Gartner Inc. analysts predict that, beginning in 2007, business
process management (BPM) will become the driver for SOA implementations.
The technology for the convergence of BPM and SOA may not fully mature
until 2010, but the analysts urge business adopt “process
architecture” now if they want to take a leadership role in this trend.
In the report titled Gartner Predicts 2007: Align BPM and SOA
Initiative Now to Increase Chances of Becoming a Leader in 2010,
analysts tell business managers, SOA architects and developers to
start adopting “process modeling and develop a process architecture.”
Process architecture includes identifying the customer-facing and
partner-facing processes that are key to achieving the business goals
of a company and then holistically concentrating on optimizing them
through BPM and SOA, the Gartner analysts explain.
Asked for a definition of process architecture, Jim Sinur, Gartner
vice president and distinguished analyst, who co-authored the report
with Janelle B. Hill, research vice president, explained: “A process
architecture would start with the 10-15 most important business
processes and drill down from there to avoid process sub-optimization.”
Project management specialists identify process sub-optimization as a
Catch-22 in IT systems design where concentrating on making some of
the processes more efficient can make the overall system less
efficient. It is a little like the case where speeding up the number
of cars that can pass through an onramp then causes a traffic jam by
putting too many cars on the freeway at the same time. Thus the
overall goal of smooth traffic flow is lost, even though the onramp is
technically operating faster.
To avoid this, the Gartner report recommends that business analysts
and architects take a holistic approach. “Identify the areas that
require greater flexibility and adaptability than possible in their
current implementation form,” the report recommends. “Look for common
activities and tasks across the process architecture where flexibility
is desired. These areas should be the top priorities for an SOA and
BPMS-based implementation.”
Rashid Khan, founder and CEO of Ultimus Inc., a business process
management (BPM) software vendor, said that when he read the Gartner
report it jibed with his current experience with customers. He said he
finds that business people don’t care about SOA, but they do care
about their business processes. He sees BPM as the link that brings
business people into the SOA world.
