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BPM AND
ENTERPRISE
ARCHITECTURE:
THE CASE FOR
INTEGRATION
 BPM AND ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE: THE CASE FOR INTEGRATION

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BPM and enterprise

architecture: The
case for integration

Enterprise
integration offers a
bundle of benefits
for BPM

B PM and enterprise architecture (EA)

sometimes seem to exist in parallel uni-
verses. That’s a situation that can be det-
rimental the function of each--and to the
organization. In this Solution Spotlight, industry experts make the
case for integration of BPM and EA and lay out the key benefits.

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BPM AND ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE: THE CASE FOR

INTEGRATION
Alan Earls
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BPM and enterprise BPM and enterprise architecture (EA) sometimes seem to exist in parallel
architecture: The
case for integration universes. That’s a situation that can be detrimental the function of each--and
to the organization.
Enterprise
integration offers a EA can be defined in multiple ways, says Michael zur Muehlen, an associ-
bundle of benefits
for BPM ate professor at the Howe School of Technology Management at Stevens In-
stitute of Technology. Some such definitions emphasize the approach’s role in
understanding, guiding and changing the organization itself. More frequently,
though, EA functions as an IT-centric approach for describing complex sys-
tems from a variety of perspectives.

SHARED CHARACTERISTICS
“What both views have in common is the perception of the domain of inter-
est as a complex system that cannot be completely described from a single
viewpoint,” says zur Muehlen, who is also director of the school’s Center for

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Business Process Innovation. Which viewpoints are appropriate for an EA de-

pends on the purpose of the architecture, but, generally, a description of system
structure and system behavior are desirable, he says. That’s where processes—
and process management—enter the picture.
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“Process models form the core of how we describe system behavior,” zur
BPM and enterprise Muehlen says. “That means that BPM and EA overlap to the extent that pro-
architecture: The
case for integration cesses are part of a comprehensive EA approach.”
Conversely, he notes, BPM solutions comprise more than just process mod-
Enterprise
integration offers a els. In fact, users need to describe the data consumed and produced in these
bundle of benefits
for BPM processes, the rules and service level agreements that cover the processes and
both the human and technical resources involved in the performance of the
processes. “Each of these aspects represents first-order concerns in an enter-
prise architecture, while in a BPM approach they tend to be secondary to the
process, which sits at the center,” he says.

BPM’S ROLE IN EA
Similarly, notes Jaap Schekkerman, president at  Enterprise Architecture
Consulting Services, BPM—or what he prefers to call “business function mod-
eling”—is an integral part of EA management work. “We always start with

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defining or visualizing the business function model, an integrated model of

business functions, sub-functions, activities, information flows of input and
output and the related actors,” he says.
The way Schekkerman sees it, EA is really a management-lanning disci-
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pline designed to support management decision-making about business and
BPM and enterprise technology. “So, from my perspective, BPM is an integral part of EA and can
architecture: The
case for integration only deliver value to an organization when used within the scope of overall EA
results,” he says, adding: “BPM models, most of the time, will be part of the out-
Enterprise
integration offers a come of EA work. I don’t see that there is a value for BPM on its own. Business
bundle of benefits
for BPM and technology are so aligned to each other.”
BPM and EA do to tend to coincide in some areas in terms of common
structure and goals. For instance, the root of both tasks is in understanding the
fundamentals of the business, notes Kevin Parker, a 30-year industry veteran
and chief evangelist at Serena Software, an application lifecycle management
vendor.
In Parker’s view, Edgar F. Codd, inventor of the relational database model,
“had it right when he realized that the underlying data in any business hardly
changes over the decades but how that data is processed changes radically.”
For example, he explains, the ideal home might be one with plasma-screen

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walls with pictures that change to suit the resident’s mood. Similarly, the ideal
system is one where the way we process the data can be constantly changing,
but the underlying data remains the same.
“So both EA and BPM are seeking something pure: EA, the underlying
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minimal, optimized architecture that supports today’s and tomorrow’s busi-
BPM and enterprise ness [and the] need to process and interpret data, and BPM’s own grail of a
architecture: The
case for integration constantly optimizing and ever-fine-tuning process that is adapting to changes
in the market,” he says.
Enterprise
integration offers a
bundle of benefits
for BPM BPM & EA: FACTORS TO KEEP IN MIND
Parker recommends considering two issues before trying to integrate BPM
and EA. First, he says, keep in mind that EA is essential in today’s modern
enterprise. From that platform, it’s possible to orchestrate the direction of all
application development and manage the emergent portfolio of applications
toward shared, common, enterprise architecture. Applications that are built
from BPM solutions need to be part of that enterprise architecture: “They need
to be congruent with the business goals and directions,” he says.
Today’s BPM tools have the ability to integrate information from disparate
data sources to help with decision making, he continues. The very best tools

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mine the data directly and make decisions based on the data without human
interaction, he notes.
Second, every part of the development process needs to be part of the whole
Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). That means the efforts of enterprise
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architects are as crucial to the development process as those of the quality as-
BPM and enterprise surance team, he says: “They need tasks assigned, they need handoffs approved,
architecture: The
case for integration they need notification of change.”
“BPM is the glue between your existing system and an overarching archi-
Enterprise
integration offers a tecture,” says John McMahon, who, as founder and CEO of Extentech Inc., an
bundle of benefits
for BPM open source software company, has been involved with BPM and EA efforts.
“You want to have a top-down and bottom-up approach, where IT and lines of
business and C-level management sit down and really come to grips with what
the goals area, and then come back together with approaches to meet those
goals,” he says.
“BPM and EA each have value on their own,” notes Sean Narayanan, chief
delivery officer for iGate Patni, a consulting and outsourcing company. “They
are also naturally synergistic and best positioned when presented together for
improved business outcomes and strategic alignment of business and IT.”
When the two are done together, “BPM provides the business context,

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understanding and metrics, and EA provides the discipline for translating busi-
ness vision and strategy into architectural change,” Narayanan says. “Both are,
in fact, needed for sustainable, continuous improvement.”

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BPM and enterprise

architecture: The
case for integration ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION OFFERS A BUNDLE OF
Enterprise
BENEFITS FOR BPM
integration offers a
bundle of benefits
for BPM In surveying the enterprise integration (EI) tools and platforms landscape, For-
rester Research analyst Ken Vollmer spotted a fast-growing trend that’s now
crossing corporate planners’ radar screens: a marked shift toward solutions
that actively support BPM and similar initiatives.
What Vollmer and his colleagues call “comprehensive integration solu-
tions” now offer a broad array of capabilities for solving complex integration
challenges. At the core of those solutions’ value proposition is more effective
support for BPM, as documented in the analysts’ most recent report on the sub-
ject, “Forrester Wave: Comprehensive Integration Solutions,” from late 2010.

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EI’S BENEFITS FOR BPM

Chief among the advantages that EI tools and methodologies bring to BPM:
greater support for process-improvement efforts. “The BPM features embed-
ded in a comprehensive integration solution enable developers to incorporate
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model-driven process management directly into their application develop-
BPM and enterprise ment efforts,” observes Vollmer, who has been tracking the move toward BPM-
architecture: The
case for integration supporting solutions.
Other benefits include easier integration with internal applications, in-
Enterprise
integration offers a cluding both commercial and homegrown applications, and better control over
bundle of benefits
for BPM file transfers.

A BOON FOR EXTERNAL PARTNERS AS WELL

In addition, EI tools make it easier for external partners to link to enterprise
resource planning (ERP) applications. “Comprehensive integration solutions
offer many features to support effective B2B exchanges, including support for
both EDI and XML-based messages, extensive data transformation support,
and built-in support for a wide range of communication protocols,” Vollmer
says.
In this Q & A, Vollmer offers additional insights about how the two

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disciplines are converging:

JM: Have BPM efforts to date been doing a good job of employing
enterprise integration as part of their modeling and methodologies?
KV: I would say it’s a mixed bag at the moment, with some successes and
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some failures. We [at Forrester] do see attempts by some to make BPM a very
BPM and enterprise “silted” solution when it should be approached from a broader perspective. We
architecture: The
case for integration recommend a holistic approach that includes application, process and data
integration in a single cohesive effort.
Enterprise
integration offers a JM: Are too many initiatives still stymied or limited by silos or
bundle of benefits
for BPM legacy systems?
KV: Due to technology limitations, application, process and data integra-
tion efforts evolved over the years into separate silos. That makes it difficult to
support effective end-to-end processes that encompass all three.
However, this situation is beginning to change with the arrival of more
comprehensive integration tools that address the full range of integration
needs. Now companies can consider all their integration requirements—ap-
plication, business to business, process and data—to develop a holistic strategy
that addresses them all with a minimum of technology overlap. We expect this
trend to continue strongly over the next three years. In response, integration

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vendors are taking a more holistic approach as well.

JM: Are current BPM tools and platforms effectively addressing
enterprise integration requirements? Or are other types of solutions
required to complete the picture?
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KV: Forrester has taken the position that the current BPM space is com-
BPM and enterprise plicated, with at least three types of tools providing varying degrees of support:
architecture: The
case for integration
Human-centric
 business process management system
Enterprise
integration offers a Document-centric
 business process management systems, and
bundle of benefits
for BPM Comprehensive
 integration solutions.

These tools are effective in solving enterprise integration needs, depending

on the need. However, they do not effectively address the holistic approach. A
holistic approach to integration is primarily about strategy, not tools. At this
time, there are integration tools – primarily CIS products – that can cover ap-
plication, process and [business-to-business] integration, but they don’t do
much in the area of data integration. However, we are seeing early signs that
this is changing, so tools will be more able to support a holistic integration
strategy over time.

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JM: Is the enterprise integration aspect becoming—or promising to

become—less daunting due to initiatives such as SOA, enterprise appli-
cation integration [EAI], virtualization and Web services standards?
Or is complexity still on the rise?
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KV: As each generation of integration tools hits the market, more and more
BPM and enterprise of the underlying technology is abstracted «under the covers,» making the
architecture: The
case for integration implementation of new integration requirements less daunting than it would
have been in the days when the focus was on development of point-to-point
Enterprise
integration offers a integration interfaces. Today’s approaches rely more on graphical modeling
bundle of benefits
for BPM and the use of service-bus technology. Bottom line: There is much less coding
and results can be delivered faster.
Of course, this only applies to those organizations that are adopting the
new tools. Many enterprises are still stuck using the same approach they have
used for the past 10 years.
JM: Should BPM professionals have a deeper understanding of
SOA, EAI or virtualization? Have you seen this kind of knowledge grow
among practitioners?
KV: In most situations, there is no need for BPM professionals to have this
level of technical expertise. As long as they maintain an effective partnership

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with the technical team, they can focus more on the specifics of their BPM
processes.
JM: Are there issues with bringing BPM professionals and integra-
tion specialists together to the same table to accomplish projects? Or
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are there professionals within organizations now bridging these roles?
BPM and enterprise KV: It›s a common thread that organizations who are experiencing the
architecture: The
case for integration most success with their BPM efforts have a good working relationship between
the BPM and IT teams. Neither side can ensure success without the other.
Enterprise
integration offers a
bundle of benefits
for BPM

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