Introduction

Forms and other documents are a common interface between the customers, partners, and suppliers of a company, and its backend systems and business processes. Bridging the two is a difficult challenge for many industries. The manual, error-prone task of data collection via forms must be integrated with business processes, applications, and data stores. This requires a solution that can automate and integrate form- and document-based processes with existing business processes, share information securely, access systems offline, and ensure that the exchange of information between people and systems is familiar and convenient.

Adobe Systems, the world's leading provider of software solutions to create, manage and deliver high-impact, reliable digital content, and IBM, providing the leading software platform for e-business on demand, have teamed to offer joint capabilities that extend core business processes with advanced electronic forms capability. The Adobe LiveCycle platform provides forms design, presentation, and gathering, as well as "intelligent" documents that can interact with business processes according to enterprise data and business logic. The WebSphere platform provides the infrastructure and tools that allow these intelligent documents to play a seamless role in business processes. Documents can be generated dynamically and accessed via a simple portal interface, providing key audiences with customized documents within the business flow anytime, anywhere, on any device.

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The problem: Linking data capture with business processes

Data capture and dynamic document generation are often critical elements of enterprise applications, and can present difficult challenges. In many cases, documents are the main sources of interaction between businesses and their customers. Documents are used to generate revenue, conduct transactions, and transfer knowledge.

Collecting data from end users, especially when primarily paper-based methods are used, is often time-consuming and error-prone. Forms can be difficult to complete, slow to submit, and difficult to integrate into a workflow process. The submission process itself can be ad hoc, perhaps involving a variety of mechanisms, including paper or electronic forms, voice-activated systems, or FAXes.

Processing of forms is also slowed when data must be integrated with existing business processes and verified against backend systems. When the bits and pieces of information required to complete a process are scattered among multiple business processes, databases and applications, this presents a problem in data gathering and validation. Delays also result if end users must manually supply basic, repetitive information when filling out multiple forms.

Users need a familiar mechanism to quickly supply data or sign off on documents

The front-end used to gather data from customers is also key. The proliferation of online self-service options has led to customer expectations for information anytime, and on any device. A submission mechanism that is familiar and readily available speeds the capture of information and allows end users flexibility to interact in ways that meet their schedule and preferences. The presentation of the form should mimic paper-based forms to ease the transition.

In addition to data gathering, many business processes involve reviewing and approving information, or collaborating with others. Businesses need to share information efficiently, not just with customers, but with partners, suppliers, and others, within and across firewalls. For these situations, documents must be integrated with the business workflow and be able to capture comments and include signatures, whether the parties have access to an organization' network or not. Businesses, especially those that must conform to strict audits or other regulatory requirements, also need to ensure that documents persist in a standard archival format so that transactions and agreements are captured as records.

Data capture and presentation must be integrated with existing business processes

Finally, a truly integrated business workflow shares data between systems and people, and automates and synchronizes business activities across multiple applications as business processes. Captured data must be propagated to the appropriate applications and databases, and data formats may need to be transformed enroute between applications. Data residing in existing repositories must be leveraged to pre-populate forms. And systems should be able to react to supplied data by triggering events.

In addition to merging data capture with existing processes, companies must be able to connect applications and resources, using them as building blocks for new services. The ability to quickly combine application functions, using standard interfaces, allows companies to more readily model changing business processes and deliver the new services with reduced cost and development time.

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The challenge: Applying standards-based technologies and Web-based delivery

To effectively address these concerns, a two-pronged strategy is required:

• Businesses must use standards-based technology to address the hard problems of application connectivity and process integration, and to create and deliver new services from existing applications.
• They must be sensitive to customer expectations and daily usage habits to arrive at intuitive, responsive front-ends that mimic familiar patterns.

A business process can include a variety of components, including Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) resources, Web services, and activities involving human interaction. For example, a business process might include retrieval of data from multiple databases, validation of information using various applications, a human approval step, and perhaps an asynchronous call to set in motion an external event. An effective solution requires that documents involved in the business process can access and manipulate information stored in backend systems, and trigger internal processes as a result of end user interaction. In this way, the applications, databases, and documents that play a role in the overall business process flow are welded together to form a meaningful, complete business transaction.

The combination of SOA and Web services, Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS, abbreviated to BPEL), XML, and Portable Document Format (PDF) standards offers such a solution.

• J2EE-based Web services provide the infrastructure to build Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) that span existing applications. An SOA is designed to provide the flexibility to treat elements of business processes and the underlying IT infrastructure as secure, standardized components (services) that can be reused and combined to address changing business priorities. SOAs provide a platform that can be easily integrated and extended. This means integrating customer and sales data with other enterprise systems and business processes, providing unified views of data through a single user interface, and sharing application-specific objects so that business processes can be linked.
• BPEL is an XML-based workflow definition language with which businesses can describe sophisticated business processes that use and provide Web services.
• XML offers powerful data and business logic functionality, for exchanging data between diverse enterprise systems and devices. PDF delivers rich presentation and document control capabilities. With PDF and XML, you can map different data formats from different applications into one unified form.

  PDF also offers built-in intelligence so that forms can be pre-populated using data in existing applications, and can then trigger asynchronous tasks based on user input. This way, intelligent documents do double-duty: they integrate data capture with business processes and improve data accuracy through validation.

  Finally, for many corporations, educational institutions, and government agencies, the electronic document format of choice is Adobe PDF. This widespread acceptance as well as the capability of PDF to incorporate digital signatures makes PDF an ideal solution for archival and regulatory requirements. Adopting electronic documents is often required by legal mandates. Using PDF protects user information and enables heavily regulated industries to achieve regulatory compliance.

The second key requirement is to make the document submission or approval process as lightweight as possible. Solution designers must cater to today' mobile and diverse workforce. Documents must be delivered quickly, securely, in a familiar format, and made available anytime, anywhere. Web-based delivery, such as a lightweight client inside a portal application, can allow this quick, easy access. Pre-filling forms with existing information can further improve the user experience and ensure accuracy.

The visual design and layout of the data is also important. The ubiquitous PDF form is a familiar format to many users. The solution must be capable of generating PDF forms that match traditional paper forms and then presenting these look-alike forms to the user.

Finally, for any services-oriented application, the front-end must be responsive to user expectations and habits. It must include form access and completion capability alongside other application views or tools. And it must also allow the user to alter the overall presentation and mix of services based on needs.

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The solution: Using the joint capabilities of the Adobe LiveCycle platform and WebSphere BI products

The key to producing documents that drive business is a services-oriented solution that takes content from multiple sources, dynamically generates documents, links documents to business processes, and securely and reliably delivers those documents over a variety of devices. This challenge can be met by combining the complementary technologies of the Adobe LiveCycle platform and WebSphere.

The integration of Adobe LiveCycle products with the IBM integrated, comprehensive content management portfolio helps manage, share, integrate and deliver critical business information on demand and assists organizations that must improve productivity, enhance responsiveness, and meet the demands of regulatory compliance.

As shown in Figure 1, the elements of an effective solution include:

• Lightweight clients, such as simple forms on WebSphere Portal or Lotus Workplace. Adobe forms can be rendered in Adobe Reader® in either HTML or PDF format within a portlet in WebSphere Portal Server. PDF forms can also be dynamically generated from a portal user' HTML input. PDF enables off-line form completion to be submitted later in online fashion.
• A services-oriented architecture that uses Web services to link captured data with existing assets, create new business logic, and tie services together in a way that automates business processes.
• Document services. Documents are at the heart of many complex and critical business operations, including product development, financial reporting, marketing, customer and channel support, facilities management, regulatory compliance, and ISO 9000/14000 certifications. Document services include document generation, collaboration, document control, archival support, and security. The Adobe Intelligent Document extends the capability of the PDF form to take actions or initiate a business process based on data collected and submitted from an electronic form. The Intelligent Documents can be generated from the business workflow to present the data back to the user or for regulatory and archival purposes.
• An integration broker required for linking captured data to backend processes and databases. Two brokers are possible: WebSphere InterChange Server to link document services with backend applications and databases, and WebSphere Business Integration (BI) Server Foundation, to link document services with workflow.

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Adobe and IBM joint offerings

Adobe and IBM joint offerings include:

Optimization for the WebSphere product family. The Adobe Intelligent Document/LiveCycle Platform enables WebSphere developers to extend the reach of their J2EE applications. The application can take action or initiate a business process based on data collected and submitted from an electronic form. The application can generate PDF documents and distribute them to users as a persistent record of an interaction between the user and the system.

Adobe and IBM have optimized the Adobe LiveCycle products for the WebSphere product family. This solution enables organizations to use Intelligent Documents to securely extend, beyond the enterprise, the core business processes resident in IBM middleware applications. WebSphere provides the integration infrastructure, business portal capabilities, tools, and application development environment for organizations to achieve full performance from their Adobe LiveCycle platform.

At the core of the WebSphere platform is WebSphere Application Server, a fast, scalable, and reliable J2EE application server that enables enterprises to deploy, integrate, and manage dynamic e-business applications. Adobe LiveCycle products are also built on the J2EE foundation and optimized for WebSphere, making it easy for organizations to deploy document-based services on WebSphere environments.

Adobe LiveCycle Designer integration with WebSphere Studio Application Developer. The Adobe Designer 6.0 Plugin for WebSphere Studio enables Designer to interact directly with WebSphere Studio and create both HTML and Adobe PDF forms for sophisticated data capture solutions. Using the plugin, form developers can build and maintain data capture solutions that read from, validate against, and add to corporate data sources. They can integrate PDF documents into workflows by binding forms to XML schemas, XML example files, databases, and Web services.

Adobe Designer 6.0 Plug-in for WebSphere Studio has been successfully validated to the requirements of Ready for WebSphere Studio V2.1, for WebSphere Studio Workbench V2.1/WebSphere Studio V5.1. The plug-in met the requirements for the Studio Workbench level of the program giving Adobe its first RFWS validation.

Adobe Forms and WebSphere Portal. Custom portal applications can include the ability to access, fill, and process Adobe intelligent forms by using the Forms Access portlet provided by Adobe Form Server for IBM. This solution provides rich forms capabilities to any enterprise application running on WebSphere Portal Server or Lotus Workplace. A business analyst or developer can use Adobe Designer to design a visually rich form with data connections provided via arbitrary XML schemas, Web Services Description Language (WSDL) or database connections. These forms are described in XML and can be rendered as PDF or HTML. Adobe reader extension rights via Adobe Reader Extension Server (ARES) can be applied to the form to enable rich functionality in free Adobe Reader clients. Integration to ARES is provided out-of-box with Adobe Form Server for IBM. The forms can then be deployed in a directory or a repository. The forms access portlet can be deployed on WebSphere Portal Server to provide access to these forms. Users can access the forms and submit data back to a Web service or other server process. The forms access portlet leverages the Struts framework. Authentication is provided by integration with the credential vault.

Adobe Forms and WebSphere BI. This solution enables Adobe intelligent forms to be used as a front-end for accessing and manipulating the process data used by backend business systems that are integrated and managed by WebSphere BI products. Companies can design dynamic HTML or PDF using Adobe Designer and integrate with WebSphere BI Web services via simple import of WSDL files from WebSphere BI tooling or make the dynamic document generation as a service. Users with free Adobe Reader can fill these forms on-line/off-line, and submit data to enterprise applications using either WebSphere BI Server Foundation or InterChange Server.

Using this solution, companies can streamline manual data entry processes into automated workflows. Data is entered once into an Adobe form using the Adobe Reader and leveraged/validated by multiple backend systems via WebSphere BI. Information from systems like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems can also flow back into the Adobe form via WebSphere BI products.

Using Adobe and IBM products in target industries

Integrating business processes with document capture, generation, and exchange are key business drivers in a variety of industries, including financial services, insurance, health, and government. The common thread for all these industries is the need for prompt, accurate information exchange with customers and constituencies. This exchange demands that documents involved in the service or transaction participate seamlessly in business processes, are fully aligned with existing applications and data stores, maintain integrity, accuracy, and security throughout the process, and allow the greatest possible convenience to customers during data capture and presentation. Some examples are:

Financial services. Banks are using Web portals to transform branch banking, including teller and lending processes. Adobe and IBM products can be used to create a single, unified system to manage banking processes, business content, and documents. Companies can enhance customer service by providing an interface capable of aggregating customer, product, and market data in the context of a business process. When documents are connected to processes, banks can prepopulate forms with information and provide self-calculating forms with data validation to improve the customer experience. This helps streamline document- and forms-intensive processes such as account opening and loan origination.

Insurance. Policy renewal is a classic example of a service that demands efficient business processes as well as methods that allow fast, accurate data capture from customers using a variety of devices. Adobe and IBM products offer insurance providers the power to automate labor-intensive processes while maintaining the paper-based paradigm that agents and policyholders understand. Interactive policy renewal documents can be generated and distributed to policyholders who, using free Adobe Reader software or any Web browser, can then review, modify and approve, and submit back to the carrier for processing. In addition, by integrating claims forms with core systems, insurance companies can quickly and cost-effectively move business processes online. Using pre-filled forms ensures accuracy and can eliminate duplicate entries by agents. Access to forms from traditional and mobile devices can also lead to faster resolution of claims and improved customer satisfaction.

Health services. Employee benefits administration and health coverage enrollments are excellent candidates for benefiting from Web-based applications. Allowing updates and coverage choices to occur online through the use of a portal means that patients and employees can access their accounts after-hours and on weekends, enjoy faster response times, and avoid paper bottlenecks. Providers can also make selection decisions easier by including reference material and calculation tools alongside forms, leading to greater satisfaction from customers.

Government. Some examples of document-intensive government services include motor vehicle registration and payment, social services delivery, business registration, and inter-government communication. Using Adobe forms linked to these business processes, a government agency can create a form, process it, and then post the form for access by constituents. The constituent retrieves and completes the form, archives it, signs it, and returns it to the agency. Here, again, fast response times, any-time access, and online service improves efficiency and constituent perception.

More on the technologies

The following sections describe each technology in more detail.

Adobe LiveCycle

The key Adobe LiveCycle components in the Adobe Intelligent Document Platform are as follows:

• Adobe LiveCycle Designer is the design environment for building intelligent XML form and document templates that can be rendered as HTML or PDF forms by the Adobe LiveCycle Forms (which can then extract data from the forms as XML data for use in core business systems).
• Adobe LiveCycle Forms is the deployment engine and runtime environment for rendering forms built in Adobe Designer, providing processing services (such as data pre-population, server-side validations and processing, and structured XML data extraction) for form applications.
• Adobe Form Server for IBM provides an out-of-box integration with WebSphere Portal Server by providing a Forms Access portlet. Adobe Form Server for IBM also integrates tightly with DB2® Content Manager, enabling users to automatically retrieve and store filled forms and data in Content Manager. The data is in XML, so it can easily be processed by backend systems.
• Adobe LiveCycle Form Manager provides a centralized repository for managing all your business forms (including those created in Adobe Designer and those created with other tools).
• Adobe LiveCycle Document Security Server provides services for document encryption and digital signature support on PDF forms and documents.
• Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions Server provides advanced services and functionality for documents or forms accessed by Adobe Reader clients, extending users' capabilities (such as local save, digital signatures, and collaboration) for participating in form applications or workflows without requiring full Adobe Acrobat software.

Companies can add other document services using the following products:

• Adobe Policy Server provides enforcement of access rights at the document level and assurance that customers and citizens have the latest version of a document.
• Adobe Document Server for generation of PDF documents composed of PDF forms, images, and attachments.

WebSphere Portal

WebSphere Portal delivers a single point of personalized interaction with dynamic information applications, content, processes, and people. It helps to build and maintain scalable B2E, B2B, and B2C portals by providing a wide range of portal technologies, including backend integration, portlets, administration, and presentation. WebSphere Portal provides an application integrator that allows business users to quickly create portlets for interacting with backend systems, including relational databases, Domino databases, and enterprise applications from Oracle®, SAP®, Siebel®, and PeopleSoft®. Integration services that give access to enterprise data, applications, newsfeeds and Web services are also provided.

Using WebSphere Portal, Web services can be subscribed to and made available to portal users via portlets, and local portlets can be published as remote Web services. The Personalization component of WebSphere Portal allows you to customize content to the interests and needs of each user. WebSphere Portal offers both developers and end-users the ability to customize the structure and appearance of a portal.

WebSphere BI

WebSphere BI software includes the WebSphere BI Server. The Integration Server is the IBM solution for process integration, workforce management, and enterprise application connectivity. The Integration Server includes:

• The WebSphere InterChange Server, a key component for process automation. It automates and synchronizes business activities across multiple discrete applications.
• WebSphere BI Server Foundation, which provides a standards-based platform for building and deploying BPEL-based Web Services and Web Services-based composite applications. The process choreographer in Server Foundation provides a way to combine business-process technology with the other services offered by the J2EE architecture. You can script enterprise beans to manipulate processes. You can also create Web services from business processes that choreograph other Web services processes.
• Integration Adapters, which allow customers to quickly and easily create integrated processes that exchange information between Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), HR, Customer Relationship Management, and supply chain systems. Note: Companies can choose between WebSphere InterChange Server and WebSphere BI Server Foundation as their integration broker. The two products are typically used independently from one another.

WebSphere Application Server

WebSphere Application Server is the premier J2EE and Web services technology-based application platform, offering scalability, a distributed workload and caching capabilities, and a sophisticated, extensible security infrastructure.

The application server is tightly integrated with WebSphere Studio Application Developer, the extensible Java development environment built on Eclipse for building, testing, deploying, and maintaining J2EE and Web service applications.

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Benefits of Adobe and IBM complementary technologies

Using Adobe Systems and IBM products together can provide the following benefits:

• Streamline e-business processes and improve integration across business systems
  • Automate Web-based form workflows and accelerate access to business critical information for faster decision-making and better business visibility
  • Enable efficient data sharing across enterprise applications and business processes
• Increase customer value and brand loyalty
  • Easily create new Web-based services and customer self-service options
  • Automate form filling while retaining an easy to use paper-like experience
• Reduce overhead costs and accelerate time to value
  • Simplify form design and reduce need for expensive, time-consuming Java development
  • Minimize staff retraining and ramp-up time through reuse of existing development tools and technical standards
  • Drive out costs of paper distribution and handling
• Protect user information and enable process compliance
  • Dual system and document level security model to enable highly secure information exchange, inside and outside the firewall
  • More easily achieve regulatory compliance
• Support a mobile and diverse workforceProvide lightweight client access anytime, on a variety of devices
  • Support offline completion of forms

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Case study: Generating policy applications for the insurance industry

This section describes how Adobe and IBM products can be used together in a solution that provides flexible, efficient services to online customers in the insurance industry.

A recent proof of concept (POC) by Adobe and IBM demonstrated the ability to integrate Adobe forms-based solutions with backend applications and workflow processes to streamline policy quotes in the insurance industry. The solution uses WebSphere InterChange Server to execute business logic asynchronously. This business logic, via a Web service, calls Adobe LiveCycle Forms to automatically generate a PDF form containing policy details for the customer. The business logic can also perform updates to a backend database, or can trigger workflow processes using WebSphere BI Server Foundation.

Solution overview

In the demonstration scenario, the sequence of events is as follows:

1. A customer submits a service request for an insurance quote. He uses a lightweight universal client to enter data on an HTML form. Some examples of universal clients include the freely available Adobe Reader for PDF, an Adobe form rendered as a portlet in WebSphere Portal, or within an IBM Lotus Workplace solution.
2. The submission of the form triggers a request to a Web Service, hosted on a Web Services Gateway.
3. The Gateway authenticates the user and then submits the request to a Web Services Adapter.
4. A Web Services Adapter receives event notification from the Gateway and invokes several collaborations hosted on a WebSphere InterChange Server (or WebSphere BI Server Foundation). These collaborations, executed asynchronously, do the following:
   1. Send an immediate ACK to the customer confirming the request and supplying a confirmation number.
   2. Perform validation tasks and gather information from multiple backend applications.
   3. Call a Web service that invokes Adobe LiveCycle Forms to generate a PDF form containing policy details, using data gathered during the collaborations.
5. The dynamically generated policy form is delivered to the customer via various mechanisms (a portlet or e-mail, for example). It is sent to the Web Service via the return route, and then to the customer.

Solution components

The joint solution for the POC used the following products.

Adobe products used:

• Adobe Reader/Acrobat
• Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions Server
• Adobe LiveCycle Designer, for consuming the WSDL file generated from business objects during form design
• Adobe LiveCycle Forms, for generating the PDF or HTML forms from an Adobe Form XML package, and sending/receiving requests and responses from the Web Services Gateway
• Adobe Form Server for IBM

IBM products used:

• WebSphere Studio Application Developer IE
• WebSphere Application Server
• WebSphere MQ, for message delivery
• WebSphere Web Services Gateway, for receiving SOAP messages from Adobe Forms, redirecting messages to the Web Services Adapter, and transferring responses to Adobe Forms
• WebSphere BI Adapter for Web Services, including WSDL Object Discovery Agent, for generating Business Objects and invoking the collaborations
• WebSphere InterChange Server, for hosting the collaborations
• WebSphere BI Server Foundation

The system architecture

This section describes the two alternative architectures that can be used in the solution.

Using WebSphere InterChange Server as the integration broker

Figure 2 shows the system design using WebSphere InterChange Server as the integration broker.

A universal client submits an HTML form as a SOAP message. This client can be an AdobeReader 6.0.2 client running as a portlet in WebSphere Portal, or part of a Lotus Workplace solution. The Web Services Gateway serves as the intermediary that invokes a Web Service. The Gateway is deployed on the Base edition of WebSphere Application Server V5.1. The SOAP/HTTP service endpoints for the exposed Web Services are available on port 9080, which is enabled for SSL communication. The Gateway application is configured to use WebSphere Security Basic Authentication using the gateway' administrative console.

The PolicyApplicationService.wsdl file defines the Web Service exposed by the Gateway. Ultimately, requests are redirected to the WebSphere InterChange Server Web Services adapter. This file must be available on some URL for a successful startup of the Gateway. A UDDI registry can be used.

The Web Services Adapter receives event notifications from the Gateway and invokes collaborations deployed in WebSphere InterChange Server. The Web Services Adapter is configured to host its HTTP listener on port 9081 for incoming requests.

The WebSphere InterChange Server hosts several collaborations that handle validation, data capture, and data updates from several back end applications. Using the gathered data, another collaboration invokes a Web service that uses Adobe LiveCycle Forms to generate a PDF form containing policy details. The PDF form can be delivered to the customer either through a portal or via e-mail.

Optionally, Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions Server can be used to apply rights to enable offline saving and signing by free Adobe Reader.

A link to sample code illustrating a Web service that combines document generation and secure digital signatures in an example workflow is provided below.

Using WebSphere BI Server Foundation as the integration broker

Process Choreographer is the BPEL-based workflow feature available in WebSphere BI Server Foundation. Figure 3 shows the system design that uses Server Foundation as the integration broker.

The universal client and the Web Services Gateway are described in the previous section.

The Server Foundation hosts the BPEL workflow that was developed using Process Choreographer tools. The workflow invokes a Web Service interface to a backend application. The BPEL workflow itself is exposed as a SOAP Web Service and exported to the Gateway. The Server Foundation listens on port 9082 for incoming requests and passes them on to the BPEL process when applicable.

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Sample code for Web service

The Adobe Enterprise Products site contains a download for a sample Web service. The sample illustrates how data from several software applications can be merged with XDP templates to produce PDF documents that are signed with a digital signature. The Web service combines APIs from Adobe LiveCycle Forms and Adobe Document Security Server. The server and client-side interface were created with WebSphere Studio Application Developer; the sample runs on WebSphere Application Server V5.1.

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Conclusion

The key to solving complex problems in document-based processes, application connectivity, and process integration is a flexible services-oriented solution that couples simple Adobe forms-based access to a company' services with the strong business integration capability offered by IBM middleware. A joint Adobe and IBM solution can extend the functionality of Adobe PDF forms to automate the data submission process, leveraging the Web and Acrobat Reader. It enables secure and intelligent information capture, and automated integration of this information into business processes. Adobe Systems and IBM can provide customers with the tools, run times, and custom services needed to build these solutions.

Resources

• To learn more about Adobe and IBM, visit the Adobe page on IBM developerWorkds for trial software and more information.
  
  
• The article Extending the IBM WebSphere Platform with Adobe Intelligent Documents (WebSphere Technical Journal, October 2004) describes a joint solution by Adobe and IBM that enables enterprises to communicate more effectively, automate document-based processes, access systems offline, share information securely, and exchange data and information with people and systems.
  
  
• More information about the complete line of Adobe LiveCycle products is available at the Adobe Document Services page.
  
  
• For more information on WebSphere BI Server Foundation, see the WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation page.
  
  
• For information on WebSphere Business Integration products, check out the WebSphere BI zone. You'll find technical documentation, how-to articles, education, downloads, product information, and more.
  
  
• For more information about WebSphere portal products, check out the WebSphere Portal for Multiplatforms page.
  
  
• For more information about WebSphere Application Server, see the WebSphere Application Server page.
  
  

About the authors

Anilkumar Attappilly is a member of the IBM WebSphere Business Development team, working with independent software vendors and business partners to adopt WebSphere platform technologies and other emerging technologies through real business solutions. He is a certified IT specialist in IBM US, has eight years experience in IT, and holds a post-graduate degree in computer science from Madras University. He has technical expertise with on demand e-business, Enterprise Service Bus, service-oriented architecture (SOA), Web services, Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and object-oriented technologies, including software middleware, programming languages and standards, such as J2EE, Enterprise Java Beans, Java™, WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Portal Server, WebSphere Business Integration and DB2.®.

Loni Stark has over seven years experience helping organizations streamline document, content and business processes. As financial services solution architect at Adobe Systems, Incorporated, she is responsible for managing solutions and architectures with partners and systems integrators. Prior to this, she held product management and engineering roles within Adobe's Intelligent Document Platform business unit. Stark holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and liberal arts from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. She has completed post-graduate work in the areas of marketing and management sciences at University of Berkeley and Stanford University in California.

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Table of contents

• Introduction
• The problem: Linking data capture with business processes
• The challenge: Applying standards-based technologies and Web-based delivery
• The solution: Using the joint capabilities of the Adobe LiveCycle platform and WebSphere BI products
• Adobe and IBM joint offerings
• Benefits of Adobe and IBM complementary technologies
• Case study: Generating policy applications for the insurance industry
• Sample code for Web service
• Conclusion
• Resources
• About the authors
• Comments

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