Upgrading from BAMOE version 8.0.x to version 9.5 involves more than just upgrading libraries. It represents a significant shift in the architecture, development model, and runtime behavior of your application. This section lists the most important differences to help you understand the changes and how they will impact your applications when you transition.

Development environment - from monolith to cloud-native

BAMOE version 8.0.x had a centralized architecture with Business Central and KIE Server. BAMOE version 9.5 adopts a cloud-native approach, built on Kogito, where business logic is packaged as independent microservices or embedded into applications. Each unit of business logic is developed in a Business Service project and packaged as a deployable runtime microservice, see Getting Started → Setting up a Business Service project

Business Central replaced by a new development stack

In BAMOE Business Central is no longer part of the toolchain, and is replaced by:

  • BAMOE Canvas — designed for business analysts and developers.

  • BAMOE Developer Tools for VS Code — designed for developers.

  • BAMOE Maven repository - to facilitate the development and testing of Business Services.

Learn more in the Development environment comparison section.

Authoring and execution split

In version 9.5, there is a clear separation between asset authoring (offline, in source control) and runtime execution (packaged into applications or services).

KIE Server with shared sessions replaced by microservices

In BAMOE version 8.0.x, KIE sessions (stateful/stateless) were managed centrally by the KIE Server which acted as a centralized runtime engine, following a client-server architecture. Applications interacted with it over REST or JMS to execute business processes, rules, and decisions. This allowed shared access to rule and process execution contexts.

In BAMOE version 9.5.0, this centralized model is replaced by a decentralized, cloud-native approach. KIE sessions still exist, embedded within each Business Service. They are no longer shared or exposed through a centralized runtime.

  • You now build and deploy business automation assets (processes, rules, and decisions) as independent microservices, using Kogito with Quarkus or Spring Boot. These services expose REST endpoints automatically. Learn more in Upgrading client-server projects.

  • Alternatively, you can embed business logic directly into plain Java applications that use the Drools or jBPM libraries directly, without relying on the Kogito runtime (see Upgrading standalone projects).

Because of this architectural change, it is no longer possible to access or manipulate shared rule facts across processes via a central session, affecting how DRLs and BPMN workflows work together (see Upgrading individual assets).

Runtime behavior and persistence

Persistence is optional and explicitly configured when needed in both BAMOE version 8.0.x and 9.5. In this way application persistence is compatible across supported platforms. The following databases are supported in version 9.5:

  • PostgreSQL

  • Microsoft SQL Server

  • Oracle

For more information on the versions supported see Release notes Supported environments

Event-driven architecture

BAMOE 9.5.0 supports reactive, event-driven applications through integration with Apache Kafka. Quarkus provides the most complete support for BPMN and reactive messaging in this context.

Learn more in the Upgrading event streaming.

Runtime environment

Learn more in the Runtime environment comparison section.

Runtime execution model

Each Business Service project can be packaged and deployed as an independent microservice.

SmartRouter

SmartRouter is not available in BAMOE version 9.5.0. Service discovery and orchestration are now handled through Kubernetes-native solutions.

Monitoring and management

The Runtime dashboards in Business Central are replaced by:

  • BAMOE Management Console

  • Operational data exposed via REST and GraphQL APIs

  • Integration with observability tools such as Prometheus and Grafana

Asset authoring and compatibility

DMN and BPMN

In BAMOE 9.5 the DMN and BPMN Editors have been rebuilt using React:

  • The DMN Editor now supports DMN 1.6.

  • The BPMN Editor is fully compatible with BPMN models created in 8.0.x including Work Item Definition files (WID).

  • Both editors offer better integration and validation for your decision and workflow artifacts.

Guided assets

Guided Rules, Guided Decision Tables, and other guided assets are no longer supported. These must be converted to DRL or DMN format. See Guided Assets for more information.

DSL and DSLR

Domain Specific Language and Domain Specific Language rule are no longer supported. These must be converted to DRL format. See Guided Assets for more information.

Test Scenarios

The Test Scenario Editor in BAMOE 9.5 supports DMN 1.6. DRL-based Test Scenarios have limited support, see Test Scenarios (SCESIM) for more information.

Forms

Version 8.0.x Forms are not compatible with BAMOE version 9.5. New forms must be created using BAMOE Developer Tools for VS Code, see Forms.

Security and governance

Authentication & authorization

BAMOE version 9.5 integrates with external Identity Providers (IdPs) that support OpenID Connect (OIDC), using the security capabilities of the chosen runtime (Quarkus or Spring Boot). This enables secure, standardized authentication mechanisms and aligns with modern enterprise infrastructure, see Securing Business Service API endpoints.

User and role management

In BAMOE 9.5.0 user and role definitions are no longer handled via Business Central. Instead, they must be configured externally using your selected IdP or through application-level configuration, depending on the runtime. This enables centralized identity and access control across services, see Upgrading authentication/authorization.

Versioning and collaboration

External Git integration

Source control and collaboration are now managed using external Git platforms (e.g., GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket), which integrate more naturally with modern CI/CD workflows. These Git providers are supported by BAMOE Canvas and BAMOE Developer Tools for VS Code. For more information on configuring your BAMOE Canvas installation to connect to your Git provider, see Installing Canvas

Deployment and CI/CD integration

Deployment targets

BAMOE version 9.5 is optimized for Cloud-native solutions. Business Services are packaged as container images and deployed using Kubernetes manifests or Helm charts.

CI/CD integration

All business assets are stored as plain text files in Git, making them ideal for CI/CD pipelines.

Testing

In BAMOE version 8.0.x, Business Central provided a graphical interface for authoring and executing tests, including support for Test Scenarios files.

In BAMOE version 9.5, testing is fully integrated into the developer workflow using Maven-based unit and integration tests. Test Scenario files (.scesim) are still supported and can be executed using Maven. Graphical components for executing tests and viewing results are provided by BAMOE Developer Tools for VS Code. Test outcomes are available in the console or build output. See Developing Decisions, Rules and Test Scenarios → Authoring unit tests with Test Scenarios