Meta Software Rolls-Out Version 4.1;
Introduces New Products to Further Enhance
its WorkFlow Analyzer Line
ACTION ITEMS
Meta Software Corporation, a leading developer of modeling and simulation products and services that help organizations improve critical business processes, has begun shipping WorkFlow Analyzer Version 4.1. The new release offers enhancements to WorkFlow Modeler, an improved interface to FileNET's workflow engine, and two new categories of products that complement the WorkFlow Analyzer family - MetaSoft Web and WorkForecaster.
MetaSoft Web is an active web server facility that encourages communication and consensus-building by letting you publish and view your WorkFlow Analyzer models on your corporate Intranet or over the World Wide Web. It combines high performance for model and diagram access, high image quality, ease of administration, and support for all popular browsers. "Because we license MetaSoft Web on a per-server basis, there is virtually no limit to the number of people in your organization who can view the models and see the process map by surfing to the MetaSoft Web on your corporate Intranet," explained Meta Software President Bob Seltzer. To see a live sample of the product in action, please visit http://MetaSoftWeb.metasoft.com.
WorkForecaster is an operations planning tool that lets users take a WorkFlow Analyzer model and acquire statistical data from a production workflow system, such as Plexus FloWare or FileNET Panagon Visual WorkFlo, to conduct simulations using that data. Seltzer notes that with WorkForecaster, organizations can fine-tune operations to better predict such system variables as staffing, workload, and resource requirements.
"With the release of Version 4.1 we have introduced the first in a series of WorkForecaster products that enable production managers, analysts, quality professionals and senior executives to instantly conduct simulation based on real-time data to better manage work," said Seltzer. "In the near future we will release WorkForecaster-based turnkey solutions for vertical markets that are built upon the technical foundation established in Release 4.1."
In addition, Version 4.1 offers an upgraded interface for FileNET users. The bridge to Visual WorkFlo allows FileNET users to annotate WorkFlow Modeler process models and forward-generate workflows for the Visual WorkFlo Composer. The instruction sheets generated correspond one-to-one with the WorkFlow Analyzer flat model, which is a big help when designing workflows.
WorkFlow Analyzer Version 4.1 builds on the comprehensive capabilities of its WorkFlow Modeler product with improved printing capabilities. Users can now print out the Node Tree diagram, and this new release also supports the standard IDEF0 two-page printing format, providing the context diagram and activity definition with each actual diagram. In addition, Version 4.1 offers submodel simulation, which adds to Version 4.0's Call Arrow functionality by enabling WorkFlow Simulator's code generator to follow the submodel links and to generate the simulation code into a single simulation model. Syntax checking has been expanded as well.
Meta Software Corporation, based in Cambridge, MA., develops graphical software tools that enable organizations to model and analyze complex business systems. Founded in 1985, Meta has earned a reputation of building quality products that solve real-world business problems and produce positive results for its customers.