VOSibilities » CTO Tuesdays

CTO Tuesdays #35: Boundary events in BPMN 2.0

Michael Rowley — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:43:06 +0000

This talk describes BPMN’s concept of boundary events, how they should be used, and how they are related to events that are in the normal sequence flow and to event subprocesses. I also describe the difference between interrupting and non-interrupting boundary events and how processes that use boundary events are mapped to BPEL. Post from: VOSibilities, [...]

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CTO Tuesdays #35: Boundary events in BPMN 2.0

CTO Tuesdays #34: XPath – The Unsung Hero of Service-Oriented BPM

Michael Rowley — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:11:36 +0000

Service-oriented BPM is all about using and providing services. Even tasks done by people are modeled as services. Services use and return XML documents. This means that every decision, every loop condition and generally every use of data has to be able to pull the appropriate data out of XML documents. This is the job of XPath. Many people only have a rudimentary knowledge is XPath, letting their tools generate it for them, but a more complete understanding of the language can help you make simpler processes and allow you a greater understanding is what is going on at runtime. Use the links below to either view a recording of this episode of CTO Tuesdays or just read the slides (the last link).

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CTO Tuesdays #34: XPath – The Unsung Hero of Service-Oriented BPM

CTO Tuesdays #33: Is REST Right for BPM?

Michael Rowley — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:18:42 +0000

In this week’s CTO Tuesday, I addressed the question of whether the architectural style called “REST” is well suited to BPM. I’ll save you the suspense and tell you the answer is no. That isn’t to say that ActiveVOS doesn’t support REST. It does. But if you have a choice, should you follow that style? That is where the answer is no.

Contrary to many of the APIs that call themselves REST-based, REST means more than using HTTP GET to call the service and getting plain XML documents back as results. The talk describes the five key principals of REST, including the most important one, which is called HATEOAS. It is an interesting principal that works well for the Web, but it is antithetical to design-time type checking. In fact the REST style is, in general, in conflict with any kind of design-time typing (Roy Fielding refers to typing as “out-of-band” information that creates a tight coupling between client and server).

However, design-time typing is just part of a well-defined service contract and good service contracts are one of the most important characteristics of a service-oriented architecture. I describe this more fully in the talk and also describe the critical value of design-time typing for BPM. I also show how fragile business processes become when they have to depend on REST.

You can view the talk using one of the formats below or just look at the slides (the PDF at the bottom).

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CTO Tuesdays #33: Is REST Right for BPM?

CTO Tuesdays #32: BPM Standards Update

Michael Rowley — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:07:57 +0000

A number of standards efforts related to BPM are nearing completion of major milestones. This includes 4 standards efforts in 3 different standards development organizations:

OASIS: BPEL4People 1.1 and WS-HumanTask 1.1
OMG: BPMN 2.0
WfMC: XPDL 2.2
OASIS: SCA 1.1

In this week’s CTO Tuesdays, I describe the current state of each of these efforts along with a brief description of the history and main goals of these standards. Here is a recording of the presentation and a copy of the slides.

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CTO Tuesdays #32: BPM Standards Update

CTO Tuesdays #31: SOA — from concept to SOAP opera, part 2

Michael Rowley — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:37:51 +0000

In this recording of CTO Tuesdays, I describe the history of the key standards that are important for SOA, such as XML (starting back with SGML), XML Schema, SOAP, WSDL and BPEL. I also describe some of the key architectural characteristics of SOA that drove the standards, as well as some of the standards-making politics that was peculiar to service-oriented standards. If you are curious about the history of SOA and its related standards, you may find this talk to be interesting.

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CTO Tuesdays #31: SOA — from concept to SOAP opera, part 2

CTO Tuesdays #30: SOA — from concept to SOAP opera, part 1

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:00:43 +0000

In this recording of CTO Tuesdays, the BPMS podcast, Michael Rowley describes how we got here — taking a special look at previous attempts to solve some core development problems. Whatever your interest: SOA, BPM, application development, even just a passing historical curiosity, you will want to watch this (and future) episodes. Post from: VOSibilities, the [...]

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CTO Tuesdays #30: SOA — from concept to SOAP opera, part 1

Next on “CTO Tuesdays:” SOA – from concept to SOAP opera

Alex Neihaus — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:46:58 +0000

OK, OK…I know. The pun on SOAP and soap opera is a little much. But doesn’t the SOA world feel like a never-ending, overwrought daytime TV drama?

I mean, c’mon. Nobody can decide if SOA is dead or alive…if it’s a product (or set of products) or if it’s JBOI (just a bunch of ideas, a pun on “JBOD.” I just can’t help myself.).

So, starting tomorrow on CTO Tuesdays, the BPM podcast, Michael Rowley will begin another “miniseries” within the larger podcast that begins with the very basics of SOA and builds over time to paint a complete picture of this much discussed and often misunderstood development approach. We intend this as a primer for both new and expert users and we are excited that the recurring SOA topics will expand CTO Tuesdays’ regular line-up of BPM technology talks.

Register for CTO Tuesdays at http://www.activevos.com/ctot and, as always, you can return to this blog for replays. But we hope you can join us live because we expect the discussion after Michael’s presentation on these topics to be very lively and we hope to have you join in the discussion.

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CTO Tuesdays #29: Oracle’s misguided approach to BPMN and BPEL

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:00:28 +0000

If you’ve been attending the live recordings of CTO Tuesdays, our BPM podcast, and/or watching the replays, you know that we have stuck to our knitting for the most part: detailed technical discussions of BPM technology.

Starting with last week’s CTO Tuesdays and continuing with the episode posted below, we have increased our range to crucial technical decisions for BPM users which may have very long-term effects.

We are, to put it bluntly, very concerned that the marketplace is receiving — and accepting — incorrect information about the real relationship between BPEL and BPMN 2.0. Last week, Michael Rowley dispelled this myth in the abstract. This week, Michael has gone further: he actually shows what a two-toolset, two-engine BPMS environment with only a fig-leaf of integration looks like, using Oracle’s BPM Suite 11g and SOA Suite 11g as the poster children.

Yes, Oracle is a competitor. And yes, we have a “dog in the hunt,” as they say. Therefore, for sure, we have an opinion.

None of that undoes the fact that users should consider alternative points of view — views based, as we attempt to do, on the exact text and meaning of the BPMN 2.0 specification. And the fact that we have an opinion — and a product based on that belief — doesn’t undo the fact that much of the argument that BPMN should execute directly and that BPEL is passe is as self-serving as anything we may say.

So, I urge you to watch the replay of CTO Tuesdays attached to this post and to consider the alternative arguments we make. We’re not going to convince everybody, but we truly believe that the people who do consider their long-term BPMS strategy will find that BPMN as notation with BPEL execution is the better alternative.

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CTO Tuesdays #29: Oracle’s misguided approach to BPMN and BPEL

CTO Tuesdays #28: Debunking the myth of conflict between BPMN and BPEL

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:01:10 +0000

If you follow Active Endpoints and ActiveVOS on the web and/or in social media, you know we aren’t timid about…well…anything. We try hard, however, to make sure that as we forcefully make our points we are backing them up not just with emotion (a remarkably clarifying attribute often missing vendors’ discussions of technology) but also with hard facts.

You can see the very best of that loud-but-authentic aesthetic at work in episode 28 of CTO Tuesdays, the BPM podcast.

For too long — and, frankly, for reasons that mystify me — some voices have spoken of a “conflict” between BPMN and BPEL. It has always seemed to me that those points of view — that BPMN 2.0 is somehow a “successor” or “replacment” for BPEL – have an agenda that’s more about their preferred results in the marketplace than about the “best” or the “right” thing for users. IOW, politicking is at play.

But, as we all know, in politics, negative campaigning works. “BPEL is dead;” “BPMN 2.0 execution obviates BPEL.” These misstatements have gained far more attention than they deserve. They have escalated to the level of myth — or worse, conventional wisdom — both of which can have lives very separate from reality.

Our response: BPMN 2.0 is better with BPEL execution for users for a plethora of reasons. Far from dead, BPEL’s fundamental mistake of not specifying a visual notation is cured by BPMN 2.0. And BPMN 2.0 achieves its highest likelihood of success when coupled with BPEL execution.

Still, the myth that these two crucial standards are in conflict persists. Watch this podcast replay to see and hear Michael Rowley debunk these myths — passionately and accurately.

And be sure to join us next week for episode 29, titled “Oracle’s misguided approach to BPMN and BPEL” for even more myth-busting. Register at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

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CTO Tuesdays #28: Debunking the myth of conflict between BPMN and BPEL

Next week on “CTO Tuesdays:” Busting the myth of BPMN vs. BPEL

Alex Neihaus — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:20:23 +0000

Next Tuesday, June 22, at noon EDT, Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley will present “Debunking the myth of conflict between BPMN and BPEL.”

In this talk, Michael will address the fact that some people believe that there is a conflict between using BPMN and BPEL for business processes. He will show how in the latest 2.0 version of the BPMN standard, substantial work has been done to bring the two into alignment and how, according to the latest public draft of the standard, “complete conformance” for BPMN actually requires that it be executable using BPEL.

As they say, you’ve heard the rest…now come listen to the best. We are going to clear the air for users about this myth, which has sometimes been perpetrated by folks with an agenda for BPMN that’s different from what the standard actually intends.

But I do want to encourage you to join us for the recording of the June 22 podcast because the discussion is sure to be lively. Plus, you’ll want to be caught up on podcasts because the next podcast after this one will be even more incendiary. Michael will be nominating a poster child for a poor approach to integrating BPMN and BPEL: Oracle BPM Suite 11g.

So, that’s two not-to-be-missed episodes of CTO Tuesdays that’ll “hot up” your summer. Who’s made you a better offer lately?

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CTO Tuesdays #27: BPMS and disaster recovery

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:00:13 +0000

We are pleased to present the recording of the 27th episode of CTO Tuesdays, the BPM podcast from Active Endpoints.

In this talk, Michael Rowley, Active Endpoints’ CTO discusses how a business process management suite (BPMS) can provide the infrastructure necessary to survive serious disruptions.

There are several previous CTO Tuesdays episodes which are related to this topic and which you might also find interesting:

Together, these podcasts make a compelling case that BPM-style development has the features and capabilities necessary for enterprises to be comfortable placing their most crucial processes on BPM suites.

Please register for next week’s live recording of the podcast at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

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CTO Tuesdays #27: BPMS and disaster recovery

Next week on “CTO Tuesdays:” BPMS and disaster recovery

Alex Neihaus — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:46:49 +0000

Next Tuesday, June 15, at 1pm EDT (10am PDT, 17:00 GMT) our next edition of CTO Tuesdays, the BPM podcast, will present “BPMSs and Disaster Recovery”

Running a BPMS in a cluster of machines can help a system continue to operate even when a single machine goes down, but what can you do if an entire data center goes offline? In this talk, Michael Rowley, Active Endpoints’ CTO, will describe a deployment option that permits the BPMS runs in multiple geographically distributed clusters so that the loss of a data center does not prevent access to the BPMS. Michael will also describe how such a configuration can also be used to handle increased loads when all sites are online.

Register for CTO Tuesdays here: http://www.activevos.com/ctot. Please note our special time this week. Instead of noon EDT (9am PDT), we are holding the live recording of the podcast at 1pm EDT (10am PDT).

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CTO Tuesdays #26: Eliminating the presentation tier

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:00:22 +0000

Episode 26 of CTO Tuesdays, the BPM podcast, is a must see.

Michael Rowley discusses how WS-HumanTask, coupled with capabilities provided by JSON and AJAX make it possible to eliminate presentation tier services on application servers for worklist management and process initiation in BPMSs.

It’s a look into how the browser, courtesy of AJAX techniques, has become so powerful for presentation logic that it has obviated the need for extra server-side work. While that may not be the latest news, what is fascinating is the application of these capabilities to BPM — and the inside look at the protocol enabled by the move of presentation logic to the client.

A note: I had a problem with the recoding of this podcast. The bad news is for the first couple of minutes, you’ll hear me give my welcome and introduction to the webinar, but you won’t see my PowerPoint slides. The good news is, once Michael begins his talk, you will see everything perfectly.

Update: During the Q&A in this episode, a user asks about parsing JSON on the server side. One of our engineers, PJ, heard that question and offers this answer:

Here’s a link to the JSON specs and libs and links to for parsing in Java, C, C++, ASP, PHP, etc.: http://json.org/

In ActiveVOS, you do not need to parse JSON because it is automatically converted to XML by the ActiveVOS engine and passed into the Receive (or onEvent) activity in your process. So, in ActiveVOS, one works with XML using XQuery & XPath.

For those using REST based services and want to parse JSON or respond with JSON, they can use the following extension functions:abx:jsonToXml(jsonStr) -> returns XML element
abx:xmlToJson(xmlElement) -> return JSON string

For more information, in ActiveVOS’s Expression dialog picklist, see Functions->BPEL->ActiveVOS->JSON

PJ also notes that we have documentation on using JSON in ActiveVOS at http://www.activevos.com/dev/sdks/XML-JSON-Binding/docs/Part1-ActiveVOS-XML-JSON-API.html and sample code in our SDKs at http://www.activevos.com/developers-sdks.php.

Thanks, PJ.

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CTO Tuesdays #26: Eliminating the presentation tier

Next week on “CTO Tuesdays:” Eliminating the presentation tier

Alex Neihaus — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:21:23 +0000

On the next episode of CTO Tuesdays, the BPM podcast, Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley will discuss how to eliminate the presentation tier when access worklists.

Typical web applications have a service tier and a presentation tier on the application server. However, AJAX technologies have made it possible to move more presentation logic to the web browser. Michael will describe how ActiveVOS has used these techniques to completely eliminate the presentation tier for our worklist application.

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CTO Tuesdays #25: BPM 911 – how a BPMS calls for help

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:00:20 +0000

On CTO Tuesdays #25, Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley discusses BPMS alert monitors and services which can be used when the BPMS detects issues in running processes. Post from: VOSibilities, the Active Endpoints BPMS blog Learn more about ActiveVOSCTO Tuesdays #25: BPM 911 – how a BPMS calls for help

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CTO Tuesdays #25: BPM 911 – how a BPMS calls for help

CTO Tuesdays #24: How to be prepared for services that might go down

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:00:22 +0000

On episode #24 of CTO Tuesdays, the BPM podcast, Michael Rowley delivers a very interesting talk on how to manage services that might be unavailable when your process is running. A modern BPMS consists of web services running “all over the place” — which might make you think given the vicissitudes of networks and applications, building a robust BPM process application would be difficult, if not impossible.

But in this BPM podcast, you’ll see how well-thought-out BPMSs tackle this very fundamental problem — and how easy it can be to manage “problem” services. In fact, there’s so much choice in both design and deployment of BPM applications, next week’s CTO Tuesdays will expand on the ideas presented in this episode.

Be sure to watch this episode if you are working with a BPMS — and join us for part 2 next week. Register at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

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CTO Tuesdays #24: How to be prepared for services that might go down

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Alex Neihaus — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:43:34 +0000

Tomorrow on CTO Tuesdays #24, Michael Rowley will cover the crucial topic of what to do when a web service that is required by a process application isn’t available. Register for the webinar here.

We’ve long argued that processes defined using a BPM (business process management) discipline which are automated should be developed using a services-based environment. But what happens when those services aren’t available? Join us on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at noon EDT, 9am PDT, 16:00 GMT to explore your BPMS options for this eventuality.

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CTO Tuesdays #23: Escalation – what to do when something doesn’t happen

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:02:51 +0000

This episode of CTO Tuesdays details with how escalation works in a BPMS. In particular, the discussion and demonstration tackle how to use process-leveland task-level escalation, including deadlines, in the design and deployment of processes.

As always, you can join us live for CTO Tuesdays by signing up at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

We hope you will join us.

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CTO Tuesdays #23: Escalation – what to do when something doesn’t happen

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Alex Neihaus — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:50:39 +0000

Tomorrow on CTO Tuesdays #23, we will explore how a business process management system (BPMS) handles escalation. Register for this episode at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

We hope you can join us at noon EDT, 9am PDT, 16:00 GMT for our discussion of this important topic. When you consider the kinds of core processes that BPM systems are used for — processes which almost always include human tasks — being able to escalate work when something doesn’t happen is an important capability.

As always, Michael Rowley, Active Endpoints’ CTO, will present an educational overview of escalation followed by a panel discussion to answer your questions.

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CTO Tuesdays #22: Complex correlation scenarios

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:00:29 +0000

In the loosely-coupled world of today’s process applications, how does the BPMS know which running process instance to route incoming messages to? It’s an important question…and one CTO Tuesdays has explored before (see CTOT #5 on engine-managed correlation).

In this episode, Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley tackles a more complex case for correlation: when you can’t use engine-managed correlation because the developer doesn’t have control of the client in a business process. This episode reviews the terms used in correlation and then walks through a simplified procurement process to illustrate the concept.

As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions. And we hope you will be able to join us for the live recording of CTO Tuesdays ever Tuesday at noon ET.

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CTO Tuesdays #22: Complex correlation scenarios

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Alex Neihaus — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:36:28 +0000

Correlation sets in BPEL allow designers to manage asynchronous conversations in their business processes. Correlations sets are both a simple idea and very useful. By design, BPEL engines can manage a wide range of situations automatically, as we explored in CTOT #5: Engine-managed correlations. But what can designers and developers do when things get more complicated?

That’s what we’ll explore on CTO Tuesdays for Tuesday, May 4, 2010. We’ll be discussing more complicated correlation examples and offer tips and techniques for using BPEL correlation to support a very wide range of processes.

Please join us at noon ET, 9am PT and 16:00 GMT. You can register to watch the podcast live and participate in the Q&A discussion by registering at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

We look forward to seeing you on the podcast.

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CTO Tuesdays #21: Building business processes with mainframe inclusion

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:00:41 +0000

Well, I’ve been waiting a very long time to write a blog post that mentions that in the ABC TV series “Lost” the famous hatch where the button had to be pushed every 108 minutes had some very retro, old-school tech in it.

After searching and searching, I finally found a still on a fan website from the show’s second season that clearly shows a pair of IBM 3420 mainframe tape drives. Say what?

The Dharma Initiative was using IBM mainframe technology on the island in 1974? What did they need data storage for? Why are the tape drives always empty? What do those cool lights shining up from the bottom of the unit mean? (There were no lights there on the original 3420s.) How come I am the only person to have noticed these antiques in the hatch? (OK, not the only one. But a lot more people are wondering about the meaning of the smoke monster, or whether the Island is Hell — and all I want to know is what OS they were running on these things..MVS, VSE or the progenitor of all things virtual, VM/370.)

Lemme tell ya, these babies could store up to 150MB per 10″ tape reel! And to speed access, the drive “sucked” the tape down into the vacuum columns you can see on either side of the lighted area on the bottom of the tape drive. And, believe it or not, these things “burped” when you unloaded them — which depending on the version of the operating system the mainframe was running, sometimes had to be done manually.

So, what’s all this have to do with the content of CTO Tuesdays #21? Easy: for all the jokes about outdated mainframe(rs) and their never-very-cool reputation compared to the then-nascent PC, mainframes matter. They mattered then…and, to the surprise of no one who’s ever worked on them, they matter today.

On this episode of CTO Tuesdays, Michael Rowley turns the con over to Rob Morris and Dusty Rivers of GT Software, who describe an elegant and practical way of linking everything on a mainframe — CICS transactions, IMS queues, VSAM keyed datasets, raw 3270 data streams…you name it — to a modern BPMS like ActiveVOS. This is done via standard web services, using WSDLs to define available mainframe services.

Simply, if you have mainframe technology in your organization (and, frankly if you are in financial services, telecommunications and/or entertainment & media, we’d bet you do) and you want to write business processes that live up to the promise of flexibly integrating both people and systems, you gotta watch this podcast.

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CTO Tuesdays #21: Building business processes with mainframe inclusion

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Alex Neihaus — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:13:22 +0000

Tomorrow on CTO Tuesdays #21 for April 27, 2010, we are pleased to present a topic that is on everyone’s lips: how to integrate mainframe systems like CICS, IMS and 3270 apps into a the new world of process applications.

Our guests tomorrow are Rob Morris and Dusty Rivers of GT Software who will show how web services can quickly and easily integrate these two worlds.

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CTO Tuesdays #20 : Using REST for business processes

Alex Neihaus — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:17:57 +0000

Attached to this post are the recordings and a PDF of the slides presented on CTO Tuesdays #20 for 13 April 2010.

Completing a “trilogy” of sorts that started with CTOT #18 and continued in CTOT #19, Michael Rowley covers the concepts — and politics — behind REST, the representational state transfer protocol.

This episode is a must-see for anyone interested in protocols and comparing and contrasting REST with SOAP.

We promised to include this link to the WS-* standards that was shown in the discussion: http://www.innoq.com/soa/ws-standards/poster/innoQ%20WS-Standards%20Poster%202007-02.pdf

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CTO Tuesdays #20 : Using REST for business processes

Tomorrow on CTO Tuesdays #20 for April 13, 2010: Using REST in BPM

Alex Neihaus — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:31:01 +0000

Our topic tomorrow is “Using REST with business processes.”

REST (for “representational state transfer“) has become a popular style of creating applications in a services-oriented environment. But many development teams are less familiar with REST than they could be. On CTO Tuesdays for April 13, 2010, Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley will provide an easy-to-understand overview of REST and show examples of its use. Register at http://www.activevos.com/ctot to join for this exciting look at REST. CTO Tuesdays is presented live at noon ET, 9am PT, 16:00 GMT.

CTO Tuesdays is a weekly podcast about the technology of BPM. Each week CTO Tuesdays tackles a single technical topic and delivers the education development teams want to learn how to create a new generation of process applications. Register for the next episode of CTO Tuesdays here.”

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CTO Tuesdays #19: Using URNs to avoid hard-coding service locations

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:00:09 +0000

Attached to this post are the recordings of CTO Tuesdays #19 for 6 April 2010.

In this very interesting episode, Michael Rowley covers the (somewhat sad) history of URNs (complete with a screen shot of the entire web, circa 1991). Rowley then details how and why URNs are useful in process applications. A panel discussion follows the formal presentation.

Next week on CTOT: Rowley completes the story arc he started on CTOT #18 (using email-based approvals for processes) and which continued in CTOT #19 with a discussion of REST — the representational state transfer protocol. Don’t miss it: register at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

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CTO Tuesdays #19: Using URNs to avoid hard-coding service locations

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Alex Neihaus — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:36:30 +0000

Tomorrow, 6 April 2010, CTO Tuesdays will cover the use of uniform resource names (URNs) in deployed processes.

Forgive the unfortunate pun, but your urn will runneth over with excitement as you learn how URNs make it easy to model and deploy processes that do not have hard-coded physical service locations embedded in them.

We hope you can join us.

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.

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CTO Tuesdays #18: Handling approvals by email in business processes

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:00:36 +0000

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.

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CTO Tuesdays #18: Handling approvals by email in business processes

Tomorrrow on “CTO Tuesdays,” the BPMS podcast

Alex Neihaus — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:44:00 +0000

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.

What is CTO Tuesdays?

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Tomorrrow on “CTO Tuesdays,” the BPMS podcast

CTO Tuesdays #17: How BPMSs support long-running business transactions

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:00:48 +0000

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.”

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CTO Tuesdays #17: How BPMSs support long-running business transactions

CTO Tuesdays #16: The state of BPMS state: persistence for process

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:22 +0000

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.

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CTO Tuesdays #16: The state of BPMS state: persistence for process

CTO Tuesdays two-part mini-series

Alex Neihaus — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:24:49 +0000

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.

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CTO Tuesdays two-part mini-series

CTO Tuesdays #15: Using Java with business processes

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:00:18 +0000

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

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CTO Tuesdays #15: Using Java with business processes

CTO Tuesdays #14: Preventing problems through static analysis of business processes

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:00:40 +0000

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.

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CTO Tuesdays #14: Preventing problems through static analysis of business processes

CTO Tuesdays #13: Viewing and fixing running processes

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:00:35 +0000

One of the most important — and useful — capabilities of a BPMS is its ability to view, alter and fix running processes. In this edition of CTO Tuesdays, Michael Rowley explores this topic and demonstrates what any good BPMS should be capable of delivering to BPMS users and developers.

There are three versions of the podcast attached to this post. First, an iPod touch/iPhone-formatted .m4v file (also available in the iTunes Store; seach for “vosibilities”). Second, a Flash .flv file which can be viewed here on the blog and/or downloaded. Third, a Windows Media 9-encoded .wmv file.

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CTO Tuesdays #13: Viewing and fixing running processes

CTO Tuesdays #12: ECM and BPMS Working Together

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:00:53 +0000

This episode of CTO Tuesdays features our first guest CTO. John Newton, CTO and chairman of Alfresco Software, joins Michael Rowley to discuss how enterprise content management systems (ECM) can be combined with business process management systems (BPMS) to create compelling end-to-end business applications. ActiveVOS and Alfresco implement the new Content Management Interoperability Standard (CMIS), enabling these two important technologies to work together to produce a new generation of business process applications.

Attached to this post are three versions of the webinar. First is an iPod-formatted .m4v file. Second, a Flash .flv. Third, we have attached a Windows Media 9-encoded .wmv. Finally, we have also attached a PDF of the presentation John delivered.

We hope you enjoy this episode of CTO Tuesdays. We hope, over time, to have additional guest CTOs on the podcast to talk about complementary technologies. And we’d love to hear your suggestions for topics as well as your comments and feedback.

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CTO Tuesdays #12: ECM and BPMS Working Together

CTO Tuesdays #11: Structured and unstructured BPMN modeling

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:00:13 +0000

On this episode of CTO Tuesdays, we explore an important concept in software modeling: structured vs. unstructured modelers. Examples of both types are compared and contrasted. Also, the ActiveVOS BPMN 2.0 modeler, which blends the best of both types of modelers is demonstrated.

Three versions of the webinar are attached to this post: an iPod-formatted .m4v file, a Flash .flv file and a Windows Media 9-formatted .wmv.

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CTO Tuesdays #11: Structured and unstructured BPMN modeling

CTO Tuesdays #10 Using requirements gathering tools with a BPMS

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:00:59 +0000

This week, Michael Rowley presented “Using requirements gathering tools with a BPMS,” an interesting look at the relationship — and the possibilities — of using model-based BPMSs with requirements gathering tools.

We have posted three formats of the webinar replay. First is an iPod-formatted .m4v file. Also, a Flash file that can be played from the blog and/or downloaded. Finally, we have included a Windows Media 9-encoded .wmv file.

Please join us every week at noon ET, 9am PT and 17:00 GMT for CTO Tuesdays.

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CTO Tuesdays #10 Using requirements gathering tools with a BPMS

CTO Tuesdays #9: BPM as an event source for CEP

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:00:25 +0000

CTO Tuesdays is back for 2010!

In our first episode of the new year, Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley covers some basic theory of how complex event processing (CEP) works and makes the case for integrating a CEP engine directly into the BPM engine. Topics covered include the Event Processing Language (EPL), time windows as a method of correlating disparate events and event streams. In short, a fascinating — and accessible — introduction to a hot technical topic.

We have attached several formats of the webinar replay to this post. First, for iTunes subscribers, we have a .m4v file, perfect for taking along on your iPod. RSS feed subscribers will automatically receive this file. Also, there’s a .flv file which can be played directly on the blog (click where it says “click here” to play it). Also, we have attached a Windows Media 9-encoded .wmv file. Finally, the slides Michael presented are attached as a .pdf.

Be sure to join us live every Tuesday at noon ET, 9am PT, 17:00 UTC for a new topic. You can always register for the upcoming CTO Tuesdays webinar at http://www.activevos.com/ctot. Replays are usually posted here on our blog within 48 hours.

We have an exciting agenda of upcoming episodes, and later in the first part of Q1, we hope to guest CTOs join us for their perspectives on technical topics. We hope you will join us live each week.

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CTO Tuesdays #9: BPM as an event source for CEP

CTO Tuesdays #8: An Introduction to BPMN

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:00:07 +0000

We are pleased to make available content from the eighth episode of our weekly technical webinar CTO Tuesdays.

In this episode, Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley gives what might be the most concise, “digestable” overview of BPMN 2.0 available on the Web. If you are new to BPMN and want to see what it can do for you and your organization, this content is for you. In this webinar, Rowley discusses basic BPMN notation, including activities, events and gateways. And, in an expansive Q&A following the presentation, Rowley answers questions about the use and capabilities of BPMN.

There are four attachments contained in this post. First, an iPod-formatted .m4v recording of the webinar. This is for subscribers to the podcast in iTunes (search on “vosibilities”). Next, is a Flash .flv file which is intended to stream from the blog, though at the small size I have to limit the player to on the blog (416×312), it’s not the best experience. The .flv file itself is at 640×480, so feel free to download it if you want to play it locally. Next we have the original-sized Windows Media 9-encoded .wmv file. Finally, a PDF of the slides Rowley presented are attached.

We hope you find this content useful. You can always access the replays of CTO Tuesdays here on our blog, www.vosibilities.com in the “CTO Tuesdays” category, in our podcast on iTunes and via www.ctotuesdays.com or, for an RSS feed, www.ctotuesdays.com/feed. We’re trying to make it easy to find and use this content, so if there’s a method you prefer we haven’t accounted for, please let us know.

CTO Tuesdays will return to our every-Tuesday-at-noon-ET schedule in early January, 2010. Next year we have some exciting additions planned, including guest appearances of CTOs from other leading technology companies. Make sure you sign up to attend every week. You can always sign up for the next episode at www.activevos.com/ctot.

Finally, in answer to a question we had in the Q&A, here’s a link to the OMG specification for BPMN 2.0. In Annex A of this document, you can find the differences between BPMN 1.2 and BPMN 2.0.

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CTO Tuesdays #8: An Introduction to BPMN

CTO Tuesdays #7: Adding Looping Links to BPEL

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:00:13 +0000

Attached to this post is a reply of the December 8, 2009 edition of CTO Tuesdays. CTOT is a weekly webinar presented by Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley which presents a technical topic of interest to BPM users. CTOT discusses the “how” and “why” of technologies like BPMN and BPEL at a detailed technical level and is of interest to enterprise architects, developers and managers who want to understand the latest in BPM technology.

This episode takes a look at how it is possible to meld the “Wild West” control flow of BPMN 2.0 with the more buttoned-down control flow of BPEL. Rowley gives an example of a BPEL extension that effectively marries these two standards in a way that preserves the best of both BPMN modeling and BPEL execution.

There are two versions of the webinar replay file attached. First is an iPod-formatted .m4v. Also available is a Windows Media 9-encoded .wmv file.

You can always register for the upcoming CTO Tuesdays webinar at http://www.activevos.com/ctot. Registration is free. Access replays on the Wednesday following the webinar at http://www.ctotuesdays.com or via RSS feed at http://www.ctotuesdays.com/feed.

Be sure to join us next Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at noon ET, 17:00 UTC, 9am PT for a very special CTO Tuesdays in which Michael Rowley will deliver an introduction to BPMN 2.0. If you are interested in BPM and BPMS technology, you won’t want to miss this episode.

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CTO Tuesdays #7: Adding Looping Links to BPEL

CTO Tuesdays #6: Diamond patterns in BPEL and BPMN

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:00:22 +0000

I am very pleased to post a recording of what I personally think was the most interesting CTO Tuesdays talk we’ve had yet. This time, Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley discussed BPMN 2.0 and BPEL control flows, pointing out the “trap doors” in BPMN 2.0 notation that can, for example, lead to unintended simultaneous downstream process execution and how BPEL (still using BPMN 2.0 notation) can effectively prevent hard-to-understand and -debug process applications in a BPMS.

CTO Tuesdays has been getting great feedback from our growing audience, and I’d like to offer this week’s episode as a good example of why. The discussion of BPMN 2.0 and BPEL flows is something you might not find elsewhere, delivered in an objective way and surrounded by stimulating questions and discussion with attendees. I hope you will join us every Tuesday at 17:00 GMT and participate as well. You can register at http://www.activevos.com/ctot. The replays are always available at http://www.ctotuesdays.com or via our RSS feed at http://www.ctotuesdays.com/feed

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CTO Tuesdays #6: Diamond patterns in BPEL and BPMN

CTO Tuesdays #5: Engine-managed correlation

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:00:43 +0000

In episode #5 of our continuing webinar series on technical topics of interest to developers, architects and business analysts working with SOA-based business process management systems (BPMS), Dr. Michael Rowley, CTO, Active Endpoints compares and contrasts two different styles of message correlation. In episode #4, Michael outlined message correlation as defined by the BPEL standard. In this episode, Michael illustrates a different style of correlation, which relies on the execution engine to correlate incoming messages to specific processes. Michael also describes when and how each style (BPEL-managed vs. engine-managed) can be used and notes some pros and cons for each style.

There are two attached versions of the webinar replay (an iPod-formatted .m4v and a DivX-encoded .avi). As always, you can register for the next episode of CTO Tuesdays at http://www.activevos.com/ctot. We look forward to your comments, suggestions and feedback.

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CTO Tuesdays #5: Engine-managed correlation

CTO Tuesdays #4: Message correlation

Alex Neihaus — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:21:47 +0000

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we (finally) have replays of episode #4 of CTO Tuesdays, our regular weekly webinar on BPM topics of interest to process designers and developers. The subject of this webinar is message correlation, an interesting topic that details how systems match up running processes and the messages for those running processes.

The bad news is that due to a technical issue, the audio for the host, our own Sonal Rajan, wasn’t recorded. This is shame because at the end of each topic, we always have an open Q&A session on the current topic to amplify the technical discussion. Unfortunately, these replays won’t have that Q&A because there’s no audio for the moderator. However, the actual presentation about message correlation was recorded just fine.

In the two attached versions of the webinar replay (an iPod-formatted .m4v and a DivX-encoded .avi), I have edited most of the silent introduction and the Q&A.

As always, you can register for the next episode of CTO Tuesdays at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

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CTO Tuesdays #4: Message correlation

CTO Tuesdays #3: BPMN and BPEL events

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:00:55 +0000

This week on CTO Tuesdays Active Endpoints CTO Michael Rowley presented how events are represented in BPMN 2.0 and BPEL.

I think you will find Michael’s explanation of BPMN 2.0 event notation especially valuable.

I have attached two versions of the recorded webinar to this post. The first is an iPod-formatted .m4v. Also attached to this post is a Windows Media format .wmv file.

We have also made signing up for CTO Tuesdays and accessing the replays much easier. You can always sign up for the upcoming session of CTO Tuesdays at http://www.activevos.com/ctot. Replays are always available at http://www.ctotuesdays.com. And, an RSS feed of the replays is available at http://www.ctotuesdays.com/feed.

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CTO Tuesdays #3: BPMN and BPEL events

CTO Tuesdays #2: Introduction to WS-HumanTask

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:26 +0000

This week’s topic on CTO Tuesdays was an introduction to the new WS-HumanTask standard for workflow. In this informative session, Michael Rowley describes the importance of the new standard for workflow, how it separates tasks from processing and how WS-HumanTask enables human activities to be seen as services in a process application.

Attached to this post are three files. A PDF of the slides Dr. Rowley presented, an iPod-formatted .m4v file (which requires QuickTime or iTunes to be installed) and a more-or-less standard .avi file. The .avi is the larger of the two video files.

Due to a technical error (I didn’t press “show” on GoToMeeting), the first few minutes of the video show Michael’s slides, not the ones I am discussing. Since this is just an introduction, you won’t miss anything. I’ve put those “missing” slides into the .pdf file, so you can follow along if you want to.

We had a very lively panel discussion at the end of the presentation; I hope you’ll have the time to listen to the discussion that follows the presentation.

As always, we are very interested in your feedback, comments and topic suggestions.

One more note: you can always register for the upcoming CTO Tuesdays session by visiting http://www.activevos.com/ctot. We hope you join us for next week’s webinar.

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CTO Tuesdays #2: Introduction to WS-HumanTask

CTO Tuesdays #1: The BPMN diamond

Alex Neihaus — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:58:28 +0000

We are very pleased to post the recording of the first episode of our new weekly webinar on BPM technology called CTO Tuesdays.

Every Tuesday, Active Endpoints’ CTO Michael Rowley, will present a topic of interest to BPM users. Our inaugural topic was an explanation of the meaning and uses of the BPMN 2.0 diamond symbol. If you are interested in learning BPMN 2.0 — or if you just want to brush up on some of the more advanced considerations in using this basic BPMN symbol — you will find this recording very instructive. Concepts are demonstrated in ActiveVOS 7’s new BPMN 2.0 modeler.

Attached to this post are two versions of the webinar: an iPod-formatted .m4v file our podcast subscribers will automatically receive and an H.264-encoded .avi file (which is much larger at about 113MB).

We welcome your input and suggestions for CTO Tuesdays. Contact us via email at editor at activevos dot com. Today, the best way to be notified of upcoming CTO Tuesdays is to be on our mailing list. And, the best way to get onto our mailing list is to download a trial of ActiveVOS. You can also register for upcoming CTO Tuesdays by clicking on the link in the right hand column of any interior page on www.activevos.com.

We are working hard on making registering for CTO Tuesdays easier. But because of the demand for education on topics like BPMN 2.0, we started the webinar series without waiting to dot all the “i’s” and cross all our “t’s.”

Update: You can now register for CTO Tuesdays by clicking the link in the right-hand column of any page on www.activevos.com except the home page. So, just navigate into the site a little and you’ll get a little reward: easy access to registration for CTO Tuesdays.

Updated update: You can now always register for the upcoming CTO Tuesdays at http://www.activevos.com/ctot.

We hope you enjoy this recording and that you will join us as your schedule permits for the live CTO Tuesdays every Tuesday at noon ET, 9am PT, 16:00 GMT (17:00 GMT after the end of US daylight savings time in November, 2009).

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CTO Tuesdays #1: The BPMN diamond