IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Create processes in IBM Process Designer

Modeling processes

A process is the major unit of logic in IBM BPM. It is the container for all components of a business process definition (BPD). Modeling a good process that matches your requirements is at the core of Process Designer.

• Get started
  Before you start to build processes using IBM Process Designer, you need to understand the Designer interface and the tools and components available within the interface.
• Create a business process definition (BPD)
  To model a process, create a business process definition (BPD). A BPD is a reusable model of a process, defining what is common to all runtime instances of that process model.
• Building services
  Use services to implement the activities in a business process definition (BPD). When a BPD starts and the tasks within it are invoked, services perform the required functions.
• Business objects and variables
  In Process Designer, variables capture the business data that is used by activities in a business process definition or by steps in services such as integration services or human services.
• Modeling events
  Events in IBM BPM can be triggered by a due date passing, an exception, or a incoming message from an external system. You can add events to your BPDs that can occur at the beginning, during, or at the end of a process. Use events to track data, manage errors, and retrieve information about the execution of your BPDs.
• Use external implementations
  

  You can create external implementations for activities that are handled by applications outside of IBM BPM.

  For example, you can model an activity that is run by a custom Eclipse RCP or Microsoft .NET application.

• Integrating with IBM Case Manager
  To integrate with IBM Case Manager, you build an integration service and perform other key steps when you want to integrate a business process developed in IBM Process Designer with a case management case in IBM Case Manager.
• Integrating with Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems
  

  You can interact with an Enterprise Content Management server to store or view documents.

• Integrating with web services, Java and databases
  

  You can configure IBM BPM processes to communicate with an external system to retrieve, update, or insert data. And, external applications can call into IBM BPM to initiate services. You can manage inbound and outbound communication with external systems using undercover agents, web services, and integration services.

• Globalization
  To ensure that applications can be used in multiple geographical locations and cultures, globalization support is built in through appropriate design and implementation of systems, software, and procedures. IBM BPM provides globalization support for single- and multi-byte character sets and for bidirectional transformation including contextual support, support for text layout transformation, and calendar support for Hebrew and Hijri.

Create processes in IBM Process Designer