Home / Product / Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

How does it work?
ADE Process Engine is a process driven application development environment. It allows you to mirror a standard business flow diagram and by doing so create a powerful working application.

Properties are defined for each process including:

The types of data to be captured (character, numeric etc.);
How the data is to be captured (limit no. of characters or numeric range);
The conditions to be met;
The people who have access to a process.

Having entered the details of all processes, the user creating the application (known as the "Application Manager") has the option of previewing the application in a visual form.

Provided the Application Manager is happy with the current structure, the application is launched and is immediately available to end-users.

How long does it take to develop an application using ADE Process Engine?
A simple linear process with less than half a dozen processes can be automated using ADE in less than an hour. This allows for the learning curve of a first-time Application Manager and should be more than halved for an experienced user. Of course this will vary widely according to the complexity of the business processes to be automated.

What is the Application Manager interface like?
The Application Manager’s interface is wizard based. The Manager simply moves from one page to the next entering all relevant information. All information entered is carefully validated to ensure your applications will function as intended.

What is the End User interface like?
All end users use the same end user interface (known as the "Progress" interface) regardless of the application they are interacting with. It is possible for the Application Manager to customise the look and feel of this interface with graphical elements and colours, but the core functionality remains constant.

This consistency allows your end-users to have a single learning curve regardless of which business processes they are dealing with. For this reason, ADE’s end-user interface is popular with users. Once they are familiar with using one application built with the ADE they feel comfortable in any other application.

Essentially, the end-user interface allows your end-users to enter data. As they do so, the information is validated against the Application Manager’s rules. Examples of validations available on data are:

Number of characters;
Size of a number;
Force Menu values;
Dates relative to the present;
Number of decimal places.

What if the functionality of ADE does not meet our specific needs?
ADE Process Engine is a high-level development platform. Whilst it does cater for most application needs, there will be occasions when custom programming is required to accomplish certain tasks. Provided your programmers adhere to some basic rules, custom workflow can be placed seamlessly within an ADE application without adversely affecting the end-user’s experience.

What could ADE be used for?
ADE is a tool that can be applied in many scenarios. Below are some to consider:

ADE is a tool that can be applied in many scenarios. Below are some to consider:

ITSM Service Requests granularity of control for handling potentially complex IT Service Requests is required without the complication and expense of the full Service Request Management module. This could include procurement and approval processes.

ITSM Changes the linear nature of task templates available in the out-of-the-box product may not map to potentially complex change processes. For example, varying the route through processes depending on previously collected data

Customer Support Issues formalising the processes of resolving issues and adapting the process according to the type of issue

Configuration Management using the process engine as an adaptable means of tracking the attributes of an IT Infrastructure and accepting feeds from IT Discovery services

Data Centre Management building flexible repositories of data centre assets and linking DCM processes to them

Facilities Management the processes required to meet contractual obligations can be solidified, documented and followed using the process engine

Integration building an interface between two systems that is prone to change but avoiding the cost of re-writing to adapt to that change

Short Lived Processes tracking a process with a short lifespan that cannot justify an IT spend to automate but could still benefit from central management. With the process engine's low cost of configuring and deploying an application, processes that may otherwise be decentralised (eg. in spreadsheets) can take advantage of an enterprise database platform.

More importantly are the uses that we cannot think of. The ones that may linger as ideas in manager's heads but never quite get off the ground because of the large costs and efforts involved in launching and running a traditional IT application. ADE is different. ADE provides the secure and robust infrastructure to bring those ideas to life for a fraction of the cost of other methods. ADE brings the tools closer to the people that have the needs.templates.

What are the main benefits of using the ADE Process Engine?
SPEED ADE is a very fast development environment so that solutions can be up and running quickly and cost efficiently.

VERSATILITY ADE applications do not need to be changed by experienced programmers. Applications designed using the ADE Process Engine may be radically changed at any time whilst preserving crucial data integrity. Additionally, an "Application Manager" needs only limited IT skills to successfully implement changes to an existing ADE application.

INTEGRATION Records in one ADE application can be easily integrated and linked with records in another.

PORTABLE Applications created on one ADE server can be easily transferred to another.

SMALL PROCESSES One of P2's key strengths is its ability to automate tasks and processes that are too small, costly or counterproductive to automate in any other development environment.

CONSISTENT INTERFACE Your users have the advantage of not having to re-learn a new interface when using numerous ADE applications. The end user interface is consistent throughout all ADE applications yet but may be customised cosmetically by Application Managers to distinguish each application easily.

PROVEN PLATFORM Process Professional is built using a proven, stable and globally deployable business platform; BMC Software’s Remedy Action Request System. Remedy is used by more than 80% of Fortune 100 companies and is currently installed in over 10,000 sites worldwide. Remedy is the second most widely deployed enterprise applications vendor in the world.

COST The Remedy platform structures licenses so that users requiring the ability to modify data need to pay a premium. All other users can read and create data but not modify. The latter licenses are free and unlimited.

Process Professional does not charge per user connected to ADE but only per server regardless of the number of users. Additionally, only Application Managers require premium licenses as ordinary end-users of ADE applications can perform all tasks using the free and unlimited read licenses. This fact alone can have a significant impact on the bottom line of developing and running an application.