January 06, 2006

Perceived BPM Industry Leaders

IBM, Microsoft and Oracle emerged the front-runners in the joint Intelligence Enterprise-Network Computing Business Process Management (BMP) survey conducted last summer. Over 1,600 people chose either one of the three companies when asked to name leaders in the BPM software industry.

This brings to focus the major difference between how "pureplay" BPM suite vendors and users of BPM software perceive the functionality and purpose of BPM software. "Pureplay" vendors tend to adhere to the industry analysts' view of an ideal BPM software __ business performance optimization through modeling, human task automation and Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), while IBM, Oracle and Microsoft describe BPM as "one possible flavor of agile application development based on their new service-oriented middleware stacks".

The basic pattern followed by BPM is modeling, execution and performance monitoring. Process steps, resources and overall performance metrics are modeled, the model is optimized through simulation analysis and then converted into an executable application that automates the process steps and generates KPI (Key Process Indicators) data to monitor process performance.

Oracle offers BPM based on the BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) service orchestration standard. The Oracle BPEL Process Manager provides a process engine and graphical BPEL designer, integration adapters and human workflow, but it does not support business-IT collaboration. According to Oracle, only 10 percent of a company's business processes are "structured" and addressable by BPM, while BAM can monitor performance of the other "unstructured" 90 percent.

Microsoft's Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) is part of the next-generation Windows platform, Vista. It will provide a common set of workflow services for Microsoft applications ranging from Office and SharePoint Services to BizTalk Server, as well as for ISV- and user-developed applications. Microsoft also provides a BPEL-compatible process engine and programmer-oriented graphical design tool. But WWF's process engine is not a standalone component; it is a run-time library that must be hosted in another application, such as Office or SharePoint, and its capabilities vary with each host.

IBM's WebSphere Process Server v6 also provides a BPEL-based process engine and programmer-oriented graphical designer, including a more elaborate suite of human workflow and application integration services. Unlike Oracle and Microsoft, IBM makes the leap to true BPM by integrating the execution piece with optional business-oriented tools for process modeling, simulation and performance management. In doing so, it matches the functional capabilities of the leading "pureplay" BPM suites while using the company's infrastructure.

Though "pureplay" BPM vendors have integrated business modeling, simulation, business rules, analytics and BAM into their BPM suites, they are not getting the recognition they deserve. Users who believe that BPM should connect business analysts and process owners more directly to IT solutions must either demand changes from their perceived technology leaders or take a second look at the smaller vendors providing true BPM.

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January 6, 2006 in BPM | Permalink




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