Netscape Communications Corp has announced process manager, a tool that enables, designs, deploys and manages business processes which are then deployed to a Netscape process manager engine running on top the company’s enterprise and directory servers. Once they are on the servers, the administrator part of the tool enables managers to control, audit and edit the processes. The business process will be available over intranets and extranets because they are stored on Netscape directory server, which supports Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), says Netscape. This new tool will put the company in competition with the likes of Platinum Technology Inc and others that enable managers to develop processes with reusable components and store them in repositories. The Netscape process manager is available now to Netscape-approved early adopters in private beta and will be commercially available in the fall – the company declined to be more specific. The company will only sell it as part of a larger bundle, including directory server and enterprise server. A $10,000 bundle will include 100 process manager express client licenses, two process manager builder seats, 100 directory server seats and one copy of enterprise server. Additional client licenses will cost $75 per seat and process manager builder seats will go for $1,500. There is an alternative pricing model for unlimited seats: extranet deployment is expected to start at $49,500 per server, says the company. It also says that there will only be two pricing models, and customers that already have enterprise and directory server will still have to spend $10,000 to get process manager.
