Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe LiveCycle, Version 7.0 1 Adobe LiveCycle Workflow Version: 7.0 Adobe Systems, Inc. 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CA 95110 Tel: 408 536-6596 Web: www.adobe.com Email: [email protected]1 Product Overview Adobe LiveCycle Workflow is a comprehensive business process management (BPM) platform that enables organizations to automate document-centric processes combining workflow, business rules, Web Services, Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), and Adobe Document Services. It supports end-to- end document-centric processes that can consist of both human and automated processes. Adobe LiveCycle Workflow combines a component-based workflow engine with interactive and graphical process modeling and design tools. As a BPM platform, Adobe LiveCycle Workflow makes extensive use of the document management, security, and processing capabilities inherent in the Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat tools in order to alleviate the gaps between people, documents, systems, and processes that organizations tend to encounter when automating their business processes. Adobe LiveCycle offers advantages at all stages of the process management lifecycle – from design, integration, and deployment to management and optimization. By combining reusable components, called “Quick Process Action Components” (QPACS), both business and IT professionals can visually assemble end-to-end workflows, thereby helping to reduce the cost, time, and risk of streamlining, integrating, and securing document-centric processes. Adobe LiveCycle utilizes industry standard technologies such as PDF, Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE), XML, and Web Services, meaning that it can integrate with virtually any IT infrastructure. Adobe LiveCycle is internationalized and is available in English, French, German, and Japanese versions. 2 BPM Engine Adobe LiveCycle Workflow utilizes a component-based workflow engine that supports the design, definition, and execution of complex, end-to-end workflows for unifying people, systems, documents, business rules, and Web Services. Figure 1 provides an overview of the Adobe LiveCycle Workflow platform, showing client, application, and data components. It also shows how the platform integrates with other enterprise software systems. Client Components Adobe LiveCycle Workflow’s client layer provides a number of component-based development tools for process modeling, defining forms, and creating dashboards for monitoring and managing process activity. It also features numerous components and tools for allowing end users to manage data, documents, and workflows; monitor business processes; and to configure and manage the system.
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow is a comprehensive business process management (BPM) platform that enables organizations to automate document-centric processes combining workflow, business rules, Web Services, Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), and Adobe Document Services. It supports end-to-end document-centric processes that can consist of both human and automated processes.
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow combines a component-based workflow engine with interactive and graphical process modeling and design tools. As a BPM platform, Adobe LiveCycle Workflow makes extensive use of the document management, security, and processing capabilities inherent in the Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat tools in order to alleviate the gaps between people, documents, systems, and processes that organizations tend to encounter when automating their business processes.
Adobe LiveCycle offers advantages at all stages of the process management lifecycle – from design, integration, and deployment to management and optimization. By combining reusable components, called “Quick Process Action Components” (QPACS), both business and IT professionals can visually assemble end-to-end workflows, thereby helping to reduce the cost, time, and risk of streamlining, integrating, and securing document-centric processes.
Adobe LiveCycle utilizes industry standard technologies such as PDF, Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE), XML, and Web Services, meaning that it can integrate with virtually any IT infrastructure.
Adobe LiveCycle is internationalized and is available in English, French, German, and Japanese versions.
2 BPM Engine
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow utilizes a component-based workflow engine that supports the design, definition, and execution of complex, end-to-end workflows for unifying people, systems, documents, business rules, and Web Services. Figure 1 provides an overview of the Adobe LiveCycle Workflow platform, showing client, application, and data components. It also shows how the platform integrates with other enterprise software systems.
Client Components
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow’s client layer provides a number of component-based development tools for process modeling, defining forms, and creating dashboards for monitoring and managing process activity. It also features numerous components and tools for allowing end users to manage data, documents, and workflows; monitor business processes; and to configure and manage the system.
Process Application Design: Adobe LiveCycle Workflow Designer
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow Designer is the primary modeling environment for capturing and defining complex business processes without programming knowledge. LiveCycle Workflow Designer uses a graphical interface to create workflows in order to capture an electronic definition of a business process, including the visual representation of the process, the business rules, the order in which tasks are performed in the process, and how the process integrates with IT systems.
Adobe LiveCycle Designer
Adobe LiveCycle Designer is a form design tool used to create forms that combine high-fidelity presentation with XML data handling. LiveCycle Designer features a graphical interface that lets users quickly design forms, maintain form templates, define a form’s business logic, make changes, and preview forms before they are deployed as Adobe PDF files or HTML documents.
Business Activity Monitoring (BAM)
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow features BAM capabilities for monitoring and optimizing process activity in real time, as well as a BAM developer workbench for extending and customizing BAM functionality and dashboards.
QPAC Development Environment
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow includes a software development kit (SDK) that features a Quick Process Action Component (QPAC) development environment which is used to extend the development and integration capabilities of the Adobe LiveCycle Workflow platform. QPACs are components that
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process designers use to visually assemble workflows without programming, and enable the integration of human and system activities into workflows. QPACs, combined with a component-based architecture, means that Adobe LiveCycle Workflow provides a process management solution that can be readily extended and scaled.
Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat provide end-user tools for accessing and processing PDF or HTML forms with dynamic content and features such as security, digital signatures, and off-line processing.
Adobe LiveCycle Form Manager
Adobe LiveCycle Form Manager functions as a Web-based work portal that is used for accessing, managing, and organizing work lists, email, and other process management-related tasks. It provides a central forms repository for template version control, forms management, and workflow management, as well as monitoring tools for users via Web-based portal. LiveCycle Form Manager integrates with Adobe LiveCycle Forms, LiveCycle Workflow, and LiveCycle Reader Extensions (all discussed below), allowing users to complete, submit, and route electronic forms.
BAM Dashboards
End users can monitor and optimize business processes in real-time using various dashboards and tools. Dashboards can also be customized to view specific processes or by roles within an organization.
Paper-to-Digital Technology
Dynamic 2D barcode technologies help automate the data extraction process for off-line and paper-based transactions, allowing for the return of data into an electronic workflow by simply scanning the barcode to extract the data as XML with 100% accuracy. No need to deal with OCR false positive technologies anymore.
Application Components
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow operates in a J2EE application server environment consisting of various servers for managing and handling interaction with middleware and other enterprise systems. The platform leverages WSDL and UDDI standards for XML data and Web Services support, and JMS, TCP/IP, HTTP(S), IIOP, FTP, and SMTP messaging. Key components include
♦ Adobe LiveCycle Workflow – provides orchestration services (i.e., manages the state, data, and lifecycle of a workflow during its execution) for Adobe LiveCycle product components, thus automating the data-driven workflow processes between humans and systems.
♦ Adobe LiveCycle Forms – renders XML templates as HTML or PDF forms that can be accessed by both internal and external users to capture data critical to business processes. Deployed in conjunction with Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions (and functioning with the Adobe LiveCycle Forms Manager mentioned previously), Adobe LiveCycle Forms lets users fill out PDF forms off-line, captures data from the resubmitted forms, and then transfers this information to core systems, thus helping to streamline form-driven business processes.
♦ Adobe Administration Console – Web-based console for configuring and managing the Adobe Workflow LiveCycle BPM platform. Administrators use the console for a variety of tasks, ranging from configuring system parameters and monitoring workflows and group queues to automating notifications and deadlines and viewing transaction queues and histories.
♦ Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions – server that allows organizations to embed usage rights into PDF files, in effect, “turning on” functionality in the Adobe Reader, thus enabling them to
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extend their business processes to partners and other external parties via the sharing of portable, intelligent PDF files.
Data Layer Components
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow integrates with enterprise directories, relational databases (via JDBC), as well as ERP, legacy, business rules engines (BREs) and other third-party applications. An enterprise repository is also available for reusable components and processes, and supports the collaborative creation of workflows and forms.
2.1 Platforms Adobe LiveCycle Workflow supports various J2EE application servers, including JBOSS, BEA WebLogic, and IBM WebSphere. Supported operating systems include Windows, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, Red Hat Linux, and Novel SUSE Linux. Supported relational databases include IBM DB2, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL.
2.2 User Interface End users can interact with the workflow through the Adobe LiveCycle Form Manager Portal using a standard browser. Thus, they can participate in processes using HTML or Adobe PDF forms, which facilitate data capture, decrease cycle times, and improve data quality. With intelligent forms, customers and constituents can interact with processes on-line or off-line with PDF documents that they can save and print. Administrators can set up secure communications with digital signatures and access rights, and can automate the conversion of forms and documents from paper to electronic PDF files. Figure 2 shows the Adobe LiveCycle Form Manager Portal.
Figure 2. Adobe LiveCycle Form Manager Portal.
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2.3 Scalability Adobe LiveCycle Workflow can be deployed in heterogeneous environments where IT requirements and policies vary from one part of the organization to another. It can be deployed in a clustered or fail-over environment to facilitate mission-critical applications (with clustering, failover, and load-balancing provided by J2EE application servers.) Thus, Adobe LiveCycle Workflow can scale to meet the diverse performance and reliability requirements of the organization. The platform also integrates with LDAP Directory servers to authenticate users and to leverage the users, groups, and roles defined within those directory servers for routing decisions.
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow supports the Security Assertions Markup Language (SAML). This enables users to transparently sign-on from one Web-based user interface to another without requiring re-login or re-authentication.
The Adobe LiveCycle Workflow Server maintains the state of a running process and the process data associated with it, all within X/Open Architecture (XA) transaction boundaries. Should a failure occur, the state of the workflow is guaranteed, and any outstanding transactions are rolled back and the data is kept consistent.
3 Process Modeling
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow Designer is the main modeling environment for capturing and defining business processes. As shown in Figure 3, it provides graphical tools to create workflows for capturing and defining a business process. This includes the visual representation of the process, the business rules, the order in which tasks are performed in the process, as well as how the process integrates with IT systems.
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow supports the XML schema specification, allowing the rich data structures and capabilities of the XML schema to be used to represent business objects while designing workflows. The XML schema can also be manipulated through XPath expressions to modify values and to support the mapping of data for integration with external IT systems.
The LiveCycle Workflow Designer window consists of several palettes and a workspace to create and modify workflows. Some palettes help the process designer create new workflows. For example, the Components palette (left side, Figure 3) features a list of individual components the process designer uses to develop new workflows. Other palettes help process designers manage their work. For example, the Processes palette contains a categorized list of the workflows previously developed by them.
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Figure 3. Adobe LiveCycle Workflow Designer.
Process designers create workflows by dragging and dropping components from the Components palette onto the workspace. This results in a Component’s Properties dialog box appearing, so that each component instance can be customized. For example, the User component’s Properties dialog allows the process designer to specify the initial user, an escalation user, reminders and deadlines, as well as other related workflow settings.
Each workflow consists of actions, routes, and rules. A workflow includes a name, a description, and a type that determines its behavior at runtime. The process designer can also specify whether the workflow can be initiated using Web Services and whether the workflow can be accessed by and monitored in the BAM dashboard.
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow Designer lets you define complex workflow patterns such as splits, joins, nested processes, parallel flows, the ability for the process to wait for a period of time, and the ability to receive an event asynchronously. It supports asynchronous and synchronous workflows. For example, a synchronous workflow can last a short period of time to orchestrate a set of Adobe Document Services. An asynchronous workflow can be long-lived, automating a large business process that spans days, months, or years.
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow supports XA transactions that guarantee the consistent state of critical business data and guarantee the ability to recover seamlessly from system failures.
A workflow can also be stateful or stateless. For example, Adobe LiveCycle Workflow can maintain the state of the data in a persistent database for reporting. Alternatively, the state of the data may not be maintained, enabling more efficient use of resources.
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow also supports the various stages (i.e., development, staging, and production) that a process goes through while under development. In addition, different versions of a workflow can be maintained at various stages. For example, one version of a workflow can be deployed and used, while another version of the same workflow is being re-designed and modified.
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3.1 Subprocesses Adobe LiveCycle supports various workflow constructs including splits, join, and nested processes using branches. Branches are segments of a workflow that include actions and routes. Workflow definitions can include one or more branches. When you create a workflow and add components to it, the components belong to the default branch, called the “main branch.” The type of main branch is specified when the workflow is created, and can be changed in the workflow properties.
A split is used in a workflow when it is required to execute actions in separate branches simultaneously. After you add a split, you can add one or more branches to it. All branches in a split are executed simultaneously. Including a branch in a split is similar to including a different subprocess in a workflow.
After a split, the main workflow can either wait for one or more branches in the split to complete before proceeding, or it can proceed immediately after initiating the branches. The behavior of the main workflow is determined by the join operator that is specified in the split properties. A join operator can have a value of AND-WAIT, OR-WAIT, or NO-WAIT:
♦ A value of AND-WAIT causes the main workflow to proceed after all of the branches in the split are complete.
♦ A value of OR-WAIT causes the main workflow to proceed after only one of the branches in the split is complete.
♦ A value of NO-WAIT causes the main workflow to proceed immediately after the branches in the split are executed. The main workflow does not wait for the branches to complete.
3.2 Shared Data Space By default, Adobe stores all process data, including workflow version, end-to-end cycle time, subprocess cycle time, etc. However, Adobe LiveCycle Workflow provides the process designer with various options for storing data. Basically, the type of workflow determines the workflow data that is saved in the database. The level of data persistence may also be a factor for determining the type of workflow to use. Thus, the process designer may decide that it is important to keep a record of everything that happened during the process instance. Or, they may decide that saving storage space is more important than keeping detailed records. To maintain a complete record of the process instance (including process instance data, branch instance data, and action instance data) Asynchronous workflow is used. If no record of the process instance is needed, a Transient workflow is used and no process information is stored.
3.3 Forms Adobe LiveCycle Workflow is fully integrated to work with the Adobe form design tool – LiveCycle Designer – to create forms that combine high-fidelity presentation with XML data handling. As shown in Figure 4, LiveCycle Designer provides a template-based form design tool that lets users quickly design forms, maintain form templates, define a form’s business logic, make changes, and preview forms before they are deployed as Adobe PDF files or HTML documents.
Adobe LiveCycle Designer supports Creation of dynamic XML form templates for rendering as PDF or HTML; XML data and schema bindings; Document security with secure template designs for digital signatures; AND Compliance with government accessibility requirements for online forms.
It is important to understand that dynamic, “intelligent” forms play a significant role in enabling BPM functionality in the Adobe LiveCycle environment. Using the LiveCycle Designer tool, authors can design forms with built-in intelligence – such as calculations, validation, the specification of required fields, etc. – to ensure that users fill out forms correctly and accurately. This real-time business logic is important because it helps eliminate the need to go back to the person who filled out the form to
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correct invalid data. It also saves the user time by pre-populating the form, eliminating the need to re-key information that already exists and improving data accuracy and consistency.
Figure 4. Adobe LiveCycle Designer form design tool.
In addition, by using the Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions, organizations can extend their document-based processes to external parties by sharing intelligent PDF files while accurately capturing critical data from customers, partners, and other constituents. Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions allows organizations to embed one-time usage rights into PDF files that will “turn on” hidden functionality within the free and ubiquitous Adobe Reader (which has been downloaded an estimated 7 million times), so that recipient end users can view and interact with intelligent PDF documents. Users can complete the document on-line, or save it to their hard drive for completion off-line. The rights-enabled PDF file can be shared with others and commented on using intuitive mark-up tools such as electronic sticky notes, highlights, and strike throughs. When the end user is finished working with the document, those functions are once again disabled until the user receives another rights-enabled PDF file. Completed files are then submitted electronically back to the organization. (Although Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions is an optional add-on component for Adobe LiveCycle Workflow, it does not require any additional software investment by a company’s partners or other external constituents.) Users can also secure their communications by signing, certifying, and authenticating documents in Adobe PDF using standard technologies like Verisign, Entrust, and other public key infrastructures (PKIs).
3.4 Time Adobe LifeCycle Workflow allows users to set constraints on the amount of time that a person has to complete work items. Methods for setting time constraints include
♦ Escalate work items and send them to a different user after a specified period of time
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♦ Set deadlines and proceed along a specified route when the deadlines occur
♦ Send reminders to the user to prompt them to complete work items
Escalating Work Items
You can specify to send a work item to a different user if the work item is not completed after a specified period of time has passed from the time when it was initially assigned. For example, a workflow may send work items to a group and assign the work items to a random person in the group. This distribution method can be inefficient if a person is working on one or more work items that take an unusual amount of time to complete. You can escalate the work item and send it to a different person to ensure that the work is completed in a timely manner.
Deadlines
You can set a deadline on a User action so that the process will proceed after a specified period of time. When the deadline occurs and the work item is not yet completed, the process proceeds along a specified route. Deadlines guarantee that the process proceeds after a period of time has elapsed. Deadlines also allow you to control how the process proceeds. Deadline notifications can be sent in email messages or via the Form Manager.
Reminders
Reminders can be configured on a User action so that users are prompted to complete the work item. Reminders help ensure that work items are completed in a timely manner by the person assigned the work item. Reminders can be sent in email messages or via the Form Manager.
3.5 Process Optimization and Simulation Adobe LiveCycle Workflow can integrate with various industry-leading modeling and simulation tools to enable complete round trip engineering of business processes. For example, the iGrafx business process modeling an analysis tool can be used to define models – using standard BPMN notation – which can be exchanged with the Adobe Workflow Design tool.
4 Business Rules
In Adobe LiveCycle Workflow, simple (X-path) rules are created in point-and-click manner using LiveCycle Designer, using external rules integrated from other products, or using an internal XML Path Language (XPath) rules wizard.
To support more complex business rules processing (i.e., rules-based decision-making, content, and routing, etc.) within the Adobe BPM platform environment, Adobe LiveCycle Workflow integrates with third-party business rules engines (BREs). For this purpose, Adobe has partnerships with Corticon and ILOG. Adobe offers quick integration components – or “QPACS” (discussed below) – that support both the Corticon and ILOG business rules platforms. These components enable tight integration of the Adobe LiveCycle Workflow platform with the BRE; thus, process designers can select business rules maintained in Corticon or ILOG rule bases for execution in the Adobe LiveCycle workflow engine.
5 Integration and Integration Engines
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow features Quick Process Action Components (QPACs), which are used to integrate human and system activities into workflows. QPACs are components that process designers can use to visually assemble workflows without programming. Each process action, such as with a
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system, routing information to a person, sending an email, or invoking a Web Service, is represented by a reusable QPAC. QPACS are also used for orchestrating all Adobe Document Services, including document control and security, process management, collaboration, and document generation.
QPACs are configured with dialog boxes to address the exact requirements of the process. QPACS are written in Java and their functionality can be extended with the Adobe LiveCycle Workflow SDK. Organization’s can create unlimited custom QPACs in order to extend the workflow engine to meet their requirements.
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow provides an initial set of QPACs for common process actions and all Adobe Document Services. QPACs are grouped into the following categories:
♦ Core QPACs – provide the essential building blocks to construct workflows, such as decision steps, managing process branches, or scheduling tasks to a user. (Core QPACs are available with Adobe LiveCycle Workflow.)
♦ Standard QPACs – for integrating a workflow with a common IT infrastructure such as SQL databases, application servers, directory servers (based on LDAP), and the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). (Standard QPACs are available with the Adobe LiveCycle Workflow SDK.)
♦ Adobe Document Services QPACs – for integrating a workflow with other Adobe Document Services, such as for digitally signing a document, or enabling a document for the Adobe Reader. (Adobe Document Services QPACs are available with the Adobe LiveCycle Workflow SDK.)
Adobe partners also offer QPACs. In addition to the QPACs for integrating BREs from rules engine vendors Corticon and ILOG, other QPACs are available from connector and adapter companies [e.g., Avoka Technology (www.avoka.com), or NetManage (www.netmanage.com)] to integrate Adobe LiveCycle Workflow with ERP systems or CRM systems.
6 Organizational Structure
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow provides integration with LDAP Directory servers to authenticate users and to leverage the users, groups, and roles defined within those Directory servers for routing decisions.
7 Process Adaptability
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow provides a number of features and functionality for supporting the overall process development lifecycle. These are discussed in Section 8.
8 Process Lifecycle
Adobe LiveCycle fully supports the development Lifecycle with various capabilities including
♦ Workflow versioning
♦ Copying workflow
♦ Workflow import/export
Workflow versioning enables process designers to access previously deployed workflow versions and to create multiple workflows for the same process type. Multiple workflows allow you to change the design of the process while keeping the previous design intact. This capability is beneficial in a number of scenarios. For example, the process designer may develop a workflow and then want to improve on the
original design. Changes to business processes may also require modifying the design of the original workflow.
Copying workflow enables designers to start creating new workflows from a previous version.
Exporting a workflow creates an XML file that contains the definition of the workflow. Once the workflow is in XML file format, you can save it to the hard drive or move it to another computer. You can also import the workflow to any process type that you have created in LiveCycle Workflow Designer. After you import a file, you can use the workflow definition as is, or make modifications as necessary.
9 Monitoring, Measurement, and Management Information
Adobe LiveCycle Workflow includes integrated BAM dashboards for “out-of-the-box” monitoring of generic metrics such as real-time status, process cycle times based on historical data, workforce management, personnel productivity, process compliance, and system activities. A BAM Workbench is also provided for customizing and creating (new) dashboards. (Adobe LiveCycle Workflow’s BAM capabilities are based on Celequest’s BAM technology, which Adobe has licensed for inclusion in its BPM platform.) As shown in the example in Figure 5, dashboards can present data through multiple visual objects, including pie charts, bar charts, and gauges. When a process designer deploys a workflow, the metrics are automatically generated.
The BAM Workbench allows developers proficient in SQL to create complex dashboards that provide metrics based on real-time and historical data, and which can correlate data from multiple systems. For example, you can create a dashboard for a supply chain process that tracks inventory in one database, customer information in another, and correlates that information with a purchase order process.
Dashboards can be used to analyze trends, and identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Using a BAM dashboard, a user can create thresholds and business rules to alert them when certain limits are reached. For example, when the lifecycle time for a workflow exceeds a certain period, a dashboard can alert a user by sending an email or making a web service call.
The user can also trigger processes directly from the dashboard. For example, when a bottleneck is identified, a user can trigger a process to determine the root cause.
BAM dashboards also allow users to drill down from high-level KPIs to a specific workflow to identify the people involved with that workflow as well as the metrics related to it.
Administrators can secure a dashboard so that it is only accessible to a specific set of users based on their defined roles and credentials.
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Figure 5. Adobe LiveCycle Workflow BAM workbench.
10 Templates and Frameworks
Adobe does not offer any specific horizontal or vertical industry templates or frameworks for use with Adobe LiveCycle Workflow. However, Adobe does provide more than 30 generic process form templates with the Adobe LiveCycle Workflow designer and over 50+ workflow components.
11 Vendor
Adobe’s award-winning software and technologies have redefined business, entertainment, and personal communications by setting new standards for producing and delivering content that engages people virtually anywhere at anytime. From rich images in print, video, and film to dynamic digital content for a variety of media, the impact of Adobe solutions is evident across industries and felt by anyone who creates, views, and interacts with information.
Adobe is one of the world’s largest and most diversified software companies. Best known for its desktop tools, Adobe LiveCycle Workflow offers a strong BPM platform that provides a broad and integrated set of functionality – including workflow, business rules, Web Services, BAM, and Adobe Document Services – for automating document-centric business processes, and provides a broad range of functionality.
Adobe is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA, and has approximately 5,678 employees (worldwide). In fiscal year 2006, Adobe achieved record revenue of US $2.575 billion. More than half of Adobe’s revenue is generated outside the United States.
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12 Cost
Adobe pricing is based on complexity and scope of implementation.
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Adobe Systems Inc. : Adobe LiveCycle Workflow, Version 7.0
Overview Component-based BPM platform integrating human and document-centric business processes; sophisticated skills-based routing;
BPM Engine Component-based workflow engine integrated with Adobe Document Services; full workflow versioning; supports complex workflows (splits, joins, nested processes); synchronous, asynchronous, transient process types.
Platforms J2EE application servers (JBOSS, BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere; OS: Windows, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, Red Hat Linux, Novel SUSE Linux; RDBMS: IBM DB2, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL).
User Interface Web-based portal, Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe LiveCycle Form Manager, BAM dashboards.
Scalability Clustering, failover, and dynamic load balancing provided by J2EE application servers; LDAP integration; skill, role, and role-based routing; single sign-on and SAML support; supports and XA transactions boundaries.
Processing Modeling Graphical process modeling and design; with large library of out-of-the box components/user-defined components for assembling and creating workflows without programming.
Subprocesses Support for complex workflows, including splits, joins, and nested processes.
Shared Data Space By default, Adobe stores all process data, including workflow version, end-to-end cycle time, subprocess cycle time, etc.
Forms Full support for PDF and HTML forms allowing interactive forms with dynamic content; incorporation of PDF, HTML forms as part of design process; off-line/on-line interactions; high-fidelity print and local save; digital signatures and security rights; full paper-to-digital support; document attachments and assembly.
Time Skill, role, and group-based routing; escalations, priorities, deadlines, and reminders; exception handling and compensating transactions defined.
Optimization & Simulation
Real-time BAM with out-of-the box management dashboard and reports; BAM workbench; modeling and simulation via Igrafx third-party tool.
Business Rules Point-and-click Xpath rules Wizard; ability to design forms with built-in intelligence (e.g., calculation, validation, required fields, etc.). Integration with multiple, external third-party BREs (Corticon, ILOG) via QPACS, Web Services.
Integration Large library of pre-built components (QPACS) for integrating processes and systems: task routing, email send, wait, DB integration, Web Service; WSDL and UDDI standards leveraged for XML and Web Services support.
Organizational Structure User skills, User Cost, all considered by skills-based routing algorithms
Process Adaptability Runtime engine and state management; full workflow versioning; Integration with LDAP Directory servers to authenticate users and to leverage the users, groups, and roles defined within those Directory servers for routing decisions.
Process Lifecycle Supports development LiveCycle with various capabilities including workflow versioning, copying workflow, workflow import/export.
Monitoring & Measurement
Maintains records of all interactions and process steps; real-time and historical monitoring via BAM; real-time WIP status; event management with calendars, alerts, deadlines, reminders, and escalations; historical analysis via OLAP; open data model
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for integration with third-party reporting tools.
Templates & Frameworks
More than 30 generic process form templates and over 50+ workflow components provided.
Vendor Adobe Systems Inc; Tel: 408 536-6596; www.adobe.com
Cost Pricing based on complexity and scope of implementation.
