 | Level: Introductory Natalie Whitlock, Freelance Writer, Casaflora Communications
01 Mar 2003 Industry analysts estimate companies spend 40 percent of their IT budgets on integration, including business processes integration. In this article, Natalie Walker Whitlock looks at how IBM Holosofx business process modeling and monitoring tools, as part of IBM's WebSphere Business Integration platform, can help customers implement powerful business integration solutions.
Editor's note: At the time this article was going to press, IBM announced that follow-on versions of IBM Holosofx components would begin shipping on March 21, 2003 as IBM WebSphere Business Integration Workbench, IBM WebSphere Business Integration Monitor, IBM WebSphere Business Integration Workbench Server, and IBM WebSphere Business Integration Modeler. Please see this announcement for more information.
Holosofx -- derived from the Latin "holo," meaning whole, and the Greek "sophic," meaning wisdom -- was founded in 1990 to help corporations take a holistic approach to understanding and managing their business processes. In September 2002, IBM acquired Holosofx to expand its WebSphere Business Integration Platform. Holosofx products add the capability for the customer to design, deploy, monitor and improve business processes.
Specifically, Holosofx's primary application is in the arena of Continuous Business Process Management (CBPM), a concept used by successful, industry-leading companies for managing their business processes. This article briefly examines the IBM Holosofx architecture and environment, and explains how developers can utilize Holosofx to simplify business process improvement and management.
Holosofx for successful communication
The necessity for disparate applications to interact and exchange data through business process integration is key to successful B2B collaborations. In the quest for total process integration, businesses must employ a complete business solution to identify, integrate, and manage business-relevant data simply and seamlessly. For this to become a reality, the business departments must work closely with the IT experts in order to produce an optimal solution -- one that meets the business' requirements and enhances the process' performance.
However, the challenge historically has been how to get IT and business professionals working together on this task. Developers and their business counterparts speak different languages, use different terminologies, and have different knowledge backgrounds. While business uses business-process models, IT uses UML (Unified Modeling Language) models. Integration and transformation between the UML and BPM models guarantee good communications, avoid costs associated with miscommunication, and reduce a project's duration.
A tool is needed to narrow the language gap to guarantee successful communication. IBM Holosofx for Business Process Management addresses this need by providing a common workspace to facilitate communication between business and IT professionals. The workspace in the Holosofx Workbench and UML Transformer Modeler allows enterprises to transform the necessary business content to IT content, and provides for the transformation of IT content to business content.
Figure 1. A common workspace
Holosofx overview
The IBM Holosofx Business Process Management (BPM) Suite consists of three components that launch as separate modules:
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IBM Holosofx Workbench
Used for modeling and analysis. The Holosofx Workbench is composed of the Business Modeler as the core with the UML Transformer (Modeler), Xform Designer, and XML Mapper as extensions.
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IBM Holosofx Monitor
Used for monitoring processes in real time
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IBM Holosofx Workbench Server
Used to share process information via the intra/Internet.
The Holosofx suite takes a multi-pronged approach to achieve CBPM:
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Create
The Holosofx Workbench models existing processes. Use the models to create, simulate, analyze, and select optimal new process designs.
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Collaborate
The Holosofx Workbench Server is used to share process model information through the Web and to provide a secure repository for access and version control.
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Automate
The Holosofx Workbench converts business process models to formats that can be exported directly to MQSeries Workflow.
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Manage
BPM Monitor is used to monitor work-in-process items and perform corrective actions. Additionally, actual process metrics answer what-if questions in modeled scenarios and make process improvements.
The Holosofx integration strategy:
- Enables software developers and business professionals to define business requirements and describe the system's goals through modeling.
- Enables developers to model the business-software systems in UML.
- Enables developers to map the relevant information contained in UML models back to BPM process models.
- Enables developers and business professionals to transform common elements between UML models and BPM business process models.
This comprehensive strategy for integration presents benefits for both business and IT. For example, the ability to map UML models to business process model elements enhances the maintainability, traceability and scalability of both the UML models and BPM process models. A proposed business-software system adapts easily to changes or additional requirements if the proposed system's UML models reflect these changes.
On the other end of the spectrum, the ability to map Business Process elements to UML Model elements saves time, cost, and minimizes mistakes. Mapping also allows business professionals to give input into the software-system's analysis and design, as well as verify the system's business requirements.
Holosofx Workbench and UML Transformer
Of the three components, the Holosofx Workbench is key for supporting the CBPM effort. Workbench is a Windows-based desktop app which adheres to the modeling, run-time, interchange, etc. standards of Activity Decision Flow Diagrams, Lines of Visibility, Partner Interface Process, UML, Workflow Process Definition Language (WPDL), and XML. Workbench interfaces with Rational Rose, XMI, MQSeries Workflow/build time/FDL, UML Transformer, the Holosofx Workbench Server, and the Holosofx Monitor. It exports Flow Definition Language (FDL) files to the IBM WebSphere MQ Workflow run-time environment through an offline import/export interaction process (Modeler is expected to support IBM CrossWorlds in its next release).
Figure 2. The Holosofx Workbench
Critical to the Holosofx Workbench is its UML Transformer. The UML Transformer supports the development process by giving developers a solid foundation from which to work from. It captures the design life-cycle from conception through completion. For example, using the Class diagrams to map the IT design elements to the business-process model's elements helps developers to evolve the IT elements in sync with the process models. The IT/business-process model mapping feature makes both the process models and UML models traceable. The models will then show the broad process outlines, the functional requirements, and eventually the elements that actually make up the software artifacts under construction.
The UML Transformer allows developers to:
- Produce a clear set of development plans.
- Link UML Models to BPM Process Models.
- Model business-software systems in UML using six different visual-diagrams: Class, Use Case, Sequence, Collaboration, State, and Activity.
- Transform common elements between UML Models and BPM Business Process Models.
- Use Sequence and Collaboration diagrams to see the system's objects, the messages among the objects, and the system's logic flows.
Along with business modeling and analysis, an important feature for developers is the ability of the Business Modeler to import/export FDL and XML formats. The included UML Transformer allows software developers to specify their business applications in UML models and link them to process models, while the Xform Designer permits "on the fly" designing of required forms and user-interface screens.
Finally, the development team can use the model to verify that the requirements are met in the code and that the code can be traced back to the requirements.
Linking the IT and business worlds
Both the business process models and UML Transformer Activity and Use Case diagrams model the business environment, but utilize two different notations and differ in their focus and the elements of relevance. While the UML model's focus is on software systems, the ingredients and components, BPM process models' foci are the business goals and how these goals can be accomplished. However, both UML models and business process models do share common elements. The Holosofx Workbench, working with the UML Transformer, has the capability to address these common elements and transforming them between the two applications.
Figure 3. Transformations between IT and business
Using the Holosofx Workbench and UML Transformer, data can be transformed between:
- BPM Data Structures and UML Classes
- BPM Process Models (ADF Diagrams) and UML Use Cases with their Activity Diagrams
- BPM Tasks and UML Use Cases and actors
Figure 4. Transforming data screenshots
A BPM Business Process model typically includes a wide range of manual and automated procedures. The manual and automated systems and procedures illustrate what functionalities (mapped as UML Use Cases) are needed from a software system to support a business process. For example, in UML methodology, the functional software components that are linked to Use Cases, which in turn are linked to specific Tasks that belong to one or more business-process models. As the software develops and matures, the business justification for each software element and feature can be derived from or traced to the business-process model.
In the Holosofx Workbench, tasks describe the process model. A task defines how work is done, who performs the work, what resources and/or applications are needed to perform the work, and the qualifications needed to perform the work. If the task details define a software application's full or partial functionality, then the entire task's attribute will become relevant when designing this application.
Example of a model transformation
Model the use case part of the process
In our sample use case, the business activity will be "pack customer's order." A business user would probably approach this in terms of a larger process, such as "Sales Order Fulfillment." And while they would have the necessary knowledge to create the use case, they would not likely posses the knowledge of UML models. Therefore, the natural starting point for business users is to model the "Sales Order Fulfillment" process in Workbench. Once done, they can review the use case with developers and validate their requirements. The following figure displays this part of the process model in the Holosofx Workbench:
Figure 5. The use case process model
Export the Process Model to XML
The developer would then use the feature in the Workbench to transform Process Models to UML Activity Diagrams. The transformation is actually done by exporting the process model as an XML file representing the preceding process model. The following figure displays the XML file that is exported from a Holosofx Workbench process model:
Figure 6. Process model XML file
Import the XML file to UML Transformer
Once the XML file is created and exported from the Workbench, the developer then imports the file into UML Transformer, where it becomes a UML diagram. The following figure shows the UML Activity diagram corresponding to this XML file:
Figure 7. UML activity diagram
As the example demonstrates, all of the Holosofx transformations and applications need only a few steps to complete and none require any coding from developers.
In conclusion, the addition of the Holosofx BPM suite to the IBM WebSphere family of products gives developers powerful new tools to model, monitor, and manage business processes. The common workspace bridges the language gap between business professionals and business-applications developers, leading to the goal of continuous business process improvement across the enterprise.
Major input for this article came from Gamal Shohaiep, Ph. D., product manager, IBM Software Solutions & Strategy.
Post Script: New names, same powerful function
As this article was going to press, IBM announced that a follow-on version of the IBM Holosofx suite of components would begin shipping on March 21, 2003 as the IBM WebSphere Business Integration Modeler and Monitor solution.
The IBM WebSphere Business Integration Modeler and Monitor solution consists of four products:
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IBM WebSphere Business Integration Workbench (formerly IBM Holosofx Workbench)
- This product is an easy-to-use process modeling tool for business managers and
application developers. It empowers them to more efficiently model, analyze, and
validate business processes and software models.
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IBM WebSphere Business Integration Monitor (formerly IBM Holosofx Monitor)
- This product displays real-time and historical data from events produced by
WebSphere MQ Workflow. By viewing Workflow and Business Dashboards with
business controls, business and IT users can decisively optimize and manage
business performance.
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IBM WebSphere Business Integration Workbench Server (formerly IBM Holosofx Workbench Server)
- This product provides repository management and Web publishing capabilities,
facilitating process design collaboration and instant Web access to process models,
policies, procedures, and business rules.
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IBM WebSphere Business Integration Modeler (formerly IBM Holosofx Workbench and Workbench Server Offering)
- IBM WebSphere Business Integration Modeler is a bundle consisting of the IBM
WebSphere Business Integration Workbench Server and IBM WebSphere Business
Integration Workbench licenses. The offering provides users with the tools and
collaboration environment needed for multiple users to design processes interactively.
See this announcement for more information.
Resources
About the author | | | Natalie Walker Whitlock is a freelance writer and owner of Casaflora Communications, a content service specializing in technology issues. Her book, A Parents' Guide to the Internet, will be available September 2003. |
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