Tibco

[suityou01]

Good. Was getting worried there for a minute, thought I was selling myself to cheap.

too

[MarillionFan]

too

I did that on purpose btw. But thanks for trying.

[suityou01]

I did that on purpose btw. But thanks for trying.

The other pot's making noise again

[ladymuck]

I like BPMN

Used BPMN loads, it makes sense to me. I also happen to like business process modelling (rather than workflow, back end process modelling for code) and watching the client get all het up when they see swimlanes of departmental/role responsibility - they find it all rather threatening.

[suityou01]

Used BPMN loads, it makes sense to me. I also happen to like business process modelling (rather than workflow, back end process modelling for code) and watching the client get all het up when they see swimlanes of departmental/role responsibility - they find it all rather threatening.

I often describe BPM as next gen workflow, or workflow with RAD developer tools combined. Get's the point across concisely.

[aussielong]

Err no not really. It's a BPM suite and a fookin expensive one at that. The BPM market is basically

Metastorm
Tibco
Appian
Oracle Aqualogics

It is good for the consultants, and is supposed to have an immediate ROI. The problem is that these "consultancies" hire spotty oiks off the street and bodyshop them into gigs as seasoned professionals (The accenture effect)

Remember workflow? Think workflow with RAD screen development. So you are plugging nodes together to achieve a business process. BPMN notation all the way.

So each process has a start middle end, each node belongs in a "swim lane" and each swim lane represents groups of users (or a user) (or systems).

Each node can be a user (screen), system event such as a timer / message, web service call, database update, decision (from biztalk for other rules engine) etc.

Clear? PM me or we can have a call and I can go into lots and lots of gory detail.

There is an open sores BPM suite called Intalio I have been meaning to learn.

Mopping up after the consultancies and providing truly expert advice has also kept me in shoes and handbags. Another 6 month extension looms (not confirmed, but likely)

What class of application would you build on this platform? It's mainly used for integration projects is it not?

Concisely, its a messaging platform with a bunch of connectors to abstract you from transport protocols. Some UI tools to drag 'n' drop inputs to outputs in a pipeline of data transforms. Some bespoke language to write scripts to munge data before putting it back on the pipeline. XML everywhere.

I've seen the worse mess created with these tools. Worse than any code i've looked at.

[suityou01]

What class of application would you build on this platform? It's mainly used for integration projects is it not?

Concisely, its a messaging platform with a bunch of connectors to abstract you from transport protocols. Some UI tools to drag 'n' drop inputs to outputs in a pipeline of data transforms. Some bespoke language to write scripts to munge data before putting it back on the pipeline. XML everywhere.

I've seen the worse mess created with these tools. Worse than any code i've looked at.

You create full web apps. Typical "cut yer teeth" type processes include

Onboarding (HR)
Holiday and absence tracking (HR)
Product application
Project management

Anything that is a business process really.

The common traps are to develop the processes in the wrong order, and develop them "in the silo" so they don't integrate very well. The idea is that the processes should flow seamlessly front to back, and leverage existing systems via SOA (also called orchestration in the Metastorm world)

[Mich the Tester]

I've seen the worse mess created with these tools. Worse than any code i've looked at.

Oooh good, worthwhile for testers then?

[suityou01]

Oooh good, worthwhile for testers then?

Oh yes. They can be a bitch to load test though as the frameworks don't work too well with automated test tools.

[Mich the Tester]

Oh yes. They can be a bitch to load test though as the frameworks don't work too well with automated test tools.

Fine, loads of invoicing

Easy stuff doesn't make money in Testland.