Metaserver 4.0 stands out in crowded BPI market

IT analysts, industry cognoscenti, and InfoWorld readers agree: The importance of business process integration (BPI) is rising -- and will continue to grow in the foreseeable future -- to companies of any size and operating in all vertical markets. BPI not only provides immediate benefits such as increasing operational efficiency, and keeping development and deployment costs in check, it also facilitates adopting business process management strategies, which makes a company more competitive and reactive to changes.

Usually, a BPI project is undertaken to create or improve a business process, such as the workflow that accepts customers’ orders or receives material at a warehouse, consolidating existing code into a new application. Realizing that objective requires the cooperation of employees with diverse skills, typically business analysts who define a workflow consistent with company policies and proven business practices, as well as developers who identify applications that can be included in that workflow and understand the technical requirements to connect the pieces.

Hundreds of vendors call this congested market segment home, including big names such as IBM, Oracle, Tibco, BEA Systems, and webMethods. The range of products they offer varies from basic application integration to multilayered suites that include sophisticated features such as rules-driven process management and templates for specific vertical markets. A typical BPI solution includes tools that satisfy the needs of its diverse users: a flowcharting system that allows the business analysts to map the activities and data involved in each step of the process, and technical tools for the developers to describe and access the working environment of each snippet of code, including, for instance, COM (component object model), Java, EJB (Enterprise Java Beans), Web services, database procedures, or connectors to ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications.

The result is a new streamlined business process -- albeit, like Frankenstein's monster, composed of heterogeneous parts -- that glues together the various reusable components that likely reside on different systems and platforms. Obviously, the new applications created with a BPI solution need a new platform to run on, which is usually different from the platforms hosting its components. So, in addition to providing easy-to-use process modeling tools and being adaptable to a variety of technologies, a solid BPI product must also provide an execution environment in which to deploy and monitor business processes.

Among the many offerings found in this crowded market segment, Metaserver, a BPI solution from the eponymous New Haven, Conn. vendor, stands out with good process modeling tools, support for major platforms and programming techniques, and a modular architecture that facilitates resilience and scalability. The recently released Metaserver 4.0, a new version of its flagship BPI product, improves on its already flexible process modeling environments and resilient runtime engine. Version 4.0 also offers numerous new features and improvements, such as friendlier and more capable wizards to connect applications and databases, simplified interactive testing, and a more flexible execution environment.

Metaserver’s best characteristic is its simplicity: It’s easy to install, and provides both business and technical users with the tools to create and monitor the execution of a business process. But as the company's only product, it could divert users with more sophisticated requirements to other, more articulated solutions.