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Q: Why should an organization use Cogility
Studio?
A: Cogility Studio delivers a unique
approach to enterprise-wide application integration and data
management. Cogility Studio enables radical improvements in IT
productivity and business agility while maximizing existing
infrastructure investments. Cogility Studio brings together recent
advances in critical technologies to provide a single Integrated
Development Environment for solving the on-going problem of
large-scale enterprise application integration, driven by complex,
customized executing business processes, while simultaneously
providing state-of-the-art data management functionality
Cogility Studio helps enterprises manage complex IT integration
projects by enabling the design, automation, and analysis of
processes, business intelligence, and reporting, providing the
infrastructure necessary to support Business Process Management
(BPM) and Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) functionality. Using
our products, companies can optimize existing technologies,
streamline the integration of new technologies, quickly understand
and address business weaknesses, easily recognize and take advantage
of new business opportunities, and significantly reduce maintenance
and support costs.
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Q: What does Cogility Studio do?
A: Cogility Studio is a tightly
integrated development environment that allows its users to fully
and completely define applications that are driven by customized
business processes that can incorporate and orchestrate logic from
other sources, such as web services or existing applications.
Cogility provides several unique innovations in BPM functionality.
For example, we provide the ability to invoke other functionality
and orchestrate its execution through simple extensions to the OMG's
Unified Modeling Language (UML). In addition, Cogility has developed
unique ways to manage the handling of transactions and exceptions in
complex processes using widely understood UML notation. Cogility
provides a unique capability to model complex processes using widely
understood, standards-based notation that can satisfy the most
demanding requirements for event-driven process complexity, Service
Oriented Architecture and mission-critical availability.
Simultaneously, users can implement sophisticated,
standards-based data management capabilities that provide for
real-time Business Activity Monitoring and interfaces to other
business intelligence technology. Using standards from the OMG's
Common Warehouse Meta-model (CWM) standard, Cogility Studio allows
modelers to develop sophisticated hierarchical data structures that
represent the individual applications or domains participating in a
process. This hierarchy culminates in a Master Information Model
that is driven by the leaf-level data structures through a series of
standards-based data transformations. The result is a powerful, yet
simple way to define a real-time Business Activity Monitoring
capability as well as provide interfaces to other business
intelligence tools and/or data warehouse capabilities.
Cogility Studio is based on the OMG's MDA approach to developing
applications. Cogility allows users to create complete and
consistent application models at a high level of abstraction,
separating the application definitions from the implementation
details. These meta-models contain all the information necessary to
"push" them into executability without having to further develop
application source code, data-base schemas, web service interfaces
and a variety of other necessary application "artifacts".
Once a composite application has been fully described, Cogility
Studio ensures that it is consistent and fully describes the
necessary artifacts for the application reflected in the model.
Using sophisticated application and scalability patterns developed
over many years by Cogility's specialists, Cogility Studio will then
"push" the model to executability by creating a platform-dependent
set of executable elements. Cogility has chosen standard J2EE
application servers as the vehicle for execution based on the wide
acceptance and available of this technology and based on the
increasing set of mission-critical features and capabilities that
can be inherited by J2EE applications.
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Q: What is included in the Cogility Studio
product?
A: Cogility Studio has three modules:
Cogility Modeler, Cogility Manager, and Cogility Insight.
Cogility Modeler is a multi-user environment where business
services, business processes, application data structures and data
transformations are specified. The resulting model is checked for
internal consistency and converted into a running J2EE application
for deployment. Cogility Manager is the runtime environment that
supports the executable model deployed from the Modeler. The model
deploys as a fully executable J2EE application with model-generated
Enterprise Java Beans and Web Services and a JDBC compliant
model-generated repository for storing the process automation logic
and any data related to the running processes. Cogility Insight
provides Web-based status monitoring and reporting capability.
Together, these three product modules can deliver full lifecycle
support for the design, execution, and analysis of complex IT
integration efforts.
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Q: Within our organization, who would
benefit by using Cogility Studio?
A: Cogility Modeler is a multi-user,
multi-domain environment that enables users to collaborate and build
an end-to-end view of an integrated enterprise. Business analysts
can define the business processes that drive the enterprise, while
application experts define the data structures and transformations
that carry the process communications into and out of the business
applications.
System administrators can deploy and monitor the performance of
the Manager module. Any stakeholders with appropriate permissions
can gain access to the status of running processes using our
Web-based interface, Cogility Insight. Think of Cogility
Studio as a solution that employs a common language to facilitate
open communication amongst various teams across the organization.
This end-to-end approach enables communication across teams,
eliminating the errors that often occur when integration projects
are successively modified and handed off to the next team.
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Q: What standards does Cogility Studio
support?
A: Cogility Studio is designed to be as
"open" as possible. The entire lifecycle supported by our three-part
architecture - Cogility Modeler, Manager, and Insight - is built in
compliance with the Object Management Group's (OMG) Model Driven
Architecture (MDA). Cogility Modeler defines the Platform
Independent Model (PIM) and then converts it into a Platform
Dependent Model (PDM) that can be compiled and deployed into the
runtime environment. The object data structures and behaviors use
the commonly adopted Unified Modeling Language (UML). Data
transformations between systems are specified following the OMG's
Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) standard. The design environment
exploits relevant standards to provide a mature, robust, and easy to
adopt feature set. Cogility Manager's environment supports
deployment on J2EE compliant application servers. It leverages the
Java Messaging Services (JMS) for asynchronous communications. It
supports SOAP over HTTP for access to Cogility deployed services,
with full WSDL support. It supports the invocation of remote Web
Services over the internet for orchestration. Cogility Insight Web
uses a Web based interface to monitor the details of model
execution. Cogility Insight Operational Support tools allow direct
interaction with the executing model in the J2EE environment for
queries, reports and orchestration events.
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Q: What are the advantages of
object-oriented processes?
A: When processes are designed in the
form of templates, a single diagram is required to show all of the
steps in the business process from start to finish. If you consider
all of the alternative actions that might be taken and exceptions
that need to be addressed as part of a "normal" business process,
these templates can quickly become unmanageable. The business logic
is often duplicated in template after template making even slight
modifications to frequently used procedures difficult to locate and
update. In an object-oriented approach, logic is specified only once
in a unique location and tied to the object responsible for the
action or activity. This makes the construction of complex business
processes much easier to layout and review, as well as significantly
reducing associated maintenance. With object-oriented technology,
the business logic of thousands of templates can frequently be
collapsed down to a much smaller number of easily located and
managed objects. The default business logic can be defined at a high
level and inherited, with variations in the logic handled by logic
overrides in specialized subclasses. This allows processes to be
dynamic, with the ability to vary execution logic based on the
recipient of a specific business event. This approach also provides
enhanced reusability and simplifies application maintenance by
isolating logic changes to specializations.
Q: Why use a Master Information Model
(MIM) to transform data between systems?
A: In many of today's integration
solutions, point-to-point connections are used to pass data between
systems. With very small numbers of non-redundant systems this might
make sense. Most businesses have many systems to integrate and they
may even have multiple systems performing similar roles.
For example, many companies have 50 or more systems just to
support billing functions. Under these circumstances, the number of
point-to-point connections required to support all possible business
scenarios grows to astronomic numbers.
Cogility Studio uses a central information model as a common
language to eliminate the large number of source and destination
combinations that must be supported. This solution only requires
each system to transform data into and out of the common format of
the MIM. Any system can initiate an event. The incoming message is
first transformed into the common format and then into the
destination system's format. This is a much smaller set of
transformations to support, and yet it still supports complete
freedom of data movement between systems. This approach also makes
it much easier to add a new system into the mix, because this can be
done in isolation. The new system does not have to learn about the
different data structures embodied by all the other applications it
might interact with.
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Q: What items are generated to make the
runtime integration work?
A: The models built in Cogility Modeler
are converted into a J2EE compliant application consisting of fully
functional Enterprise Java Beans and Web Services which are
generated from the model. The model deployment also creates the JDBC
compliant repository that supports the J2EE deployed elements..The
database can persist any information that is relevant to process
execution to enable steteful, long-lived business transactions.
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Q: How do users specify technical details
within Cogility Studio?
A: At the lowest level, there are three
ways to specify technical details that will be executed within the
runtime environment. The first method is through a series of
pre-defined attributes that have either a simple value or selection
that is required to specify the desired action. The second approach
is to use the Cogility Studio scripting language. This language is
an easy-to-learn and use extension to the UML standard Object
Constraint Language (OCL). The scripting language allows a high
level specification of required execution behavior. During runtime,
these scripts are executed using an abstraction layer that works
with the model metadata to convert the high level instructions to
ones that can be executed on the execution platform. The third
approach is to embed Java code into the model by instantiating Java
classes and invoking their methods, and pass in required parameters
to ensure proper execution. The developer is free to choose the
method that is most appropriate on a case by case basis.
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Q: Does Cogility Studio support the
import of existing data models?
A: Cogility Studio supports XMI® (XML
Metadata Interchange) formatted files for exchange of schema
definitions with external applications.
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Q: Does Cogility Studio integrate with
existing
Enterprise
Java Beans (EJBs)?
A: Yes, existing EJBs can be invoked as
part of the model in Cogility Studio. During the design phase,
users can specify the code to be invoked as part of the running
business processes. When the model is converted into its runtime
format and then deployed, the exchange of information between the
Cogility Manager application and the previously defined EJBs will be
fully automated.
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Q: How are models converted into J2EE
applications?
A: As part of the development of Cogility
Studio, we have developed a sophisticated map of generic business
processes and data structures onto the supported services of a J2EE
application server-based integration. Full support is provided for
transaction control, database and directory access, Java messaging,
and even Web services communication. This fully automated procedure
will convert any business model into an optimized integration
architecture that fully exploits all of these services.
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Q: Where can users see process status and
performance statistics?
A: Cogility Insight provides a Web-based
interface to any desktop user that has access and permissions to the
Web site. Administrators can decide for themselves if this
information should be visible outside the enterprise firewall. In
the event that partial visibility is desired for certain individuals
or groups, the environment supports user-level name and password
protection.
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Q: Can multiple people work on same model
at the same time?
A: Yes, Cogility Modeler supports true
client-server, multi-user access with a fine-grained versioning
system built in. This means that each individual's changes are made
and tracked on an object-by-object basis. This is vastly
superior to file based systems that require an entire file to be
locked. Change sets can be submitted at a time specified by the user
for coordination with other developers that might be working on an
overlapping portion of the model.
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Q: Does Cogility Studio support work on
multiple phases simultaneously?
A: Yes, Cogility Modeler has a
multi-branch configuration management approach. Users specify
the branch and version of objects that they wish to work on when
they log in. The environment will keep the various branches separate
so that one group can work on today's tactical enhancements while
another group is busy with next quarter's strategic initiatives.
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Q: When can the system be
upgraded?
A: Models can be updated at any time.
Cogility Manager supports multiple versions of the same model in
deployment at the same time. When a new version is ready for
deployment, existing business processes might still be running on
the integration server. Many systems would require that these
processes be completed before an upgrade was possible. Using
Cogility Studio, the new version of the model is deployed while the
processes are still running. As new orders are placed or
customer issues are opened, they will be run under the new process
definitions. At the same time, the older processes will complete
under the old definitions to ensure compatibility.
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Q: Which platforms does Cogility Studio
run on?
A: The Cogility Studio is 100% pure Java
and should support any environment that has a compatible virtual
machine available for it. In-house, we develop and test on Linux,
XP and Windows 2003 Server. The runtime environment is deployed onto
J2EE compliant application servers and will run on any environment
in which these servers are supported. Cogility has been successfully
deployed in a headless mainframe environment on an IBM AS400 server
under OS400, running IBM WebSphere.
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Q: Which application servers does
Cogility Studio support?
A: The platform is currently developed
and tested on WebSphere 6.1, Weblogic 9.X, and Oracle 10g application servers.
Support for additional J2EE compliant application servers will be
forthcoming.
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Q: Which databases does Cogility Studio
support?
A: We support Oracle 9i and 10g, IBM DB2 v8.x, MS SQL Server 2000, and MySQL v4.1. The database access is through the JDBC interface and is done automatically by Cogility
without requiring the specification of JDBC code. Porting and
testing of additional database technologies is fairly simple, and
will be performed on a customer-driven basis.
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Q: Which messaging technologies does
Cogility Studio support?
A: Cogility Manager uses either JMS or
Web Services to support incoming and outgoing messages. As a result,
any vendor's messaging solution that can receive and send either of
these formats will be compatible with our tools.
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Q: How can the system back-up its
repositories?
A: The data captured in the design
repository is stored in a database that can be backed-up using
standard methods and tools. Similarly, the data required to support
running processes is persisted into the runtime repository and can
also be backed-up using standard methods and tools. There isn't any
memory-resident information that would need to be explicitly saved
to recover the system in the event of a system crash or power
outage.
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Q: Who can update models?
A: The Cogility Modeler administrator can
control who has access to the various portions of the model.
Individual users are assigned a name and password.
Additionally, users are assigned to groups. Permissions to various
portions of the design environment can be controlled on a user or
group basis to prevent unauthorized tampering with the model.
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Q: Who can view model
status?
A: The Cogility Insight administrator can
assign name and password protection to the users that require access
to this data. Permissions can be assigned to limit access and
global control can be exercised through the use of firewalls.
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Q: Who are the people behind Cogility
Software?
A: The Cogility Software team is made up
of business integration and software development professionals who
have been developing model-based solutions for integrated system
specification over the last two decades. Our leadership team is
comprised of both business consulting professionals and technology
leadership, giving us the unique ability to understand your business
challenges and produce the most advanced technical solution for
business integration available today.
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Q: Who are Cogility Software's closest
competitors and how are you different?
A: Although there are many companies
claiming to address some of the issues Cogility Software solves,
there is no single company that delivers the functionality provided
by Cogility Studio. There are a number of data transformation tools
and process automation tools on the market. In order to automate
business functionality, you have to specify what information needs
to be moved and in what format (information modeling and data
transformation), and what conditions need to exist or what steps
should be followed to propagate and synchronize this information
(business processes). By combining these two aspects of business
automation into a single environment on top of a model-driven
abstraction layer, Cogility Studio offers a new approach to business
integration that is easier to understand and develop. At the same
time, Cogility Studio helps to reduce maintenance and support costs
and simplify enhancements to systems in the future.
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Q: Who are Cogility Software's
customers?
A: Cogility Studio is designed to serve any
organization, large or small, faced with integration challenges.
Cogility Software is a new entity currently operating as a fully
owned subsidiary of Ceira Technologies. We have been addressing
business automation issues as Ceira Technologies within major
corporations, including: Apria Healthcare, Ditech.com, GMAC,
Polycom, and Wells Fargo. Our solutions have consistently
demonstrated clear business value and reflect our belief that
technology should help businesses run more efficiently and
strategically.
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Q: How can I learn more about Cogility
Studio?
A: To learn more about how Cogility
Software can help your organization, please contact us at 949-752-4694,
e-mail us at sales@cogility.com, or visit
our Web site at http://www.cogilitysoftware.com/.
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