From being a technology that many had written off as having passed its sell-by date, BPM is finding a whole new lease on life in state-of-the-art Agile and DevOps application development environments and as an aid to digital transformation.
That's according to a range of technology, BPM and business experts who contributed to recently published TechTarget ehandbook "Business Process Management aids application development".
Not too long ago, a Forrester Research Report "Digital Transformation and Customer Experience Frame The New Business Case for BPM" indicated that if traditional BPM were human, it would be in intensive care with a radical new approach in treatment necessary to save it.
The report concluded that it BPM were to survive, it would have to start playing a far greater role in the delivery of exceptional customer experience through the enhancement of digital business automation practices and processes.
The new ehandbook indicates that BPM is taking up that challenge, and then some. It states that there has been a "fundamental shift" in the application of BPM which was originally deployed to improve operational efficiency and lower costs, but now is increasingly part of the toolkit that developers need to build modern applications that automate business processes and decisions.
Valerie Silverthorne, senior technology editor at TechTarget, who authored the new ehandbook, maintains that BPM is increasingly being regarded as a prerequisite for what is becoming known as BizDevOps - or DevOps2.0.
"The time when software developers were only concerned about software development is over. Today, software developers not only need to know what the business side is doing, they must also understand it and be able to put it in the context of their current project.
"That's where BPM comes in. When done correctly, BPM results in smooth workflows, on-time delivery and happier employees," she said.
In addition, transformation of an organisation requires "a steady hand, access to details and processes, and a way to keep track of it all" - which is what BPM is all about.
"If the BPM lifecycle is rolled out slowly and thoughtfully with an eye toward organisation-wide changes, it can be the backbone of digital transformation," she added and pointed out that while the underlying philosophy of DevOps is that Dev and Ops work together seamlessly, that is not always the case in practice.
BPM offers a way to bring everyone closer, including the business side. A strong BPM foundation would also set the stage for stronger teams (essential for companies attempting to roll out DevOps); and also gives all groups a common language, processes and reference points to assist decision-making.
"But it's not that easy to roll out the BPM lifecycle, particularly in companies with existing Agile or DevOps deployments. A move to BPM can be seen as 'one more thing to deal with,' rather than a step in the right direction. So the challenge is clear," Silverthorne concluded.
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