Understanding the IB-X Platform
After becoming familiar with the core concepts of IB-X, the next step is understanding how the major platform components work together.
Each component in the IB-X platform has a specific responsibility. Together, they provide everything required to design, execute, monitor, and manage automation solutions.
Designing Automation Solutions
The first stage is designing your automation.
Depending on where your automation will execute, you use one of the following designers:
| Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Agent Designer | Designs server-side Agents that execute on the IB-X platform. |
| Local Agent Designer | Designs Local Agents that execute on user workstations through Smart Station. |
| Form Designer | Creates forms used for human interactions within workflows. |
Both designers use the same workflow concepts, allowing you to visually build automation by connecting activities, configuring business logic, and defining execution paths.
Building Workflows
Workflows are built by combining activities that perform specific business operations.
Examples include:
- File processing
- Email automation
- API integrations
- Database operations
- AI interactions
- Document processing
- Human approvals
The available activities are organized into activity packs covering a wide range of automation scenarios.
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Connecting External Systems
Automation solutions often interact with external systems and cloud services.
IB-X provides reusable connections that securely store authentication and configuration details for these systems.
Typical connections include:
- Databases
- Email servers
- Cloud storage
- AI providers
- Enterprise applications
- Third-party APIs
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Adding AI Capabilities
Agents can be enhanced with artificial intelligence by combining AI activities with knowledge sources and AI service providers.
Typical capabilities include:
- Content generation
- Document analysis
- Knowledge retrieval
- Language understanding
- Conversational experiences
Knowledge used by AI-powered workflows is managed through Knowledge Bases.
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Executing Automation
Once an Agent or Local Agent has been published, it executes in the appropriate runtime environment.
| Automation Type | Runtime |
|---|---|
| Agent | IB-X platform |
| Local Agent | Smart Station |
Local Agents can also interact with users through Smart Buddy, providing a desktop experience for user-assisted automation.
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Managing the Platform
The AI Command Center is the central management portal for the IB-X platform.
From AI Command Center, you can:
- Create and manage Agents
- Publish and version automation solutions
- Configure connections
- Manage users and permissions
- Review reports
- Monitor automation executions
- Manage platform resources
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Monitoring and Administration
After deployment, automation solutions can be monitored through reports and administration tools.
These capabilities help you:
- Monitor automation executions
- Review logs
- Analyze performance
- Troubleshoot failures
- Manage platform health
Bringing Everything Together
The following diagram illustrates how the major platform components relate to one another.
AI Command Center
│
┌────────────────────┼────────────────────┐
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
Agent Designer Local Agent Designer Platform Management
│ │
▼ ▼
Build Workflow Build Workflow
│ │
├────────────┬───────┤
▼ ▼
Activities Connections / Knowledge Bases
│
▼
Publish
│
┌─────┴─────┐
▼ ▼
Agent Local Agent
(Runtime) (Smart Station)
│ │
│ ▼
│ Smart Buddy
│
└───────────┐
▼
Reports & Monitoring