Business Centric Methodology (BCM) Creating practical tools for business integration

Transcription

1 Business Centric Methdlgy (BCM) Creating practical tls fr business integratin A Visin fr Business Integratin A few years back it was the Internet that pinted t a new way f ding business. Nw web services technlgy creates the hpe that businesses will be able t d what was never befre pssible, t prvide ubiquitus cnnectins amng infrmatin systems and the peple wh use them. Infrmatin and business capabilities will be delivered at near zer marginal cst. But business interperability des nt cme s easily. Cnnecting the dts amng systems des nt in itself create the business relatinships that prduce value. Technlgy alne ffers n guarantee that businesses cmmunicate in the same business vcabulary r have the ability t create and grw cllabrative business relatinships. Achieving effective cllabratin will invlve change at all levels f the extended enterprise. The Business Centric Methdlgy (BCM) addresses the need fr crdinated change. In the BCM visin: Business peratins will mve frm stve-piped prcedural prcesses t discrete integrated services that adapt t the needs f the cnsumers f thse services. Infrmatin will evlve frm islands f infrmatin t knwledge-centric, interperable slutins grunded n a business-driven apprach t metadata management. Technlgy will change frm narrw prprietary standards t pen, standardsbased slutins driven by strategic business bjectives. Peple will mve frm being a spke attached t a technlgy hub t becming the driving frce behind service features and integratin strategies. BCM cmplements existing appraches t business integratin by paying needed attentin t the requirements fr meaningful semantic cnnectins amng diverse business cmmunities. The BCM apprach serves: The CFO wh aims t establish a frmal prcess fr ensuring that the business gals f integratin initiatives are measured and realized. The CIO wh needs t priritize changes in technical capabilities with the business units he r she serves within and beynd the lcal enterprise. The technlgy vendr wh wants t increase the ptential f the cmpany s prducts t meet the practical needs f business cllabratin. The enterprise architect wh aims t fcus n business initiatives acrss multiple business units and amng diverse sets f custmers. The business manager wh aims t reduce the time required fr deplying new services, business capabilities and effective alliances in an evlving business netwrk. What is BCM? The Interperability Challenge Like ther perspectives n enterprise architecture, BCM cnnects business analysis with the underlying technical infrastructure that supprts business peratins. The glbal

2 Business Centric Methdlgy Brchure - 2 business perspective balances technical effrts cncerning develpment f shared mechanisms fr system interactins with a business emphasis n the practical requirements fr cllabratin. Like ther effrts t develp cmmn standards, BCM reflects the varied perspectives f OASIS member rganizatins. BCM is intended t be agnstic in relatin t specific technical implementatins, t supprt ratified standards, and t participate in the evlutin f related standards. Cmplementing ther enterprise architecture appraches, BCM addresses issues f interperability frm a semantic perspective that are critical t effective business interactin. Interchange f data amng supply chain partners, fr example, depends n creating a cmmn language r frmal definitin f data. A cmmn semantics facilitates business cmmunicatin such as the frmatin and executin f agreements between parties t a transactin. Creating that cmmn business language may be n less challenging than implementing mre familiar technical standards fr integratin f technical systems. A typical challenge is, fr example, defining the custmer. In a multi-business unit, ften multinatinal rganizatin, a cnsistent definitin f the custmer can prve t be a timecnsuming, expensive, and errr-prne prcess. Yet the brader task f achieving cgnitive cnsistency amng relevant business cmmunities is essential t the business relatinships that enable the extended enterprise. The business language must be usable by the technical systems that supprt the business and understandable t the all parties invlved in the business. Whatever the diversity and cmplexity f the business peratin, the custmers will demand t be addressed in a language they understand. Semantic issues cme int play at the systems level as well. The BCM Fundatin Starting frm a perspective f semantic relatinships, BCM aims t enable business cllabratin with a set f tls that help business grups t wrk tgether fr mutual benefit. The aim is t prvide a fundatin fr well-defined interactin amng grups that may be accustmed t differing business vcabularies and patterns f behavir. The BCM apprach builds n a number f cre cncepts. Amng the mst imprtant is that f Cmmunity f Interest. This cncept fllws frm the recgnitin (validated by frmal netwrk thery) that interacting entities, whether they be peple, rganizatins r technical systems, tend t calesce in grups with cmmn characteristics, such as purpse, vcabulary and behavir. In a business envirnment, the cmmunities may be defined by frmal r infrmal rganizatinal structures. The unique features that define ne cmmunity, hwever, may als act as barriers t interactin with ther cmmunities. The BCM apprach addresses these inhibitrs t interactin frm an integrated business perspective. Wrking frm a frmal understanding f the ntlgies that characterize the cmmunities, the BCM apprach enables the definitin f cllabrative business patterns, which supprt cntracts, the vehicle fr frmal interactin amng the interacting cmmunities

3 Business Centric Methdlgy Brchure - 3 The BCM apprach has develped its wn versin f a layered architecture (shwn in the diagram abve), which als defines a prcess fr mving frm fundamental business cncepts t the implementatin f business and technical interperability requirements. This builds n a lng traditin f effrts t integrate business strategies and needs with management f the changing infrmatin technlgy infrastructure. The emphasis here, hwever, is n requirements fr interchange amng Cmmunities f Interest. The Cnceptual layer imprves the understanding f the semantics by aligning the terminlgy f the business and uncvers the peratinal meaning f the business vcabulary. In this layer, the business managers determine the slutin requirements and use BCM templates t acquire infrmatin regarding business cllabratin needs. The relevant data includes infrmatin n business gals, prject bundaries, the participants, the Cmmunity f Interest, use cases, and business events. The Business Layer develps an understanding f the cre business gals that the preferred business bjects must accmplish and cnstrains them accrding t defined business prcesses and patterns. This layer captures frmal business rules and identifies pprtunities fr reuse f prcess cmpnents and related business dmain knwledge. The Extensin Layer defines ptential implementatin ptins and prvides the view needed fr mapping the required interperability requirements t industry practices, rganizatins, standard bdies, and internal legacy system frmats. Business Impact Time t market Business adaptatin Ease f negtiatin Visible perfrmance measures Priritized investment Simplified, lwer cst business prcesses The Implementatin Layer prvides the specific mechanisms that supprt business interactins amng cmmunities. The implementatin will fllw frm templates based n existing standards, prven technlgy and reusable business cmpnents. Benefits f BCM Organizatins that fllw the BCM prcess will experience a number f benefits, sme f which verlap with the effects f ther enterprise architecture appraches and sme f which are unique t BCM. In general terms, the BCM methds aim t implement cnditins that smth business peratins amng multiple cmmunities. Requirements visibility Orchestrated relatinships amng business parties BCM Benefits These cnditins include: BCM Fundatins Business and technical alignment Adaptatin t evlving standards Technical Impact Interperability standards Inter-cmmunity negtiatin Perfrmance mnitring and management Standard registry-based access Templates fr artifact reuse Custmer Impact Empwered custmercreated business services Adaptatin t realtime custmer requirements Alignment f pririties and interests amng multiple business units r cmmunities. Visibility and understandability f technical and business requirements Predictable and effective rchestratin f business and technical relatinships amng business parties.

4 Business Centric Methdlgy Brchure - 4 Alignment f business and technical strategies fr interperability. Supprt fr negtiatin mechanisms and cntract mnitring amng business parties. Lse cupling between business capabilities and technical implementatin. Rapid adaptatin t evlving business and technical integratin standards. The ability t manage and smth interactins amng business rganizatins with shared business prcesses and data enables BCM t have can have a brad-based impact n business rganizatins and n the custmers they serve. Sme f these effects are utlined belw: Business Impact Reduced time-t-market -- rapid respnse changing business requirements. Reduced cst f adaptatin t changing market and technical cnditins. Ease f negtiatin fr business and technical crdinatin. Reuse f knwledge, peple, capital assets acrss business units and prcesses. Visibility f business capabilities t stakehlders. Integratin f perfrmance measures with change management and investment strategies. Ability t priritize investment and management attentin based n business impact. Reduced cst and cmplexity thrugh eliminatin f redundant business prcesses and technical assets. Technical Impact Lw-cst adaptatin t new technlgies. Implementatin f metadata management and semantic mapping capabilities. Ability t redistribute services amng business and technical cmmunities. Custmer Impact Custmer empwerment BCM enables custmer t be bth cnsumer f business services and expert creatr f business services. Ability fr business services t adapt t realtime custmer requirements. Hw t use BCM BCM Implementatin Prcess and Supprting Tls The BCM apprach is designed t be mre than a visin fr inter-enterprise peratins. It aims t becme a repsitry f methds and tls fr implementing the envisined wrld f interperability. The BCM cmmunity is actively develping tls that assist with the achievement f the BCM implementatin framewrk by wrking clsely with selected industry initiatives. A grwing set f templates fr captures critical infrmatin in a way that can be reused ver time and amng participating rganizatins. The templates are designed t create a cnsistent bdy f infrmatin fr all layers f the business architecture, frm business ntlgy t cntractual relatinships amng individuals and cmmunities. The templates wrk with familiar desktp tls and d nt require specialized sftware. These templates include: A defined prcess fr mving frm cnceptual semantic and business fundatins t implementatin f strategies fr interperability. A mdular apprach t analysis and reuse f business and technical capabilities. Use f patterns t capture replicable knwledge. Implementatin f metadata management. Interperability standards / cntracts. Inter-cmmunity negtiatin mechanisms. Perfrmance mnitring and management tls.

5 Business Centric Methdlgy Brchure - 5 Artifact management fr semantic interperability. Use f a standard registry t enable access t prcesses and ther business and technical artifacts. Specific data dictinaries, lexicns, taxnmies, thesauri, tpic maps and ntlgies. Mechanisms fr capturing critical infrmatin in a way that can be reused ver time and amng participating rganizatins. BCM in Practice The BCM apprach can have its greatest impact in rganizatins that are cmpsed r multiple business units r which must perate acrss an extended business netwrk. Cmplexity in the structure f the business relatinships is the rule nt the exceptin. The need fr imprved integratin acrss business bundaries is widespread in bth the public and private sectrs. A few examples: Financial Services Mre ften than nt, financial services cmpanies have grwn thrugh mergers and acquisitins. They ften cnsist f multiple service rganizatins with verlapping and duplicative functins and services. The financial services cmpany has typically invested a great deal in its ability t cllabrate with sister financial institutins like banks, regulatry agencies and ther service rganizatins. T reduce time-t-market fr new services and create mre flexible interactins with custmers, many f these cmpanies are struggling t create wrkable mechanisms fr interperability and mre effective delivery f services t custmers. BCM ffers a path t meeting thse bjectives. Public Sectr Like financial services, infrmatin systems within public sectr rganizatins have grwn as stvepiped peratins within islated business units. Prgrams such as the federal enterprise architecture effrt under the Office f Management and Budget (OMB) and parallel initiatives within the Defense Department have established brad gals fr interperability and reuse f business services, data, and technlgy cmpnents. The challenge is t create the business framewrk t fcus investment n feasible initiatives within limited budgets. The BCM ffers ne means t meet thse bjectives. As ne example f a mechanism that implements semantic transfrmatin and mediatin, the IRS has a business relatinship with millins f custmers it hardly knws. It impses highly cmplex business rules n custmers f varying business skills. That relatinship is mediated thrugh the cmmn language f tax preparatin sftware (and the accunting cmmunity). The best f that breed transfrms the cmplex language and business rules f the IRS int a frm that is meaningful t a brad set f custmers. There are ther examples f applicatin f BCM principles, such as the pilt f gvernment service delivery under the Electrnic Prcess prgram (EPR) in Nrway. The prgram addresses service delivery requirements in diverse dmains such as cnstructin and healthcare and prvides integrated mechanisms fr infrmatin access and cllabratin. The EPR effrt represents a mdel f hw t cmbine practical implementatin with standards develpment that enables replicatin f that experience in

6 Business Centric Methdlgy Brchure - 6 multiple envirnments. Similar initiatives are being undertaken in the U.S. federal sectr. Pharmaceutical Research The pharmaceutical industry faces a challenge f reducing time-t-market thrugh mre efficient clinical trials. But the culture f the research and IT cmmunities is distinct frm the clinics in which the trials are carried ut. The industry is als faced with a highly diverse set f cmmunities f interest, each research specialty characterized by its wn set f jargn, ways f ding business, and set f prfessinal practices. Getting drugs t market faster is wrth billins f dllars t the industry. That gal is impeded by challenges f semantic transfrmatin and ther issues f business interperability. The BCM apprach and cmplementary tls ffer a path ut f that quagmire. BCM and the Standards Prcess A primary guiding principle f the BCM apprach is the use f pen, transparent cmmunicatin and standards. The BCM prducts have evlved thugh interactin with a number f ther technical cmmittees and cntinue t prfit frm cntributins within and beynd the standards develpment cmmunities. In particular, there is nging cllabratin with wrk n registries, ebxml, e-gvernment and ther effrts t implement standards, technlgies, and practices that prmte interperable business peratins. Cntacts and Additinal Infrmatin The BCM methds are a prduct f the OASIS Business Centric Methdlgy Technical Cmmittee. The methds described here are detailed in a number f dcuments that are in varius stages f fficial review. These include: BCM Specificatin Business Centric Methdlgy Executive White Paper Business Centric Methdlgy Intrductry Presentatin These and ther dcuments can be btained thrugh the OASIS website at Fr mre infrmatin n hw t participate in BCM activities, please cntact the BCM Technical Cmmittee. Business Centric Methdlgy Technical Cmmittee Chairs: Mike Lubash mike.lubash@dfas.mil Bruce Peat BPeat@ePrcessSlutins.cm