Innovator (software)

Innovator
Basic data
developer	MID GmbH
Publishing year	1986
Current  version	14.3.1 (May 11, 2020)
operating system	from Windows 7
category	UML tool , SysML tool, BPMN tool, DMN tool, data modeling tool
License	Proprietary , floating license , named user license model
German speaking	Yes
innovator.de

Innovator modeling platform that is enterprise architecture modeling , business process modeling , object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) and relational and multidimensional data modeling in software development support. Innovator is particularly suitable for MDA use , as the product is able to work with UML2 profiles for language expansion.

MID GmbH

The medium-sized company MID GmbH has been developing and selling Innovator independently since the mid-1980s. The Nuremberg-based software and consulting company has a branch in Zurich. MID GmbH is a member of the Object Management Group (OMG), the Open Group , the Software Quality and Advanced Training Working Group (ASQF), and is certified according to ISO 9001: 2015 .

General

In Innovator, concepts are created and further developed using a graphic notation that fits the respective method. The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), the Unified Modeling Language (UML), the Decision Model and Notation (DMN) and the data modeling ( Entity-Relationship-Model / SER-Model , database model ) offer powerful and clear specification options.

In addition to modeling the respective topics, relationships between business processes, IT systems and the corresponding data can also be modeled and documented. This supports company-wide integration and consolidation projects, as required by integrated information processing and service-oriented approaches.

In large companies there are usually established terms that employees are familiar with. At best, models of reality will take up exactly these terms in order to give employees the opportunity to read, understand and create concepts (models) without much learning. Domain-specific languages (DSL) are the technical term for this and are efficiently supported by Innovator. This goes so far that the graphical syntax is only a means to an end and nobody notices that they are using BPMN, UML, DMN, ER etc.

In the context of industrialized software development, not only must all those involved (business process engineer, software designer, etc.) be supplied with their own DSL, but the DSLs should be machine-evaluable in order to be able to activate automation potential. Innovator offers tried and tested graphic syntaxes (BPMN, UML, ERM, etc.), the degree of formalization of which is sufficient to be machine-readable, to which semantics have been added via DSL and which preserve the strength of the graphic representation.

Innovator uses BPMN and UML to model the business processes, so that a consistent, standardized notation from the business process model to the system design model is available.

Thanks to the central repository technology, changes are visible at the same time in all clients connected to the Internet / Intranet, which gives working with the tool a groupware character.

history

version	first release date	last release date	essential innovations
1	1986		Structogram editor Semi Graphical interface to ASCII - Terminal and PCs with MS-DOS
2.1 2.2 2.3	before 1988		Structogram debugger
3.0 3.1 3.2	before 1990		Semi-graphic analysis and design method RAD (Requirement Analysis Design) Generators from design to implementation
4.0	Q3 / 91	Q2 / 92	Graphic interfaces ( MS Windows and Motif )
4.1	Q2 / 92	Q2 / 93	Client / server architecture
4.2	Q2 / 93	Q2 / 94	Standard methods SA / SD SERM
4.3	Q2 / 94	Q4 / 95	OS / 2 Presentation Manager
5.0	Q4 / 95	Q3 / 97	OMT (Object Modeling Technique) with use cases (use cases) Process model Open the repository (documentation and API )
6.0	August 1997	July 1998	ER modeling UML modeling
6.1	November 1998	August 1999	Business workbench Free V models
6.2	October 1999	March 2000	Versioning API Mapping of model elements
7.0	January 2001	July 2002	Business process modeling with UML Model browser Profiles and namespaces Business- CASE and CASE-CASE (mapping) Template generation
8.0	September 2002	February 2003	Meta (meta-modeling with UML, currently not available)
8.1	June 2003	September 2004	user friendliness Web capability XML interfaces Object Constraint Language Eclipse integration Connection to PVCS Dimensions
9.0 InnovatorAOX 2006	December 2005	June 2006	UML 2 with user roles Configuration editor for UML2 profiles Java API oAW connection for Java, C #, C ++ Connection to Matlab V-model XT
9.1 Innovator 2007	October 2006	July 2007	LDAP import Artifacts BPEL Support of .NET Interface to ARIS Design Platform MID modeling methodology M³
10.0 Innovator 2008	April 2008	October 2008	Information management modeling Traceability wizard (dependency editor) XMI export Converting model elements C code from UML2 models
10.1 Innovator 2009	July 2009	July 2009	Merge tool for merging model versions Central user administration and authentication Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) for model elements Requirements diagrams to support requirements management Documentation modules XSD / WSDL import and export
11.1	April 2010	May 2010	Innovator for Business Analysts ( business process modeling with Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN 2.0) and Unified Modeling Language (UML 2.1)) Mask flowchart with extended BPMN Whiteboard diagram to show the connections between elements of BPMN and UML diagrams Extended testing of BPMN and UML metamodels
11.2	August 2010	October 2010	Organizational Chart (Innovator for Business Analysts) Business Resource Chart (Innovator for Business Analysts) State machine and state diagram (Innovator for Business Analysts)
11.3	December 2010	December 2010	Innovator for Database Architects ( ER , SER and database modeling ) Structure diagram (Innovator for Business Analysts) Model element attachment with any file type Model reading mode with the option for annotations
11.4	August 2011	September 2012	Innovator for Software Architects (UML modeling) Microsoft Office integration for requirements Animation of BPMN process paths (Innovator for Business Analysts) Change management through change sets Color and shape options for charts Smart icons for displaying additional information on model elements
11.5 11 R5	November 2012	October 2015	Multilingualism for diagrams Flexible storage of models locally or on the server Process map (Innovator for Business Analysts) Process cost analysis (Innovator for Business Analysts) Export to Microsoft Excel for process costing and requirements (Innovator for Business Analysts) Composition structure diagram (Innovator for Software Architects) Sequence diagram (Innovator for Software Architects) Distribution diagram (Innovator for Software Architects) Uniform IDEF1X notation in ER diagrams and database schemes
12.0	July 2014	October 2014	64-bit support Innovator for Enterprise Architects (ArchiMate Viewpoints)
12.1	December 2014	April 2015	Complete localization of the configuration profiles Data Vault 2.0 support Data models optionally visualize relationships between ER views and DB views "Beamer" makes it possible to derive elements flexibly and in a focused manner with role-appropriate illustration topics Impact analysis shows the networking of model elements using graphs Model export to smartfacts ( cloud- based model warehouse, collaboration and integration platform for IT models)
12.2	June 2015	July 2015	Extension of Innovator for Database Architects in the area of Business Intelligence / Data-Warehouse (multidimensional modeling, NoSQL ) and renaming to Innovator for Information Architects Model language and display languages ​​with appropriate hyphenation Dependencies between any diagrams
12.3	October 2015	March 2016	Extended change management with modeling steps for transfer to other model branches Comparison of entire models with regard to model content and / or configuration (UML profiles for all model types) Improved display of text differences
13.0	April 2016	July 2016	Advanced undo and redo (Undo / Redo) Quickly create and record essential properties of elements in table for content Auxiliary lines in the diagram for the arrangement of nodes Requirements as a special text definition in the specification editor
13.1	October 2016	December 2017	ArchiMate 3 support Support of the OMG standard "Decision Model and Notation (DMN)" Impact analysis manages configurations Keyboard operation in diagrams
13.2	August 2017	August 2017	Graphical and logical diagram comparison Editor for database views with IntelliSense support DDL export assistant
13.3	November 2017	August 2018	New merge editor for merging model versions, taking into account the reference time and change sets New administration program with central user administration
14.0	July 2018	August 2018	Version management renewed Comparison of profiles of the model configuration Database support expanded
14.1	April 2019	November 2019	DMN -1.1 support with decision simulation Modeling of enterprise architecture with ArchiMate® 3.1 Systems engineering with SysML 1.5 Export and import of model data with Microsoft Excel
14.2	November 2019	February 2020	Impact analysis as a diagram type with configuration of content and display SQL -based search function for complex queries DMN 1.2 support with decision services
14.3	May 2020		Language support for all languages ​​of the member states and candidate countries of the European Union as well as Russian and Turkish Export and import of interface files for translations More efficient modeling of the enterprise architecture (conceptual diagrams)

items

• Mickel, Johannes: Model-driven approach to the optimization of shop floor data structures for the use of a streaming data platform In: OBJEKTSpektrum. Online topic special Industry 4.0. 07/2018.
• Nathe, Elmar: From collector to handlebar - big data analytics in production In: Industrieanzeiger 07/2018.
• Müller, Michael: Data Vault: Modeling Approach for a Data Warehouse In: it-daily.net 04/2017.
• Lauer, Bernhard: DMN modeling with Innovator 13.1 In: dotnetpro 11/2016.
• Müller, Michael: Agility through automation of the data warehouse In: manage it 9–10 / 2016.
• Dr. Katja Eisentraut, Michael Jacob, Carl-Werner Oehlrich, Herbert Schwander: Aggregation and Composting: What's the Difference? In: OBJECT spectrum. 05/2013.
• Rempp, G., Akermann, M., Löffler, M., Lehmann, J .: Model Driven SOA Springer 2011
• Marcus Groß: The key to successful software development projects. In: eGovernment Computing. May 14, 2009.
• Christian Brandes, Andreas Ditze, Christian Kollee, David Kreische: Model-based testing implemented in a practical manner : From UML2 profile to test management tool. (PDF; 3.2 MB) In: OBJECT spectrum. March 2008.

Web links

• Innovator product information from MID GmbH, Nuremberg

Individual evidence

1. ↑ MID GmbH: Innovator Enterprise Modeling Suite. In: mid.de. MID GmbH, 2018, accessed June 25, 2019 . 
2. ↑ MID GmbH: How to contact us. In: mid.de. MID GmbH, 2018, accessed June 25, 2019 . 
3. ^ Object Management Group: Current Members. In: omg.org. OMG, accessed June 25, 2019 . 
4. ^ The Open Group: Silver Members. In: opengroup.org. The Open Group, accessed June 25, 2019 . 
5. ↑ MID GmbH: We are excellent. In: mid.de. MID GmbH, accessed on June 25, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Gerhard Rempp, Martin Loeffler, Mark Akermann, Jens Lehmann: Model Driven SOA . 1st edition. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-14469-1 , p. 410 ff .
7. ↑ MID GmbH: Compare Innovator Editions. In: mid.de. MID GmbH, 2018, accessed June 25, 2019 .