BPM & SOA: Making Business Agility Real
by Amy Larsen DeCarlo

Much is made today about how a solid grasp on changing market dynamics is key to an organization’s success in the digital economy, and for good reason. Business agility is a catalyst in producing the kind of bottom line results that go hand-in-hand with corporate vitality and longevity. But achieving this kind of business dexterity requires businesses to invest resources in ensuring that their processes run smoothly, reliably, and efficiently so they can optimize tactical operations and accomplish strategic goals. 

Needless to say, given the complexity of most organizations and the tightly interwoven and constantly changing nature of their business processes, making sure all tasks are carried out in the most advantageous manner is a challenge. Sure, there are many BPM solutions to choose from that promise to elevate the execution of these processes. But companies need to answer some fundamental questions before they can even begin to think about putting these solutions to work.   

How can a company determine whether it's capitalizing on all market opportunities available to it? Which tools assess where a business's current processes can be improved on in ways that increase efficiencies and step up profits? If a company needs to make adjustments to lower operating costs, drive new revenue growth and improve customer satisfaction, where and when should those changes be made? What metrics should an organization use to compare the effectiveness of its own operations against those of other companies within its industry to ensure the company holds its own against market rivals?
 
How can a company answer these questions and ensure that it's not reacting to ebbs and flows in demand but getting out ahead of those fluctuations to respond effectively and efficiently? IBM, which has claimed a leadership position in the business process management space by applying a service-oriented architecture (SOA) to optimize processes, is stepping in with a number of new and updated solutions. These new solutions take a practical approach to helping companies iron out the kinks in internal processes associated with key business applications (such as supply chain management). 

The approach starts with a set of measurements companies can use to understand how well they're doing in terms of recognizing and meeting changes in demand. These new Key Agility Indicators (KAIs), along with conventional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), provide an organization with a method to evaluate how successful it is in reacting to variability in demand. In September 2007, IBM launched a new Benchmark Agility Wizard with KAI for the supply chain. The Benchmark Agility Wizard combines IBM knowledge (acquired from more than 16,000 client engagements) with 1,200 industry performance metrics from APOC’s Open Standards Benchmarking Collaborative (OBSC) to evaluate the performance of specific processes in a company's supply chain against those of other businesses within their industry. For instance, an industrial products company using the tool might find out that its order processing time is significantly slower than the industry average because of inefficiencies that could be corrected through automation. The organization can apply this information to fix the problems, expedite processing, and clear up its backlog.

IBM also introduced a number of other solutions to help businesses make the necessary improvements in their business processes. These include:

IBM Global Integrated Enterprise Assessment, a measurement businesses can use to evaluate how effective they are in pursuing new revenue streams. IBM suggests actions businesses can take to correct productivity issues or cost overruns. The assessment tool, which meshes with IBM's approach to using an SOA, evaluates six global competencies:

WebSphere Business Monitor, an updated version of IBM’s dashboards for insight into current operations, business process execution and transaction performance. The updated version includes enhanced reporting capabilities and improved dashboard views, which display key performance indicators and incorporate Google Maps. Information can be sorted and ranked according to corporate priorities. WebSphere Business Monitor supports patterns, allowing businesses to create common business measures and then reuse them as best practices.

Industry-Specific Content Packs, business service templates that include frameworks and tools used in vertical industries such as banking, telecom, healthcare and insurance. These templates are prebuilt business service guidelines for specific industries that work with the WebSphere Business Services Fabric. The packs, which are optimized for use across a broader enterprise ecosystem based on industry and technology standards, can speed development and time-to-market for composite business applications. Industry content packs include: 

These tools, along with the new KAIs, go a long way toward helping companies turn the concept of business dexterity into an organizational reality.

The beauty of these solutions is that they give companies that want to improve on their business processes a number of entry points from which to start assessing their current strategy and making productive changes. The tools don't require an organization to have an SOA in place before beginning this process; instead, they provide the foundation for reviewing current approaches and making necessary improvements. 

For example, while one business may opt to begin evaluating its current strategy with WebSphere Business Monitor to measure and monitor key performance indicators related to business processes, another organization may use the WebSphere Business Services Fabric, with IBM's industry content packs, to jump start its efforts to meet specific industry productivity needs.

The flexibility of these new IBM solutions mirrors the promise of BPM enabled by SOA to facilitate a more dexterous business. The result is a foundation for promoting a more responsive and productive organization that is built for success in whatever industry the company competes.

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