Decision model change patterns for dynamic system evolution

In the modern digital era, information systems must operate in increasingly interconnected and dynamic environments, which force them to be changeable yet consistent. Such modern information systems are usually decision- and knowledge-intensive. A recently introduced standard, the decision model and notation (DMN), has been adopted in both industry and academia as a suitable method for modelling decisions and decision rules. Noteworthy is that, despite the dynamic nature of modern knowledge-intensive systems, DMN was only studied and implemented in a static fashion, as decision schema change patterns have not received any attention so far. This paper identifies and analyses the change patterns that can occur in a DMN decision model. A change in the decision model can require the triggering of other changes in order to safeguard consistency. As such, this paper will also investigate for each change pattern which further changes should be performed to ensure model consistency. The patterns presented in this paper will not only facilitate the understanding of decision change management and within-model consistency, but can also be capitalised on for developing and implementing flexible decision management systems. To illustrate this, we present a modelling environment prototype that provides modelling support when applying the proposed change patterns.