Workflow Process Service (WPS) is the lightweight, cloud-native edition of the workflow engine introduced with CP4BA 21.0.3: the same BPMN designer, coaches and REST APIs, packaged for quick starts and SaaS. Business Automation Workflow (BAW) on CP4BA is the full product. The differences:
| Workflow Process Service | BAW on CP4BA |
|---|
| Footprint | Small: authoring + runtime pods, PostgreSQL, no Db2 requirement; installable as a trial in minutes | Full stack: Workflow Center, Workflow Server(s), PFS, optionally Case (CPE, Navigator), BAI |
| Case management | No (workflow only) | Yes (case types, Case Builder, Navigator) |
| Integrations | REST external services, Java integrations (limited), JMS not in the SaaS edition | Everything BAW offers on containers (JMS / MQ, ECM, Java, Decisions, RPA, BAI) |
| Instances / scale | Departmental workloads; single runtime per instance | Enterprise scale, multiple Workflow Servers, instance migration policies, Operations REST |
| Delivery | CP4BA as a Service tenant (IBM operated) or a container on OpenShift | Containers on OpenShift you operate (or IBM's managed offerings) |
| Licensing | Included in CP4BA entitlement; SaaS subscription per user | Cloud Pak vCPU entitlement |
Choose WPS for new, self-contained workflow apps with REST integrations, small teams, SaaS preference or a quick proof of concept; choose BAW on CP4BA when you need case management, content integration (FileNet), messaging, several environments with promotion policies, or when migrating an existing BAW estate (WPS cannot import every traditional artifact - heritage services, BPEL and some integrations are out).
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