K2 will announce the release of K2[blackpearl] 0807 later today. The 0807 release focuses on greater stability and better performance including various enhancements and performance increases for the K2 Workspace, the K2 Designer for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, and the K2 blackpearl Workflow Server. Also included are post-0803 patches and bug fixes. There are a couple of exciting new features included; Out of Office functionality and K2 Interop.

For a complete list of improvements see my earlier post regarding the release of the the 0807 beta. The 0807 release can be downloaded from the K2 Partner and Customer Portal.

K2, SourceCode, K2[blackpearl]

Vancouver - 30th October 2008
Toronto - 4th November 2008
Montreal - 6th November 2008

Watch this space for more information regarding the agenda and registration details.

Microsoft, BizTalk, BizTalk Server, SOA, Connected Systems, Vancouver, Canada

The BizTalk Server 2009 release will have 5 core feature areas, including platform support, SOA & web services, business to business integration, device connectivity and developer and team productivity.

Microsoft plan on delivering a public CTP by the end of 2008 and should be on track for availability in the first half of calendar year 2009.

For more information on the roadmap and features:
Microsoft BizTalk Server Roadmap
Steve Martin: Director, CSD Product Management

Microsoft, BizTalk, BizTalk Server 2009, Steve Martin

The new release contains the following features and fixes:

1. Enhanced Active Directory Service Object
2. K2 Visual Studio stability
   • References
   • Source Control (support for TFS/VSS)
   • Memory management enhancements
3. Workspace
   • Enhanced paging and filtering
   • Multi-domain support
   • SmartObjects
   • Out-of-memory issue fixes
   • Deployment fixes on associations
   • Run-time performance fixes
   • More granular selection of workflow reporting SmartObjects on process deployment
4. Out of Office functionality
5. Workflow server – worklist “no data” issue fixes
6. K2 blackpearl Designer for Visual Studio 2005
   • Minor Wizards Sweep
   • Memory management enhancements
7. Migration
   1. Server Side Migration Tool – a separate utility that will be released based on the K2 blackpearl 0807 code base targeted for the week following K2 blackpearl 0807 RTM. This tool is used to migrate an existing K2.net 2003 databases/server to a new K2 blackpearl databases/server.
   2. Client Side Migration Tool – this is the ability to open a k2.net 2003 project (kpr) in K2 blackpearl Designer for Visual Studio and deploy that project to K2 blackpearl server. The “interop” code only happens on the client side. Once Finish is clicked on the old K2.net 2003 template, K2 takes all the code that would have been generated in 2003 and uses that in a native K2 blackpearl activity. Server side it is just executing .net code – same as if you used the migration tools above. Interop also provides the ability to build “hybrid” processes which include a mixture of K2 blackpearl wizards and K2.net 2003 templates in the same process. The 2003 Interop functionality is available in this release of K2 blackpearl 0807.

For more information on the enhancements, fixes and to download the beta visit the K2 Partner and Customer Portal.

K2, SourceCode, K2[blackpearl], beta

With the announcement of the imminent release of K2 blackpoint, K2 are offering you the chance to win one of three prizes in their Get to the Point(s) game. The game is simple; follow some clues, get some points. The top three point earners will win three great prizes. From more see the K2 blackpoint: Get to the Point(s) site.

K2, SourceCode, blackpoint

K2 blackpearl has been selected as the winner of the Best of Tech Ed 2008 Developers Awards for SharePoint Development.

“…K2 blackpearl is a prime example of a new breed of applications that helps developers get the most out of their SharePoint investment. Using a collection of easy to use tools and features, K2 blackpearl allows developers to quickly create applications that pull together disparate systems, information, and business processes. K2 blackpearl can leverage your existing infrastructure investment—including SharePoint, but also BizTalk and Forms Server—to surface the application mashups you create…”

For more see the article on Windows IT Pro.

K2, SourceCode, blackpearl, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, MOSS, Tech Ed 2008

K2 announced the release of K2 blackpoint in beta. K2 blackpoint is a subset of K2 blackpearl features and tools. It works on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) and allows users to build workflows and process-driven applications quickly — without code. Since K2 blackpoint is a subset of K2 bleackpearl, it is more affordable. However, it does offer an upgrade path so that customers can upgrade to blackpearl as their processes mature and become more complex.

The following provides a graphical indication of K2 blackpoint’s capapbilities:

To learn more and to sign up for a free trial, visit the K2 blackpoint site.

K2, SourceCode, blackpearl, blackpoint, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, MOSS

Inefficient Processes

Imagine that we need to copy some data from one system to another - e.g. a paper form that has been completed that now needs to be entered into a couple of systems (a database application and a financial system). This task may only take 30 minutes a day, which doesn’t seem like much. However, that adds up pretty quickly to 2.5 hours a week or 130 hours a year, and that’s just for a single task! Automating this task so that it needs to be keyed in once and then entered into both systems at once can save at least half the time it would normally take.

Another common scenario is that there are many manual processes that are not documented and contained in the minds of a few employees. This is often the case with long serving employees. They then become a pivotal part of the process and without them no-one knows what is required or how to complete the process. The process quickly becomes dependant on this one employee.

Associated Costs

Many of these costs are hidden from employers. Top and middle tier management are usually unaware of the associated costs of these inefficiencies. It can require some complex analysis to come to an actual cost of wasted time. The cost includes accrued overtime, time spent finding people required to assist or time wasted in finding the person who is responsible for the next task. These costs may be hidden, but they are very real.

Some will say that this is what we pay our employees to do - spend time on completing these tasks. While I agree with that, there is more to it - as employers we should strive to make all of the tasks that our employees have to do as efficient as possible, for a number of reasons:

• Decreased productivity. Saving your employee half of the time to complete monotonous tasks will free up their time to get other work done. In Canada today, employees are working increasingly longer hours and taking less vacation. This is a dangerous precedent that should be of concern to all employers. It is not a sustainable practice and can lead to employees burning out and quitting their jobs. When people are tired they end up making mistakes that should be avoidable. Their level of productivity drops and as a result their performance suffers.
• Attracting new employees. In Canada today, there is a general shortage of skilled workers, plus the fact that the majority of the workforce will be retiring within the next 10 years, is an issue of grave concern. Labour costs are increasing and finding the right employee for the job becomes a time consuming and expensive task. Once you find the “right” person, are they going to come and work at a firm with outdated processes requiring tedious manual tasks? I would be surprised. If they did, you would have to ask yourself whether this was the person you wanted to hire in the first place.
• Island of knowledge. With one person knowing all of the processes and how to complete the tasks, the firm becomes dependant on them. Should this person decide to leave or have an accident, the process comes to a complete stop. The time and effort required to complete the tasks is enormous and the chance of making mistakes is all too real.

Benefits of Process Improvement

With process improvement comes some valuable benefits.

• Higher quality of work. With an automated task, the chance for errors to occur is reduced. Employees can deal with more tasks and time management becomes easier. Rules and validation can be built into a single location affecting all instances of the process. The process tasks and activities becomes standardised and the results are consistent regardless of the employee responsible for the outcome.
• Reduced risk. The enterprise is no longer dependant on the process expert to be able to complete the task. Training of new staff becomes easier and the business can repeatedly complete all tasks within a given time period.
• Process improvement. Activities and tasks can be audited and it becomes easier to analyse trends and identify areas for improvement. Employees become accountable for their tasks. Escalations can be built into the process that will notify those responsible that some tasks are slipping and there may be a need for more resources to be allocated to certain areas within the process. Many of the process automation tools these days have the ability for people to set Out of Office notices which will re-route their tasks to others. This ensures that no task is left waiting while someone is on a well deserved vacation or out of town.
• Process documentation. The automated process becomes a documented process - the steps of required activities can be viewed in one place and it is easy to resolve questions about what the next step should be. Some of today’s process automation tools have documentation functionality included in the toolset. This can be a great way to get a formal process document started.
• Easier to automate additional processes. Once a single process has been automated, the process to automate tasks becomes known and can be improved. This is especially the case once a process automation framework has been established. With each additional process being streamlined, the return on investment associated with process automation increases. Many of today’s process engines provide scalable solutions allowing for the enterprise to grow without the need to hire many new resources. With the lack of available personnel and high labour costs, the firm’s bottom line is better off as well.
• Reporting. As soon as tasks, activities and process associated data can be tracked, it becomes possible to report on them. This is a huge benefit, especially to management, who can use this information to make informed decisions about business strategy and planning.

While some of these benefits are obvious, others are less so. Yet they are all key to the continued success of a company’s ability to do business. Often, during the post-implementation debriefing process I’ve heard decision-makers question why this process streamlining exercise wasn’t done sooner. While that is a good question, hindsight is always 20-20. It takes a certain amount of fortitude to ask “How can we improve the work we do?” and that can be lacking when we’re working long hours to complete the tasks that we are required to do on a daily basis…regardless of how inefficient the process may be.

Avantage Partners, Business Process, Business Process Automation

64-BIT SUPPORT
64-bit support allows K2[blackpearl] components to be installed on 64-bit hardware platforms. Support for the 64-bit platform includes the following components.
    > 64-bit SQL Server 2005
    > 64-bit SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
    > 64-bit SharePoint 2007 (WSS/MOSS/Forms Server)
    > 64-bit K2 [blackpearl] Server
    > 64-bit K2 Workspace

WORLDWIDE ENGLISH (INTERNATIONALIZATION)
Worldwide English support allows K2 [blackpearl] to run in English on non-English platforms. Support for non-English platforms includes the following components.
    >  Windows 2003 Server (Standard or better)
    >  SQL Server 2005
    >  SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
    >  SharePoint 2007 (WSS/MOSS/Forms Server)
    >  Visual Studio 2005 (Professional or better)
    >  Visio 2007

LICENSE MANAGEMENT
The K2 license management feature adds the following capabilities.
    >  Add / Delete license
    >  Edit existing licenses
    >  Manage Logged in Users
    >  Manage License over usage

DISTRIBUTED INSTALLATION ENHANCEMENTS
The K2 Installation Manager and K2 Configuration Manager tools have been greatly enhanced to allow for greater flexibility and robustness when installing K2 [blackpearl] in distributed environments, including the following.
    >  Improved support for network load balanced web front ends in SharePoint farms
    >  Improved support for network load balanced K2 Workspace scenarios

PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS
Numerous performance enhancements have been implemented. Some of the highlights are as follows.
    >  Workflow Server Performance
    >  Improved processes execution
    >  Worklist & Worklist Item performance
    >  Improved memory usage when starting processes and finishing work list items
    >  Improved batch execution of K2 processes
    >  SmartObject Performance
    >  SmartObject Server data handling enhancements
    >  Client Data Marshalling enhancement
    >  SmartObject Synchronization - see KB000250 - SmartObject GUID Synchronization

IPC EVENT
The following issues have been fixed relating to the IPC Event.
    >  Process Synchronization using Batch Actioning, IPC Sync Events, and Worklist Navigation
    >  Worklist Issues with Multiple Destinations, IPC Events and Dynamic Roles
    >  Not all processes in a solution are displayed when browsing for child processes in an IPC Event
        wizard
    >  When an activity contains an IPC event where the destination user is mapped to the child process and
        is used in a client event, both users are able to view the other user’s work items.

DOCUMENTATION
Several additions and enhancements have been made to the K2 blackpearl Documentation. The key areas of improvement are as follows:

1. OVERALL DOCUMENTATION
    >  Combined all documents to be linked from CHM file for easier discovery
    >  Added a “Send Feedback” link to all topics
    >  Added/Improved content for Troubleshooting, License Management, K2 Wizards, SmartObject
        (Delete), 2003 Interoperability and InfoPath Templates

2. GETTING STARTED GUIDE
The K2 [blackpearl] Getting Started Guide has been completely rewritten to provide clear concise information for planning and installation including the following.
    >  A Getting Started Checklist spreadsheet is embedded in the guide to help you plan, document and
        verify your K2 environment
    >  Software prerequisites list is provided by component and by role
    >  A new “Before you begin” section has been added that details steps for configuring DNS, Service
        Accounts, Permissions, NLB, SPNs, MSMQ and DTC
    >  Detailed information for installing in a distributed environment has been greatly enhanced
    >  New topics have been added to the Troubleshooting the Installation section

3. DEVELOPER REFERENCE (FORMERLY SDK)
The K2 [blackpearl] Developer Reference was introduced mid Q1 and has been updated with the following new content for 0803.
    >  Database Overview & Schemas
Architecture topics
    >  Architectural Overview of K2 [blackpearl]
    >  Architecture of Authoring, Management and Runtime aspects of the K2 platform
    >  Architecture of the Workflow Server
    >  Architecture of the SmartObject Server
    >  Architecture of the Event Bus
    >  Architecture of the Environment Library
    >  Architecture of the Workspace Management Console
New “How To” topics
    >  How to access and return information from the Global Worklist
    >  How to upload a file to a SmartObject
    >  How to add a 3rd-party event recorder to the K2 [blackpearl] Server
    >  How to create a custom MSBuild task to set rights on a process
    >  How to Generate a Report in PDF format

COMPATABILITY MATRIX
The K2 [blackpearl] Compatibility Matrix has been added to the customer portal at http://portal.k2workflow. com/help/k2blackpearl/k2bpmatrix.aspx.
Please take the time to review the latest K2 [blackpearl] 0803 (4.8075.1.0) Release Notes and product documentation before installing 0803 to ensure you understand the enhancements, fixed issues, and outstanding known issues.
DOWNLOAD K2 [BLACKPEARL] 0803 (4.8075.1.0)
K2 [blackpearl] 0803 (4.8075.1.0) is available at https://portal.k2workflow.com/do wnloads/bp/Default.aspx. 
License keys can be obtained at https://portal.k2workflow.com/lice nsekey/Default.aspx.  The page can also be found via the Support > License Key Request > License Key menu on portal.
The 0803 installer is slipstreamed, so if K2 blackpearl is not already present, the installer will install K2 blackpearl with the 0803 updates.

SUPPORT
Please use the customer portal to open support tickets and/or contact your local support offices to report any issues. Additionally, the K2 blackpearl public forum on K2 Underground is available for community-based discussions: http://k2underground.com/forums/default.aspx?GroupID=21.  Note: K2 Underground is a community Web site and should not be used for production support issues or for logging bugs.

SourceCode, K2, K2[blackpearl], K2 Underground

Yesterday Microsoft announced their intention to release a licensed upgrade of BizTalk Server - BizTalk Server 2006 R3. It will include the following features:

• New web service registry capabilities with support for UDDI version 3.0
• Enhanced service enablement of applications, i.e. new and enhanced adapters for LOB applications, databases, and legacy/host systems
• Enhanced service enablement of “edge” devices through BizTalk RFID Mobile
• Enhanced interoperability and connectivity support for B2B protocols (like SWIFT, EDI, etc)
• SOA patterns and best practices guidance

The expected release date is by June 2009.

For more information on this view Steve Martin’s blog.

Microsoft, BizTalk, BizTalk Server 2006 R3, Steve Martin