The SOA-BPMS Bridge To Agility

TheSOA-BPMSBridgeToAgility01/26/2004ByPravinGokhe,IntegrationArchitect,CognizantTechnologySolutionsThedynamicandfast-changingnatureofe-businesshasincreasedpressureonenterprisestobeagileandresponsive.Tosupportthisbusinessneed,companiesneedITinfrastructuresthatwillbedrivenbybusinessvalueratherthantechnology.Inanefforttoachievethesegoals,organizationsarespendingbillionsofdollarstowardinnovation,integrationandautomation,butarestillstrugglingagainstrisingcomplexityandcost.Theseinefficienciesaredrivenbyalackofstrategies.Theautomationofenterpriseshashappenedoverdecadesbywayofthebest-of-breedsolutionsofthattime.Thishasleftdifferentbusinessunitsofenterprisesstuckwithdifferenttechnologies,therebycreatingisolatedislandsofautomation.Mostoftheselegacyandpackagedapplicationswerenotdesignedtoworkwiththeotherinternal/externalapplicationsorWeb-basedapplications.Therigidandnon-interoperablenatureoftheselegacyandpackagedapplicationsmakesitdifficulttoachievegoalssetbytheenterprises.TheenterprisescannotoptforinnovationoftheselegacysystemstonewgenerationtechnologiesthatsupportService-OrientedArchitectures(SOA)duetothehighcostandriskinvolved.Or,thismaynotbeaviablesolutionatall.Thegrowinge-businessmomentumhaspushedbusinessestoleverageInternetcapabilitiesandcreatedahugedemandforintegrationwithinandbetweenenterprises.Thepotentialoftoday’sWeb-centrictechnologieswillnotbevisibleunlesstheyshakehandswiththeexistingback-endapplicationsandprocesses.Goingbeyondenterprises,integrationwithpartners,customersandsuppliersisrequiredtobuildastrongcommercechain.Thestrategyhasbeentocombinethebest-of-breedapplicationcomponentswithprocessmanagementandintegrationcapabilities.Buteventhisisnotworkingfororganizationsduetoproprietarymodelsimplementedbythesolutionvendorsofbusinessprocessmanagementsystems(BPMS)andintegrationtools.Theinitiativetowardintegratingtheseprocesseswithinandoutsideenterprisesusingtraditionalenterpriseapplicationintegration(EAI)andbusiness-to-businessintegration(B2Bi)toolshasleftorganizationsinastatewheretheyhaven’tbeenabletorespondtochangingmarketsquickly.Thisisbecausetraditionalintegrationsolutionsaretechnology-drivenandbasedonproprietarymodels.Thecontrolsforintegratingapplicationsandprocessesareembeddedwithintheintegrationtools,therebycreatingbarriersforprocessmanagementsystemstocontrolandmanageprocesses.Businesspeoplewillnothavereal-timevisibilitytotheprocessesandprocesseswillnotbeeasilyadaptabletochangingbusinessconditions.Service-OrientedArchitectureforIntegrationEnterprisesneedane-businessarchitecturethatcandeliverthebestofbothworlds-processmanagementaswellasprocessorchestration,connectingtheITassetstobusinessprocessmodel.Theneedforagileandresponsivebusinessprocessesisdrivingbasicchangesinintegrationstrategies.Theintegrationshouldbedrivenbythebusinesstosupportbusinessdynamics.Thecontrolforintegratingprocessesshouldbetakenmovedfromtheintegrationinfrastructuretoprocessmanagementenvironmentsandlower-levelorchestrationwillbetheprimaryfocusoftheintegrationinfrastructure.TheSOAapproachtointegrationcanmakethisareality.Itmeansprovidingimplementation-abstracted,standards-basedinterfacestorigidandnon-interoperableprocessessoastofacilitateinteroperability.SOAhelpsinreplacingimplicit,embeddedandtightly-coupledprocesseswiththosethatareexplicit,openandlooselycoupled.StandardssuchasXMLandWebservicesaregoingtoplayakeyroleindefiningopenandexplicitprocesses.Oncetheprocessesareopenandexplicit,itwillbeeasierforBPMStointegrateandmanagethem.SOAbridgesthegapbetweenintegrationinfrastructureandbusinessprocessmanagementsystems.Asanevolutioninintra-enterpriseintegration,theintegrationwithinanenterprisecanbeachievedbyexposingstandards-basedinterfacestootherbusinessprocesses.XMLandWebservicessupportedbynew-generationEAItoolshelpingeneratingstandards-basedinteroperableinterfacesforrigid,non-interoperablelegacyandpackagedapplications.Integrationcapabilitiessuchastransformation,translationsandadaptersarestillrequired.TheorganizationswillbeabletoleverageexistingassetsseamlesslybyenablingthemtoparticipateinSOA,wheretheycanbeconsumedbyneworexistingprocesses.SOAincreasesreusabilityandenablesloose-couplingbetweenprocesses.Sometimes,theembeddedandinterrelatedprocessesthatexistinlegacyorpackagedapplicationsmakeitdifficultfororganizationstobuildatrueSOA.Theenterprisesmayhavetostrategicallydecomposetheseinterrelatedprocessesandrecomposethemusingstandards-basedmechanisms.Thiswillbringinterrelatedprocessesintoaprocessmanagementenvironment,wherebusinesspeoplewillbeabletocontroltheminabettermanner.XMLandWebservicesaregainingwideacceptanceasaB2Bcollaborationprotocolintheinter-enterpriseintegrationspace.EDI-basedindustrystandardsaremovingtowardXML.XML-basedindustrystandardsandtheInternetarereplacingEDIandexpensiveVAN.New-generationB2BitoolsaresupportingemergingstandardssuchasXML,SOAPandebXML.ToparticipateintheSOAspace,somelegacyandpackagedapplicationvendorshavealreadystartedworkonprovidingWebservicessupporttotheirexistingandnewsolutions.Humanworkflowprovidesdocument-centri