The Case-Decision-Process Tripod offers a model-driven, standards-based alternative to traditional IT system design.

By uniting CMMN, DMN, and BPMN, it provides an executable architecture that reflects how real-world business fulfillment actually operates — dynamically, contextually, and collaboratively.

This methodology enables organizations to bridge the gap between business intent and system execution, delivering on customer expectations faster and more intelligently — without the rigidity and cost of legacy approaches.