BPM | ActiveVOS Business Process Management Suite from Active Endpoints

Using ActiveVOS

ActiveVOS is the BPMS your development team will love. Using a single, integrated, open and affordable product, your team will discover that it can rapidly implement new and updated business processes.

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Selected ActiveVOS features are highlighted in the table below. Use the gray "floating" navigation box in the column to the left to scroll the page to view a topic.

Model processes

Feature	Benefits
Model business processes using graphical BPMN 2.0 designer	Standard Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) 2.0 modeler eliminates proprietary notation Easy-to-understand BPMN model is the only representation of the model through the entire process lifecycle: from inception to implementation to operation Promotes broad adoption of model-based computing across architects, business analysts and developers
Superior BPMN 2.0 modeling environment	Process drill-down makes managing complex models easy: quickly collapse and expand containers and structure Promotes top-down design Intuitive breadcrumb trail navigation Structured activities and areas on the BPMN canvas permit rapid modification of existing models and accelerate creation of new models
Direct execution of BPMN 2.0 models	No round-trip issues or conversions of BPMN models. BPMN models are directly executed as BPEL BPEL execution of models delivers benefits of native language of SOA without its complexity
Optimize business processes with graphical simulation of BPMN models	Incorporate simulation data to estimate resource requirements and impacts to optimize processes Create key performance indicators( KPIs) Understand business impact before process is implemented
Import existing process documentation from Microsoft® Visio® and XPDL	Reuse existing process documentation and make them executable

Integrate human tasks

Feature	Benefits
Integrated drag-and-drop forms design	Automatically generated HTML and JavaScript forms deliver full power of AJAX Generate process initiation, lookup and task forms Automatic cross-browser support Service definition import captures validation rules, enumerated types and pattern restrictions that are enforced at runtime Accessibility and internationalization support are built-in
Service-enabled forms	Build compelling user interfaces into newly deployed processes Direct integration with WSDL services allows the incorporation of data and input from third-party services
ActiveVOS Central application	Complete, out-of-the-box AJAX-based application for user, managers, operations staff, business analysts and developers Consolidates the ability to initiate processes via a request, perform lookups for status of a request, carry out tasks, and access reports to help users and managers better manage work Integrated WS-HumanTask worklist with advanced navigation and task grouping features Initiate processes and track status in ActiveVOS forms Role-based customization of task filters, process initiation and query forms, and reports
WS-HumanTask and Identity Service SDK	Allows developers to use the ActiveVOS WS-HumanTask and Identity services to build unique and custom task clients Get started quickly using the SDK's JavaDoc and samples

Develop scalable business processes

Feature	Benefits
Create orchestrations graphically	Simple, code-free and error-free service orchestration of people, processes and services using BPMN 2.0, BPEL and WS-HumanTask
Breakthrough developer productivity	Developers generate executable BPEL 2.0 processes directly from BPMN 2.0 models with no intermediate artifacts Create a services-oriented (SOA) BPM with no need for BPEL expertise BPMN structured activities, including loops and decision constructs can be dragged into models in a single drag-and-drop gesture, eliminating time-consuming re-drawing of models
Any-order BPM development	Developers can develop a BPM application by starting at the beginning, middle or end of the business process
Automatic development	ActiveVOS automatically understands the basic - yet complex - idea of "private" versus "public" WSDLs, and will automatically create the required WSDLs, in a 100% standards-compliant mode
Optimized data handling	ActiveVOS allows developers to visually specify what data is needed in each activity and guides the developer through XPath and XQuery statement generation with point-and-click ease Content Assist is integrated with XPath and XQuery expression builders to speed model definition Expression evaluation is incorporated in every expression dialog, providing immediate feedback Simple expressing tests can be quickly and directly performed in the expression builders
Reuse existing Java code	Plain old Java objects (POJOs) and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) can be exposed as web services, enhancing reuse and accelerating application development
Stateful Java objects	Permits instantiation of Java object and the preservation of that Java object's state throughout the duration of the orchestration, permitting more reuse of Java objects and making it easier to develop new orchestrations
Service discovery	Built-in means to discover enterprise services Reuse enterprise assets
Manage and use external service references	Manages interface and schema references to compare and updates from partners Helps manage and control the impact of change
Project Asset Management	Cataloging of WSDL and schema assets and tracking of dependencies Eases the management of a complex set of related assets and reduces errors
Project and Process Templates	Well-documented samples and complete applications that can be used to start a project or used in an existing project
Service interface generation from data representation	Generates service interface from data represented by XML data sample and XML schema Help quickly integrate non-web services
Customized palette and process pattern creation	Creates process patterns to re-use a grouping of activities from other processes Significantly shortens design time by reusing common components and patterns allowing team to access reusable components
Tasked-based tabbed property sheets	Declarative tabbed property sheets that assist developers through common tasks Eases development tasks
Custom functions extensibility	Ability to create custom functions implemented as a collection available for use during design, analysis and at runtime execution Extends ActiveVOS easily Reuse existing systems
Built-in alert, identity and email services	Simplifies integration of people and services
Reporting Service	Invoke the ActiveVOS Reporting Service to generate a report Available formats include HTML, .pdf, .doc, .xls, .ppt, and .xml Schedule reports and email the completed report to a specific user and/or a distribution list Build reports using built-in BIRT report designer Instruct the service to display output in the ActiveVOS Console, ActiveVOS Central, via email or a URL
Logging Service	Instrument processes with logging to report error conditions in a single location Significantly improves problem isolation at runtime

Test – create quality applications easily

Feature	Benefits
Continuous Integration	ActiveVOS orchestration development now supports continuous integration approaches Run BUnit and BSuite from the command line via Ant scripts Integrates with continuous integration frameworks such as the Hudson continuous integration engine
Simulate end-to-end process execution using generated sample data	Improves test coverage and quality
Scenario and regression test generation through recorded simulations: Recording and replay of end-to-end process execution simulation with the ability to save the simulation as a “BUnit” test case	Simplifies repeated testing of complex services-based applications Reduces manual test-case creation
Integrated debugging: Local and remote debugging of a process running on a server. Set breakpoints, step through or run the process. Set default values and track process state	Faster project delivery with improved responsiveness to problem resolution in production
Integrated development and testing environment: Developers and QA teams use a common designer environment and framework, reducing unit and integration testing effort	Faster project delivery, improves quality and reduces risks of problems in production
Unit and scenario testing - “BUnit” testing: Run BUnit test cases and suites directly from the Designer. Integrated with local and remote debugging. Supports off-line unit testing	Improved agility and ability to adapt to change through regression testing
Data-driven testing and management: Create sample test data to test paths in the process. ActiveVOS Designer automatically generates sample data for complex types. During simulation and unit testing, validate various paths using different data	High developer productivity in retesting after a change has been made

Deploy – push-button deployment

Feature	Benefits
Flexible process scheduling capabilities	Schedule business processes with unlimited flexibility. Choose from Schedule Once, Run Now, Intraday, Daily, Weekly or Monthly options to perform business process orchestrations at any time, down to the second
Command shell execution service	Leverages existing legacy scripts (e.g. account provisioning, file transfer) Invoke scripts as services Automates input, output and error code handling
Wizard-based deployment and packaging: Deployment wizards guide you to provide endpoint references and policy assertions for services used in your process	Ease of use and speeds up deployment
Automated deployment: Process can be automatically and remotely deployed to a target server either from ActiveVOS Designer or via an ANT script	Ease of deployment to and across multiple environments
Deployment management: Universal console permits uploading of the deployment package or use of a web service for accepting the deployment package. Direct administrative API call can be used for custom deployment	Web service and Java APIs allow quick and easy integration in existing configuration management infrastructure
Policy-based configuration: Supports a rich set of enterprise configuration options through WS-Policy assertions. Support for WS-Security – Authentication, Encryption & Signature; SAML 1.1; WS-Reliable Exchange – guaranteed message delivery; and retry quality of service policy	Rich runtime configuration capabilities allow runtime behavior to be configured and not coded
Built-in integration and connectivity: Binding support for SOAP/HTTP, JMS and REST	Code-free integration without the requiring of an enterprise service bus (ESB)
Custom invoker handler framework for EJB and JAVA class invocation	Developers are not locked in to strictly using services and can implement orchestrations using a broad set of pre-existing components
Endpoint management: URN mapping – Dynamically assign endpoint address on server	Reduced deployment time and ability to quickly adapt to a reconfiguration (e.g. migration from development to test/QA and to production server)
Advanced endpoint location services: Partner addressing schemes to support a myriad of use cases: Static: Defined in deployment descriptor Dynamic: Mapped in the process Invoke: Transmitted in the SOAP header of a partner via WS-Addressing Principal: Lookup of partner based on authentication information	Late endpoint resolution permits dynamic assignment of the address. Increased ability to adapt to changing conditions e.g. add new partners

Run processes on a scalable, compatible server

Feature	Benefits
Universal Console	Monitor and control the production system from anywhere Enhance collaboration for problem determination
Root-cause analysis	Visually "step back in time" for any running or faulted process, inspect its variables and determine what happened for problem determination or to understand what transpired
Service Level Reporting	Graphical process service time reports track processing times, identify bottlenecks and improve operational efficiency
Consistent operational views: Consistent rendering from design to runtime, enabling ease of design and maintenance throughout the process lifecycle	Significantly reduces operational troubleshooting efforts. Reduces administration complexity
Troubleshooting and process execution visibility: Manual operational control to visually review and remediate process or service errors Operators can suspend execution, examine the contents of in-flight messages, and visually troubleshoot problems	Graceful handling of exceptions avoiding unnecessary and costly remediation
Process exception management: suspend, process rewind, remote debugging Allows the process to be suspended at the faulting activity rather than be terminated abnormally as well as providing alerts of their occurrences This capability can be made available to all processes or specific processes allow an organization to decide how to handle exceptions Once caught and suspended the problem can be remedied via the Administration Console or remote debugging	Graceful handling of avoidable failure Manual and programmatic operational control provide to review and remediate critical process errors without forcing process termination
Process Rewind	Process rewind offers the ability to rewind a process to a specific activity and redo the work without having to invoke any of the built-in compensation logic, giving organizations unprecedented flexibility in managing running, in-flight processes
Integrated with debugging facilities: Allows a problem in production to be debugged using breakpoints and stepping through the process	Improves the ability to react to problems in production
Server-based process correlation: Use of server-side correlation eliminates the need to developers to handle message correlation	Ease of development
Process persistence management: All process, state and variable (message) data can be stored to the database to permit: Process recovery in the case of a server restart Hot server fail-over in the case of operation in a J2EE cluster Hydration of long running process to free up memory and CPU resources for high performance operation	Guaranteed process reliability in server outage situation Improved performance and throughput
Retry Policy: The retry quality of service policy directs the server runtime to deal with outages and unavailability of a service	Protects against needlessly terminating a crucial long running process or human tasks “Self-healing” dealing with temporary service outages

Manage with integrated Business Intelligence, Business Activity Monitoring and Complex Event Processing

Feature	Benefits
Business Activity Monitoring	Built-in reports and dashboard deliver proactive alerts and notification of process status Access reports from ActiveVOS Central Analyze usage trends over time RSS and Atom support enable delivery to any device or service
Customizable Reporting	Delivers usage and process information as required to enhance the business Deploy reports to ActiveVOS Central Customized reports cans be added to universal console for easy access Export reports to common formats, including Microsoft® Office® and PDF
Integrated Complex Event Processing (CEP)	No need to use an external service to access CEP Use CEP to identify trends and patterns to trigger on-event actions that kick off processes and take corrective action, if necessarys CEP is a deployment-time attribute of orchestrations, so processes do not have to be altered to utilize CEP BPEL execution engine emits events useful for CEP applications

Change - Advanced process versioning

Feature	Benefits
Process Versioning: Permits deployment of multiple versions of the same process without needing to bring down server to make process upgrade, maintenance and fixes	Agile change management; near real-time fixes possible
Advanced and "where-used" searching: Advanced find capabilities allows for comprehensive searching to locate namespaces, messages and other elements	Easily re-factor projects Simplifies and speeds the ability to make changes Where-used controls greatly simplify re-factoring and understand the impact of change
Online deployment of new process versions: Hot-deploy changes and selectively choose when to apply an update either in the future or in-flight Run versions side-by-side, terminate running processes to force a change or allow pre-existing processes run to completion	Non-stop operation Deploy processes with the confidence that future changes will not disrupt existing operations

ActiveVOS Runtime

Feature	Benefits
ActiveVOS advanced features	Native support for J2EE: Oracle® WebLogic Server®, IBM® WebSphere® Application Server, JBoss® Application Server and Apache Tomcat Brings SOA process management and workflow to your enterprise deployments Processes are managed within existing server and middleware infrastructure
MultiSite clustering	Enterprise performance and scale needed for mission-critical deployments through clustering within and across geographically distributed data centers Automatic scaling and load balancing under management of J2EE infrastructure High availability, enterprise-class reliability and scalability, fail-over and clustering within and across data centers
Manageability	WSDM-MUWS support
Administrative APIs	API access to: Process and alarm information Queue management to manage receive queues and correlations Storage management
Rich SAML 1.1/2.0 support	Developers may use a more declarative approach within deployment descriptors to specify how to generate and consume messages containing SAML assertions. Conformance with SAML1.11/2.0: SOAP over HTTP binding as specified by the OASIS Security Technical Committee. Conformance with the SAML 1.1/2.0 section of the WS-I Basic Security Profile 1.1 Participation as a relying party in a trust relationship based on SAML Ability to produce, validate and verify SAML 1.1 assertions with both holder-of-key and sender-vouches confirmation methods
Comprehensive JMS Support	Service interactions using JMS transport. Turn existing JMS/MQ messages into WSDL defined services ready for BPEL orchestration. Invoke services to/from process server using JMS transport. Call deployed processes via JMS/MQ Integrates directly into MOM infrastructure without need for intervening ESB or other integration technology MOM developers can almost immediately begin to deliver high value composite services using existing MOM assets and skills Quickly train MOM developers to become SOA and orchestration minded Supported Message Formats: SOAP and Plain XML Supported JMS Message Types: Text and Bytes message content serialization Supported MEP: One-Way Request, Request-Response with durable reply destination, and Request-Response with temporary reply destination

Built on standards

Application	Standards
Interface/Definition	WSDL, XML Schema
Protocols	SOAP 1.1/1.2 over HTTP/HTTPS, SOAP/Plain XML over JMS, REST, JSON, JAVA/EJB Invocation, WS-Reliable Messaging
Orchestration	BPEL 1.1/2.0, BPEL Extension for People, WS-HumanTask
Modeling	BPMN 2.0
Security/Identification/ Authentication	WS-Security, SAML, LDAP
Governance	WS-Policy
Expression Languages	XPath, XQuery, XSLT and JavaScript
Attachments	SOAP with Attachments