Chapter 1. Introduction

Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite is an open source business process management suite that combines Business Process Management and Business Rules Management and enables business and IT users to create, manage, validate, and deploy business processes and rules.

Red Hat JBoss BRMS and Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite use a centralized repository where all resources are stored. This ensures consistency, transparency, and the ability to audit across the business. Business users can modify business logic and business processes without requiring assistance from IT personnel.

To accommodate Business Rules component, Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite includes integrated Red Hat JBoss BRMS.

Business Resource Planner is included with this release.

Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite is supported for use with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (RHEL7).

Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite and Red Hat JBoss BRMS are supported on the following containers:

Containers marked with an asterisk (*) are fully supported and tested. For more information, see a list of Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite 6 Supported Configurations at Red Hat Knowledgebase. Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.0 is supported only for the Deployable ZIP installation option.

Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite and Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.4 support the following component versions:

Use one of the following Bill of Materials (BOM):

For further information about BOM, see the Dependency Management chapter of Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite Development Guide.

This section describes a use case of deploying Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite to automate business processes (such as loan approval process) at a retail bank. This use case is a typical process-based specific deployment that might be the first step in a wider adoption of Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite throughout an enterprise. It leverages features of both business rules and processes of Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite.

A retail bank offers several types of loan products each with varying terms and eligibility requirements. Customers requiring a loan must file a loan application with the bank. The bank then processes the application in several steps, such as verifying eligibility, determining terms, checking for fraudulent activity, and determining the most appropriate loan product. Once approved, the bank creates and funds a loan account for the applicant, who can then access funds. The bank must be sure to comply with all relevant banking regulations at each step of the process, and has to manage its loan portfolio to maximize profitability. Policies are in place to aid in decision making at each step, and those policies are actively managed to optimize outcomes for the bank.

Business analysts at the bank model the loan application processes using the BPMN2 authoring tools (Process Designer) in Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite. Here is the process flow:

Figure 1.1. High-Level Loan Application Process Flow

Business rules are developed with the rule authoring tools in Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite to enforce policies and make decisions. Rules are linked with the process models to enforce the correct policies at each process step.

The bank’s IT organization deploys the Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite so that the entire loan application process can be automated.

Figure 1.2. Loan Application Process Automation

The entire loan process and rules can be modified at any time by the bank’s business analysts. The bank is able to maintain constant compliance with changing regulations, and is able to quickly introduce new loan products and improve loan policies in order to compete effectively and drive profitability.