Team development in IBM BPM

Working with the Process Center

The Process Center includes a repository for all processes, services, and other assets created in IBM BPM authoring environments. You can use the Process Center repository to share artifacts with other users who are developing process applications and toolkits.

The Process Center console provides a convenient location in which to create and maintain high-level library items such as process applications and toolkits. Administrators who do not actively work in the Designer view can use the Process Center console to provide a framework in which BPM analysts and developers can build their processes and underlying implementations. Another primary task for administrators is managing access to the Process Center repository by setting up the appropriate authorization for users and groups. You can use the console in a web browser as well as in Process Designer and IBM Integration Designer

Reusing artifacts

Process developers use IBM BPM to reuse existing items, both within and across process applications. For example, if you know several services already exist that include artifacts that you and other developers need, you can access and reuse those items by including them in a toolkit. Then, from your process application, you can add a dependency to the toolkit that contains the items. You can then pick one of the existing services when you choose the implementation for an activity. The items in the toolkit can also be used by other developers working in different process applications.

If you are working with BPEL processes or services in the Business Integration perspective of Integration Designer, you can share artifacts from one module by placing them in a library. You or others can then reuse those artifacts in other modules. To use artifacts from a library, set up a dependency from that module to the library using the Integration Designer dependency editor. You can set up dependencies on a library from any number of modules.

Creating and managing groups

If you have configured IBM BPM to work with your external security provider, you can view the groups from that external provider in the Process Center console, but you cannot edit the external groups. You can, however, add users and groups from your external provider to any IBM BPM security groups that you create. When you create a group in IBM BPM, you can add users and groups from your external security provider to the IBM BPM group. You can also add IBM BPM users and groups, so that you can combine accounts from different providers into one group.

In addition to managing group membership, you can designate a Team Manager Group for each group. When you have a Team Manager Group, you can establish a hierarchy for the Team Performance dashboard available in Heritage Process Portal.

Team Performance dashboard

You can use standard dashboards in Heritage Process Portal (deprecated) to manage your business processes and the work done on these processes. The Team Performance dashboard shows the current status of the IBM BPM tasks for the groups for which you are designated as a team manager.

Tracks

Software configuration management systems

You can use Integration Designer with software configuration management (SCM) systems. You can view or change the preferences for available version control systems under Window > Preferences > Team.