How is it different from building an application using visual studio for dot net or any visual java development tool?
The basic difference is the amount of programming that needs to be done is significantly reduced. Reasonably complex applications ERP, CRM, HMS, HCMS, etc can be built without writing programs in any programming language. However, fundamental database and SQL (select statements)

Knowledge is necessary.
Storing business processes as data will provide an additional advantage of having tools to bring out process dependencies and flow pictorially. This will increase control on the application and also make it responsive to changes. Coding may be needed only for bridging with other applications or devices. Hence, there will be considerable effort reduction in the overall ALM.

How many process structures can there be in a system?
There can be any number of process structures in a system. A process structure can also have relationship with many other process structures.

Can the process server be deployed on a Linux or Unix server?
The current version is available for deployment only under a MS Windows 2003. A Java based process server will be made available by end of March 2009 which can be deployed on any open servers.

What kind of skill is required to create an application on a process server?
Apart from domain knowledge a good knowledge on database and SQL statements is the basic skill required for building applications on a process server. The know-how on using Axpert stem is also needed. However, the Axpert Stem is a simple GUI driven intuitive tool that may not need very extensive training on using it. The tool can be mastered in a few days.

Can the data in an available database be re-used?
The data available in the database in other tables can be re-used just by using SQL statements. SQL can be attached to any data element in a structure or can be used to populate data into the structure. Hence, data available in the same database can be re-used without any additional effort.

How can it interact with other applications?
The process server publishes all its application functionality as web services. So, any external application can read data from the process server using its web services. Functionality of other applications can be executed from the structures by making web service calls.

Download pdf Axpert The Process Server