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<title>Eclipse Process Manager (Stardust)</title>
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<p>The Eclipse Process Manager (Stardust) project is a proposed open source
project under the
<a href="http://www.eclipse.org/projects/project_summary.php?projectid=soa">
Service Oriented Architecture Top-Level Project</a>.<sup><a href="#ftn1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>This proposal is in the Project Proposal Phase (as defined in the Eclipse
Development Process) and is written to declare its intent and scope. We solicit
additional participation and input from the Eclipse community. Please send all
feedback to the <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/forums/eclipse.proposals">
Eclipse Proposals</a> Forum. </p>
<h2>Background</h2>
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<p>Business Process Management (BPM) has its roots in: </p>
<ul>
<li>Enterprise Application Integration,</li>
<li>Human-centric workflow,</li>
<li>Document Management and</li>
<li>Business Intelligence. </li>
</ul>
<p>BPM combines these concepts and has an important role – driven by the need
for optimization of business processes and the demands to increase enterprise
agility. Originally, many products had offered just parts of the required
functionality e.g. business process modeling. Today, Business Process Management
Suites (BPMS) support the whole process lifecycle of process modeling,
simulation, execution and monitoring. </p>
<p>Some products run standalone - especially those focused on smaller and medium
enterprises (SME) – but the majority are running interwoven with other
enterprise middleware products such as Application Servers. Several software
vendors have tied their BPM offerings closely with their entire portfolio of
middleware products, thus forcing the customer to use the whole technology stack
from this vendor. </p>
<p>In the last couple of years, the BPM market has been consolidating, mainly
through acquisitions of smaller BPMS providers by larger companies and smaller
companies vanishing. However, no open source product has been really established
in the market.</p>
<p>We think the time has come for a BPMS project under the stewardship of the
Eclipse Foundation to do what its IDE already has achieved for software
development: a common platform accepted by multiple vendors on which a large
variety of more specialized products and solutions can be based upon.</p>
<p>SunGard’s Infinity Process Platform (IPP), which has evolved from the
acquisition of the German BPMS provider CARNOT AG by SunGard in 2006, is a
mature BPMS which has been developed for more than 10 years. It has a proven
track record in the industry with more than 1,500 customers on all 5 continents
and is embedded in more than 25 SunGard solutions in mission critical, partially
high throughput environments. IPP was ranked in Gartner&#39;s BPMS Magic Quadrant in
the 2007 as #2 in Vision.</p>
<p>IPP has been relying on Eclipse technology for many years and is integrated
with the Eclipse environment wherever possible. Hence, Eclipse is the natural
home for the product and SunGard is willing to contribute the current version of
IPP into an Eclipse project and to help maintaining it further in the Eclipse
community.</p>
<p>As IPP provides not just a variety of tools but a fully integrated platform
for the whole lifecycle of managing business processes, we propose to name it
Eclipse Process Manager, nickname Stardust and acronym EPM. As BPM is an
essential part of every SOA the EPM project should be a subproject under the
umbrella of the SOA top-level project.</p>
<h2>Scope</h2>
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<p>This project will provide a comprehensive Business Process Management
Suite (BPMS) which covers all phases of the Business Process Lifecycle
including modeling, simulation, execution and monitoring.</p>
<p>The contribution
scope is: </p>
<ul>
<li>The business process modeling environment
including human workflow, system integration, organizational and data
modeling entirely based on Eclipse, facilitated by the <b>Process
Workbench</b></li>
<li>The Runtime Environment including the Process
Engine and the browser-based End User Process Portal entirely based on Web
standards (J2EE, JSF) as well as planned adoption for OSGi services</li>
<li>The rapid application development environment
embedded in Eclipse</li>
<li>The simulation feature</li>
<li>The interfaces to external systems (e.g.
via Web Services or messaging), Document Repositories, Scanning Engines
and Business Rules Management Systems</li>
</ul>
<p>Not in scope are:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Reporting Engine, which is handled by
the Eclipse BIRT project</li>
<li>Document Repositories, Scanning Engines
and Business Rules Management Systems</li>
<li>Application Servers and Database Management
Systems being Runtime Environments for the Process Engine and the Process
Portal and especially not</li>
<li>Any business process models for an
arbitrary industry</li>
</ul>
<p>These contributions are either
complementary components to a BPMS or value add by industry providers in their
respective application domains.</p>
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<h2>Description</h2>
<h3>Process Workbench</h3>
<p>The contribution includes
the <b>Process Workbench</b>, an integrated process modeling and development
environment offering: </p>
<ul>
<li>Modeling of processes in the <b>Business
Process Modeling Notation</b> (BPMN),</li>
<li>Perspectives for process modeling
including an <b>Analyst and a Development Perspective</b>,</li>
<li>Importing and exporting functionality of
process models in the <b>XML Process Definition Language</b> (XPDL) and</li>
<li>A <b>Rapid Application Development Environment</b>
within the Eclipse Workbench, which allows to execute process models on an
embedded <b>Application Server</b> (Tomcat) using an embedded <b>DBMS</b>
(Apache Derby).</li>
</ul>
<p>The Process Workbench is based on the
Eclipse Modeling Project/Graphical Modeling Project and displays the genuine <b>Eclipse
Look &amp; Feel</b> and leverages various other Eclipse components and concepts
such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>Project setup and management,</li>
<li>Java classpath management and class resolution,</li>
<li>Validation,</li>
<li>Cross-referencing,</li>
<li>Debugging and</li>
<li>WTP integration for Rapid Application Development.</li>
</ul>
<p>Individuals proficient with Eclipse will know how to use
the Stardust
Process Workbench immediately. Comprehensive documentation for the whole suite
is available via the <b>Eclipse Help System</b>.</p>
<p>As the whole Stardust Process Workbench is implemented
using the Eclipse Features/Plug-ins, the ability to install and update the Process
Workbench via the <b>Eclipse Update Mechanism</b>. </p>
<p>The modeler (as well as the Runtime
Environment) the can be extended by customers and partners via numerous Eclipse<b>
Extension Points </b>e.g. to </p>
<ul>
<li>support new application or data integration technologies,</li>
<li>add new message formats (e.g. SWIFT, FIX) and corresponding
processing functionality,</li>
<li>bind additional, use-case specific information to a process
model,</li>
<li>add external process model data sources (e.g.SOA Registries)</li>
<li>and others. </li>
</ul>
<p>Support for <b>version control and
concurrent modeling</b> via SVN is also provided.</p>
<p>The Process Workbench, consisting of a set
of Eclipse Plugins/Features, is fully <b>OSGi</b> enabled by design.</p>
<h3>Monitoring and
Reporting</h3>
<p>Advanced functionality for monitoring and analysis
of process and related data is based on the Eclipse <b>Business Intelligence
and Reporting Tool</b> (BIRT). It uses BPM specific data sources from the BPM
model and BPM Audit Trail Database (Process Instances, Activity Instances, Process
Data) and can be joined with arbitrary BIRT Data Sources for rich, use case
specific reports.</p>
<h3>Simulation
Feature</h3>
<p>The Stardust Process Workbench also
contains a <b>Simulation Feature</b> which allows to simulate modeled processes
without deploying them to a Runtime Environment by running a fast, in-memory
algorithm performing thousands of processes for a simulation period of possibly
years in seconds. This way critical paths or resource bottlenecks can be
identified and general behavior of processes (e.g. overall duration) can be
predicted. Simulation results can be displayed graphically and copied into
spreadsheets or written to a database.</p>
<h3>Process Runtime
Environment</h3>
<p>The contribution furthermore comprises a <b>Runtime
Environment</b> that:</p>
<ul>
<li>supports EJB and Spring for a managed JEE
environment,</li>
<li>runs on all common application servers,</li>
<li>can use most public DBMS for the audit
trail,</li>
<li>has an interface to many DMS via JCR and</li>
<li>provides support for other widespread
enterprise technologies like JTA, JMS, JDBC, JCA and EJB</li>
</ul>
<p>as well as a comprehensive end user portal
supporting:</p>
<ul>
<li>web-based portals with support for modern
Web technologies like AJAX as well as portals based on Java Swing with</li>
<li>three perspectives</li>
<ul>
<li>the Workflow Execution Perspective for
end users,</li>
<li>the Business Control Center Perspective providing
business monitoring and management capabilities and </li>
<li>the Administration Perspective for administration
tasks</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<p>and finally a client for document scanning.</p>
<p>The Process Runtime Environment is designed
with a modular architecture, heavily using various Java Interface based
extension points. Given this foundation it can be expected that the Process
Runtime Environment can be adapted to native use of OSGi services in a
straightforward way.</p>
<h3>Architectural Overview</h3>
<p>The following diagram provides an overview of the Stardust
architecture as of today:</p>
<p><img src="EPM-architecture-1.png" width="100%"></p>
<p>The architecture of the Simulation Feature is shown in the next diagram: </p>
<p><img src="EPM-architecture-2.png" width="100%"></p>
<p>The next diagram shows the integration of Stardust and BIRT:</p>
<p><img src="EPM-architecture-3.png" width="100%"></p>
<h2>Why Eclipse?</h2>
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<p>Infinity Process Platform has leveraged Eclipse technology since
inception (10 years) and seamlessly integrated with Eclipse technology and
concepts. It is a BPMS built on Eclipse technologies and concepts.</p>
<p>Although Eclipse is adding more and more SOA and Runtime
capabilities to its portfolio, a comprehensive BPMS is not yet available from
Eclipse – nor does an established BPMS exist in the open source market in
general. The Eclipse Process Manager (Stardust) project can close this gap.</p>
<h2>Initial Contribution</h2>
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<p>The initial
contribution by SunGard will be based on the existing Infinity Process Platform
product as of today into Stardust. It consists of code for:</p>
<ul>
<li>the Process Engine Runtime Environment,</li>
<li>the Process Workbench,</li>
<li>the Reporting Facility,</li>
<li>the Simulation Feature and</li>
<li>the Process Portal</li>
</ul>
<p>as well as comprehensive documentation of
the whole suite.</p>
<p>More than a decade of product development, a proven track
record and the knowledge base of the SunGard internal community<sup><a href="#ftn2"
name="_ftnref2" title="">2</a></sup> can be combined with the
mature and established community processes and the market footprint of Eclipse.
SunGard is dedicated to help transition the project into successful community
work.</p>
<p>All IPP code – except used open source libraries – currently
is owned by SunGard and licensed under a proprietary license. The complete code
for the <em>Stardust</em>
project will be relicensed under the EPL as part of the contribution to
Eclipse.</p>
<h2>Legal Issues</h2>
<p>IPP as of today requires libraries for Hibernate and XOM, distributed
under the LGPL. Some other libraries under LGPL are needed for non-core
functionality.</p>
<p>Hibernate will be required by users of Stardust if users
intend to use Hibernate to persist process data. For XOM other libraries accepted
by the Eclipse Foundation will be considered.</p>
<p>There are no dependencies on code under GPL.</p>
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<h2>Relationship to other projects</h2>
<h3>Service Oriented Architecture (Container)</h3>
<p>The goal of this top-level project is to deliver a packaged open source SOA
platform solution. This includes a comprehensive SOA runtime environment and a
suite of complementary tools and tool frameworks designed to address the needs
of architects, developers and deployers of SOA solutions. It is the aim of the
project to be the natural and happy home of all future SOA-related projects
within Eclipse. Thus the Stardust project fits very nice in the Service Oriented
Architecture container.</p>
<p>Within the SOA top level project, the Stardust project has&nbsp;links to most of
the other projects. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>eBPM</strong> offers a significantly smaller subset
of the Stardust functionality. Its sponsor, Spagi has already
declared support for the Stardust project. <strong>eBAM</strong>
from the same sponsor could be adapted to work with the Stardust
project.</li>
<li><strong>BPMN Modeler</strong> is a submission by Intalio
providing a modeler for the Business Process Management Notation
(BPMN) which Stardust is using as well. The BPMN modeler seems
to be almost inactive.</li>
<li>The <strong>SCA Tools</strong> project and the <strong>
Mangrove</strong> project complement Stardust. <strong>Swordfish</strong>
is an OSGi-based SOA framework that builds on Apache ServiceMix
and Apache CXF. It is designed to be complemented by additional
open source components such as a service registry, a messaging
system, a process engine, etc. to form a comprehensive open
source SOA runtime environment based on both established and
emerging standards. Stardust would significantly contribute to this
goal.</li>
<li><strong>Java Workflow Tooling</strong> targets the same
domain as Stardust. In some aspects (the Workflow Editor) it is
very similar; in others it is more abstract, e.g. it only
supports a generic workflow engine administration API, but does
not deliver a concrete implementation of a process engine. By
contrast Stardust is a complete BPMS with components for the
whole process lifecycle in commercial operation for more than a
decade. Details on how the two projects would coexist need to be
evaluated, but Java Workflow Tooling could profit from many
components that Stardust delivers.</li>
<li><strong>Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT)</strong>
The Stardust Process Workbench uses the Business Intelligence
and Reporting Tools as base for its analysis and reporting
functionality. There is a close collaboration with the project
and the main committer, Actuate. Actuate is listed as an
Interested Party in the present proposal.</li>
<li><strong>Eclipse Modeling Project</strong> The Stardust
Process Workbench makes intensive use of several components of
the Eclipse Modeling Project. Thus improvements of these
underlying modules will have a straight impact on the Process
Workbench.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Committers</h2>
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<p>The following individuals are proposed as initial committers to
the project; these are all developers and enabling team for the
current SunGard product IPP.</p>
<ul>
<li>Stephan Born, SunGard</li>
<li>Monika Funke, SunGard</li>
<li>Shrikant Gangal, SunGard</li>
<li>Marc Gille, SunGard, Lead</li>
<li>Subodh Godbole, SunGard</li>
<li>Barry Grotjahn, SunGard</li>
<li>Florin Herinean, SunGard</li>
<li>Yogesh Manware, SunGard</li>
<li>Vikas Mishra, SunGard</li>
<li>Andreas Müller, SunGard</li>
<li>Anoop Nair, SunGard</li>
<li>Herbert Neureiter, SunGard</li>
<li>Vikash Pandey, SunGard</li>
<li>Ankita Patel, SunGard</li>
<li>Rainer Pielmann, SunGard</li>
<li>Holger Prause, SunGard</li>
<li>Sven Rottstock, SunGard</li>
<li>Robert Sauer, SunGard</li>
<li>Christian Schenzel, SunGard</li>
<li>Roland Stamm, SunGard</li>
<li>Nicolas Werlein, SunGard</li>
</ul>
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<h2>Mentors</h2>
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<p>The following Architecture Council members will mentor this
project:</p>
<ul>
<li>Chris Aniszczyk, <i>Red Hat</i></li>
<li>Adrian Mos, <i>Xerox</i></li>
</ul>
<h2>Interested Parties</h2>
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<p>The following individuals, organisations, companies and projects have
expressed interest in this project:</p>
<ul>
<li>SAP - Patrick Schmidt, Development
Manager, Netweaver BPM</li>
<li>BIRT/Actuate - Mark Coggins, SVP Engineering</li>
<li>Spagi - Antonio Majori, Senior Technical
Manager</li>
<li>Nuxeo – Eric Barroca, Founder and CEO</li>
<li>Adrian Mos, SOA PMC</li>
</ul>
<h2>Project Scheduling</h2>
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<ul>
<li>April 2011 - proposal</li>
<li>May 2011 - creation review</li>
<li>June 2011 - initial contribution based on
version 6.0 of the donor project. </li>
<li>Beginning of Q3 2011 - approval of the
code and other IP contributions and provisioning of the projects on
Eclipse.org infrastructure.</li>
<li>December 2011 - synchronization with the
milestone release train of the successors to Eclipse 3.7/4.1</li>
</ul>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<p><a name="ftn1">1</a>The
goal of the Eclipse SOA Platform Project is to deliver a packaged
Open-Source SOA Platform solution. This includes a comprehensive SOA runtime
environment and a suite of complementary tools and tool frameworks, designed to
address the needs of architects, developers and deployers of SOA solutions. It
is the aim of the project to be the natural and happy home of all future
SOA-related projects within Eclipse. </p>
<p><a name="ftn2">2</a> SunGard’s adoption of IPP has followed an internal open source model,
resulting in a community spread across geographies, product lines and customers </p>
<h2>Changes to this Document</h2>
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<table>
<tr>
<th>Date</th>
<th>Change</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>04-Mar-2011</td>
<td>Document created</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>05-Apr-2011</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Version to be proposed</p>
</td>
<tr>
<td>08-Apr-2011</td>
<td>First Architecture Council Mentor added.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>13-May-2011</td>
<td>Second Architecture Council Mentor added.</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
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