Is Aqualogic BPM a replacement for WLI ?

Question

Hi all,
Until now I have worked with Workshop 8.x to build my processes.
Now I have downloaded Workshop 9.x and I cannot see anymore JPD in it. I wonder if Bea is dropping WLI for Aq BPM......
As in the subject: is Aq BPM a replacement for WLI ?
Thanks
Francesco

Answer 1

Hi Leonardo,
Let me re-iterate the basic rule of programming: "We never program for exceptions". The scenario that you are describing is very much valid and applied/followed in any orchestration process i.e. in no way the orchestration layer (BPM/ WLI/ BPEL etc.) access the data directly, but it is done through a Data layer or data services; however, one must take a business process in totality and not confuse it with a specfic use case.
Let me explain, there is a fundamental difference betwwen the process view as described for a traditional RUP or UML model (which has its origins in Object Oriented Analysis and Design- OOAD) and the BPM model. The UML model characterizes scenarios or use cases by primary actor(s) and all other systems are secondary. thus a flow in UML is the perspective of a single actor. In contrast, if one looks at a business process in totality, it might have diffenert actors altogether, and all might be primary. For example, consider a simplest business process for order processing in retail domain. Though the process is initiated by the Customer, the entire activity of order processing (taking order, checking inventory, shipping, collaborationg etc) might have the intervention of several actors (Say sales dept, sales manager, delivery manager, sales rep etc). To represent such a scenario in WLI, one may have to develop several JPD's or work-flows, each workflow concentrating on the part of a specific actor. The coupling or ordering between these workflows might or might not be apparant to the business user on a top level. As compared to this, the entire scenario can be represented in one single model of BPM. The individual activities/ responsibilities of each actor can be detailed out in subsequent sections.
Coming to you specific question, for that particular scenario, one might not want to go for BPM. Having said that, I will also specify that when looking at the entire business flow/ process, such processes are concidered as exceptions. The primary focus of any BPM solution is to automate the unavoidable human interventions that occur in any business process, and not plain orchestartion. Also, the worklist solution might help in a very limited user base, but is not able to handle the complex scenarios of user groups, multiple assignments, multiple roles for a user, which can easily be implemented in BPM (ALBPM organization chart)
Your point about BAM in WLI is also valid, but tell me , as a programmer, or an architect, would you like to re-invennt the wheel for doing something for which BPM is providing an out-of-the-box solution,or would you life to invest your effort in doing something else like process enhancement and modification. The point being, one can also write POJOs for maintaining BAM databases and generate reports, but as a developer commisioned to architect/ build a business process, why would one invest his/her energies in developing BAM like features?
Thanks and Regards
Vivek Nandey
BEA Certified Developer for Integration Solutions