| About two weeks ago, I wrote about a blog post | | | | But agility can be pretty slippery. Lots of things have |
| called "BPM Screws up SOA," by Steve Jones. I | | | | promised IT agility. So, the question is whether that in |
| confess - I thought it might annoy a few people - I've | | | | and of itself is enough of an argument for your CEO |
| interviewed a lot of people who work with Business | | | | or CFO. |
| Process Management software. But Jones made | | | | IBM offers a different answer, according to this article |
| some really strong, interesting points and I thought it | | | | published in Application Development Trends: |
| was worth a discussion. | | | | One answer, if you are IBM, is that businesses need |
| And, boy howdy - is it being discussed! I mean, it's not | | | | an SOA to provide the basis for a business process |
| like being Slashdotted or anything, but it seems the | | | | management (BPM) system. That seemed to be the |
| very mention of SOA and BPM can raise a lot of | | | | message in a recent Webinar called "Business |
| dander around here. | | | | Process Management Enabled by SOA" by Peter |
| Jones himself even posted recently to clarify his | | | | Rhys Jenkins, senior integration solutions architect at |
| position. Despite the inflammatory title of his post, he | | | | IBM. |
| does not dislike BPM. Nor does he think the two are | | | | Shocking, I know. But that seems to support at least |
| mutually exclusive. In fact, he says SOA and BPM can | | | | part of poster Scott Whitmire's position: |
| go together - but before you start with the BPM | | | | SOA defines how you structure your IT portfolio and |
| technology, you should make sure you understand the | | | | BPM defines what goes into that portfolio and how |
| business issues and processes from the perspective | | | | you use it. They don't compete; they don't conflict; they |
| of the business. Jones writes: | | | | don't cooperate. SOA is one way of implementing the |
| My argument is that you need a proper understanding | | | | results of BPM. BPM doesn't define the services |
| of how the business operates and interacts before | | | | offered by an SOA, but it might define *requirements* |
| you embark on technical elements such as BPM (or | | | | for certain behaviors and properties, which the SOA |
| indeed web services). Its worth noting that getting the | | | | must then provide. There are ways other than BPM to |
| understanding does not take very long. | | | | define these requirements, and there are ways other |
| Makes sense, right? | | | | than SOA to implement them. |
| Be sure to read the rest of Jones' comments, which | | | | And then there's the Ph.D. who points out it's important |
| go a long way to explain how he sees BPM's | | | | to specify whether you're referring to the BPM |
| relationship to SOA, and vice versa. | | | | solutions pushed by vendors or BPM as it applies to |
| Francis Carden of OpenSpan, which sells Surface | | | | process engineering. He also has a Six Sigma master |
| Integration technology and desktop application | | | | black belt and wonders if I know what I'm talking about |
| integration software, also contributes to the discussion. | | | | or whether I am only "make good copy." |
| Not too long ago, I interviewed Carden about | | | | Ouch. It's true: I do not have any sort of belt, black, Six |
| OpenSpan, an intriguing integration solution that Carden | | | | Sigma or otherwise. You can see my bio for my |
| believes can help solve that last mile of SOA problem. | | | | background. But what I hope to bring to the table is |
| Anyway, since I spent many years writing about how | | | | finding interesting issues, translating the techno-speak |
| CIOs can align with business, I particularly liked this | | | | or marketing-babble into something approximating |
| comment by Carden: | | | | English - for the business leaders out there and |
| We must not forget that SOA in itself is not new and | | | | perhaps more than a few IT executives - and perhaps |
| IT has had some shots at this in the past. There are | | | | help prompt a good discussion. |
| going to be many bumps (delays) on the way so if IT | | | | I'd like to think I succeeded at least two out three with |
| can deliver immediate business benefits whilst planning | | | | this post. |
| for the perfect SOA world, then who are we to stand | | | | One thing came out loud and clear from the discussion: |
| in the way. | | | | Technology workers are pretty tired of marketing |
| It's an interesting discussion that I think goes a long | | | | hype cloud what BPM and many other technology |
| way to clarify what BPM's role should be with SOA. | | | | terms mean. Also: We need another term to separate |
| While the question here has focused on whether BPM | | | | BPM technology from the management, or in some |
| makes a better SOA, I've seen a few discussions | | | | cases re-engineering, of business processes. |
| recently that recast that issue by asking the simple | | | | Unfortunately, that first one is a problem neither the |
| question: Why would businesses ever invest in SOA? | | | | posters nor I are likely to solve any time soon... or, |
| The reason usually given is IT agility. And that's true. | | | | really, at any time. |