NexPrise is to enhance its nProcess Platform for development and
unveil 25 out-of-the-box applications for the manufacturing
industry, with the aim of helping companies automate business
processes to drive external collaboration.
The company is trumpeting quick ROI as the primary pay-off for
deploying its set of applications, which represent specific
business processes such as "engineering change notice" common to
industries such as aerospace, automotive, and defence.
The goal is to eliminate traditional paper-based systems,
streamline processes between partners and suppliers, and integrate
with back-end systems.
"We're providing applications that allow the sharing of information
between partners," said Ted Drysdale, chief executive officer and
president at NexPrise. "We eliminate the need for FedExing, for
example, and reduce cycle time and give companies better control
over a project."
The nProcess platform, which sits below the application layer,
comprises a set of authoring studios that enable custom development
of business process-related applications and Web services. The
studios automatically generate required Java code, database calls,
and other functions, leaving users to zero in on developing the
business logic, the company claimed.
NexPrise's recent purchase of InfoPrise provides the technology
that fuels the platform's XML-based integration with legacy
systems. InfoPrise also brings in a graphical workflow tool and
roles-based user interface that customises data presentation
depending on who is requesting it, officials said.
The collaborative platform is based on a proprietary security model
developed as part of a project for Lockheed and DARVA when NexPrise
launched in 1997. The company offers its applications on a hosted
basis, which accounts for about 80% of its customer base.
The other 20% buy the nProcess platform and applications outright.
NexPrise charges on a per-seat, per-month subscription model for
the use of its applications.
New features in nProcess include object definition and mapping for
business and data models; roles-based user interfaces; graphical
workflow tool for authoring both system-to-system and human
interactions; tools for creating templates and forms; legacy
integrations with applications and data sources including Oracle,
MatrixOne, Metaphase, SAP, Microsoft Access, SQL databases, ODBC
databases, and a variety of mainframe interfaces; integration with
Microsoft desktop applications such as Office and Excel; and
enhanced run-time services.