Red Hat Adds AI Capabilities to Process Automation Suite

Red Hat has bolstered its Process Automation suite with its first-ever applied artificial-intelligence capabilities designed to expand the use of the platform with channel partners and their business customers.

The new version 7.5 of Red Hat Process Automation includes tools for predictive decision modeling and new support for the development of process- and decision-based business applications using micro-frontend architectures, the company said. Red Hat Process Automation was formerly known as JBoss BPM Suite.

The updated product now lets users incorporate predictive analytics into their decision management applications to build automated systems that help to better interpret and respond to changing market dynamics. Customers can now import and execute predictive models expressed in Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML), which lets companies integrate and exchange information between machine-learning platforms where predictive models are created and trained.

D. Martin, vice president of partners, alliances and the midmarket for Red Hat, told Channel Futures that by integrating AI into the suite, it will give channel partners new opportunities in offering the application as well as support services.

Red Hat’s D. Martin

“It allows partners to take a broader view of their entire portfolio in applying solutions for customers with our products,” said Martin. “We’ve enhanced it. Now it gives access to the data through AI, and now partners can apply their own IT services for customers.”

By bringing AI to the suite, customers will have more options and capabilities, which is expected to drive business for partners, said Martin.

“We’re trying to give partners a platform to give more value, to let partners put their services alongside it to offer it to customers. We’re looking for their expertise in co-delivering solutions,” he said.

Red Hat got input on the needed features through comments and feedback from partners, user communities, customers and its customer advisory board, said Martin.

“As an open source company, you have those kinds of feedback and input mechanisms that can give you more feedback than most other companies can get,” he said. “Now being able to take AI and bring in additional data and analytics to take care of things like governance, will give customers more capabilities. Those are the kinds of things customers are looking for, and partners are looking for the right tools to satisfy those requirements.”

As part of the new release, Red Hat will also offer marketing assistance and support for partners as they incorporate the latest version into their sales strategies, said Martin.

Charlotte Dunlap, an analyst with GlobalData, told Channel Futures that the suite’s new capabilities will likely be useful and attractive for partners and their customers.

“Process automation is a logical approach to application modernization projects, because it leverages business process management, AI and low-code capabilities to automate complex operational tasks around the microservices and serverless app development process,” said Dunlap. “The technology also invites non-developers to participate in the process. Red Hat is a leader in this space, but its solution will be even more compelling when integrated into the larger IBM Cloud and partner ecosystems to further reduce its complexity and cost.”

Red Hat Process Automation is used to help companies automate business decisions and processes by enabling closer collaboration between IT and business teams, while also enabling them to better capture and enforce business policies and procedures and automate business operations.

The latest Red Hat Process Automation suite is available now.