The Insider's Guide to Business and IT Agility
By Beth Gold-Bernstein , 09/04/2005
Print this article
Email this article
Talk Back!
Write to Editor
The Service-Oriented Architecture, considered a best practice for over two decades, is finally being embraced by many organizations seeking to increase business agility and decrease the time and cost of implementing new business solutions.
In an SOA, discrete business functions or processes are created as independent, loosely coupled services with standard interfaces which can be accessed by other applications, services, or business processes regardless of the platform or programming language. These services can be flexibly combined to support different or changing business processes and functions. SOA supports the creation of composite applications, which can be quickly assembled from existing and new services.
The Business Imperative for SOA
Business agility is one of the key business buzzwords today, and is showing up on business plans as a primary strategic goal. The need for agility is not new. The way business was conducted even a decade ago is not longer acceptable if a business wishes to remain competitive. The changes include how the business interacts with customers, how it manufactures goods, how it is organized and managed. The changes in business are fundamental and pervasive.
In both public and private sectors, in every industry, business cycles and the rate of change is accelerating. Globalization is one factor. There is no longer such a thing as business hours. In a global economy, business hours are 24/7. In the global economy, competition can arise from anywhere at any time. Companies need agility in order to respond to quickly to problems, seize competitive opportunities, and anticipate threats, problems and opportunities.
Adaptability is the ability to change direction quickly. This requires an adaptive infrastructure so business processes and rules can be quickly changed. It also requires an adaptive organization. People must also be adaptive and willing to change to optimize business processes and increase competitiveness. The infrastructure needs to support rapid change.
An agile organization is the combination of people, process and technology. Organizational structure, culture, process, and metrics must all be aligned to enable agility. Any misalignment can cause obstacles to agility and business optimization. SOA provides an adaptive infrastructure, which supports rapid change and business agility. Existing IT investments can be leveraged, reused and extended as modular services. New services can be quickly implemented to provide new business capabilities and solutions. Business processes and rules can be more easily changed without rewriting applications. SOA has been a known best architecture practice for three decades. It is now being widely adapted to provide business agility. The reason is clear. A rapidly growing number of enterprises are now making agility a strategic goal, and SOA is the best way to deliver a agile IT infrastructure.
1
ROUNDTABLE: Stretch Your Budget with smart SOA Governance-A Look at Successful Case Studies
ROUNDTABLE: Open Source Market Update
Insurance: Explore how SOA & BPM are driving down expenses and improving ROI
BPM VIEWPOINT: Are You Asking Yourself the Hard Questions about BPM in Today's Economy? 
BPM VIEWPOINT: Does Oracle/Sun Mean It's a Horse Race for BPM?
Managing Case Management Within BPM
BPM VIEWPOINT: How Do You Look at BPM?
When It Comes to BPM Type, It All Depends on You
BPM VIEWPOINT: Does Case Management Fill in the Gaps in the BPM Spectrum?
ebizQ is very interested in what you have to say. To contribute an article, an opinion, or to become a blogger, please contact Peter Schooff.
You need Adobe Flash Player 9 to view this widget.
June 3, 2009
One of the most compelling trends in the enterprise business technology space over the past year has been the emergence of cloud computing. In ebizQ’s upcoming Qcamp virtual un-conference, leading industry experts and practitioners will explore the role of service-oriented architecture (SOA) and business process management (BPM) in supporting cloud-computing initiatives. Additionally, the new skills that developers and IT managers need for successful cloud development will be discussed.Register
Date: Aug 26, 2009
Time: 12:00 PM
ET- (16:00 GMT)
Date: Sep 30, 2009
Time: 12:00 PM
ET- (16:00 GMT)
Date:Aug 26, 2009
Time:12:00 PM
ET- (16:00 GMT)
Date:Sep 30, 2009
Time:12:00 PM
ET- (16:00 GMT)
With the help of Interstage Business Process Manager, Electricity Company Unphased by Legislation
Download Now
In part two of Joe McKendrick's recent podcast with Miko Matsumura, chief strategist for Software AG, they talk about how SOA and IT systems need to change and grow and adapt with the organization around it.
Listen Now
Phil Wainewright interviews David Vap, VP of products at RightNow Technologies, and finds out how sharing best practices can help businesses understand how best to engage with online communities.
Listen Now
Scott Hebner, Vice President of Marketing and Strategy for IBM Rational, discusses a topic on the top of every company's mind today: getting the most from IT investments.
Listen Now
In BI, this tough economy and the increasing role of Web 2.0 and MDM are certainly topics on people's minds today. WiseAnalytics' Lyndsay Wise addresses each of them in this informative podcast.
Listen Now
Deepak Singh, President and CTO of Adeptia, joins ebizQ's Dennis Byron in a podcast that gets its hand around the trend of industry-specific BPM.
Listen Now
From Dennis Byron: For BPM to fit at the top of the stack, it can't merely support workflow or integration. It needs to integrate the BI aspects of the stack, too. Learn More
In the insurance industry, companies have accepted that systems, strategies and data all developed in silos are making it difficult for them to grow and adjust to today’s market demands. The obstacles imposed by siloed approaches are painfully obvious to companies as they try to gain a better understanding of their customers and meet the growing constraints imposed by compliance and regulatory requirements. Leveraging industry standards with full data integration is one was to tackle this challenge. Learn More
From Dennis Byron: Is it better to choose one strain of BPM over another? The answer is unique to your organization. Learn More
Can decision management really deliver costs savings, agility and happy customers on a consistent basis? Learn More
From Dennis Byron: BPM products optimized for case management might be the products that bridge the extremes in my view of the BPM spectrum. Learn More
Integrating BPM and CEP gives you intelligent business processes that can react to rapidly changing business conditions with continuous visibility. Learn More
Insurers need to think about creating "true linkage," which means linking business strategy to process to IT investments and thereby setting the foundation for true change. Learn More
To be effective, business intelligence technology must work behind the scenes to deliver relevant information when, where, and how it's needed. Learn More
A lot of people are talking about Enterprise 2.0 as being the business application of Web 2.0 technology. However, there's still some debate on exactly what this technology entails, how it applies to today's business models, and which components bring true value. Some use the term Enterprise 2.0 exclusively to describe the use of social networking technologies in the enterprise, while others use it to describe a web economy platform, or the technological framework behind such a platform. Still others say that Enterprise 2.0 is all of these things. Learn More
Smart event processing can help your company run smarter and faster. This comprehensive guide helps you research the basics of complex event processing (CEP) and learn how to get started on the right foot with your CEP project using EDA, RFID, SOA, SCADA and other relevant technologies. Learn More
Hi Johan,
thank you for such prompt response.
I...
Phil,
It appears that Google is looking at the world...
We see every possible level of SOA governance from those...
I believe work has been done in this area privately for some time....
I wonder if BPM has become more popular because many solutions...
We are looking for a FileNET admin/developer in Houston, TX. The...
As we see more companies consider the cloud we should be...
Scott,
I agree that process management is good way for...
The device sounds very good for physicians. It is vital to know...
|
|
|
|
