Business process management (BPM) specialist Pegasystems has confirmed it is weeks away from launching version 5.1 of its SmartBPM suite. The new release will offer better usability, tighter integration with firms' middleware platforms and enhanced Asynchronous JavaScript And XML (Ajax) capabilities.

Version 5.1 is currently undergoing final testing and will be generally available from June, according to John Everhard technical director at BPM.

Everhard said that new functionality makes it easier for staff to build, manage and automate business processes. "Version 5.1 features a number of new wizards, help tools and working examples of business process models to make it easier to use," he added.

A series of pre-set process frameworks are also available for the financial services, insurance, and healthcare industries, and for common processes such as the handling of holiday requests.

New Ajax capabilities allow end-users looking at the software on a browser to only update part of the page. Everhard said that as a result the suite can offer more functionality, including "hover and see" tools for people using the BPM dashboard.

"It is critical with BPM suites that people access them through a browser as it is [otherwise] so expensive for firms to put the functionality on every desktop, particularly when some people may only use it occasionally to process a holiday request," said Everhard. "The use of Ajax has made browser-based applications far quicker and more responsive."

The new version also boasts full J2EE compliance and tighter integration with IBM's WebSphere and BEA's WebLogic middleware products. "The aim is to take full advantage of the transaction control and other functionality now being built into the middleware layer," said Everhard.