Solution Capabilities

IBM WebSphere Process Server is the next generation, standards-based server that automates and manages business processes based on service oriented process integration. It allows you to assemble business processes dynamically with service based integration.

Based on the robust Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), Version infrastructure and associated platform services delivered by IBM WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Process Server includes a wide range of capabilities necessary to meet today’s business integration challenges. When combined with IBM WebSphere Business Monitor, WebSphere Process Server enables you to monitor and tune in-flight business processes.

WebSphere Process Server is a:

• Component-based Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) integration platform built on a uniform invocation programming model and data representation model
• Single product providing a collection of integration components built on an SOA foundation to solve integration requirements
  

Additional components and abilities include the following:

• The Business Process Choreographer Human Task Manager component allows you to model business processes based on human activities.
• The WebSphere Process Server Choreography Business Flow Manager and business state machine implementations offer an intuitive framework for deploying fully or partially automated business processes.
• WebSphere Process Server contains powerful transformation components, including interface mapping and relationship management capabilities, for synchronizing application entities between existing applications.

Additionally, all components take direct advantage of the business rules manager functionality supported within WebSphere Process Server. WebSphere Process Server’s integrated support for component-based SOA process solutions enables you to choreograph these components to help meet your needs.

Highlights of the Solution Architecture

WebSphere Process Server is a comprehensive SOA integration platform. It combines integration capabilities with a composite application platform.

WebSphere Process Server:

• Delivers an integration platform with a fully converged, standards-based business process engine
• Uses WebSphere Application Server as base runtime infrastructure

The SOA core: 

• Contains the Service Component Architecture and business objects that provide uniform invocation and data-representation programming models
• Includes the Common Event Infrastructure for generating events for the monitoring and management of WebSphere Process Server

Supporting services provide foundational business object and transformation framework. Service components represent the functional components required to build composite applications. The combination of a powerful foundation (WebSphere Application Server and the SOA Core) and service components allow quick development and deployment of composite applications.

Everything in WebSphere Process Server is a component. These components contain interfaces and can be wired together to form a module, enabling you to change any part of an application without affecting the other parts. For example, you can replace a human task with a business rule without touching the business process.

Components can interact with existing applications, using the following programming constructs:

• Java Beans
• Enterprise Java Beans
• Web services
• JMS messages

In addition, components can interact with other applications on enterprise information systems (EIS) with IBM WebSphere Adapters and WebSphere Business Integration Adapters, based on WebSphere Business Integration Framework.

Enterprise Service Bus

WebSphere Process Server uses the full functionality of WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) to deliver and support automated business processes that span people, workflows, applications, systems, platforms, and architectures. Based on SOA and open standards, WebSphere Process Server represents a single, simplified programming model.

WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere ESB:

• Provide a standards-based integration platform that facilitates connectivity between services
• Handle integration logic to improve flexibility and minimize disruption when using Web Services connectivity, JMS messaging, and service-oriented integration
• Allow and add needed intelligence to the flow of business events
• Are designed for easy use from a tools and a runtime perspective
• Provide role-based administration support to easily manage deployments through a simplified user experience for solution administrators
• Support the integration of service/message-oriented and event-driven technologies to provide standards-based, messaging infrastructure that enables a fast start to an enterprise service bus (based on the robust J2EE infrastructure and associated platform services provided by WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment, Version 6)
• Enable message routing between endpoints with specific quality of interaction service
• Can temporarily persist messages if required
• Allow configuration of various quality of service from secure delivery (guaranteed not to lose and transported securely) to best-effort (may lose if failure occurs)

Figure 2. WebSphere ESB

WebSphere ESB supports mediation of interactions between endpoints beyond protocol transcoding. It handles integration logic processing in the enterprise service bus instead of interacting endpoints. This includes support for content and context-based message routing exchanged via the bus, as well as other operations on those messages (i.e., logging or transformation). Pre-built mediation functions allow mediations to be visually composed and include XML transformation, message logging, message routing, and database lookup.

Features and Benefits

Key features of the WebSphere Process Server include:

• Web Services Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) is used to choreograph the flow of business processes. Business process integration services build on BPEL4WS Version 1.1 and add major capabilities of the upcoming WS-BPEL Version 2.0 specification.
• Business process integration semantics include compensation and recovery.
• Human task services allow role-based task assignment, invocation, and escalation.
• Business rules make business processes more flexible.
• Business process transformation services include mapping, mediation, and assembly.
• Business state machines enrich business transactions.
• A simplified programming model eliminates programming complexities.
• Support for Common Event Infrastructure and Common Base Events enhances tracking, auditing, and monitoring of business processes.
• A common administration console simplifies administration.
• Applications developed with easy-to-use tools in WebSphere Integration Developer can be deployed to a runtime environment.
• Business models can be transferred from WebSphere Business Integration Modeler to WebSphere Integration Developer.
• It provides visual tools to configure integration logic with existing and new applications and humans in the network.

Business Benefits

Key business benefits of WebSphere Process Server include:

• Business flexibility, through dynamic assembly of business processes and Service-based integration
• Simplification of IT by streamlining business processes with one tool for all process integration needs and single server to deploy and manage business processes
• Aligning your business with IT via efficient interaction between business and IT and tools for real-time management of business processes
• Lowering costs by increasing reuse (basis of Service Oriented Architecture)
• Connectivity into existing systems
• Faster time to market by wiring business solutions from proven, reusable components and starting with what is available and building only what is needed
• Increase staff’s productivity by leveraging fully integrated, role-based development and test environment with rich, graphically intense tools that require minimal programming skills and is easy to learn and deliver.

Technical Benefits

Key technical benefits of WebSphere Process Server include:

• Single integrated server for SOA-based process integration
• Services deployment that represent underlying IT, enabling Composite Application Development
• Quickly and easily change in process behavior to keep pace with business requirements
• Reuse of existing services you already have and create new services for future use.
• Build process flows without knowing where the information is coming from (late binding of services)
• Business rules to control the execution sequence of the process and that can change dynamically
• Single runtime that support all styles of integration to enable simplified runtime and deliver lower-total cost of ownership
• Scalable and robust operating environment