The Insider's Guide to Next-Generation BPM
By Neil Ward-Dutton, Research Director, Macehiter Ward-Dutton , 10/10/2006
Print this article
Email this article
Talk Back!
Write to Editor
Editor’s note: To read Part I of this article, click here. To read part II of this article, click here.
In talking about the benefits that SOA can bring to an organisation, most people concentrate on two things: firstly, the ability to develop more flexible systems from collections of loosely-coupled services; and secondly, the ability to develop new systems more cheaply, quickly and at higher quality through the use of shared services. These are both sound reasons to think about pursuing a SOA initiative. But is there more to the potential value of SOA than this? From talking to leading-edge companies which have made serious commitments to SOA, the answer is a resounding "yes." SOA, done right, can show the way for IT organisations to clearly demonstrate the value they provide to their "customers" - the businesses they work within.
Before SOA can raise the visibility of IT organisations' value, though, we have
to use SOA to help create that common language between IT and the business -
in other words to enhance comprehensibility. Luckily, many IT organisations
will be pushing at an open door here. More and more, organisations driving for
new business efficiencies and innovations are looking beyond the work done in
individual departments, to the work that gets done in end-to-end processes that
span departments (such as "order-to-cash") and even organisational
boundaries. Fundamentally this exercise (which is targeted by Business Process
Management or BPM initiatives) is about looking at what the organisation does
from the perspective of customers, partners and suppliers - from the outside
in - rather than looking at it from the inside out. Consequently, many organisations
are in the middle of re-thinking the ways that they express what it is that
they do, and how they do it. They are inventing new language - and business
processes are a key part of that language.
In this context, you can effectively sell SOA initiatives on the basis that
they will deliver sets of high-level, business-meaningful services which intermediate
between the morass of existing IT systems and capabilities; and newly-automated,
reorganised or reinvigorated business processes. Examples might include services
which manage customer information, or which validate orders: they will implement
concepts which are readily understandable by non-technical business professionals.
You should aim to create groups of these services which can be clearly linked
to individual tasks within business processes, as well sets of services which
encapsulate and implement lower-level layers of business and technical capabilities.
If you empower your senior architects to get involved in these process analysis
exercises and collaborate with business analysts (and the consultants they're
probably working with) the result can be a common language comprising business
processes, and the high-level IT services which underpin and support those processes.
-1-
Best Practices in Moving Processes to the Clouds
How Can the Cloud Fit Into Your Applications Strategy?
Cloud Data Integration Best Practices
The Economics of Cloud Computing
Data Services Insight: Successful implementation of Canonical Information Models
Exits and Acquisitions: Key Concepts for Successful Deals 
Building a Metadata Repository on a Shoestring Budget
SOA What? Services Thinking Goes to Work
Intel Takes Expressway to SOA, SaaS and Cloud With Sarvega, Conformative Deals
ebizQ editorial highlights and updates, compiled by Site Editor Anne Stuart
March 10, 2011
The sixth annual BPM in Action 2011 Virtual Conference will explore cutting-edge market developments in BPM and describe how to leverage them for improved business operation and performance. More
Date:Apr 07, 2010
Time:13:00 PM
ET- (17:00 GMT)
Date:Apr 07, 2010
Time:12:00 PM
ET- (16:00 GMT)
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 NowSmart 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
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
|
|
This new publication from our sister site SearchSOA.com explores workflow, business activity monitoring (BAM) and complex event processing (CEP) issues. |
|
|
