IBM® Business Process Manager V8.0.1 includes improvements to Coach Designer that make it easier to use, an enhanced Process Portal that delivers a highly collaborative work experience, enhanced governance capabilities, integration with SAP Solution Manager, enhanced integration with Enterprise Content Management systems, a graphical view of information flow through business processes, and various other new features.
- Process Designer
- Process Portal
- Process Center
- Process Server
- Performance Data Warehouse
- Installation and configuration
- Integration Designer
- Business Process Choreographer Explorer
- Business Process Archive Explorer
Process Designer
For
product updates from service deliveries, see 
Fix list for IBM Business Process Manager Version
8.0 products.
- Improved Coach Designer increases productivity and is easier to use for business process authors
- In IBM BPM V8.0.1, Coach Designer includes the following enhancements:
- Improved configuration property pages that group related properties and that more effectively display properties that are business objects and lists
- Improved support for binding UI components
- Additional stock controls
- Enhanced support for validating user data
- Ability to edit .CSS files when they are added as web files
- Ability to generate portlet wrappers for human services that are exposed as dashboards. The generated JSR 286 portlets can be incorporated into WebSphere® Portal.
- Improved runtime performance for the Tab and Table stock controls. This enhanced performance is for all browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.
- Enriched business processes react to lifecycle events of critical business documents and content in Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems
IBM BPM V8.0.1 delivers capabilities for creating sophisticated business processes that can initiate processes or react in running processes based on content events that occur in an ECM system, such as when documents, folders, or their properties are created, updated, deleted, checked in, or checked out.
Business process authors can accomplish the following tasks:- Model content events for detection by IBM BPM processes
- Graphically define processes that react to the content events
- Create and configure event subscriptions that subscribe to content events
IBM BPM V8.0.1 provides an event handler that can be installed and configured in IBM FileNet® Content Manager V5.1 or later. IBM BPM V8.0.1 also provides documentation on how to create event handlers for other ECM systems.
- New SAP Solution Manager integration provides ways to easily model and customize SAP business blueprints
Design-time capabilities of IBM BPM V8.0.1 provide an easier way to edit, model, and customize SAP business blueprints using IBM Process Designer. The SAP Solution Manager integration enables SAP business users to customize their SAP processes in less time, with less risk of customization errors, and with less effort.
The following design-time capabilities provide the steps toward an easy-to-use, highly integrated approach for managing SAP business processes using IBM BPM:- Iterative, bidirectional exchange of selected process definitions between IBM BPM and SAP Solution Manager
- Simplified customization of process definitions and associated SAP transaction sequences and implementation information using graphical design tools in Process Designer
- Visibility into process data flow enhances productivity for business process authors
- IBM BPM V8.0.1 introduces data flow visualization that allows you to view how information flows through the business process. Use the new data visualization option in IBM Process Designer to create a visual representation of a selected business process definition (BPD). The visualization is displayed in a new web browser window. It contains the web-based diagram view of the BPD. You can select data variables or tag groups for visualization.
- Enhanced tagging capability allows you to create custom tag groups with user-defined values. Tag groups provide unique ways to classify a common set of assets. The assets can be rendered in a window that helps you visualize associations between process components.
- Linking enhancements integrate IBM BPM with external environments
When you work with process applications or toolkits, you might need to link to related information that is outside of the IBM BPM environment. You can now create document links that other products, such as IBM Rational Team Concert™, can use to link to process design artifacts.
IBM BPM includes the following enhanced reference link capabilities:- Define relationship types between process artifacts and referenced artifacts
- Define types, such as requirements and defects, for reference links
- Create document links that other products, such as IBM Rational Team Concert, can to link to process design artifacts
- Extend the reference linking capabilities to file attachments
- Provide application programming interfaces (APIs) to query and report on reference links. To retrieve reference links in the current process application or toolkit, you can use a specialized reference link API in your application.
- New resumable services control how dashboard sessions are resumed for Process Portal users
Services now can be called as resumable (called with zResumable=true). When a service is resumable, a service instance is reused if a previously created service instance is still available in the Process Portal user session.
- Improved web services integration simplifies incorporating web services
- Integration improvements between business processes and web services makes incorporating web services easier in IBM BPM V8.0.1.
- External web services no longer need to update their target namespace each time a snapshot is made of a process application.
- If you use a Web Service Integration step to call an outbound web service, your step can catch and handle faults.
- Continued improvements to support BPMN 2.0 error handling mean that web service faults in process applications are easily handled.
Reduced completed process instances in
a database reduces database size-
Reduce your database size by using the new parameters that have been added to the BPMProcessInstancesCleanup command, which reduce the number of completed process instances running in a database.
Process Portal
For
product updates from service deliveries, see Fix list for IBM Business Process Manager Version
8.0 products.
- Ability to bookmark a page to replace the default Process Portal start page
- Support for IBM Connections integration, which enables the default Process Portal business card to be replaced with the Connections business card
- Improved logon and dashboard performance
Process Center
For
product updates from service deliveries, see Fix list for IBM Business Process Manager Version
8.0 products.
- Strengthened lifecycle and governance capabilities integrate IBM BPM into the broader Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC) processes
You can develop custom governance processes and assign them to individual process applications. Templates provide the basic resources for creating processes that govern installation or provide notifications of a change in the status of a snapshot. Governance processes must be developed using these templates. You can also use the governance services to design a process that installs a snapshot of a process application on a server automatically when the status changes.
IBM BPM includes the following enhanced governance and lifecycle processes:- Improved ability to define and select custom governance and lifecycle processes at the process application level
- Templates that provide default governance processes
- Sample governance processes to get you started
- Linking enhancements integrate IBM BPM with external environments
When you work with process applications or toolkits, you might need to link to related information that is outside of the IBM BPM environment. You can now create document links that other products, such as IBM Rational Team Concert, can use to link to process design artifacts.
IBM BPM includes the following enhanced reference link capabilities:- Define relationship types between process artifacts and referenced artifacts
- Define types, such as requirements and defects, for reference links
- Create document links that other products, such as IBM Rational Team Concert, can to link to process design artifacts
- Extend the reference linking capabilities to file attachments
- Provide application programming interfaces (APIs) to query and report on reference links. To retrieve reference links in the current process application or toolkit, you can use a specialized reference link API in your application.
- Extend your ability to administer snapshots
on Process Center
- You can delete unnamed and archived snapshots of a process application using the new BPMSnapshotCleanup command.
- Reduced completed process instances in
a database reduces database size
-
Reduce your database size by using the new parameters that have been added to the BPMProcessInstancesCleanup command, which reduce the number of completed process instances running in a database.
Process Server
For
product updates from service deliveries, see Fix list for IBM Business Process Manager Version
8.0 products.
- New administrative commands help you maintain the integrity of your BPM environment
- To delete business process definition (BPD) instance data for a process application snapshot, use the BPMProcessInstancesCleanup command.
- To delete process application snapshots and their dependencies, use the BPMDeleteSnapshot command.
- To designate a default snapshot on IBM Process
Server,
use the BPMSetDefaultSnapshot command.
New administrative command resumes Event
Manager tasksThe BPMReplayOnHoldEMTasks resumes Event Manager tasks that are on hold so that they can be scheduled by the Event Manager again.
- Customized context root configuration
in a deployment environment simplifies administration
-
Experience easier deployment-environment administration with custom context root configuration. You can now use the BPMConfig command with the -update parameter to create a single context root configuration, minimizing the initial costs, reducing security costs, and hiding context root management issues from users.
- Remove durable subscription messages
from your database
-
Using the BPMDeleteDurableMessages command, you can remove old durable subscription messages from the LSW_DUR_MSG_RECEIVED database table. You can use this capability to trim the size of the table periodically.
- Process Monitor improvements
- Improvements to the aggregation and display of information:
- The cluster member to which the information belongs is displayed in the Process Monitor console.
- The duration reported for a process instance and its steps also includes the duration of services.
- The task type (for example, Script) is displayed beside the task execution time.
- JMX: ProcessMonitor MBean improvements:
- The MBean is bound to a fixed scope (ENVIRONMENT_SERVER); it was previously bound to the class loader hash key.
- The MBean has four new operations to return the set of monitor data for process instances and stand-alone services, including methods that return filtered data in XML or JSON format.
- The MBean has two new methods; haltProcess() to halt a process and haltService() to halt a service.
- Instrumentation enhancements:
- You can save the instrumentation XML for further analysis by clicking Save in the Instrumentation page.
- You can track service requests per process application.
- JMX: InstrumentationManager MBean improvements:
- The MBean is bound to a fixed scope (ENVIRONMENT_SERVER or ENVIRONMENT_PERFORMANCE_SERVER), where previously it was bound to the class loader hash key.
- The MBean has four new operations to return an XML and JSON document with the set user-visible instrumentations or all instrumentations.
- For more information, see InstrumentationManagerMBean.
- Improved documentation that includes example scripts on connecting to Process Monitor from JConsole, and information about interpreting Process Monitor data. See Monitoring processes and services in the Process Admin Console.
- Improvements to the aggregation and display of information:
Installation and configuration
For
product updates from service deliveries, see Fix list for IBM Business Process Manager Version
8.0 products.
- Streamlined installation and configuration deliver faster time-to-value
- IBM BPM V8.0.1 includes the following features that improve the installation experience and make it easier to get business processes up and running:
- Simplified and improved response files for installing IBM BPM
- Added more customization suitable for production topologies with enhancements to the Deployment Environment wizard and configureNode scripted installation
- Integrated the bootstrapProcessServerData command for deployment environments
- Enhanced problem determination and serviceability
- Added z/OS in the Interactive Installation and Configuration Guide
- Added multiple version support to the IBM Business Process Manager for z/OS® V8.0.1 extension file for the z/OS Profile Management Tool
- Customized context root configuration
in a deployment environment simplifies administration
-
Experience easier deployment-environment administration with custom context root configuration. You can now use the BPMConfig command with the -update parameter to create a single context root configuration, minimizing the initial costs, reducing security costs, and hiding context root management issues from users.
- Reduced completed process instances in
a database reduces database size
-
Reduce your database size by using the new parameters that have been added to the BPMProcessInstancesCleanup command, which reduce the number of completed process instances running in a database.
- Remove durable subscription messages
from your database
-
Using the BPMDeleteDurableMessages command, you can remove old durable subscription messages from the LSW_DUR_MSG_RECEIVED database table. You can use this capability to trim the size of the table periodically.
- New command migrates process instances
-
The new BPMMigrateInstances command invokes instance migration from the wsadmin scripting client. This utility migrates process instances in the same way as the Migrate Inflight Data Migrate Inflight Data command that is available on the Process Admin Console.
Integration Designer
For product
updates from service deliveries, see Fix list for IBM Integration Designer V8.0.
- Linking enhancements integrate IBM BPM with external environments
When working with business objects and service interfaces, you might need to link to related information that is available outside Integration Designer. For example, you might want to link to a website or a wiki page. You can now include a link to an external source in a component that has a Documentation field.
Business Process Choreographer Explorer
For
product updates from service deliveries, see Fix list for IBM Business Process Manager Version
8.0 products.
- Default security configuration
By default, the Business Process Choreographer Explorer is configured to use the HTTPS protocol. Any attempts to access the Business Process Choreographer Explorer using HTTP are redirected to HTTPS.
Business Process Archive Explorer
For
product updates from service deliveries, see Fix list for IBM Business Process Manager Version
8.0 products.
- Default security configuration
By default, the Business Process Archive Explorer is configured to use the HTTPS protocol. Any attempts to access the Business Process Archive Explorer using HTTP are redirected to HTTPS.
Performance Data Warehouse
For
product updates from service deliveries, see Fix list for IBM Business Process Manager Version
8.0 products.
- Control the size of the Performance Data
Warehouse
- Delete records from the Performance Data Warehouse by using the new prune command, which is part of the Performance Data Warehouse tool (perfDWTool). By pruning records that you no longer need, you can keep the Performance Data Warehouse from becoming too large.
For more information about perfDWTool, see Using the Performance Data Warehouse command-line tool (perfDWTool).
For specific information about the prune command,
see Pruning data from the Performance Data Warehouse database.
