The RAVEN Blog

Ravenflow today announced that its new web-based process analysis and visualization service, RAVEN Cloud, attracted more than 10,000 users in its first eight weeks of availability.

RAVEN Cloud is delivered as a Microsoft Silverlight application and runs on the Microsoft Azure cloud-computing platform.  It provides access to Ravenflow’s powerful process modeling capability to people everywhere using nothing more than a web browser.  Launched on May 4th, RAVEN Cloud has been available as a free public beta at www.ravencloud.com.

“We had based usage expectations from discussions with other cloud vendors, but the level of user interest far exceeded our initial projections,” said David Ruiz, VP of Products at Ravenflow.  “In addition, users have provided valuable feedback, which we are taking into consideration as we continue to evolve the product over the summer.”

Based upon Ravenflow’s patented language processing technology, RAVEN Cloud finally allows business people to describe business processes or use cases in plain, everyday English.  It automatically identifies process gaps and other errors while generating visually rich process diagrams that all stakeholders can understand.  To create a sophisticated diagram in seconds, users simply type in their process narratives – or they can select one from the library of processes and use case templates that are included with RAVEN Cloud.

“Although some purists believe you shouldn’t be describing processes, but just drawing them, the reality is that many projects still involve written requirements that include text descriptions of processes, which are then drawn by the analyst in Visio or a BPMS tool,” said Sandy Kemsley, independent BPM analyst.  “For business analysts without robust process analysis skills, RAVEN Cloud can help them to provide work of value on a process project.”

To learn more about RAVEN Cloud, please visit www.ravencloud.com, or view our complimentary on-demand webinar, “Visualizing Business Processes with RAVEN Cloud,” to see how RAVEN Cloud automatically analyzes process narratives and generates diagrams from written descriptions of the process – so you don’t have to draw them.

Moving from legacy business systems to a new integrated ERP system can be a big change and challenge for you and your company. Find out how companies are using business process modeling to examine current processes, identify opportunities for more efficiency and better automation, and receive additional value from an implementation of a new ERP system.

This webinar will explain the process of a CCG Business Process definition workshop, identify the benefits you can expect from the workshop, and share the gains made by clients who have examined their processes with us recently.

Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Time: 10 – 11 a.m. PDT

Register Now!

Really, you can get the requirements definition and management tools you need, when you need them, for a price that won’t drain your entire IT budget.

As if trying to realizing the full value of requirements definition and management through visual modeling wasn’t challenging in its own right, now you have to contend with how to acquire and use these tools. Do I buy licenses? Can I lease? What about software on demand via SaaS on the cloud? If you want to learn how visual requirements definition via cloud computing can drive project success while saving you precious capital and time, Join IBM, Ravenflow, and CloudOne for this webinar.

Let’s face it: tight budgets, limited time, and reduced headcount forces everyone into an “office tools work good enough” strategy. We all know how that can turn out as evidenced by leading analyst reports that indicate nearly 70% of all software development projects are significantly challenged or fail outright! That’s why CloudOne and Ravenflow have teamed up with IBM Rational Software to empower businesses and IT stakeholders to collaborate in the cloud so that requirements are defined faster, more clearly and with greater quality. Join this webinar to learn about:

* The latest trends in cloud computing and SaaS-based business solutions for IBM Rational Jazz software
* Leveraging the cloud for anytime, anywhere requirements collaboration for your software development projects
* Leveraging IBM Rational Requirements Composer for end-to-end requirements authoring
* Leveraging RAVEN Visual Analyzer within IBM’s RRC to analyze and visualize use cases for greater quality and consistency
* Transforming your requirements process for more successful project outcomes

This webinar will include a live demonstration of IBM Rational Requirements Composer and RAVEN Visual Analyzer working seamlessly together on the CloudOne platform.

Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Time: 10 – 11 a.m. PDT

View now!

Whether documenting work procedures for a process improvement initiative or defining requirements for a new application project, drawing process diagrams from scratch has been the bane of many business users.

Visualizing business processes is the critical first step to understanding them, so they can be changed and optimized as required. But  far too many business and process analysts struggle to create diagrams that clearly and accurately reflect the way their company works. Despite advancements in drawing tools like Visio, it often takes hours or even days to get the diagram right.

Attend this free webinar to learn how RAVEN Cloud automatically generates diagrams from written descriptions of the process so you don’t have to draw them. Learn how to:

· Write process narratives in plain English
· Use RAVEN to analyze and visualize the text
· Identify and correct any errors or process gaps
· Review and re-orient the diagram as you wish
·  Download the diagram to your desktop

This webinar will include a live demonstration of RAVEN Cloud so you can see for yourself how to create visually stunning, error-free process diagrams in mere minutes.

Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Time: 10 – 11 a.m. PDT

Register Now!

Whether documenting work procedures for a process improvement initiative or defining requirements for a new application project, drawing process diagrams from scratch has been the bane of many business users.

Visualizing business processes is the critical first step to understanding them, so they can be changed and optimized as required. But  far too many business and process analysts struggle to create diagrams that clearly and accurately reflect the way their company works. Despite advancements in drawing tools like Visio, it often takes hours or even days to get the diagram right.

Attend this free webinar to learn how RAVEN Cloud automatically generates diagrams from written descriptions of the process so you don’t have to draw them. Learn how to:

· Write process narratives in plain English
· Use RAVEN to analyze and visualize the text
· Identify and correct any errors or process gaps
· Review and re-orient the diagram as you wish
·  Download the diagram to your desktop

This webinar will include a live demonstration of RAVEN Cloud so you can see for yourself how to create visually stunning, error-free process diagrams in mere minutes.

Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Time: 10 – 11 a.m. PDT

Watch it now!

The most common type of requirements problem, according to Gartner, is missing requirements. Incomplete requirements specifications often result in missed deadlines and rejection of applications at acceptance testing.

Improving communication with all stakeholders can dramatically reduce the number of missed requirements, improving quality and reducing overall time to market.

Attend this FREE webinar to learn more about finding missing requirements during elicitation sessions and during the requirements definition process, as well as solutions for accelerating the requirements development process. Learn how to:

- Identify the most common types of missed requirements
- Accelerate application time to market
- Link business and application development strategies
- Reduce rework costs
- Find missing requirements

This webinar includes a live demonstration of the award-winning RAVEN, winner of the 2009 JOLT Productivity Award!

Date: Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Time: 10 – 11 a.m. PDT

Register Now!

Check out this Ravenflow-hosted webinar featuring Mary Gerush, Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc.

Mary spoke about the results of her two-year long journey researching requirements skills, best practices, processes, and tools. Mary spoke about how some of the latest trends, including Agile methodologies, Lean Software, and Software-as-a-Service, have changed the way organizations are defining and managing high quality software requirements in the pursuit of delivering better products.

Watch it now!