JBoss Unveils Workflow Engine

Open-source company JBoss Inc. on Monday introduced a workflow engine that broadens the company's middleware stack.

JBPM 2.0 was developed with the open-source project of the same name and joins JBoss's other middleware products, the JBoss AS application server and the JBossCache, a caching facility for server clusters. The enterprise-software stack focuses on Java-based application environments.

The jBPM workflow engine has been released without a graphical user interface, which will be added later, officials with the Atlanta-based company said. In the coming year, JBoss plans to release upgrades to jBPM that will move the technology toward a more comprehensive workflow-management system.

Planned enhancements include support for business-process execution language (BPEL); a graphical workflow designer that integrates with Eclipse; an open-source integrated development environment; a process manager featuring Web-based workflow applications; and integration with JBoss's portal framework, called Nukes.

JBoss offers the software free, but charges for support services, including consulting, training, and documentation.