Business Process Improvement with Alesco
Posted by Rod Bishop | Filed under HRIS
2. Oracle BPEL Process Manager
Business process execution language (BPEL) and Oracle BPEL Process Manager enable you to design
service-oriented architecture (SOA)-based applications by developing synchronous and asynchronous
services into end-to-end BPEL process flows.
Oracle product was developed by a specialist BPEL company, which was Vendor neutral and then Oracle
purchased it, and integrated it into their development suite.
Oracle BPEL is integral to the direction of Oracle Fusion Middleware.
Architecture overview
BPEL Architecture taken from BPEL 101 Tutorial at www.oracle.com
Oracle BPEL Process Manager is installed on a seperate server so the Talent2 source / environment is not modified.
Users build and modify workflow logic using desktop product BPEL Designer. People who need to approve or reject workflow transactions login to Oracle BPEL Console.
Oracle BPEL and Alesco
At the time of this publication, there is no explicit integration between Alesco and Oracle BPEL.
However, using the touch points in the Alesco workflow package, Oracle BPEL can be used to create more tailored solutions that will run off the current Alesco workflow.
Pros
- Allows existing Oracle Packages and Procedures to be exposed as Web Services
- Better at communication with external data sources and applications
- Provides native adapters (Database, File, FTP, JMS, email) to allow external data sources to integrate into the process flow. Any datasource that connect via jdbc can be accessed
- Uses adapters to encaptulate stored procedures/functions thus elminating the need for complex code modifications
- Provides standard maintenance console, and templates for “Workflow Tasks” for users
Cons
- Some java understanding is required – Processes are developed in Jdeveloper, although no java code is required to be written for BPEL processes
- Still relatively new in the market and knowledge is limited by the majority
- Requires Oracle Application server and either SOA suite or BPEL standalone
Tags: Alesco, HR, HRIS, process improvement, technology
