IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Authoring services in Integration Designer > Developing monitor models > Create monitor models > Sharing assets
Asset repository
The asset repository is a central location for sharing BPM assets such as processes.
If you have a supported version of IBM Rational Asset Manager (7.1, 7.1.0.1, 7.1.1, or 7.1.1.1) installed, you can browse the asset repository for assets that have already been developed and approved by others.
You can put the assets created by tools such as WebSphere Business Modeler, Integration Designer, and the Business Monitor development toolkit into the asset repository to be reused by yourself or others. These assets can then be used by other products besides those they were created with. Any changes to these assets can be tracked, and you can choose to be notified if changes are made to assets that you are using.
Reusing assets from the asset repository saves time and effort.
For example, developers using the Business Monitor development toolkit to create a new monitor model can search the asset repository for existing assets (such as event definitions) and use them without having to create them themselves. Similarly, a developer using Integration Designer can search for and reuse services that other developers on the team built.
In addition, the asset repository only lets authorized people make changes.
For example, an outbound event definition for one monitor model might be used as an inbound event definition for another (which is how models communicate). If the event definition is in the asset repository, only certain people have the authority to modify it, so that it is less likely to be unexpectedly modified in a way that would break the other model.
The asset repository runs on Rational Asset Manager, a collaborative software development asset repository for managing assets that can be used by various development roles: analysts, architects, developers, and testers. To facilitate reuse, assets in the asset repository contain descriptive information that explains their purpose, use, and relation to other assets.
Assets can include all of the software requirements, designs, models, source code, data, tests, user interfaces, and documentation that work together to solve a specific business problem. Assets can also include other assets.
The asset repository uses metadata to track how assets are related and who owns them. Metadata is data that describes the characteristics of data. Assets are tagged with various levels of metadata, ranging from name, version, description, and community membership to custom labels, tags, and categories created by each organization.