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Testing Business Processes with iLog Business Rules (Illustrated with Gliffy) bit.ly

Discussion: The Enterprise Architecture Network | LinkedIn "Linking Information Systems to Business Performance" bit.ly

Had a nice lunch with an ex-colleague ;-)

I have installed Polaris....http

@Bleebot The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes

It's autumn in Tombeek : bit.ly

Vlerick now 10th MBA School in the world ! bit.ly

I lauched a linked in group and I now see them all connecting with each other. Funny. ..

Just lost a long text I had written on an internal IBM blog... GRRR

@roulive Merci, je suis super impatient de voir ca... C'est direct ou faut attendre ?

@roulive J'en veux toujours bien une (cfr Direct Messages) :-)

@ddossot it's called "Turtles all the way down" : bit.ly

@ddossot and after : how to generate code on the fly which makes use of the on the fly generated global static values...

@Ulrichfr Pourquoi pas OpenERP ? bit.ly

I love this web site : The Big Picture. This time : Pictures of Saturn. bit.ly

LOL : First customer for Windows 7 looks exactly as you'd expect bit.ly

bX-59cppw : that's the error I get me when I try to see my blog bit.ly

A typical approach when thinking about Business Process Management is to try to draw two types of diagrams:

• the AS-IS Diagram: represents how the process is executed today
• the TO-BE Diagram : how we would like to execute the process in the future

The TO-BE diagram aims at improving the business efficiency by for example automating certain tasks. The Business Process Modeling Notation is the standardized notation for such Process Diagrams. Once the process is modeled in BPMN it can be implemented using the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL).

BPMN seems to be the way to go to manage a company's business process.

So the question is : Is BPMN the panacea (a cure to all pains) for Business Process Management ?

I dont think so. Here is why...

If the BPMN approach sounds logical, it has nevertheless some drawbacks:

• How to get non architects draw their processes, they prefer natural language = to talk about it. Drawing and agreeing the right process is a painful exercise in most companies.
  
  
• Some of the Process Drawing tools like ARIS, MEGA, System Architect require some training before they can be properly used. They are perceived as complex.
  
  
• BPMN diagram don't represent the reality. It's sometimes very difficult to draw the reality because there are numerous exceptions to the process (exceptions are the rule...)

Alternative approaches to BPMN are than very useful. One can find at least 2 types of alternatives : Middelware and Applications.

Middelware (other than BPEL Engines) allow businesses to manage their processes. Here are some examples:

• Business Rules Engines allow to determine what is the best next step to be executed in a process (decision), or determine how an activity should be performed (planning). At IBM this would be the iLOG BRMS.
  
  
• Business Activity Monitoring and Complex Events Processing allow to monitor a process though relevant events (product purchased, payment completed...). At IBM we implement this with Websphere Business Monitor and Websphere Business Events.
  
  
• Business Intelligence tools allow to create reports and dashboards which help Business Managers to lead their teams to execute the processes in the right way.

Companies have also been managing their business processes without modeling them. They have purchased applications or frameworks which contained ready to use processes:

• Horizontal Applications like ECM solutions include standard document flows for publication and approval of information
  
  
• Vertical Applications Packages like SAP, Temenos T24 or PTC Windchill include pre-canned business processes that "just" need to be customized to the company needs.
  
  
• Industry Specific Frameworks include Business Processes. For example IBM proposes the Insurance Process Acceleration Framework. I the Media sector, IBM proposes the Media Hub.
  

The drawbacks and the alternatives of BPMN, demonstrate that BPMN isn't the Panacea for Business Process Management.

So, If you are interested in BPM, I would recommend you the following :

If you want to be closer to the business…

When thinking about BPM

Don’t think immediately BPMN, AS-IS and TO-BE

Rather, think

• Natural Language
• Business Intelligence
• Business Events
• Business Activities

Bordeau-Bayern Mireille says 1-1, I say 2-1

Madrid-Milan tonight, Mireille predicts 3-1, I say 3-2.

What to do when there is nothing on TV ? Play with your WII.

I did that yesterday but not as you would expect.

I tried to develop web pages for my WII opera browser in order to:

• play web radios on the WII. I developped the page thanks to some hacking pages but... on the same pages they explain there is a memory leak in the WII flash player that makes that the music stops after a few minutes. I also tried http://www.wiihear.com/ but it seems also to suffer the memory management problem.
  
• Display photos on the WII. This works great thanks to Picasaweb.

I also tried iGoogle and Netvibes and it works, except when there is too much Flash.

Too bad there is this Flash memory leak because otherwise the WII could become a really great platform. My experience is that much of the new technology seems to have some glitch somewhere.

I just hope Adobe and Nintendo will upgrade Opera with a new flash player soon.

Some IBM customers have a lot of assets on "older" (or shouls we say more mature) platforms as zSeries or iSeries. Traditionnally those applications have "green screens".

Rational Host Access Transformation Services allows to easilly convert those 5250 or 3270 screens into Web pages exposing exactly the same functionality.

This allows to extend the reach of the i or z code.

End users also have an easier way to switch between their different screens. They can do that by:

• having several browsers and using ALT-TAB to switch between them
• having a browser with Multi-tab (like FireFox or IE7)
  
• toggle between web applications in a page using javascript and iFrames for instance

I have built a small demo to show the last possibility.

By showing or hiding a div containing an iframe, one can easilly navigate between different web apps and stay logged in and in context (the hidden iframe just stays on the same page, until i is shown again).

You can test it here in 2 different flavors:

• Explicit show/hide
  
• Show one application at a time

Of course this is a very simple and cheap solution, the ultimate way to do this would be to use Lotus Mashup Center.

Entreprise Modernization with IBM HATS : Switching between Web Applications with JavaScript bit.ly