At the SharePoint Conference last week in Las Vegas, Global360 announced that they have built new modeling and simulation capabilities for their suite of process automation tools based on Visio 2010. The new product, analsytView 3.0, will be available concurrently with Visio 2010 and is intended to link Visio based process models with the Global360's suite of BPM process execution products.
By taking advantage of Visio 2010's deep process modeling capabilities and Global 360's comprehensive, integrated simulation capabilities, analystView 3.0 users can import any one of the millions of Visio 2010 models into the BPM execution layer and seamlessly convert them into executable processes. Every version of a process map or model can be posted for collaborative discussion. For the business analyst, analystView 3.0 brings modeling and simulation to Visio 2010 and uses Microsoft SharePoint 2010 to enable process improvement collaboration with a broader audience.
Gartner has published a new review of Microsoft's BPM strategy and our related partner BPMS products which make up the Microsoft Process Platform. This is the first time Gartner has included Microsoft in one of their BPMS reviews and made several key observations about our strategy:
- The Microsoft strategy of providing a business process platform gives users more flexibility to select the partner solution which most closely matches their needs.
- Use of the Microsoft platform allows customers to leverage their existing skills with products such as Office, SharePoint and SQL, as well as developer skills centered on Visual Studio, BizTalk and the .NET Framework.
- ISV partners who build on top of the .NET based Microsoft business process platform can easily extend their applications as necessary by utilizing the extensibility of the .NET Framework.
To see the full study, go to the Gartner site here.
InRule Technology, provider of.NET business rule technology, and ShareVis, provider of business process management applications for the SharePoint environment, have announced a combination of their technologies that allows business users to automate and manage complex business processes and logic on the Microsoft SharePoint platform, without custom coding.
Adding ShareVis and InRule to a SharePoint environment gives users a sophisticated solution for process, form, and business logic automation. With features built for business users, InRule and ShareVis enable business people to manage complex processes and logic.
InRule and ShareVis will host a webcast Tuesday, Sept. 29, with details and demonstrations. To register for the webcast visit here.
More details on this solution can be found here.
The press release with more details can be found here.
Global 360 has announced the release of version 10.0 of their Process360 Business Process Management Suite which takes a unique "persona" based approach to BPM by focusing on participant roles rather than just the underlying technical processes. This new version of the product integrates deeply with Microsoft SharePoint and InfoPath to achieve People-Ready Processes and fully leverage the .NET development platform. Included as part of the product are three viewPoint applications which are optimized for process participants (data entry, processors & supervisors), process managers and process developers with the objective of optimizing process flow and collaboration while maintaining maximum flexibility.
More information can be found at the Global 360 web sites www.global360.com .
Microsoft announced today that
PNMsoft has been selected as a finalist for
Worldwide Partner of the Year in the SOA and Business Process category to be awarded at this year's
Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans from July 13th to 16th. PNMsoft received the award for their SEQUENCE BPM suite which enables the rapid deployment of SOA and BP solutions. More information on PNMsoft and this award can be found
here.
On Tuesday May 12th InRule announced the release of the latest version of their business rules management system optimized for use with .NET based applications. InRule Version 3.2 provides new capabilities to improve the effectiveness of rule authoring, testing and management for both business users and developers, at the same time increasing the depth of support for widely used Microsoft technologies. New features included improved integration between irStudio and Visual Studio, inclusion of irScript which utilizes the .NET Dynamic Language Runtime to simplify the creation of User Defined Functions, the addition of regression testing to the irVerify testing tool and integration of MS Active Directory into irCatalog to strengthen security while simplifying administration.
More information on the release of InRule Version 3.2 can be found here.
This morning Microsoft announced the availability of the sixth edition of BizTalk Server, BizTalk Server 2009. This release includes support in four major areas; 1) support for mobile RFID devices, 2) support of the most current Windows technology (including WinSrvr2008, SQL2008, VS2008, VSTS2008 & .NET Frwk 3.5 SP1), 3) improved application lifecycle management (ALM) support of VSTS 2008 & TFS 2008, and 4) improved application connectivity with new WCF-based adapters for SAP, Oracle & Siebel.
Two other areas that might not get as much visibility, but are important to a large number of our customers (RFID and host connectivity) also saw some significant enhancements. RFID is getting a new SKU (RFID Enterprise) to specifically support high availability and failover solutions. In the host connectivity area (formerly know as Host Integration Server or HIS) this latest release includes support for DB2 v9 & Websphere MQ v7, a new WCF Channel for Websphere MQ, as well as full support for Hyper V in Windows Server 2008.
As can be seen from the notes above, this release is focused on improving business processes by increasing the number of systems it connects to "out of the box", by fully supporting the latest releases of Microsoft's Windows platform and by reducing total cost of operations with support of technologies such as WCF and Hyper-V. More information on this announcement can be found here.
Healthcare is driven by rules and regulation, and non-compliance leads to increased costs and reduced margins at every point in the revenue cycle. Business rules can be used to externalize and automate the core decision logic in healthcare systems, making the logic more transparent, auditable, and easier to maintain by both developers and subject matter experts.
On May 6th Rik Chomko and Theresa O'Neil from InRule Technologies will be joining Jerry Kolosky at the Enterprise Developer and Solutions Conference to present a session on use of rules technology in a healthcare setting. The session titled "Healthcare Rules! A Prescription for Pain Relief: Using Rule Technology in Healthcare Systems" will give attendees an in-depth look at a flexible platform based on .NET and designed to validate healthcare rules, see technical demonstrations and hear case studies based on healthcare leaders’ use of .NET rule-based solutions.
blackpoint is designed to allow business users and non-developers to quickly build workflow solutions and process-driven applications within Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. It can be used to create new SharePoint workflows that span libraries, sites, InfoPath forms, server farms and organizations; manage approvals; and route documents and list items. Starting at $5,000 for up to 200 users, K2 blackpoint offers drag-and-drop tools, a Microsoft Office-style designer (K2 Studio) and a Silverlight-based K2 Web Designer.
More information on K2 blackpoint can be found here.
Four members of the Microsoft Business Process Alliance were positioned in the Leaders or Visionaries Quadrants for the new BPMS Magic Quadrant released by Gartner on February 18th. Global 360 and Metastorm, two of the acknowledged leaders in BPMS software and the largest .NET-based providers were well positioned in the Leaders Quadrant just behind the market leaders. K2 and Ascentn were positioned in the Visionaries Quadrant, where K2 was called out for their leading edge use of .NET technologies and Ascentn was mentioned as a thought leader in model-driven development.
Gartner also acknowledged Microsoft's key role in this market as a provider of Windows Workflow Foundation and the Microsoft Application Platform (SQL/BizTalk/Visual Studio), which enables many of the vendors solutions with a comprehensive Process Platform. More information on this newly issued BPMS study can be found on the Gartner site here: http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=164485&format=html
Steve Marsh and Morris Novello from Microsoft UK are joining the team from PNMSoft to present a comprehensive session on Microsoft's BPM strategy at the Microsoft's London (Cardinal Place) Office on March 13, 2009. Material covered will include the Microsoft Process Platform, use of BizTalk for system to system process management, use of Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) for management of document centric workflows and extension of the MS Process Platform with complementary BPMS solutions.
For more information and registration, check the PNMSoft event page.
In Gartner's recently released Magic Quadrants for Back-end Application Integration, SOA Composite Applications and New Systematic SOA Applications Microsoft has moved solidly into the Leader's quadrant. Of particular note is the Back-end Application Integration MQ, where Microsoft is now the most highly rated in the Leader's Quadrant, ahead of such competitors as IBM, Oracle, Sun and Tibco.
Webinar: Quantifying Improved Decision Management: The Value of Rules
InRule Technology will be hosting a free one hour webinar Webcast January 28, 2009 at 11:00am ET on Strategies for Better Business Decision Management. This webcast will provide pragmatic insights on Business Decision Management: automating core decision-intensive processes using rule technology to improve decision making.
The featured speaker is James Taylor, founder and CEO of Decision Management Solutions and an independent consultant on decision management, predictive analytics, business rules, and related topics. Widely considered a leading expert and visionary in enterprise decision management, James will discuss Decision Management in Practice: Experiences, Lessons Learned, Quantifying Decision Management, the Impact and Value of Rule Technology on Decision Management.
For more information and to register, visit www.inrule.com/bdm
Microsoft has announced the availability of BizTalk Server 2009 beta at the Gartner Application Architecture, Development and Integration Summit in Las Vegas on December 8th. Key areas of enhancements in this release include:
Improved SOA & Web Services
· New UDDI v3 Web Services Registry
· New and enhanced LOB adapters (Oracle EBS, SQL)
· Enhanced host systems integration (MQ, CICS, IMS, CICS)
· Enhanced BAM support
· ESB Guidance 2.0 delivers updated prescriptive guidance
Business To Business Integration
· New Mobile RFID Platform
· New RFID device management and industry standards support
· Enhanced Support for EDI and AS2 Protocols and Drummond certification
· Updated SWIFT Support and SWIFTReady Financial EAI Gold certification
Developer & Team Productivity
· New Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) support
· Support for TFS - integrated source control, bug tracking, MSBuild automation
· Enhanced Developer Productivity
· Visual Studio project system updates
Updated Platform Support
· Support for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and Visual Studio 2008 SP1
· Take advantages of the latest developer tools
· Support for Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008
· Hyper-V support
· Increased performance & scale
For More information, check out the official announcement here.
The Beta can be downloaded here.
Microsoft UK is hosting their third annual SOA and BP Conference on 26 November on the Microsoft Campus in Thames Valley Park at Reading from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM. This year's keynote speaker is Massimo Pezzini, a Gartner Fellow, who will be reviewing Gartner's current view of the SOA and BPM landscape, as well as where Microsoft fits into it. Additionally, speakers from Microsoft's corporate headquarters and the UK subsidiary will cover a variety of topics, including the new features of BizTalk Server 2009, cloud computing and the Oslo modeling platform.
More information, including the agenda and registration information can be found here.
