Business Process Execution Language (BPEL)

A language developed to make it possible to specify a business process that can then be automatically exported to Web services or vice versa. Launched in 2003 by IBM, Microsoft and BEA, and then taken over by the OASIS standards organization, BPEL has never gotten much traction in the market. Its function has been subsumed by BPMN which is being given a rigorous syntax so it can serve the same purpose.