You are on page 1of 12

BPM & SOA:

N E X T G E N E R AT I O N B U S I N E S S
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
A WHITE PAPER BY DELPHI GROUP AND SINGULARITY

OCTOBER 2005

In Q2 2005, Delphi Group surveyed 110 Modernize Existing Enterprise Architecture and 36%
Infrastructure Into a Service-Oriented Architecture
firms about their 2006 investment priorities. Business Process Modeling 32%
Optimization, or Automation
The top three responses were related to 31%
Consolidate Process and Activities to
Streamline Operations and Business Performance
Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) and 31%
Balance Scorecard or Similar
Performance Management Programs
Business Process Management (BPM). 30%
Six Sigma or Similar
This white paper explains why. Quality Management Programs 28%
Identify and Prioritize Legacy Systems and
Applications with Open Source Software 26%

Performance improvement of a business, at every Continuous Process Improvement Initiative(s)


25%
Rationalize and Consolidate Existing
level of operation, has been a desirable goal Systems, Applications and Infrastructure 24%
IT Govenance and Risk Management Initiatives
for every management team. For some (not Related to Regulatory Compliance)
24%

organisations, it is now becoming a very real and Programs for Ensuring and Maintaining 24%
Regulatory Compliance (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley)
Source: Delphi Group
tangible part of everyday routine. Today’s 0% 20% 40%

generation of business leaders concentrates


During the second quarter of 2005 Delphi
unprecedented energy on performance
Group surveyed 110 firms across a broad set
improvement, from transformational change
of industries on their anticipated spending
programs through to small-scale incremental
for 2006. Respondents were asked to prioritize
tweaks in the production cycle.
activities from a list of approximately two

Evidence abounds – in the last decade alone, dozen categories relative to general IT

massive transformations have been initiated. improvement, business process activities,


Services - way beyond manufacturing - have and compliance and governance issues. The
been moved halfway across the world. We are clear favorites, ranking above such issues as
now extending our marketing reach to buyers Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, were the
and markets in countries we have never visited modernization of existing IT infrastructure
and in unimaginable numbers, and those buyers
around a service-orientated architecture and
are being courted by a vast and ever-changing
the application of BPM.
universe of competitors. We are refreshing our WHAT IS THE PROBLEM
products and services, and the way in which we T H AT B P M & S O A S O LV E S ?

package and deliver them, at unprecedented


speed – and all these trends are accelerating. For several decades, it has been widely, if
reluctantly, accepted that newly-installed IT

The chain of events leading from an innovative systems will probably fall short of serving the

idea to production availability is being shortened purpose for which they have been bought or

dramatically. Two communities who need to built. Every system that is developed experiences

acquire that kind of flexibility (scalability and diminishing returns over time, as the original

adaptability) are the technical infrastructure requirements evolve and the challenge to maintain

owners, and those responsible for the process and update the IT system becomes more

of building, shipping and supporting their end burdensome. Business processes increasingly

product, in whatever form that is to take. evolve away from the systems that are built to

The infrastructure owners have discovered support them and the processes themselves fail

Services-Oriented Architecture as the answer to to evolve quickly enough as customer needs

their need. Independently, business managers change. This relentlessly growing disconnect

are discovering Business Process Management between business requirements and the

(BPM) to be their tool of choice, allowing them processes and systems deployed to meet them

to take ownership of their own flexibility is widely accepted as a truism by technology and

challenges. business leaders alike. We will call it the


“Requirements Gap Syndrome” (see Fig. 1).

Evolving Business
Needs Business Process Management (BPM) and
BPM+SOA-based Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) are two
Processes &
Business Fit

Systems
technologies that in combination have the
Size of
Requirements Gap potential to not merely treat the symptoms of the
Traditional Syndrome but to eradicate it altogether.
Processes &
Systems
Time The existence of a disorder such as
Fig. 1 - The Requirements Gap Syndrome
“Requirements Gap Syndrome” is not surprising
when the perpetuating mechanisms are

The combination of SOA and BPM is becoming considered. Although both business and IT staffs

the transformational technology platform of the work to bring new and improved processes to

decade – apart from the inherent benefits of each bear for the benefit of their customers, the two

technology on its own, the combination professional disciplines are divided by the nature

addresses one of the fundamental problems of of their functions. This division exists to some

technologically-supported change programs. degree in nearly every sizeable enterprise.


Bridging this divide has become an industry in
itself as the gap hinders efforts to build integrated

PA G E 2
business systems capable of rapid response to THE BEGINNINGS OF A
the ever-evolving need for change. At the initiation CURE:
THE EVOLUTION OF SOA AND
stage of any major project, the in-house business BPM
owners and IT staff usually delegate the task of
articulating the detailed business process In the Q2 2005 Delphi Group survey in which
requirements to a hybrid person or team, able 110 firms were asked about their 2006 investment
to understand and articulate problems by priorities, the top three responses were related
negotiating between the two communities. Whilst to Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) and
moderately effective, this approach often leads Business Process Management (BPM). In
to an unhealthy concentration of knowledge - contrast, investments to address regulatory
the revised business process is truly understood compliance and risk management topics rated
only within the project team, which is a temporary joint ninth in priority. This reflects the fact that
body, and the Requirements Gap Syndrome is neither SOA nor BPM are still “in the lab”. Indeed
thus perpetuated. this interest indicates recognition of the potential
these technologies offer to resolve pressing
The cure for the Syndrome is a combination of issues firms face today. A brief review of how
treatments, which are claimed by some to be out these two technologies have evolved will shed
of the lab and well through their clinical trials. light on why they, especially their use in
The treatments are Service Oriented Architecture combination, hold such promise.
(SOA) and Business Process Management
(BPM).
Focus: Service Oriented Architecture

While a relatively new phrase to some, “Service-


Oriented Architecture” or “SOA” has already
The first major shift in software evolution become well ingrained within the business
resulted from the introduction of the PC computing vernacular. It is nearly impossible
and the client/server architecture. As has today to pick up any IT periodical without
occurred with every major change in encountering a reference to SOA. Recently it
architecture, the result was the emergence
of new market leaders and the eventual
disappearance of most of the dominant
players of the previous era.

The next significant shift in software


architecture is from n-tier client/server
to the inherently multi-tiered SOA. Just
as has been seen with each generational
change in software evolution, this shift
will no doubt result in the re-drawing of
the competitive landscape for commercial
software vendors.
PA G E 3
has become the rallying cry of virtually every An important catalyst for change was the Internet
enterprise software vendor, and many have taken and the advent of Web-based computing that
great liberties in its meaning and definition. It combined the benefits of host-based computing
would be easy to dismiss the current flurry of with client/server's richer functionality. The Internet
“buzz” surrounding SOA as simply the result of presented the need for delivering Web pages
marketing hype and performing functions not possible within a
“SOA lays foundations for and/or the product of Web browser, as well as standard protocols to

information systems that will inflated expectations. access both. This necessitated pushing more

support an ever more To do so, however, and more capabilities through application ("app")
would be a grave servers. The migration of functions led to the
malleable business structure”
miscalculation. multi-tier or "n-tier" client/server architecture, and
resulted in increasingly decentralized applications
SOA is the manifestation of the current economic and business logic running on top of app servers.
climate in which turbulent times have forced a
crisis of integration upon every organization. For Just as the abstraction of data management led
the last decade there has been a continuous to an explosion of new client/server applications,
drive to deliver processes and systems that are the availability of more and more capabilities to
sufficiently integrated and flexible to provide app servers led to a new wave of Web-based
liquidity in an organization’s information and application development. The richer platform of
process assets. It is only recently that IT platforms app servers allowed for "quick and dirty"
such as .NET and J2EE, network interoperability, application development, and gave rise to an
and standardization have evolved to a point increasing volume of “homebuilt” software. In the
where they can support the vision of these sorts short time since the late 1990s, when the
of distributed, component-based applications. presence of app servers and Web-based
Based on recent Delphi Group research, the computing began to flourish, the typical desktop
transformation of existing IT systems and environment has changed from a relatively static
infrastructure to a SOA basis is now viewed by and stable suite of core applications to a collection
many as their top priority. of dynamic network-delivered applications. Many
of them were built internally for specific (and
SOA recognizes that what is needed at the core often short-lived) purposes.
of an enterprise’s IT systems is something far
more flexible and dynamic that the monolithic, Application frameworks built around an SOA
set-in-stone solutions of recent decades. In the environment allow the elements of business logic
same way that the foundations of a building to be broken out through the adoption of service-
remain intact and immutable while the structure oriented architecture and broken down into
erected on them may be rebuilt many times, SOA individually callable function points. The result is
lays foundations for information systems that will that the power to change business processes
support an ever more malleable business can be given to business staff without threatening
structure. the integrity of business data and infrastructure,

PA G E 4
and without requiring IT involvement in process Focus: Business Process Management
changes.
Two key evolutionary trends have advanced one
of the fundamental charters of BPM: putting the
The resulting approach is to build applications
management of business logic in the hands of
as a collection of individual components,
business managers without threatening the
connected and coordinated by a separate layer
integrity of the application logic (the infrastructure
of business logic. Although componentization
that is rightfully managed and protected by IT
and its inherent benefits for software reuse has
personnel).
been common within the world of object-oriented
programming, the emergence of open standards
The first trend concerns the ownership of process
for integration (most notably the core Web
change. BPM first emerged as an identifiable
services stack of SOAP, WSDL, XML and UDDI)
software segment in 1999, and over the last five
present a standard application-independent
years the focus of the technology has shifted
means for components to be exposed as a library
from automation and integration to orchestration
of invocable services. This is the essence of
and coordination. In the early years (1999-2001),
SOA. SOA can itself be “wrapped” around legacy
BPM initiatives tended to be parochial and
systems and components, which brings even
integration-centric; early deployments were often
those systems into compliance with the structure
aimed at closing gaps in existing ERP
of reuse and flexibility, albeit purely from the
deployments. BPM solutions of this period were
integration perspective.
differentiated by proprietary measures, such as
application adapters, data transformation
SOA enables the segmentation of specific
capabilities and product-specific process
application services into independent
definitions Firms then began building process-
components, which then can be built
centric applications with BPM frameworks, and
independently from the business processes
the technology had evolved from middleware
which use them. This allows development of
into development environments where the
executable processes as a set of loosely-coupled
business process owners were heavily involved
activities rather than explicitly coded steps, and
- even to the point of responsibility - in the change
also permits software to be quickly customized
management project itself.
to meet immediate business requirements.

In the absence of BPM, business logic exists


Thus, SOA provides a highly flexible integration
primarily in two places: 1) embedded inside of
and process reuse structure, replicable across
applications and IT infrastructure where it is out
an entire enterprise with clear and tangible
of reach to business users; or 2) in the minds of
benefits measured in massively accelerated time-
business process owners and subject matter
to-market, and significant development and
experts, or written down in policies and
maintenance cost savings.
procedures, but otherwise separate from the
systems and applications used to support

PA G E 5
operations. What BPM has introduced is the O R C H E S T R AT I O N :
MOBILIZING COMPONENTS AND
ability to abstract business logic (e.g., processes,
SERVICES FOR BUSINESS
business rules, user roles, task descriptions, etc) A D VA N TA G E
and allow this to be managed and maintained
within a separate system by non-technical, A key concept underlying SOA and BPM is that
business-oriented users. of “orchestration” and it is of vital importance in
addressing the Requirements Gap Syndrome.
The second BPM-related trend is connected to
the evolution of complementary standards such Systems built for a particular purpose are often
as Web Services. The pace at which advances not applicable to other situations. Many processes
in the development and design tools within BPM and systems currently in use need much greater
frameworks is accelerating is clear - and these flexibility in order to adapt to business needs,
are all about but change is difficult and slow to take hold within
“BPM and SOA provide a new reducing the cost the enterprise. Fortunately it is no longer
capability to orchestrate and complexity of necessary to accept delivery of systems with
application and data
system components” such limitations. When used together, BPM and
integration. SOA provide a new capability to orchestrate
system components or services to meet new
Enabled by standards-based protocols (notably business requirements as they surface.
the core Web Services stack of XML, SOAP,
UDDI, and WSDL plus specialized constituents When the early Model-T Fords rolled off the
built in XML) and as result the emergence of production line they represented a revolution.
Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA), BPM The long and expensive process of building a
frameworks gained flexibility and agility in car had suddenly become short and inexpensive.
resolving integration issues. This fact is critical Fast assembly of pre-built components replaced
to taking advantage of the agility and adaptability arduous fitting of individually crafted pieces.
offered by BPM. What SOA provided BPM and Although components could be quickly and
other software environments is a common means economically assembled into a finished product
for communicating between applications, such that met a need the resulting product was limited
that connections do not need to be programmed to one style of car available in only one color.
in advance, as long as the BPM environment
knows where to find information and how to Today the most modern automobile plants use
access it. Again, this is critical to dynamic the same production line to produce several
processes where the specific information, different models of cars, and can adjust quickly
activities and roles involved with a process may to switch between models and reuse componentry
not be predetermined but identified as the process intelligently. The shift of focus is toward the
progresses. effectiveness with which componentry can be
“orchestrated” in order to produce the specifically
desired car.

PA G E 6
BPM AND ORCHESTRATION: information is received and the appropriate
THE EVOLUTION OF GOAL-
information is sent, or a process step is complete
ORIENTED PROCESSES
and so the results are recorded and the next step

Orchestration has changed the role of BPM is initiated. In most cases, the nature of event-

frameworks from that of a transit system designed driven computing

to shuttle data from one point to another over requires explicit “Information discovered in
scripting or
predefined routes, to that of a virtual power user one step can drastically alter
programming of
that “knows” how to locate, access and initiate the next set of steps”
application services and information sources. outcomes. What

Orchestration-focused BPM frameworks tap this earlier workflow and

capability to support business performance BPM systems provided was the ability to stitch

through the application of goals, policies and together a series of events into a process

rules, while adjusting the flow of the process to sequence. These tools allow some variability of

accommodate outcomes not easily identifiable process flows (such as ‘splits’ and ‘joins’) but the

in advance. majority of the process is predetermined.

Consider a practical example - the admission of The result of these systems that impose rigid

a patient for medical treatment. What is involved process models is often that only part of the

is in fact a process, yet the specific sequence process is managed. For example, moving a task

and set of activities does not follow a specific from one individual to another may be automated,

script, but rather is based on a diagnostic but what happens when a step in the process is

procedure which likely involves applying a in the hands of a given individual may occur

combination of policies, procedures, other rules, entirely outside of the process management

and the judgment of healthcare workers. system. The goal-driven approach that defines

Information discovered in one step (e.g., the orchestration allows for processes to be defined

assessment a given condition) can drastically in terms of an end goal and milestones, but does

alter the next set of steps, and in the same way not require an exact path or process flow to be

a change in ‘patient state’ (e.g., patient goes into programmed in advance.

heart failure) may completely alter the process


flow in other ways. This type of process, which The patient admission scenario described earlier

assembles itself as it executes, requires the is an appropriate example. What really

execution-time assembly of process components differentiates this as a goal-driven system is the

which only BPM-centered orchestration can ability to determine the sequence of a process

provide. based on current context. A BPM system can


examine appropriate business rules and other

This transition in computing orientation can be defined policies against the current status of a

described as the shift from Event-Driven to Goal- process or activity to determine what step should

Oriented. In event-driven computing, systems occur next and what information is required.

respond to a specific event – a request for

PA G E 7
The benefits of orchestration to operations the combination itself - BPM+SOA results in a
managers are clear - especially if the resources flexible “Business Process Platform” that
which those managers may wish to deploy as orchestrates process and system components
part of a new or revised process orchestration to meet continually changing business needs.
are themselves exposed as Services, obviating
the need for detailed knowledge of complex Business process management allows processes
legacy integration protocols and mechanisms. to be designed independently from any single IT
Thus, SOA and BPM actually leverage each system and leveraged as shared business logic.
other - a compelling combination. The breakthrough here is analogous to that made
when the definition of information was separated
BPM + SOA: from IT systems. In that revolutionary step in the
COMBINING PROCESS
MANAGEMENT WITH SERVICE- development of how enterprises manage their
ORIENTATION data assets, data was defined in separate,
independent data structures. Data values were
As explained above, the introduction of an stored in databases for access whenever needed
independent process tier is BPM’s major by whomsoever needed them. The terminology
contribution to business computing. It puts the that emerged for the technology that catered for
management of business logic in the hands of data in this way was “Relational Database
business managers without threatening the Management Systems” (RDBMS). Today an
integrity of IT systems’ analogous technology enabling the extraction of
application logic. In business process into a separately manageable
“What SOA and BPM have in
other words, the tier in an enterprise is being called Business
common is their focus on
introduction of an Process Management Systems (BPMS).
pragmatic and fast
independent process
reusability”
management tier By themselves, Web services and other
allows the core components in an SOA-based IT infrastructure
elements of IT infrastructure to be managed by are simply smaller islands of automation.
IT personnel, while allowing business processes, However, process orchestration allows these to
business, interaction models and application be coordinated within business processes. The
behaviour (i.e., business logic) to be managed, understanding and manipulation of Service
and safely improved, by those directly responsible Oriented Architectures and IT systems built upon
for them. them today requires a high level of skill in
technology, but BPM technology is specifically
SOA provides orchestration of IT assets. BPM designed as a tool that staff who are not
provides orchestration of business process technology professionals can use with ease.
assets. The two together provide a platform on
which flexible business operations can be built. What SOA and BPM have in common is their
Recognizing the power of this combination of focus on pragmatic and fast reusability of
SOA and BPM has led some to coin a term for

PA G E 8
components. In combination, SOA + BPM allow a platform capable of orchestrating
both business and IT staff to quickly create, and componentized services within registry or
subsequently evolve, business processes and through third party interfaces; and,
supporting IT systems which closely meet and
an ability to orchestrate SOA-enabled IT
follow business needs. The result is that the
systems for the purpose of executing a
Requirements Gap Syndrome is no longer an
business process
inevitable factor in the makeup of an enterprise.
The Business/IT divide, if not obliterated, is much The transformational impact of SOA and BPM is

more effectively bridged than at any time before. largely about making what is in place more usable
and much more adaptable. It is about gaining

SOA and BPM have thus far been viewed as greater leverage of existing assets, rather than

distinct technologies, evolving along their own simply making new software investments.

paths in response to different drivers. Yet the


natural synergies between BPM and SOA are One of the core advantages of this service-

apparent. To realize the “on-demand” process oriented approach is that it allows processes and

and system environments that businesses need applications to access other systems on a just-

requires that these two technologies be leveraged in-time basis, instead of having to build all

together. Simply put, the combination offers: integration points in advance. This ‘”loosely-
coupled”’ approach is distinct from previous
an IT infrastructure that is SOA-enabled,
business and system architectures. Rather than
allowing the fast and simple assembly of IT
binding all functions and activities into a tight ball
systems to meet business needs as they
of closely defined processes and compiled
arise
software, a service-oriented approach allows the
a process infrastructure that is likewise
development of adaptable, living processes and
“service oriented”, allowing business
applications where capability is governed by
processes to be quickly and easily built and
business process models that include rules,
optimized.
process and roles.
Under the hood, so to speak, the core constituent
pieces of SOA and BPM that make this possible The process-driven and service-oriented
are: architecture presented by the combination of
a registry and discovery process to identify SOA and BPM provides an ideal environment for
and access the suitability of available process building adaptable, model driven composite
and IT components; applications or “composite apps” from existing IT
assets and infrastructure.
a component-based framework for
constructing processes and applications on-
Composite Apps are process-driven, typically
demand using metadata and process models
Web-based applications built from virtualized
(often described as “codeless development”);
application components and abstracted services.

PA G E 9
Composite apps leverage processes and
interaction models to manage screen-flows,
presenting a unified and personalized desktop
(whether Web or Windows) where multiple
screens across multiple systems would otherwise
be required to access the same information.
Process and Rule Management engines
orchestrate the sequencing of process steps,
the flow of information, and triggering of individual
activities, such as introducing a specific offer
based on customer circumstances. These
engines represent the ‘”heart”’ of solutions built
within a customer-centric architecture. Process
engines provide the ability for business logic to
be defined and managed separately from
application logic, allowing changes to rules and
process to be made without affecting underlying
systems or interaction channels.

Where prior generations of technology and


previous methods of technology development
came with the debilitating Requirements Gap
Syndrome as part of their very makeup, the
BPM+SOA combination is free of the disorder.
Businesses that use the combination of
BPM+SOA will find that the flexibility required
for competitive advantage in their business
operations is mirrored by an equal flexibility in
the systems which support the business.

PA G E 1 0
THE NEXT STAGE OF BPM infrastructure
AND SOA EVOLUTION today is becoming “Every 10 years or so a
increasingly catalyst materializes that is
Every 10 years or so a catalyst materializes that service-oriented. capable of shifting the
is capable of shifting the software market axis This has led many software market axis”
enough to displace incumbent leaders to allow to recognize the
new players and products to quickly rise in need to transform systems and operations
prominence. Who was the leading independent around an SOA model, leveraging BPM to
software vendor 30 or 25 years ago? It was not build adaptable, composite applications
Oracle or Microsoft or any other brand name capable of supporting today’s constantly
many might guess, but one since long lost in the changing business environments. At the heart
annals of software history. It was Cullinane (later of these solutions are process engines,
Cullinet), the first software company to be listed enabling the separation of business logic and
on the New York Stock Exchange, whose application logic, and allowing changes to
mainframe-based products were among the most rules and processes to be made without
widely deployed software ever developed. At its affecting underlying systems or interaction
peak, Cullinet and its contemporaries on the channels.
mainframe seemed unstoppable. Yet in the
predictable pattern of the software industry, the With SOA providing orchestration of IT assets
axis shifted and these vendors (as well as the and BPM providing orchestration of business
mainframe platform) ceded to the client/server process assets, enterprises now have the
"revolution" of the late 1980s and early 1990s. option to build a platform that will support
truly flexible business operations.
While someone may argue that the emergence Recognizing the power of this combination,
of the PC was most responsible for these changes, and accepting or not the label “Business
the more likely tipping point was the emergence Process Platform” for the flexible operational
of SQL and the ability to centralize data infrastructure that results, the potential
management separate from applications. By benefits are immense. The Requirements Gap
allowing abstracted data management and Syndrome can be treated and, ultimately,
presenting a standardized means for reading it eradicated – and for the first time in many
SQL made inevitable the "two-tier" architecture. industries’ history, those responsible for
By moving the database onto its own tier, it could business operations can be fully enabled to
then be accessed by various applications running take charge of business operations
on clients’ PCs. This ultimately paved the way performance.
for an explosion of client/ server "Killer Apps"
(ERP, HRMS, etc.) and a new set of brand leaders
who displaced forever the Cullinets of the previous
generation.
The direction of all systems and IT

PA G E 11
Founded in 1994, Singularity is a leading provider of Business
Process Management (BPM) solutions to world-class
Delphi Group delivers strategic advantage at the intersection
organizations such as JPMorgan, BT, Raymond James,
of business and IT. Our thought leadership advisory services
Wyeth Pharmaceutical and UBS.
have assisted more than 20,000 professionals in the Global
Using our award-winning BPM solution, the Singularity 2000.
Process Platform, customers build, execute, monitor and
optimize high-performing business processes that deliver PEROT SYSTEMS, DELPHI and the DELPHI logo are
tangible results. Through offices in London, New York and registered or unregistered trademarks of the Perot Systems
Singapore, and development centres in Ireland and India, or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
Singularity offers market-leading process technology combined
with extensive consulting and project delivery expertise.

Delphi Group
Headquarters 111 Huntington Ave
100 Patrick Street Suite 2750
Derry BT48 7EL Boston, MA 02199
Northern Ireland
TOLL FREE: + 1 800-335-7440
TEL: +44 28 7126 7767
TEL: + 1 617-247-1511
EMAIL: HQ@profit-thru-process.com
FAX: + 1 617-247-4957

Cable House EMAIL: info@delphigroup.com


54-62 New Broad Street WEB: www.delphigroup.com
London EC2M 1JJ
United Kingdom

TEL: +44 20 7826 4470


EMAIL: london@profit-thru-process.com

711 Third Avenue


Suite 900
New York
NY 10017
USA

TEL: +1 212 203 9360


EMAIL: newyork@profit-thru-process.com

32 Maxwell Road
#03-13
Whitehouse
Singapore 069115

TEL: +65 9616 7732


EMAIL: singapore@profit-thru-process.com

EMAIL: marketing@profit-thru-process.com
WEB: www.profit-thru-process.com

You might also like