What's new in IBM Case Foundation Version 5.2.0

IBM Case Foundation Version 5.2.0 is focused on consolidating and simplifying the administration of the P8 platform, which can help reduce the total cost of ownership. In Version 5.2.0, the Content Engine and Process Engine have been combined and now run as a single deployed application. The combined engine is called Content Platform Engine.

Because of this engine consolidation, the information about what’s new in the former Process Engine is included in What's new in Content Platform Engine Version 5.2.0.

Component withdrawals

The IBM FileNet Business Process Framework component and IBM Enterprise Content Management Widgets component (along with IBM Mashup Center) have been withdrawn from the IBM Case Foundation Version 5.2.0 bundle. For more information, see the IBM Case Foundation product announcement available at Offering Information.

What's new for installers

Case Analyzer publishing service is part of Content Platform Engine

With the 5.2 release, Content Engine and Process Engine are combined to become Content Platform Engine. The Content Platform Engine and the Case Analyzer publishing service software are installed from the Content Platform Engine installation program and deployed together as a single application server instance.

IBM Case Foundation installation has changed

The IBM Case Foundation installation is required for licensing of full workflow functionality and to install several tools that are required for Case Analyzer.

Because the Case Analyzer publishing service is now installed as part of Content Platform Engine, there is no separate installation program for the Case Analyzer engine and no need to install the Content Engine client software for Case Analyzer. You can choose to have the IBM Case Foundation installation program install the following optional components:

• IBM Cognos® Business Intelligence project
• Case Monitor project
• Case Analyzer Excel reports (Windows only)
• Case Analyzer SSAS Connector (Windows only)

Load balancing and high availability for Case Analyzer

Load balancing and high availability are achieved for Case Analyzer by using farms or clusters. Farming or clustering of Case Analyzer is in conjunction with Content Platform Engine.

New databases that are supported by Case Analyzer

Case Analyzer now supports Oracle and DB2® for Linux, UNIX and Windows, in addition to Microsoft SQL Server. A Microsoft SQL Server database is required for OLAP reports.

New operating systems that are supported by Case Analyzer

Because the Case Analyzer publishing service is installed as a part of Content Platform Engine, Case Analyzer now supports the operating systems that are supported by Content Platform Engine.

New Case Analyzer stores

After the Case Analyzer publishing service processes data from the workflow system, the data is saved in a Case Analyzer store. One Case Analyzer store can be associated with each workflow system. You no longer have to install multiple instances of Case Analyzer to process multiple Content Platform Engine databases. A database for a Case Analyzer store can be configured to use any of the supported database types.

What's new for administrators

Simplified administration for Case Analyzer

The Case Analyzer publishing service, along with Content Platform Engine, is administered with Administration Console for Content Platform Engine.

Creating and configuring Case Analyzer stores

Case Analyzer stores are created and configured through Administration Console for Content Platform Engine. You specify the database connection, schema, event pruning schedule, and publishing interval. If you want to enable OLAP integration, you specify the database host, database name, and cube processing scheduling.

Managing Case Analyzer stores

Case Analyzer stores are managed through the Case Analyzer Process Task Manager. You can maintain event logs and isolated regions for processing and pruning. User-defined data fields are created, modified, deleted, and imported through Case Analyzer Process Task Manager.

Configuring the Case Analyzer SSAS Connector

If you run OLAP operations on Content Platform Engine, Case Analyzer services use the Case Analyzer SSAS Connector. The Case Analyzer SSAS Connector is a proxy to communicate with the Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services for OLAP operations. Case Analyzer services use the Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) API to access the Case Analyzer SSAS Connector. You can specify a different RMI port if you choose not to use the default RMI port.

Monitoring recent historical data with Case Monitor

You can monitor recent historical data on an IBM Cognos Real-time Monitoring dashboard. Recent historical data is defined as business metric data summaries for the current week, month, or quarter. Case Monitor workbench objects are provided to monitor cases, tasks, work items, and workflow for the specified time periods. For more information, see Workbench objects for monitoring recent historical data.