Proposal for jBPM5 roadmap

A while ago, we presented a request for comments on jBPM5, where we asked you, our community, to provide feedback on the vision, architecture and key features for (the next version of) the jBPM project. We would like to thank anyone who participated in the discussion and provided feedback or suggested additional requirements.

Based on these requirements we would like to present a proposal for what we would like to include in the first release of jBPM5. While we have not yet pinpointed an exact date for this release (but we will do this asap, stay tuned), we are planning to release this near the end of the year (preferably a few months before even). As many people have requested, this release will focus on delivering a solid core and simple tooling, while additional (more advanced) features will be rolled out in the subsequent releases.

The key features of this release include:

• Native BPMN2 execution
• Highly configurable, embeddable, lightweight process engine using a generic process engine (PVM) underneath
• Domain-specific processes and rule / event integration
  
• Independent, human tasks service (using WS-HT)
• Eclipse and web tooling for things like process creation, deployment, management, reporting and human tasks.
• Migration capabilities from jBPM 3 and 4
  

More details on the roadmap can be found here. Disclaimer: this is currently still a proposal, so the content might still change (slightly), but we're planning to put out a confirmed roadmap as soon as possible.

Feedback on the roadmap is welcome on the jbpm-dev@lists.jboss.org mailing list.

By the way, don't fear that we're only getting started now. A lot has been implemented already, building on top of jBPM4 and Drools Flow. Don't worry, we're not building from scratch. And if you'd like to help a hand, you're more than welcome to drop a note on the mailing list as well.

JBoss User Group Belgium

I'll be doing a one-hour presentation "Looking forward to the future of (j)BPM" on the next JBoss User Group Belgium next week (Thursday, 3rd of June). Things are rapidly changing nowadays, so if you're in the vicinity and might be interested in we're doing regarding BPM in general, and jBPM5 in particular, don't hesitate to register as the seats are limited!