synopsis

Software AG has offered BPM technology for some years, primarily through a partnership with Japan's Fujitsu Software; but, in 2007, its acquisition of webMethods changed the picture significantly. The webMethods BPMS combines an Eclipse-based set of integrated design and development tools (the webMethods Designer and Developer) with one runtime environment (based around the well-proven webMethods Integration Server and Broker) and the My webMethods Server - which is a sophisticated environment for the delivery of task interfaces that also hosts monitoring dashboards and process administration functions. My webMethods Server is also responsible for hosting more broad-based, general-purpose composite web-based applications, should you choose to build them with webMethods technology. With the addition of webMethods Trading Networks, process automation support is extended to value chain participation scenarios. The offering is particularly functionally strong in the areas of rules management, process integration and execution, and process monitoring and optimisation. It's also particularly strong in its support of process scenarios where human process participants are a significant element in the mix, as well as being strong in support of straight-through processing and value chain participation scenarios. What's also particularly noteworthy about the webMethods BPMS is that the way the technology pieces are put together reflects a mature approach to product and technology architecture - and the end result is very likely to be a major positive impact on the cost of development, management and change in your BPM initiative.