Glossary – Boomi Flow

Key concepts and definition of terms that appear in the Boomi Flow website, Drawing Tool, technical documentation, blogs, and marketing communications.


A/B testing 
A/B testing is the method of showing users two different versions of the same thing (web page/app/campaign), to see which one is getting a better response.

Account (Salesforce)
An account in Salesforce is an entity you want to track (for example, a customer or a competitor). You can find more information on accounts here.

AD FS or Active Directory Federation Services is a standards-based service from the Microsoft stable, that lets identity information be shared securely between trusted business partners (known as a federation), over a corporate extranet. You can find more information on ADFS here.

Agile software development
Agile is a software development methodology, where software is developed in small incremental chunks. The advantage of such an iterative approach is that software development can be adaptive to changes in requirements, and new updates can be pushed out rapidly.

Apex (Salesforce)
Apex is a programming language that lets developers execute flow and transaction control statements in Salesforce.

Abbreviation for Application Programming Interface. An API is a software library or protocol that facilitates interaction between different software or services. You can find the Boomi Flow API documentation here.

Abbreviation for application. At Boomi Flow, we convert business processes into flow diagrams, which get converted into applications automatically by the Boomi Flow Engine. A typical flow includes user roles, business rules, and routing based on the rules.

Application integration
Application integration, also called enterprise application integration (EAI) is the process of integrating the data or processes of two or more enterprise apps.

Approval process
An approval process is a process that is used in an organization to get records, changes, etc. officially agreed to. You can use Boomi Flow to build apps that automate your approval processes.

Assets are files you may want to include in your workflow; like images, videos, or presentations. You can find more information on assets here.

Authentication is the process by which your user (or groups of users) are identified by an app. Boomi Flow apps typically use a username and password combination for authentication. You can use the default Identity service that comes with your tenant for this, or use a third-party service like Salesforce. You can also build public apps that do not require any authentication to run.

Azure Active Directory
Azure Active Directory or Azure AD is a directory and identity management service from Microsoft. You can find more information on Azure AD here.


Business-to-business. Refers to transactions between two business entities. You can use Boomi Flow to build B2B apps.

Business-to-consumer. Refers to transactions between a business and its consumers. You can use Boomi Flow to build B2C apps.

Business-to-business-to-consumer. Refers to transactions where Business A buys something from Business B, repurposes it, and sells it to its own consumers. You can use Boomi Flow to build B2B2C apps.

The backend refers to that part of the app which is not visible to the end-user, for example data storage.

Bandwidth is the rate at which data is transferred from one point to another; typically expressed in bits per second.

Aligning a value used in your flow with a record type from an external system.

Created at Twitter, Bootstrap is an open-source framework for developing responsive, mobile-first web projects.

Breadcrumbs are a graphical navigational tool within an app, that shows users their location.

Abbreviation for Business Process Management. BPM focuses on increasing enterprise efficiency by managing and optimizing a company’s business processes.

A builder is a person building flows. A tenant can have multiple builders.

Business object
A business object in a Boomi Flow is a representation of a real-world business entity within the app. Business objects have certain properties, and follow business rules. Business objects interact with other business objects, and may contain business objects. Business objects created for one app for an organization can be reused in other apps within the same organization.

Example: A procurement system application for AwesomeCompany Industries, can have a lead business object, which can contain a request for information (RFI) business object. A business rule can be implemented in the application to send out weekly emails to the lead object.

Business process
A business process is a group of activities within a company that has a specific business outcome. A business process or app has business objects, that can interact with other business objects, and follows business rules. You can use Boomi Flow to convert business processes into apps.

Business rules
Business rules in a Boomi Flow application are a representation of real-world business rules (or policies or logic). Business rules can be used to define different outcomes or actions based on conditions specified in the rule. Business rules can be implemented for user interface, data, routing, or validation.

Example: An app can be set up to show different screens to the user, based on an If-Then conditional within the application.


When you are building an app with Boomi Flow, the canvas is where you will build the flow.

A cache is a temporary storage area, where data is stored locally for faster retrieval.

Case (Salesforce)
A case in Salesforce is a customer interaction. It could be customer feedback, question, support request etc. You can find a Salesforce case management implementation guide here.

Chatter (Salesforce)
Chatter is an enterprise social network from Salesforce. You can find more information on Chatter here.

Chatter feed (Salesforce)
Chatter feed lists all recent activities in Chatter, like posts from people you follow or updates to records you follow. You can embed a flow in a Chatter action or link Chatter posts to running flows.

Citizen developer
A citizen developer is a professional who builds business apps for others to use, typically outside the governance of an enterprise’s IT team. Building apps is usually not the prime job role of citizen developers, and often they may not be software engineers themselves.

Cloud computing is a way of using a network to access hardware/software based in a remote location, on demand. The Boomi Flow Drawing Tool is a cloud-based low code platform for app development. You can access your app, including app content and metadata online. You do not need to install any software on your local machine or on-premise to be able to build or deploy apps either. (However, apps you build with Boomi Flow can run offline as well.)

The technology infrastructure of an enterprise may have to conform to established industry standards, as well as local laws and regulations on privacy and security, depending on its line of business. If the organization is using external resources, like cloud services or an app development platform like Boomi Flow, the external resources can be responsible for compliance as well.

Boomi Flow has been certified ISO27001:2013 compliant. The Boomi Flow platform provides HIPAA compliance in encryption, disaster recovery, access controls, and auditing. Customers can leverage the Boomi Flow platform’s PCI-DSS compliance to reduce their own PCI compliance complexity. The Boomi Flow platform has also been implemented using the HITRUST CSF. You can find more information on Boomi Flow’s security and compliance program here.

Contact (Salesforce)
A contact in Salesforce is a person associated with your account. You can embed flows as components in the Salesforce Service console for a contact.

Console (Salesforce)
A Salesforce console is a workplace that is used by a sales or service team to manage multiple applications in the same tab, as well as update cases. The console shows multiple records on a single screen, and can be customized. You can embed an app as a console tab or a console component.

Console component (Salesforce)
You can add elements to your Salesforce console that lets you extend the functionality of the console or integrate apps. Components can be added to the footer, sidebar, interaction panels, etc. You can also customize and add a Visualforce page to your Salesforce console as a custom component. Here is how you can add a flow as a console component.

Continuous delivery (CD)
Continuous delivery is a software development methodology in which software is built, tested, and released incrementally in short cycles; instead of big infrequent updates.

Cloud native apps
Cloud native apps are apps designed to take advantage of the cloud architecture and cost efficiencies.

CRM or customer relationship management are the processes of managing and deriving intelligence from the customer touchpoint and potential leads a company has. You can use Boomi Flow to build a CRM app, either standalone or integrated with a third-party service like Salesforce.

CRUD; an acronym for create, read, update, and delete; represent the four basic operations of a persistent database.

CSS or Cascading Style Sheets is a language that describes the style and presentation of a HTML or XML document. CSS is helpful in separating the content of a flow (both data and metadata) from its style (or how the various elements are rendered). You can use CSS to customize the player your app is run in, to change the look and feel of your app as you like.


Data binding
Data binding is the process of connecting the business logic and application user interface, such that when a piece of data changes, the changes are automatically reflected in the elements connected to that data. Similarly, if the representation of data changes, the underlying data is updated automatically to reflect that change.

A DBMS or database management system is an application that can interact with users, other applications, and the database, to create, query, read, update or delete data.

A Decision is an element in the Boomi Flow Drawing Tool that allows you to route your flow via different execution paths depending on a set of conditions, for example if a value is equal to a specific text.

A default is a predetermined data or setting you use in a Boomi Flow app. For example, when you are creating values, you have the option of assigning default data to the values while you are creating them.

DevOps (combining the words “software DEVelopment” and “information technology OPerationS”) is the practice of operations teams working closely with software developers to develop and deploy software in cross-functional collaboration.

Distributed system
A distributed system is a group of autonomous computers (or software modules) in a network that relies on the process or infrastructure of the other modules to work with each other.

Docker is a platform that lets developers build and run distributed applications. You can find more information on Docker here.

The period of time in which an app/platform/service is not available, typically because of an unforeseen system outage. Boomi Flow downtimes are rare, and limited to a few seconds. You can find the live status of the Boomi Flow platform here.

Drawing Tool
The Drawing Tool is the Boomi Flow drag-and-drop environment that allows you to build an app. Clicking LOG IN logs you to the Boomi Flow Drawing Tool, with the Flows tab open.


EDI or electronic data interchange is a data transfer format used to exchange business data between applications that belong to different organizations or are geographically dispersed. EDI is maintained by the accredited standards committee ASC X12.

Encryption is the process of converting plain text into cipher for the purpose of security.

Enterprise application
An enterprise application (EA) is an application that is designed and built to be used by enterprises as part of their business operations, rather than individual users.

ERP or enterprise resource planning applications let companies integrate, view, and manage data from various business functions within the organization like finance, supply chain, manufacturing, sales, etc., in a single unified view.

An extranet is a private network within an organization, accessible to select groups of employees, partners, and other stakeholders over the Internet, upon authentication.


Field (Salesforce)
A field is where you store values like first names or addresses in Salesforce. If you think of your database as a spreadsheet, a record will be a row.

A firewall is a software or hardware system designed to prevent unauthorized users from accessing your network, by monitoring incoming and outgoing network traffic.

A flow (or a flow diagram) is how you build your app in Boomi Flow. Once you have diagrammed your business process on the Drawing Tool canvas, the Boomi Flow Engine converts it into a working app.

This is a flow:

This is the first screen of the app built using the flow:

Flow builder
Person building a flow using the Boomi Flow application.

Flow ID
An alphanumeric string that is unique to a flow. A Flow ID is generated when the flow is first created. See this.

Front end
Front end is the presentation or the user interface of an app, which is visible to end-users, and with which end-users interact directly.
This is the infrastructure and platform Salesforce is based on. includes configuration tools, APIs, and programming languages. If you are building custom apps for Salesforce, you would be building them using Force. com. Apex, Visualforce, SOQL, and Lightning are part of


Governor limits
Governor limits are runtime limits enforced by the Apex runtime engine in Salesforce.


The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), was enacted “to improve portability and continuity of health insurance coverage in the group and individual markets, to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in health insurance and health care delivery, to promote the use of medical savings accounts, to improve access to long-term care services and coverage, to simplify the administration of health insurance, and for other purposes.” HIPAA regulates the security and privacy of Protected Health Information. Boomi Flow is compliant with HIPAA security requirements.

Heroku is a cloud application platform that lets developers build and run applications in the cloud.

The HITRUST CSF is a certifiable framework for regulatory compliance and risk management. The Boomi Flow platform has been implemented using the HITRUST CSF. You can find more information on HITRUST CSF here. You can find more information on Boomi Flow’s security and compliance program here.

Hybrid IT
Hybrid IT is a technology infrastructure that combines both external and internal IT resources, typically existing legacy apps alongside newer public cloud services.


Identity Service
Boomi Flow applications need an identity service (like Salesforce or Box) that is used to authenticate access to a flow (with a username/password, token, etc.) and authorize access to parts of a flow (permissions for a swimlane, flow, etc.). Your Boomi Flow tenant comes with an Identity Service, which you can use to build public apps or apps that do not need third-party authentication. You are asked to select a service while creating your flow.

The iFrame is an inline HTML tag that lets you nest a document inside another document.

Instance (Salesforce)
Same as Org.

Integration testing
Integration testing is the process of testing two or more units of software as a combined unit to make sure they work as expected.

Internationalization (sometimes abbreviated to ‘i18n’) is a way of building applications that can be easily translated to any language. When you use Boomi Flow to build apps, the structure or flow of your app is separated from the content. You need to design the flow once, and can deploy that same flow in different languages across the world.

IP address
An IP address or Internet Protocol address is a numerical label unique to every device connected to a network.

Integration platform as a Service (iPaaS) delivers a cloud service for application, data, process, and service-oriented architecture (SOA) integration scenarios. It is a multi-tenant platform that supports cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-on-premises, on-premises-to-on-premises and B2B integration. It supports real-time integration and scales to meet the high-volume demands of mobile, extract, transform and load (ETL) and electronic data interchange (EDI) environments. Dell Boomi introduced the industry’s first iPaaS in 2008. You can find more information here.

IP restrictions
IT administrators may set restrictions on which IP addresses users can log in to their apps from.

ISO 27001
ISO 27001 is a specification for an information security management system (ISMS). An ISMS is a framework of policies and procedures that includes all legal, physical and technical controls involved in an organization’s information risk management processes. Boomi Flow has been certified ISO27001:2013 compliant. You can find more information on the Boomi Flow certification here. You can view the certificate here.

IVR or interactive voice response systems are automated phone systems that use automated routing and calling. IVR systems can be used by businesses to interact with users. You can find a Twilio app built using Boomi Flow that calls a user at a predetermined time here.


JDBC or Java Database Connectivity Object is a Java application programming interface (API), which defines how a client accesses a database.

Join URI
A join URI allows you to share the running instance of a flow with multiple users. Each flow is able to automatically generate a link, which allows someone to invite collaborators or rejoin the specific flow at a later date. This is a system value called the $JoinUri. After starting a flow the URL in the address bar will change to a join URI.

JSON or JavaScript Object Notation is a language-independent, open standard data-interchange format. Boomi Flow flows can be exported/imported as a JSON package.


The amount of time one component in a system is waiting for another component, is called latency. For example, network latency would be the amount of time it takes for data to travel from source to destination.

Lead (Salesforce)
A lead in Salesforce is a potential customer who may buy from you.

Lightning (Salesforce)
Lightning is a new collection of app-centric tools and technologies in Salesforce for building dynamic web applications. Lightning components use JavaScript on the client-side and Apex at the server-side, processing markup on the client. You can find more information on Lightning here.

Lines of code (LOC)
Lines of code (LOC), also referred to as source lines of code (SLOC), is the number of lines a program has. It can be used to measure the size of a computer program.

Location-based Services (LBS)
Location-based services use a mobile device’s location data to offer services dependent on the user’s location. Mobile device data you can use in a flow include current latitude, current longitude, location accuracy, current heading etc. These are stored in system values. You can find more information on values here. You can find more information on the HTML Geolocation API here.

Localization (also referred to as ‘L10n’) is the process of translating your app into different languages.


Once you have purchased and started using a technology product or solution, you may need to update it from time to time. Such updates are called maintenance. The Boomi Flow engineering team pushes improvements and software updates regularly. Please check our Changelog for updated release information.

ManyWho Identity Service
Your Boomi Flow tenant comes with a default Identity Service, which you can use to build public apps or apps that do not need third-party authentication.

Metadata is data about the data and elements in your flow. For example, if you have a Step element, its metadata will include the data it was created, the date it was modified, who created the element, etc. Boomi Flow separates the metadata of a flow from its data, making it easy and simple to update or localize content. Here is how you can see the metadata of an element in a flow.

Master data management (MDM)
A company may have different data silos for different departments or types of customers. Master data management or MDM is the process of aggregating and managing the entire set of critical business data from a single master file, that provides a single version of truth and a common point of reference across all divisions.

Mobile device management (MDM)
Mobile device management or MDM refers to the managing of mobile devices used by employees in an organization, ensuring such devices are used according to the company’s policies. MDM typically involves deploying custom apps, software updates, and monitoring device usage and security, among other things.

MQTT is a lightweight messaging protocol used on top of TCP/IP, that is optimized for high-latency or unreliable networks.

Multitenancy is the process of a physical or virtual computing infrastructure, being used by multiple users (referred to as tenants in this context). Even though they are in a shared environment with common infrastructure, the tenants are logically separate and consume the resource as if they were the only user.


Native app
A native app is an app designed to work on a particular device or platform. Native apps typically leverage the unique hardware/software combination available to the device. You can use Boomi Flow to build native applications for iOS (in addition to HTML5) without writing a single line of code. Read more here.


OAuth is an open authorization standard that lets users log in to third-party applications or websites using their existing accounts (like, Twitter account).

Object (Salesforce)
An object in Salesforce is a table in the database of your Salesforce org. If you think of your database as a spreadsheet, an object will be a tab on the spreadsheet.

OData or Open Data Protocol is a data querying and sharing protocol based on REST, that enables information to be accessed from a variety of sources within an organization like relational databases, content management systems, websites, file systems, etc. in a standard interoperable way. You can find more information on OData here.

ODBC or Open Database Connectivity is an open standard application programming interface (API) used to access data from different database management systems (DBMS).

Org (Salesforce)
A Salesforce ‘org’ or ‘organization’ or ‘instance’ is the site you (or your users or agents) access on logging in to Salesforce. An org is where all your data, configuration, and customization are stored.


Page Layout
A page layout in Boomi Flow lets you create and structure a page to show your users in an app. A page layout is extremely extensible, and gives you a rich variety of options to structure and display rich content with. You can also create your own components and containers using a page layout. You can find more information on creating a page layout here.

You can create a picklist to let users select values from predefined lists – for example a picklist of countries where the user is from. In Boomi Flow, picklist is available as a custom type. To see how to create picklists, click here. To see recommended naming conventions for picklists, click here.

A platform is a core combination of technologies (hardware and/or software) that can run apps.

PostgreSQL or Postgres is a highly scalable database management system, conforming to the ANSI-SQL:2008 standard.

Public app
A public app is an app that does not require authentication; any one with the app URL can run the app. You can build a public app by selecting the ManyWho Identity Service while creating a flow. Here is an example of a public app:


QA or quality assurance is the process of testing to see whether an app, a service, or a piece of technology is meeting pre-specified requirements. For example, before deploying your app you will typically run QA tests on functionality and performance. Internally, the Boomi Flow platform has gone through rigorous QA. Boomi Flow is ISO 27001:2013 certified for information security.


React is a JavaScript library developed by Facebook, that can be used to create user interfaces for applications. You can find more information on React here.

Record (Salesforce)
A Salesforce record is an item you are tracking – it is the single instance of an object. If you think of your database as a spreadsheet, a record will be a row on the spreadsheet.

Refactoring is the process of changing the code in a code block without affecting overall how it works.

REST or Representational State Transfer is a software architecture style used for web applications.

Rete algorithm
The Rete algorithm is an execution algorithm that uses pattern-matching to implement rules.

Runtime data
Runtime data is anything that is used specifically at runtime – states, service invoker logs, user tokens, etc. As of today, Flow supports storing states externally.


A SDK, short for ‘software development kit’ is a set of development and debugging tools that enables programmers to develop applications for a specific platform. You can find the Boomi Flow Java SDK here. The Boomi Flow SDK for Salesforce is available here. You can change the look and feel of your app by using the Boomi Flow HTML 5 UI SDK.

With Boomi Flow, you can integrate your flows with cloud application platforms such as Salesforce, Box, or Twilio. You may also have various databases (like MySQL), or third-party applications (like JIRA or Slack), you’d like your apps to work with. We call these integrations, ‘services’. Services can be used to extend the functionalities of a flow (say, to delay the flow, or schedule a task) and for end user authentication.

Currently, Boomi Flow service integrations are available for Salesforce, Box, Twilio, Google Apps, and Microsoft Exchange, with more in the pipeline. You can use the Boom Flow API to build a service integration in a programming language of your choice. Please click here for more information on service integrations.

Session ID
A session ID (also referred to as a session token) is an unique identifier that is assigned by a server to a user to track her duration and activity on a website or application.

Session token
Same as session ID

Shadow IT
Shadow IT refers to technology projects or products that are used by an employee (or groups of employees) within an organization without the explicit sanction of the CIO or the IT department.

Single sign-on (SSO)
Is an authentication process in which a user can sign in to different applications using the same user name and password, even though the applications may have separate authorization mechanisms.

SLA or a service level agreement are mutually agreed upon parameters, terms, and conditions that define the quality of service you can expect from a service provider. You can find more information on the Boomi Flow SLA, including initial response SLA and support request prioritization here.

A flow snapshot catches the state of a flow at a particular point in time.

SOAP or Simple Object Access Protocol is a protocol used in web-based services for the exchange of structured information.

Source code
The human-readable code written by programmers before it is compiled to machine language.

A subflow is a second flow your flow calls during runtime.

A subtenant is a new tenant under the same tenant account. Subtenants do not have visibility into the content, flows, values, or service integrations of the tenant (and vice versa). You can use different subtenants for different divisions of your company. For example, separate subtenants for HR and Accounting. Subtenants can also help to organize your project, for example, you can logically separate out deployment environments into Development, Staging, and Production.

A swimlane lets users build an application that passes control between users with different privileges.  For example, there may be an ’employee’ swimlane and a ‘manager’ swimlane for an app that approves expenses submissions. The Swimlane element in Boomi Flow lets you group some elements in order to limit a user’s access to them. For example, if you want to allow anyone to access your flow, but only want to allow some specific users to access a set of elements. To use swimlanes, configure the authorization strategy for your swimlane and drag elements inside it.

System alert
System alerts are automated messages generated by the Boomi Flow Engine, if it encounters a problem or an unexpected condition (say, an element used in a flow is no longer available in a tenant). Typically system alerts also contain information that lets you identify and fix the problem.

System flow
A system flow is a workflow that is automatically implemented by a software system, without the need for human intervention. For example, when you register a new tenant with Boomi Flow, the registration process (provisioning a tenant, sending you a confirmation email, etc.) is handled by a system flow.


A tenant is a user of a software application that serves multiple other users as well. Each tenant’s information is invisible to other tenants. When you create a Boomi Flow account, you are assigned a tenant where all your flows, content, and the metadata related to your flows are saved.

Tenant ID
An alphanumeric string that is unique to each tenant. A Tenant ID is generated when a Boomi Flow account is first created.

TCO or total cost of ownership refers to the total cost of purchasing and maintaining a technology asset over its lifetime.


Unit testing
Unit testing is the process of testing individual units of software, independent of the remainder of the code, to make sure it works as expected.

The person who uses or will use your app.

User interface
The parts of the app with which your user interacts directly. It includes the look and feel, commands, and menus through which a user interacts with your app. You can customize the Boomi Flow user interface to run your apps anywhere, or look the way you want them to. Check out our HTML5 UI SDK for more details.

User journey
A user journey maps all the steps an end-user has to take, to complete a flow from the start to finish. Sometimes, the words ‘flow’ and ‘user journey’ are used interchangeably, as a flow maps out the steps the end-user will take.

A UUID or universally unique identifier is a 128-bit number that is used to identify flow, flow states, and flow elements in Boomi Flow. For example, every flow is assigned a UUID called the Flow ID.


Values in Boomi Flow are similar to variables in the programming paradigm. They are containers that have a name, and contain data. This data can be numbers, text, dates, instances of a type (say, Type: Customer), or another value. You can find more information on values here.

Virtualization is the process of creating a software-based (or virtual) representation of something rather than a physical one. Virtualization can apply to applications, servers, storage, and networks and is the single most effective way to reduce IT expenses while boosting efficiency and agility for all size businesses. You can find more information on virtualization here.

Virtual machine
A virtual machine (VM) is software that can mimic the functionalities and run applications of a different computing environment.

Vendor assets
Vendor assets are third-party JavaScript libraries that are loaded independently of the UI framework (for performance reasons). These are dependencies that we sometimes version.

Every time you change the flow, the Boomi Flow engine creates a new version or copy of the flow with the incremental changes. You can find information on how to roll back to a previous flow version here.


Webhooks are an HTTP POST callback request, and occurs when something specific happens. You can use webhooks to trigger an event in Boomi Flow when something changes in a third-party service integration you use (or vice versa). For example, when a file is uploaded in Box, you can use webhooks to trigger a text message being sent out from the Boomi Flow app.

WebSockets let us send messages to a server and receive responses, without having to poll the server for replies. WebSockets are a near real-time two-way data channel, between a client and the server. The WebSocket protocol is supported in all major browsers.

A workflow is a repeatable series of steps in an enterprise, that accomplishes a goal. For example, on-boarding new hires, or getting the approval of a sales manager if a deal size exceeds a certain amount.

Workflow automation
Workflow automation is the process of automating workflows.


XML or EXtensible Markup Language is a markup language that lets you create your own markup vocabulary to add metadata to your documents. XML can be understood and parsed by applications, while simultaneously being human-readable.