Processes automated in Metastorm BPM are now able to call rules in the BizTalk 2006 Business Rules Engine via Web services, and act on the results accordingly, the company says.

"The alignment of Metastorm BPM and BizTalk Server 2006 demonstrates Metastorm's continuing efforts to deepen and expand its relationship with Microsoft to help customers achieve greater levels of agility," says Trevor van Rensburg, products director at DVT Gauteng. "This latest collaboration is a perfect example of how Metastorm empowers customers to deploy the best solutions and realise extended value from their investment in business process management software."

Metastorm's support for the Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 is intended to enable organisations to reduce transaction costs by eliminating process stages, automating more process steps and centralising the maintenance and management of business rules.

It will also allow organisations to achieve greater agility, a core benefit of Metastorm's software and a key enabler of its focus on delivering enterprise process advantage, Van Rensburg says. "Enterprise process advantage enables a heightened level of business performance and strategic advantage by leveraging Metastorm to drive greater efficiency, control and agility across distinctive, core processes," he adds.

He continues: "Metastorm will take advantage of the technology offered by the Microsoft .NET framework to build further integration between Metastorm BPM and the BizTalk Server 2006 Business Rules Engine. It will offer an extension to the BizTalk Server 2006 Rules Designer, allowing the provision of test cases and facts that may be used while building policies in the BizTalk Server."