Overview of BonitaSoft
BonitaSoft offers the Bonita platform, an open-source and extensible solution designed for business process automation and optimization. Here’s a detailed look at what the product does and its key features.
Purpose and Goals
The Bonita platform is engineered to accelerate the development, deployment, and maintenance of automation projects. It integrates seamlessly with existing information systems, orchestrates heterogeneous systems, and provides deep visibility into process execution across the organization. This platform is tailored to support business goals by automating specific processes, such as parts reordering in manufacturing or generic goals like improving efficiency through automated expense reporting systems.
Key Components
The Bonita platform consists of three main components:
Bonita Studio
- This is the development environment where users can design and build processes, data models, and user interfaces. It includes tools like the whiteboard for process flow diagrams, low-code development tools for data models and applications, and the UI Designer for creating process forms and application pages. Bonita Studio supports collaboration between citizen developers (who input business aspects) and professional developers (who handle technical configurations and custom extensions).
Bonita Runtime
- This is the runtime environment responsible for executing the BPM engine and the applications. It can be deployed on various hosts, including physical machines, virtual machines, cloud instances, or containers like Docker. Bonita Runtime can be configured as a single node or as a cluster for enhanced performance. It includes the Bonita User Application for users to view and complete tasks, the Bonita Administrator Application for process management, and the Bonita Super Administrator Application for technical setup and maintenance.
Bonita Continuous Delivery
- Available in subscription editions, this tool facilitates the iterative deployment of projects from one environment to another, streamlining the development and deployment process.
Key Features and Functionality
- Process Modeling and Workflow Automation: Bonita supports BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) for process modeling, allowing for the creation and automation of complex workflows.
- User Interface Design: The UI Designer enables the creation of customized application pages, forms, and layouts, ensuring a user-friendly interface for process tasks.
- Integration Capabilities: Bonita integrates with external information systems through connectors, which can be standard or custom-built. This allows for seamless interaction with various databases and services.
- Business Data Management: The platform supports the modeling and persistence of business objects, storing data either in the Bonita Business Data database or in existing company databases.
- Task Management and Collaboration: Bonita includes tools for task management, collaboration, and role-based access control, ensuring that processes are executed efficiently and securely.
- Process Simulation and Monitoring: Features like process simulation help in testing and optimizing processes before deployment, while process monitoring provides real-time visibility into process execution.
- Reporting and Analytics: The platform offers reporting and analytics capabilities to help in evaluating process performance and making data-driven decisions.
- Mobile Access and Customizable Dashboards: Bonita provides mobile access and customizable dashboards, enhancing user experience and flexibility.
- Business Rules Engine and Notifications: A built-in business rules engine allows for the automation of decision-making processes, and notifications ensure that stakeholders are informed at critical points.
Editions and Deployment
Bonita is available in several editions, including the Open Source (Community) edition for experimenting with the platform and the Enterprise edition for core and critical projects, which includes additional features like cluster deployment and cloud supervision.
In summary, BonitaSoft’s Bonita platform is a robust solution for business process automation, offering a comprehensive set of tools for development, deployment, and management. Its extensibility, integration capabilities, and user-friendly interface make it a versatile choice for a wide range of businesses.