At least one big vendor says that the best route to business process management is through SOA. Or, conversely, the path to SOA goes through BPM.
IBM, it is reported, is throwing a ton of resources at bringing together business process management (BPM) and service-oriented architecture (SOA), and, hopefully, in the process, getting IT to think more like business users in order to use this technology more effectively. (PDF available to registered ebizQ members here.)
That's the latest word from Dennis Callaghan, analyst with the 451 Group (and a colleague of mine going back to our Midrange Systems days).
IBM, in its IBM Way of doing things, has launched a head-spinning assortment of initiatives around fusing BPM and SOA, including products, partnership programs, and university-based certification programs.
But in the big picture of things, Dennis observes that "such a confluence of technologies means that IT will have to collaborate more with business users – and so will need greater knowledge of the business side."
There are other vendors tacking in this direction as well, including SAP, Ramco Systems, BEA, and Sun Microsystems, Dennis observes.
If BPM can't stand alone you got the wrong tool SOA is a nice to have - if you can afford it and no surprises being pushed by the big players....!