BPEL is a language for specifying business-process behavior based on Web
services, (define) a popular distributed computing model for allowing software applications to communicate with one another.
To make this happen, the software maker has licensed the entire code base of
its ActiveBPEL software engine to ActiveBPEL, LLC, making it the first
commercial-grade BPEL technology available to the open source community.
and Siebel Systems. The software
vendors are shepherding the spec through e-business standards body OASIS.
With ActiveBPEL, BPEL 1.1 process definitions can be deployed to the engine
via file-based descriptors. The engine boasts automation features, such as
static analysis, process persistence and process versioning.
Active Endpoints has submitted the source code for ActiveBPEL under the GNU
General Public License (GPL), a rule created by the Free Software Foundation
that allows users to share and change free software.
Active Endpoints, which competes with Intalio, FiveSight and Savvion, said in a company statement that the main goal is to accelerate the use of BPEL across the IT community. Analysts generally support such endeavors, noting that they often lead to new innovation and industry growth.
But Ronald Schmelzer, senior analyst of SOA research firm ZapThink, said
that, while spreading more awareness of process-driven services is a great
objective, he is not sure that open source is quite the vehicle that will
convince companies to implement BPEL.
"The primary challenge with process-driven SOA adoption is not the price or
complexity of the tools, but the lack of best practices and knowledge of how
to implement process-driven services," Schmelzer told
internetnews.com.
Still, Schmelzer said it couldn't hurt to have BPEL tools to play with for
extending software service models.
"Providing open source BPEL tools will
make it easier for companies to experiment and learn how to take their SOA
and Web services implementations to the next level of value," Schmelzer said.
ActiveBPEL will be upgraded to support future versions of the BPEL standard
as those versions are released from OASIS. It may be licensed freely.
In related news, Active Endpoints Monday also released a public
beta of ActiveWebflow,
a suite of process management products based on BPEL and the first in a
series of BPEL-related products the company plans to release in 2004.
ActiveWebflow Professional includes the ActiveBPEL engine and ActiveWebflow
Designer, an Eclipse-based design environment that allows analysts to
define process flows compatible with BPEL 1.1. The product allows
users to compose new services-oriented processes and generate standard BPEL
process definitions, as well as execute those processes.
Sun Rising on JDS
Microsoft Offers ISVs New Royalty Program
