Have there been any free and open source BPMS released which run under .NET which are comparable (if not fuller) in functionality and maturity as JBPM?
A:
NetBpm is a .Net Port of JBpm1. NetBpm is an open source platform for building, executing and managing workflows. It is very simple to use and integrate in other .Net applications.
This Bpm Tool supports the build of Applications which are able to turn business models into executable software models. Business analysts are able to use a model driven approach to design, implement, execute and track business processes. So business people can easily react on business and strategy changes.
Robert Harvey
2009-06-10 18:10:34
Thanks for the response. I do like the idea of a direct port of JBPM, despite that normally ported products that are still primarily supported in their original form (in this case Java) very necessarily lag behind in feature additions. Unfortunately this one cannot be considered as a mature product or even a contender for business use. There has been only one release (a 0.x release at that) and doesn't appear to have progressed since January of 2007.
Tom
2009-06-10 18:55:48
A:
While not a full fledged BPMS, you can certainly use .NET's Workflow Management subsystem to build BPMS systems. It's not open source, but it is Free as in beer.
For example, see these articles:
Mystere Man
2009-06-10 18:27:12
It's worth noting that WF was rewritten from the ground up for version 4.0.
Robert Harvey
2009-06-10 18:31:43
http://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2009/01/01/windows-workflow-changes-direction.aspx
Robert Harvey
2009-06-10 18:32:14
Thanks for the response. I would consider .NET Workflow Management for some potentially lighter weight projects, such as simple forms processing, etc., however, there would be more 'write our own' than 'out of the box' to try to upgrade it to a BPMS ourselves. We're looking for something comparable to or better than JBPM out of the box. Anything much less than that and it begins to make more sense for us to just support Java and run JBPM.
Tom
2009-06-10 19:00:47
Sharepoint also adds some additional BPMS features, but then you're not Free as in beer anymore. For what it's worth, I agree. WWF has a lot of potential, but you do have to build a lot yourself.
Mystere Man
2009-06-10 22:00:03