Uncategorized

OpenSpan 4.5 Public Beta is Here!

by Damon Lockwood March 30, 2010

After over a year of hard work, the next OpenSpan release is upon us. This morning we released the public beta of OpenSpan 4.5. For the first time, OpenSpan Studio will be free for anyone to download and evaluate.

For this release we rewrote our design environment to utilize Visual Studio Extensibility (VSX). OpenSpan Studio will now be available as both a Visual Studio 2008 plug-in and a stand-alone IDE. All OpenSpan developers will benefit from new features enabled by VSX such as source control integration, undo-redo and project references. However, we’re most excited by the new features we can offer .NET developers.

In 4.5, we have changed the output of OpenSpan projects to be .NET assemblies. At design-time, we still utilize XML documents to store the data, but we have added a build step that generates and compiles a class for the project and each project item (adapter, automation, etc.). The generated classes are identical to the classes utilized in OpenSpan automations. Anything you can do in OpenSpan automations you can now do with C#, VB or any .NET language.

So how do we anticipate people using this? Well, currently we have a number of customers who embed our functionality into new or existing windows forms or WPF applications they have created. Our new features will make this integration simple and seamless, enabling more complex integrations than ever before. In particular, with our re-parenting control, you can quickly and easily integrate web pages, terminal screens and Java applications into your composite application or mash-up not only visually, but functionally as well. Anytime you are creating a new .NET application, you should think about the benefits using OpenSpan can bring.

Needless to say this is a big step for us, one that has necessitated not just code changes but organizational changes as well. In order to support the needs of developers, we have introduced a new developer portal with forums and code samples and also a new incident-based support model. I hope you’ll check out the beta and give us feedback on the forums. To get started, check out the OpenSpan Community.

Read the full article →

Monitor the process not the machine

by Chris Mills February 19, 2010
Every application logs a varying amount of information about what occurs when users or other systems interact with it. These logs are sent to a database or a file location – it doesn’t really matter which because what you end up with is a silo of data that means nothing unless correlated and placed in the context of an overall business process. With most users interacting with anywhere between 5 and 15 applications daily, you’ll have a similar number of these silos – all containing different pieces of data, which don’t tell the full story.

So why not just have this information stored in the same place and correlated to give you a single process based view? Well, most software products deployed to collect desktop events only look at operating system messages. These types of events are only good at showing you what applications are running and perhaps how people are using the clipboard to transfer data. What it doesn’t give you is the context of each application, such as which customer record the user is looking at in the CRM system, what fields they are changing, which field they just copied and pasted etc. Without this information you’re logging data that really isn’t showing the context of your business process – so why bother at all.

With the launch of OpenSpan Events, a passive monitoring platform with a simple upgrade path to full automation capabilities, you now have the ability to monitor exactly what is happening within every application. You don’t even have to alter your existing applications – OpenSpan runs in process and looks at events that are fired down to individual objects such as Text Boxes, Buttons etc. Events can be generated automatically (generic events) or at specific times within an overall process (custom events) – both types sending the contextual information about the event to a central place on your network.

Events are configured centrally via the OpenSpan Studio visual development environment, with the next release adding support for building everything within MS Visual Studio. Projects are deployed to user desktops in a rapid and secure fashion – with remote configuration capabilities and integration to Active Directory, you have complete control over your infrastructure.

Client machines publish events from the desktop using a publisher defined in the OpenSpan Studio. This controls how information is transmitted and where it’s stored. The default setup allows you to publish events via message queues (MSMQ, IBM MQ, Tibco, WebMethods, WebLogic), to a file or via SOAP. The publishers are pluggable mechanisms, so it’s possible to push events in any format to any existing system you may already have in place – so events can be easily communicated directly to leading BPMS, BAM and BI tools.

Visibility of the collected events is possible from the tool of your choice – the default setup has OpenSpan Events push data to our Events Collection Server where the data is written to a database (MS SQL or Oracle). The database is customised automatically based upon the event data being collected and is configured via the OpenSpan Studio environment. The schema of the database is well documented and can easily be used by any reporting tools on the market to visualise the status of your process.

For more information please visit www.openspan.com or email sales@openspan.com
Read the full article →

Next Generation Time and Motion (OpenSpan Events)

by Francis Carden February 8, 2010

Contact Centers have for years realized the importance of monitoring everything they possibly can in their contact centers. From capturing handling times, recording screens, monitoring AHT, wait times, first call resolution rates, the $ cost per second on the phone, the $ cost of a lost customer and so very much more.

But what’s missing I hear you say? I say, how can you possibly know what’s missing? Especially if you don’t know what other things can be measured.

So, since you don’t know, let me tell you. Did you know, you can now monitor all activity, down to a granular level, of anything a user can do on their desktop? I’m not talking just what applications they started or stopped. That’s easy. I am talking down to a granular level of monitoring every user interaction with every application and with each object inside that application. This computer generated “DNA” for each workflow has been the missing piece of enterprise analytics for years (unless you put a six sigma (time and motion) person at every desktop 24×7 with pencil, paper and a stopwatch!

Think of it, just pick one workflow in your organization. Say a mortgage refinance or to add a new device to a customers current plan. You know there are 6 or 10 applications involved in the workdlow. You know on average it takes a certain number of minutes to complete a task. You know you’ve trained everyone the same. BUT – what did each of your users REALLY do? in what applications? for how long? What buttons were pressed? what status was the customer in? How long before the agent went to the correct knowledge base article? Were the handling times of agents going to the knowledge base first, more or less than those agents who went there later in the workflow or not at all? What did the agents do in your Arizona contact center that made them 20% more productive than agents say in Georgia, except on Fridays after 3pm!

You see, when you really do see – into the heart of every workflow, on every desktop, with every application / human interaction, every field change, every button click. well, you get the point.

Desktop Analytics has been missing and it was a logical step for OpenSpan to takes it’s Automation injection technology and have it monitor. Hence you have OpenSpan Events today. Run it on you users desktop and that’s it. little to no configuration (unless you want to). I think Desktop Analytics is here and it’s here to stay. Check it out. http://www.openspan.com/Products/OpenSpanEvents.php

Read the full article →

OpenSpan – Smarter Contact Center Desktops

by Francis Carden November 5, 2009

Yes, that’s our new theme.

OpenSpan simply makes applications you already use, or have just brought – SMARTER. You don’t even have to own the app to make it smarter.

Here’s some early news on what’s coming very very soon.

1. I still can’t tell you the number one item yet, but in a few more weeks, you will find out – but it’s BIG, VERY BIG, so keep watching :)

2. If you are a Microsoft Visual Studio developer, the next release of OpenSpan runs as a VSIP plug-in for Visual Studio. If you are not a Visual Studio developer, don’t worry we still have a solution for you. As part of the download, we will bring down a free version of the Visual Studio shell which then enables VSIP plug-ins like OpenSpan Studio to run. It’s very cool how we have integrated the best of OpenSpan Studio with the best of Visual Studio (you can now even design your own UI forms and dashboards in Visual Studio directly and have them be part of any automation!). OpenSpan Studio is easier to use than ever so feel free to ping me and I’ll give you a link to an advanced pre-beta. Remember too, if you develop in IBM’s Lotus expeditor, our Studio runs inside that too as an OWC plug-in for expeditor. Oh, so many design choices now :)

3. Oh, I love this. OpenSpan is exposing all of it’s adapter elements and design time components for external developers to access directly from their own code. Whilst the visual drag-and-drap workflow/design paradigm of the OpenSpan studio is loved by developers and business analysts world-wide, die-hard programmers can now write say in C#, to interact in real-time with the objects created and exposed by OpenSpan. You will be able to write your own wrappers to 3rd party applications or even write code to wrap OpenSpan automations. Properties methods and events as well as automations are fully available through our Code Dom Serialization project (the tech term for this major feature). This is big and significant for die-hard developers and OEM partners.

4. OpenSpan Events has already been released but here is what’s new;

..* Fully configurable to use MS-MQ, TIBCO, JMS, IBM-MQ or Web Services as per your preference
.. * Now support’s generic events as well as custom events
Generic events will enable you to log all application activity, including all objects inside that application
without any interrogation of the objects in the application. OpenSpan Events automatically finds all
visibile and invisible objects and reports anything the application or user does with those objects to the
Analytics database for any drill-down graphical reporting and dash-boarding.
Custom Events then allows you to create your own events that get logged to the analytics database, so for
example, if you want to log a start transaction like, new account, change address, mortgage application, they
will all be sent to the analytics engine for advanced analytics around user activity on the desktop.
..* New Server-Side Components for Collection, Transformation and Loading of Events Data. Supports SQL
Server and Oracle databases
..* Developer mode to enable developers who license the OpenSpan Events to interact directly and/or bypass
messaging components so you can interact with OpenSpan events in any mode you desire.

As you can see, a lot is happening here at OpenSpan and there’s a lot more to come. We continue to listen to our customers and partners and excited by our world-leading position in this space. Keep watching..

Read the full article →

OpenSpan on Salesforce.com at AppExchange

by Francis Carden August 18, 2009

Cloud and/or SAAS applications are great but they tell only part of the integration story. How do you automate a workflow across two cloud applications? It’s not easy. Fact. Then say, these web apps (Typically Cloud and SAAS run in a browser) need to work with other applications running on the desktop – other web apps, Java Apps, Mainframe apps, Windows Client Server/Rich Client apps. The announcement today with Salesforce.com highlights very clearly that OpenSpan is truly making it easy for users and parters alike to bridge their automated workflows across any kind of application. Cool. We are about the only desktop productivity tool that opens our product up to the full scrutiny of our customers, so you can see/try before you buy. Not only are our demonstrations now online as recordings, you can now go to our sand box evaluation environment to run your own trial, up in the Amazon cloud.

Believe it or not, this is NOT the big Game Changing Event I was talking about in the last blog post but this is still pretty darned big. So you can imagine, just how big the soon to be coming new announcement is going to be :) keep Watching…

Read the full article →

OpenSpan Game Changing

by Francis Carden August 14, 2009

A couple of snippets to end the week. First, if you didn’t see this press release yesterday, I advise you go take a peak. Teletech to Implement, Resell OpenSpan. I am sure that many of you have realized by now, that OpenSpan has a product that not only enables its direct customers to optimize their desktops BUT extends to organizations that don’t even own the software they use (BPO, SAAS, Cloud). Whether you are an OpenSpan customer, an SI, A reseller, an OEM or now even a BPO, our product is so agile, it fits all channels. That’s the advantage of having a great product that does not requires massive services. Such is the ease of use and flexibility in the product, the solutions built in OpenSpan can adapt to changes that occur in the business at any pace.

Another note, I cannot say too much about. WATCH THIS SPACE. OpenSpan will be announcing a game changing event in the very near future. I won’t say too much other than to wet your appetite :) So, keep watching..

Read the full article →

Understand the process

by Chris Mills August 11, 2009
From time to time people will ask me what’s the most important thing to get right before you start down the path of automating a process (or part thereof). I’ve finally decided that actually the best thing you can arm yourself with is knowledge of the existing process.

Isn’t that so obvious? Well it maybe to most people but why is it that time and time again projects are started and in some cases finished, without first of all understanding where the problems are in the initial process. How can you fix something when you don’t know where it’s broken? The answer is you can’t and that’s why you find these projects either fail or you end up with massive delays as you’re forced to go back and understand the initial problems.

With a platform like OpenSpan, it’s possible to rapidly prototype a solution and run it past the business within what could be a matter of hours. This approach helps to show the business users what they’ll actually receive once the project goes live and keeps your timelines as short as possible. Francis Carden refers to this as failing faster and I tend to agree with him – it’s a nice way to learn what works and what doesn’t.

I always tell customers that I want to see the process in action. Show me how you do it today, let me watch the manual task, let me understand the pain. More often that not, with this knowledge we can make tweaks to the process very quickly that will have a massive impact when it becomes automated. This initial work doesn’t even have to take up a lot of time – I find that with the small processes we automate, this work can be completed anywhere between 1-4 days (including documentation).

Another obvious point to make that just about everybody fails on, is ensuring you are using like for like systems across your environments. So many projects are delayed by environments being different between development, test and production. These differences are picked up earlier in the development cycle if you’ve seen how the process is completed the “manual” way and it’s documented step by step (including screen shots).

OpenSpan has recently launched the OpenSpan Events product which allows you to monitor generic and custom events from virtually any application. This product can help you understand the current process by monitoring exactly what users do within each application and logging it to a central place. Analysis of this data will give you a good understanding of the problems with the process, for example it’s possible to see when a user cuts and pastes the same piece of data across different applications. You could even use OpenSpan Events to check that the systems are the same between your different environments by having it log version numbers as users interact with the applications.

One of the major benefits of using the OpenSpan platform is to decrease the time it takes to integrate your applications and automate your processes. With a typical project lasting around 5 weeks from start to finish, if you’re not prepared to start this rapid development approach you’ll see project times extended and you’ll loose some of the benefits we bring to the table.
Read the full article →

Automation is key to an optimized work force

by Francis Carden July 15, 2009

Without a doubt, many of our customers see significant benefits when they automate their end user tasks. Some customers have seen over $25m a year in time savings in their first automated solution rolled out to their users. This stands to reason though. Given the incredible manual steps needed to be undertaken by users to say, cancel a credit card, open a new account, initiate a wire transfer, open a new mortgage (the list goes on). Sometimes we see hundreds of manual steps across multiple applications and the user spends more time at the keyboard figuring out the next step than they do helping the customer get more from their organization.

Simple logic says, if you can automate these workflows, which for years have been mostly manual, the benefits are huge. Time saving, reduced training time, elimination of errors, happier customers, more up-sell opportunity and all the related “stuff”.

But user applications up until now lack the ability to be automated. Even new web applications and portals lack the ability to take data out of or into other systems without heavy IT investment up front. Multiply that by the fact they are probably still running some mainframe, client server and java apps as well and it is easy to see why most users are manual users.

OpenSpan has really changed that. We have a vast number of users, now running automated workflows in large and small mission critical environments. Each day, I am constantly amazed by the types of use cases our users are using us for. There is now almost no limit to what end user tasks can be automated. Cool.

Read the full article →

Trial

by Chris Mills July 15, 2009
We’ve just announced a new way to try out the OpenSpan software using a cloud based service from Amazon. You can register here and you’ll be given a machine in the cloud that is preconfigured with a the OpenSpan platform and a set of tutorials and finished solutions.

It’s a simple, easy way to try our award winning software. Try it for free for 30 days at http://www.openspan.com/Members/TrialIndex.php

Read the full article →

How OpenSpan Could Support the Google Chrome OS (and Linux in General)

by Damon Lockwood July 13, 2009

Last week I mentioned that I would follow-up my original post on the Google Chrome OS with a post on how OpenSpan could support the Google Chrome OS (and Linux in general). I emphasize could, because we currently have no plans to support the Google Chrome OS or Linux. Thus, this post is really just informed speculation on how our technology could be applied to Linux.

Diagram 1
Diagram 2
Diagram 3Typically, when we talk about OpenSpan, we focus on our Windows translator, Scout, as the base layer which everything builds upon. In fact, we often say “OpenSpan sits in between the application and Windows”. We then talk about how we use the Scout layer to detect when additional technologies are loaded into an application so we can load translators to expose those technologies. For example, to explain how we support Java, we might whiteboard something like Diagram 1.

However, Diagram 1 isn’t really correct. There’s actually another layer below Windows, the instrumentation layer, responsible for hooking x86-64 byte code. Of course, once you’re dealing with byte code, you’re dealing with the processor, not the OS. Thus, our hooking library can hook functions on both Windows and Linux systems. When we add the instrumentation layer, our Java stack looks like Diagram 2.

So what would it look like if we added Linux to the mix? You might think that adding Linux would mean two different stacks, one on top of Windows, another on top Linux. However, this isn’t the case. For technologies that run on both Windows and Linux, the stacks would actually reconverge at that layer. Diagram 3 shows what our Java stack looks like with Linux.

Of course, there’s only a few UI frameworks that work on both Windows and Linux (see list here), most importantly Java and HTML. Unfortunately, HTML is a markup language rather than a binary specification so we have to adapt to each browser rather than HTML itself. However, we could still create a common set of HTML element objects that interact with each browser implementation through an abstraction layer. It gets even more interesting if you start thinking about server technologies.

To summarize, above the OS layer, most multi-platform technologies will reconverge on a common set of classes. Thus, although we will need to write a Linux layer, we will not need to write a new Java layer or two separate FireFox layers. Don’t get me wrong, supporting Linux would still require a significant degree of effort. However, it is a manageable amount of effort because we can build on the layers we already support.

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →