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Announcing IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions 9.3.0

By Phil Simpson posted 14 days ago

  

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions (BAMOE) is a cloud-native, open-source platform for building and deploying business automation applications. A developer-first solution, it includes a set of building blocks for creating highly scalable and compact business applications tuned specifically for modern hybrid-cloud environments. BAMOE leverages widely used industry standards, including Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and Decision Model and Notation (DMN) to bridge the needs of both technical and business users and reduce misalignment between business requirements and actual code implementation.  See our website here for more information.

With this 9.3.0 release, BAMOE marks a major milestone, introducing AI-powered automation capabilities for the first time. This release expands BAMOE’s role from a robust cloud-native business automation platform to an intelligent automation engine that can now interact with Large Language Models (LLMs) and Agentic AI frameworks. Alongside these groundbreaking AI integrations, IBM BAMOE 9.3.0 delivers a modernized technology stack, enhanced developer tooling, and extended support for decision modeling standards. These advancements enable organizations to build, deploy, and scale smarter, more adaptive automation solutions across enterprise environments. IBM BAMOE 9.3.0 equips teams with the tools to lead in the era of intelligent automation.

What’s New and Updated 

New AI Integrations 

IBM BAMOE 9.3.0 introduces powerful new AI capabilities that enable automation solutions to become more intelligent, adaptive, and conversational

Generative AI Tasks in Workflows 

Generative AI Tasks can now be embedded directly into BPMN workflows, allowing business processes to interact with Large Language Models (LLMs). These tasks support real-world use cases such as: 

  • Automatically generating personalized customer responses in service workflows 

  • Creating executive summaries from structured business data for reporting workflows 

  • Drafting regulatory compliance narratives based on decision outcomes in financial services 

This integration enables workflows to adapt in real-time based on AI-generated insights, improving responsiveness and personalization.

IBM BAMOE(PAM & DMOE) tools are now exposed through an MCP Server, making them consumable by Agentic AI frameworks of the client’s choice.
This enables developers to:

  • Build AI Agents that orchestrate IBM BAMOE capabilities such as workflow execution, decision evaluation, task management, job scheduling, runtime insights, and process instance migration 

  • Automate complex business tasks using natural language interfaces and intelligent agents 

  • Integrate IBM BAMOE into broader AI-driven enterprise automation strategies 

Modernized Technology Stack 

BAMOE 9.3.0 upgrades its core technologies to align with modern enterprise standards: 

  • Java 21 is now the default runtime, offering improved performance and long-term support 

  • Kubernetes 1.32 ensures compatibility with the latest container orchestration features 

  • PostgreSQL 17.5 brings enhanced performance and reliability for stateful workflows 

  • Spring Boot 3.4.9 supports modern Java standards and observability 

  • DMN 1.6 introduces advanced decision modeling capabilities

  • Java 17 remains supported for Dev Deployments, with dedicated packages available. 


Integrated Spring Boot Development Experience 

A new Spring Boot Web Application provides a seamless development experience, like the Quarkus Dev UI. Developers can run workflows, create process instances, and manage jobs and tasks - all within a unified interface. This replaces the Swagger UI used in previous releases. 


Building Workflows with Spring Boot 

A new Spring Boot accelerator is now available in IBM BAMOE Canvas and VS Code Developer Tools. It automatically transforms BPMN models into executable Business Service projects, streamlining development, testing, and deployment. 


New BPMN Editor 

The BPMN Editor introduced as a tech preview in version 9.2.1 is now the default editor in 9.3.0. It includes new features and usability improvements for modeling complex workflows with ease. 


Custom Task Nodes for Work Item Handlers 

Developers can now create custom task nodes directly in BPMN models that bind to Work Item Handlers, simplifying integration with external systems and custom logic. 


OpenAPI and GraphQL Schema Deliverables 

All IBM BAMOE APIs now include standardized OpenAPI specifications and GraphQL schema files, making it easier to integrate, document, and reference IBM BAMOE services in enterprise environments. 


Data Cleanup Tool for Workflow Subsystems 

To manage growing volumes of workflow data, IBM BAMOE introduces a data cleanup tool that removes obsolete records, improving query performance and database responsiveness in production environments. 


DMN 1.6 Support 

IBM BAMOE 9.3.0 brings full support for DMN 1.6, including: 

  • B-FEEL expression language 

  • Simplified InputData assignment across nested imports 

  • Enhanced boxed filter and iterator expressions 

  • Updated hit policy behavior 

  • New value properties for date/time types 

  • Improved error handling modes (lenient/strict) 

  • Decimal-to-integer conversion 

  • New descendant operator for nested contexts 

These updates improve modeling flexibility, consistency, and expressiveness for decision services. 


Deprecated Components 

The following classic editors are now deprecated: 

  • DMN Editor (classic) 

  • BPMN Editor (classic) 

  • Test Scenario Editor (classic) 

Users are encouraged to transition to the new editors for improved functionality and support. 


Final Thoughts 

BAMOE 9.3.0 marks a significant evolution of the platform.  BAMOE developers can now build applications that use generative AI to eliminate or significantly reduce the manual labor often required in automated workflows.  For example, a gen AI task can be used to write an email, summarize a case, research a topic, etc. where previously a human task would have been used.  The immediate result is greater speed and efficiency, and lower costs to the business.  Additionally, the integration with Agentic AI frameworks made possible through the MCP server now enables any MCP-compliant agent to utilize applications developed on BAMOE. So, for example, a financial services company can publish its onboarding applications so that an agent tasked with onboarding a new client could directly invoke those applications to carry out various steps.  Taken together, these two new capabilities enable businesses to bring BAMOE's repeatable structure to otherwise non-deterministic and unpredictable AI frameworks, as is often needed in critical and regulated industries.

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