VOSibilities

bpmredux.com, the voice of BPM analyst and blogger Theo Priestley, has just published a mini-review of ActiveVOS 7.

We are very gratified to have attracted Theo’s attention and for his perceptive analysis of what makes ActiveVOS unique.

Theo’s overview of ActiveVOS is different from many others because he took note of our enthusiasm for BPM in general and ActiveVOS in particular. He talks about our (somewhat lame) attempts at humor and I thought readers of this blog might be interested in the full story.

With the change in the US to daylight-saving time in mid March followed a week or so later by the change in Scotland to British Summer Time, our meeting time got confused. While we were waiting for Theo, we made up new titles for ourselves. It was the kind of the idle, gallows humor a group sometimes indulges in before a big meeting. The “tm” symbols are a bit of a take-off on business cards we’d recently been given by a marketing firm that was trade marking ordinary terms.

Unlike some BPMS vendors – who would have put on their overly-serious faces when the analyst showed up – we went with the silly titles because we thought they were hilarious – and because BPM should not be a humorless discussion of dry technology. BPM is an exciting, vibrant product space as capable of generating passionate discussion as the next gizmo from a consumer electronics company associated with fruit grown on trees.

Here’s an image from the slide deck showing the titles we used to introduce ourselves to Theo:

OK, I admit it, I shop at warehouse clubs. And if you do, too, you might agree that the samples they offer can be irresistible. Though what this woman is offering looks like some kind of indeterminate meat I’d surely avoid.

Whatever…we all love samples. They give us a “taste” of what it’s like to use a product and they help us understand the product better.

All this is preface to announcing our newly updated and revised BPM samples page on activevos.com. We’ve collected four new or updated sample processes ranging from customer service to managing product releases and packaged them in what we hope is the most appealing manner possible. For all four demos, we have a short video overview of the way the process works. For each, there is a detailed “users’ guide” that describes the demo in detail. For some, we also have “design guides” which help you better understand the business process and the underlying BPMS features used. And, of course, you can download the project artifacts for each sample process. Just click on the thumbnail for what you want.

But, best of all, you can download a trial version of ActiveVOS that has all four processes already integrated into the BPMS.

We hope you enjoy these new samples — and unlike the mystery meat on the sample tray in the photo, we are going to keep the samples fresh and expand the selection over time.

Episode 18 of CTO Tuesdays, the BPMS podcast, covers using email for simpler workflows. Michael Rowley compares and contrasts using worklist management versus email for certain kinds of tasks and makes recommendations on when to use a BPMS’s worklist capabilities and when email might be acceptable. A sample application is demonstrated that shows using email-based workflow for a very simple vacation/time-off approval process.

Be sure to join us live for CTO Tuesdays every Tuesday at noon ET, 9am PT, 16:00 GMT. Register here: http://www.activevos.com/ctot. Next week’s topic (CTO Tuesdays #19 for April 6, 2010) will be “Using URNs to avoid hard-coding service locations.”

If you watch the replay of #18, you’ll see that Michael is using URNs in the most classical way: to map logical names in the business process to physical URLs in the real world. Based on the feedback we got about this, Michael has decided to devote an entire episode to URNs in business processes.

 CTO Tuesdays #18: Handling approvals by email in business processes [41:55m]: Download (339)

 

 CTO Tuesdays #18: Handling approvals by email in business processes [41:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (388)
 CTO Tuesdays #18: Handling approvals by email in business processes [41:59m]: Download (106)
 CTO Tuesdays #18: Handling approvals by email in business processes: Download (124)

The topic for CTO Tuesdays, the BPMS podcast, for Tuesday, March 30, 2010 is “Email-based approvals in a BPMS.”

One of the most common tasks in business processes is to request that something be approved or denied. In some cases, it is appropriate to request approvals by email rather than require that the approver log into a task management system. This talk will show how to include such approval tasks in business processes.

Register to join us live at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

What is CTO Tuesdays?

CTO Tuesdays is about the technology of BPM. Because Active Endpoints believes that people need to change the way they do things, it’s up to us to help them understand what they need to in order to have them welcome that change. BPM technology is a new thing for many people…and we have an obligation to educate users about this new way of thinking and doing. So, each week we tackle a single topic in some depth – but limit the technical discussion to 30 minutes or so. The idea is to give people enough to tickle their curiosity and allow them to explore more on their own. 30 minutes is about right because, once you strip away the novelty, BPM concepts are just not that hard. The BPM technical talk is followed by a lively panel Q&A. CTO Tuesdays is not an ActiveVOS commercial – though when we illustrate a concept in the podcast, we obviously use ActiveVOS.

Episode 17 of CTO Tuesdays covers BPMS support for long-running business transactions and compensation. Michael Rowley compares and contrasts BPMS support for transactions with that of transaction managers and describes how compensation can be applied to business transactions.

This episode is the second of two on persistence and compensation. If you haven’t seen the previous episode, you might find it interesting to review before watching this one.

Four files are attached to this post. Three are video recordings of the podcast in different formats; the fourth is a PDF of the slides Rowley presented.

Please be sure to sign up for our next CTO Tuesdays, scheduled for March 30, 2010 at noon ET. The topic will be “Handling approvals by email in business processes.”

 CTO Tuesdays #17: How BPMSs support long-running business transactions [48:29m]: Download (358)

 

 CTO Tuesdays #17: How BPMSs support long-running business transactions: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (230)
 CTO Tuesdays #17: How BPMSs support long-running business transactions [48:32m]: Download (446)
 CTO Tuesdays #17: How BPMSs support long-running business transactions: Download (147)

Read about BIRT reporting in ActiveVOS in this story from a recent issue of Perform Magazine. Our Sr. Director of Products, Luc Clément, was interviewed for this story. Luc describes how BIRT reporting leverages a BPMS’s capabilities to deliver visibility into business operations.

You can see ActiveVOS in the BIRT marketplace here.

 Perform Magazine: Using BIRT in ActiveVOS: Download (266)

Please believe me when I say, I am not trying to use $5.00 words just because I can.

But one I read recently in the paper that had me running for a dictionary– shibboleth — got me to thinking about one of the biggest, most often repeated fictions in BPM. What am I talking about? The idea that end users can, will and want to create their own executable process models.

Wiktionary defines shibboleth as “A common or longstanding belief, custom, or catchphrase associated with a particular group, especially one with little current meaning or truth.” WordNet at princeton.edu is even more blunt in defining shibboleth: “A favorite saying of a sect or political group.”

Both definitions capture the wishful thinking, IT-bashing and counter-organizational thinking inherent in the dogma that business process management suites (BPMS) will somehow “free” end users from the chains of IT and enable them to build enterprise-class, bet-your-entire-business processes by themselves. The WordNet definition, in particular, reminds me of the triumphalism one hears from some industry analysts who insist that this is really happening in the real world.

Uhhh, ’scuse us for interrupting the feedback loop, but we don’t think so.

We first debunked the BPMS-as-destroyer-of-IT-and-liberator-of-end-users idea with Sandy Kemsley in a webinar almost a year ago. Her “four myths,” stylized in the graphic in this post, remain the most perceptive distillation of what’s wrong with the idea. Her simple common sense (developing process applications is not in most end users’ skill sets) along with an understanding of what end users in business want to do (their jobs, not IT’s work) debunk the “world-as-we-want-it-to-be” thinkers who promote end user-driven BPM over collaboration with IT.

We think ActiveVOS BPMS has been growing rapidly because it strives to bring IT and the business together. We envision collaboration among an extended development team, using an architecturally-correct, standards-based BPM system. Yes, end users are involved. Yes, they “own” the process and the model. Yes, they use the BPMS. But, no, they don’t deploy, manage or operate the BPMS.

BPM has changed the way IT and business people work together. But it hasn’t — and won’t — replace IT.

This time on CTO Tuesdays, the BPMS podcast, we discuss what persistence of state offers process developers and BPM users. Michael Rowely, host of the podcast and CTO at Active Endpoints discusses what persistence is, how it works and what the potential performance costs might be.

We hope you enjoy this podcast. We’d love to hear your feedback on the series. Just email us or leave a comment here.

Remember: sign up for next week’s CTO Tuesdays here. We will be expanding on persistence to talk about BPMS support for long-running transactions.

Update 3/17: in case you missed the second part, you can watch the replay here.

 CTO Tuesdays #16: The state of BPMS state: persistence for process [50:18m]: Download (412)

 

 CTO Tuesdays #16: The state of BPMS state: persistence for process [50:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (327)
 CTO Tuesdays #16: The state of BPMS state: persistence for process [50:22m]: Download (173)

If you haven’t been attending our CTO Tuesdays BPMS podcast, we’d like to invite you to become one of our “regulars” starting next week. We’re doing something a little different next week…more on that in a minute.

CTO Tuesdays is, we think, something unique for users of business process management technology. Every Tuesday at noon ET, 9am PT, 17:00 GMT, our CTO Michael Rowley, delivers a short talk on a broad range of topics spanning the BPMN diamond to complex event processing to an introduction to BPMN 2.0.

These talks are detailed and technical. (Come with the rubber band on your propeller-head hat wound up very tight.) These BPMS podcasts are not ActiveVOS commercials (though we do demonstrate the concepts Michael is discussing in ActiveVOS). Each week, we tackle a single topic and try to limit content to about 30 minutes. After, we have a panel Q&A with attendees to discuss the content Michael  — or our guest CTO — has presented. Personally, I can’t wait for the Q&A because I think it’s where I learn the most about BPM technology. The overall idea for the podcast is that in less than an hour, you can learn enough about some aspect of business process management and BPM technology to enable you to continue to explore BPM on your own.

So far, we’ve presented and recorded 15 episodes. And the response from the BPM community has been overwhelmingly positive. (Access replays at www.ctotuesdays.com and the feed at www.ctotuesdays.com/feed.)

Starting March 9 and continuing on March 16, we’re going to try something a little different. Michael will present, for the first time, two separate, but thematically related topics:

• On March 9: The state of BPMS state: persistence for process
• On March 16: How BPMSs support long-running transactions

The first topic is one I’ve nagged Michael to discuss: how does a BPMS persist long-running transaction state? The second takes this idea and builds on it by comparing a BPMS to a traditional transaction monitor (CICS, anyone?) and describing BPMS support for long-running business transactions.

No matter where you are in your thinking about BPM — a newbie, actively trying your first process project, a grizzled veteran — CTO Tuesdays is for you.

You can always register for the upcoming CTO Tuesdays at www.activevos.com/ctot. Registration is free.

Be sure to join us — and bring all your friends.

In this episode of CTO Tuesdays (our 15th!), Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley discusses an elegant way of bridging the world of BPEL and the Java world. Then, after the technical presentation, Rowley discusses in the Q&A how, when and why process developers might want to use Java in their processes and warns against “speaking BPEL with an accent.”

There are three formats of the webinar attached to this post. For iTunes and iPod touch/iPhone users, an .m4v is available. A Flash file that can be streamed from the blog and/or downloaded is attached and a Windows Media 9 .wmv is also available.

Please remember to register for next week’s CTO Tuesdays at http://www.activevos.com/ctot

 CTO Tuesdays #15: Using Java with business processes [36:51m]: Download (747)

 

 CTO Tuesdays #15: Using Java with business processes [37:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (453)
 CTO Tuesdays #15: Using Java with business processes [37:00m]: Download (170)

We are honored to have been added to Ovum’s list of BPMSs to consider in their latest decision matrix on business process management.

Attached to this post are two PDFs. First, a press release announcing the results and, second, a copy of Ovum’s conclusions along with their “radar” (or detailed report) on ActiveVOS.

 New Analyst Report Rates ActiveVOS BPMS in “Consider” Category: Download (362)
 OVUM BPM Decision Matrix report: Download (1034)

I came across an interesting discussion on LinkedIn which lead me to this post by Mark McGregor who asks, “…is BPMS now just becoming the next incarnation of application development”?

Our short answer is, “Yes…and the best way to get there is to minimize the disruption to application development.” In other words, BPMSs need to look and feel like previous-generation tools, all the while doing the right thing architecturally and automatically.

In short, it shouldn’t be necessary to teach old dogs new tricks. You simply swap in a new, improved dog in that looks and barks like the old dog…and the new dog’s “firmware” already knows about the new, modern tricks of app dev. (And I apologize for the tortured metaphor and to anyone horrified at the idea of swapping out Fido 1.0 for Fido 2.0.)

That’s what we are doing in ActiveVOS. Like your integrated development toolset for monolithic programs? We’ve got one that goes from modeling to deployment in a single tool. Holding on to that Turbo Pascal-like step/start/stop debugger? Ours works with services. Want to integrate with Java? REST calls? SOAP? Check, check and check.

Beyond just being familiar, for BPMS to become the next incarnation of application development, we believe there has to be a payoff for making the changes that using a BPMS requires. IOW, there are things that cannot be mapped to the previous experience — and which shouldn’t be. But a good BPMS still has to give application developers a reason to step up to the bar and change their habits.

For example, instead of coding, you model in a BPMS. Payoff? Learning BPMN 2.0. What else does an application developer get in return for allowing op codes to be pried from their cold, dead hands? How about automatic documentation plus resource simulation. The things that are new are really, really new and exciting…and worth the price of admission. That combo of familiar and enticingly new capabilities is what will attract developers and, ultimately, change the way apps are developed.

So, Mark has a really excellent point when he says that key BPMS players today include traditional app dev companies like IBM and Oracle. What Mark is hinting at is something we violently agree with: for BPM as a discipline to become the dominant way of creating apps, developers have to conclude that BPMSs are their primary development environments. Tools focused on end users won’t cut it for these developers. That’s why vendors like us have put so much effort and attention on app devs (how about we call them process developers?).

We (and they) know that until BPMS becomes the standard way in which new processes are created — companies that want the advantages of process thinking won’t get it.

Attached to this post is a replay of a webinar we recently presented with our UK partner, T-Impact. T-Impact has deep expertise in BPM in industries like telecom. In this webinar, they detail their approach to BPM and how they use ActiveVOS to deliver process applications for their clients.

There are three formats attached to this post. First, an iPod touch/iPhone-formatted .m4v. We also have a Flash file that can be streamed from the blog and a Windows Media 9-encoded .wmv.

 VOSibilities podcast #45: An introduction to T-Impact [65:25m]: Download (332)

 

 VOSibilities podcast #45: An introduction to T-Impact [65:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (294)
 VOSibilities podcast #45: An introduction to T-Impact [65:30m]: Download (100)

OK, I know…the title “preventing problems through static analysis” doesn’t exactly make you want to spend 40 minutes watching the replay of episode #14 of our weekly tech talk on BPMS technology.

But you’d be missing a really interesting and, dare I say it, fun topic. Trust me.

This week Michael Rowley tackles bugs in BPMSs. Bugs are just a part of life when creating business applications. But what about when you are creating process applications using a model-based BPMS? What happens then? How does the BPMS help you identify — even prevent and eliminate — bugs? Watch this episode to find out how standards like BPMN 2.0 and BPEL work together to help make designing and executing process applications more error-free.

As always, we have three formats of the podcast posted. There’s an iPod touch/iPhone .m4v; a Flash file that can be streamed from the blog and a Windows Media 9 .wmv.

 CTO Tuesdays #14: Preventing problems through static analysis of business processes [37:12m]: Download (403)

 

 CTO Tuesdays #14: Preventing problems through static analysis of business processes [37:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (332)
 CTO Tuesdays #14: Preventing problems through static analysis of business processes [37:17m]: Download (155)

BPMN 2.0 is a hot topic. From documenting processes to creating executable process models that combine system and human tasks, BPMN is on everyone’s lips.

But what is the state of BPMN 2.0 usage in the real world? This webinar, originally broadcast on February 18, 2010, offers some answers.

The bottom line? BPMN 2.0 usage is gaining traction — it’s becoming the modeling notation of choice for everything from documentation to creating executable process applications. If you are interested in what BPMN can do for you, you will want to watch this webinar replay to learn more about BPMN and how people are using it today. Watch Sandy Kemsley show you how not to create BPMN models as she parades models from the “BPMN modeling hall of shame.” And you can also watch as Michael Rowley shows you how to make BPMN executable with BPEL. At the end of the webinar is a very stimulating Q&A in which Kemsley and Rowley discuss the future of the BPMN specification and answer attendees’ questions.

A variety of formats are attached to this post, including a Flash format that can be streamed from the blog. Also, the slides Sandy and Michael presented are available in PDF form.

 VOSibilities podcast #44: The state of BPMN: an update from the real world [87:30m]: Download (485)

 

 VOSibilities podcast #44: The state of BPMN: an update from the real world [87:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (628)
 VOSibilities podcast #44: The state of BPMN: an update from the real world [87:36m]: Download (230)
 VOSibilities podcast #44: The state of BPMN: an update from the real world: Download (301)