Business Processes As Simple As 1-2-3 2Business Processes As Simple As 1-2-3 2

Business-process automation vendor Nobilis Software Inc. is aiming to let inexperienced users publish Web services out of the business processes its software lets them create with just a few mouse clicks.

The company's Nobilis Ci and Nobilis Enterprise products let customers root through a "sandbox" of predefined, reusable components and business processes. Using a graphical interface, users arrange and connect the pieces as needed and run them immediately as applications. In the next update, due out early next year, users will be able to save processes as callable services and publish them to a public or private Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration directory.

Nobilis Ci is a $400 entry-level business-process automation product meant to be used by business personnel, not IT staff, with a good grasp of business requirements. The software lets them create workflows within familiar applications, such as Microsoft Excel, then export those processes using a Nobilis menu item that shows up in Office toolbars. Nobilis Enterprise will let IT organizations do the same for processes that extend across company walls and different enterprise apps. Nobilis also has said the new versions of the software will support Linux.

It gives companies a way to use business-process management for "quick-hit processes," Forrester research analyst Sharyn Leaver says. Companies that just want to automate simple processes like expense reporting or time sheets may find the software ideal, she says. It'll also be a lot easier on their bottom lines than a full business-process automation implementation.