Welcome to ER/Studio Business Architect 17.0

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Thank you for using IDERA ER/Studio Business Architect. This is a tool for creating and sharing a graphical representation of your business from the core concepts that describe the business, to the processes that run the business. ER/Studio Business Architect's Process Modeling capabilities allow you to easily model your business processes and model how those processes use data. ER/Studio Business Architect's Conceptual Modeling provides an intuitive way to outline subject areas and concepts that can then drive the creation of detailed data models.

Getting Started

There are several tools available to help you get started with ER/Studio Business Architect:

·        Once you install ER/Studio Business Architect, you can import and open the sample compressed workspace that is included with the install (x:\Program Files\IDERA\ERStudio Business Architect X.X\samples\Workspaces\Waterfront Bank). Go to File>Import>Workspace from the main menu.

·        For an in-depth tutorial, see the Quick Start Guide which walks you through the creation and use of a basic workspace. This Quick Start Guide is available on the IDERA website at https://www.idera.com/support/productdocuments.

Before you use ER/Studio Business Architect, please read the information below.

What's New in Version 17.0

BPMN 2.0 Support

BPMN 2.0 Validation

Application Reference Object

New Sample Models

Release Notes

Important Advisory Notes

Known Issues and Bug Fixes

Additional Resources

Licensing Your IDERA Product

IDERA Product Support

IDERA Technical Support

IDERA on the Web

What's New in Version 17.0

BPMN 2.0 Support

ER/Studio Business Architect 17.0 supports BPMN 2.0. The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard helps identify the numerous steps in a business process using graphical representations. New features include:

·        Choreography diagrams that allow you to indicate tasks that include multiple participants in order to complete that task.

·        Conversation diagrams that help you to better show the complex conversations that need to take place between multiple participants in order to complete a process.

·        New events including Escalation Events, Signal Events, and Parallel Multiple Events.

·        Non-Interrupting Events which allow you to designate events on a boundary of a task or subprocess that does not interrupt other processes on your diagram.

·        Multiple Event Triggers have a new look that reflects the image change related to the BPMN 2.0 spec.

·        Throw/Catch Events are new options for several existing events to align with the BPMN 2.0 spec.

·        New Task Markers allow you to indicate the kind of Task Type that is available.

·        Reusable Subprocesses, previously known as Independent Subprocesses, allow you to drive your users to an additional diagram where you can expand the processes into further detail.

·        Event Subprocesses are triggered by an event and allow users to identify when those events spawn off a new process.

·        Call Activities are used to designate global processes that are used throughout your organization and help to alert users to places where repeatable processes can be streamlined and used

·        Sequential Multi-Instance Task Notation now appears as three horizontal bars as in the BPMN 2.0 spec.

·        New Gateways allow you to signify Exclusive Event Based Gateways and Parallel Event Based Gateways.

·        Message Objects now are available for diagrams and are attached to choreographies by default. These allow you to show initiating (sending) or non-initiating (receiving) messages.

·        Data Objects are improved and include markers that represent collections, input, and output.

BPMN 2.0 Validation

Select BPMN 2.0 Validation in your models and ER/Studio Business Architect validates your processes based on the BPMN 2.0 standards. If you draw an item that conflicts with these standards, then a message appears alerting you that what you are drawing does not meet the standards. You can override the validation if you choose.

Application Reference Object

Along with our other Reference Objects such as Steward, Business Unit, Business Rules, and Business Elements, Application Objects now allow you to designate the various applications that your organization uses.

New Sample Models

This release includes two new, easy to understand sample models available with your product installation.

They can be found via C:\Program Files (x86)\Idera\ERStudio Business Architect 2017\samples\Workspaces

These examples are there to help you understand what objects are available in BPMN 2.0 and what the common validation is. It also has several diagrams from the BPMN 2.0 specification that show how these objects can be used.

The Pizza Model is there to help users to understand some common diagrams in a way that is slightly humorous and easy to understand.

Release Notes

Important Advisory Notes

Known Issues and Bug Fixes

For the more recent list of known issues and bug fixes in this release, see http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/ERStudioBA/170/en/Release_Notes.

Additional Resources

Licensing Your IDERA Product

All IDERA products include a 14-day trial period. To continue using the product without interruption, we recommend that you license it as soon as possible. For information on licensing your product, refer to the Quick Start Guide. If you have not yet purchased this product, contact [email protected].

IDERA Product Support

The IDERA Web site is an excellent source for additional product information, including white papers, articles, discussion forums, and the IDERA Knowledge Base. Visit www.idera.com/support, or click any of the links below, to find:

IDERA Technical Support

If you have a valid maintenance contract with IDERA, the Technical Support team is available to assist you with any problems you have with our applications. Our maintenance contract also entitles registered users of IDERA products to download free software upgrades during the active contract period. Evaluators receive free technical support for the term of their evaluation (14 days).

We encourage you to open technical support cases via the Customer Support Center. For additional information about IDERA Technical Support, visit the Support section of our Web site.

IDERA on the Web

To download evaluations of other IDERA products or to learn more about our company and our products visit us at www.idera.com.