Advantages of BPM on SOA

There are a few distinct advantages to deploying business process management (BPM) on a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Until recently, it hasn`t been easy for an agency to do so because the industry has taken two separate approaches - one (BPM) coming from the workflow perspective, and the other (SOA) from the enterprise application integration (EAI) perspective.

According to CIO Today, in the melding of BPM and SOA, there are challenges agencies must consider.

When the initiative comes from the workflow side, vendors have typically focused on things such as process design and management. That`s an approach focused on the business analyst. When the vendor comes from an EAI background, the emphasis is often on connectivity and that ends up giving the developer more control over the process design.

Hyperion is the latest business intelligence vendor to bolster its software to assure data quality, after it agreed to acquire data assurance UpStream Software, says ITWeek.

Hyperion plans to integrate UpStream`s data quality and workflow functionality with its own BPM suite, so that users will be able to seamlessly track the movement of data featured in financial reports back to its source.

Tom Shea, president and CEO of UpStream, said the growing complexity of financial reports, coupled with increasingly stringent accountancy regulations, is increasing demand for data quality management tools so users can check the veracity of financial data in BI reports.

BPM is now part of a larger IT framework that also may encompass enterprise application integration.

BPM is different from enterprise resource planning or customer relationship management because you don`t have to swallow the entire elephant at one time, said Rashid Khan, chief executive officer of Ultimus, a BPM vendor.

However, cultivating worker acceptance and identifying existing process problems are essential first steps, FCW reports.