Apache ODE (Apache Orchestration Director Engine) is a software coded in Java as a workflow engine to manage business processes which have been expressed in the Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL) via a website.

The software principally communicates with one or more Web services, sending and receiving messages, manipulating data and handling exceptions (errors) as defined by any given process.

[2] WS-BPEL itself is based upon the XML language and includes a number of ways in which business processes can be expressed.

These include conditional clauses, repeating loops, calls to web services and the exchange of messages.

The engine has two communication layers, with which it interacts with the outside world:[3] Apache ODE is embedded in the Jboss projects RiftSaw (WS-BPEL 2.0 engine) and also in the follow-up Switchyard, which is a service delivery framework for service-oriented applications.