Opinion

Bruce Silver writes the BPMS Watch column on BPMInstitute.org. It focuses on BPM software technology.

Bruce Silver writes the Change Agent column for Intelligent Enterprise magazine, a CMP publication focused on content management, BPM, and business intelligence.

Until December 2004, the column appeared in Transform Magazine, a former CMP publication, under the title Business Rules.

BPMS Watch

	BPM's Evolving Value Proposition Is BPM really about lowering labor costs, becoming more agile, or optimizing business performance? If it's advocates could get on the same page, the public would have a better idea of why it's important.
	Why Buy a BPMS When You Can Get It For Free? BPMS vendors have always complained about their competitors' rampant price-cutting. Now Intalio gives them something to really complain about: a full-function BPMS free of charge!
	Analyzing and Optimizing Process Performance BPM vendors are all now touting their latest advances in process analytics and BAM, once the exclusive province of business intelligence technology.
	Selecting a BPMS BPM Suites now support the full cycle of process improvement, from business modeling and simulation to executable workflow, integration, business rules, and performance management. But how do you select the right one?
	BPM and SOA: One Technology, Two Communities BPMS depends on SOA technology, but the SOA community is not yet focused on BPM. Vendors like IBM trying to serve both markets face a tricky challenge.
	Agility and BPMS Architecture SOA standards like BPEL emphasize agile process change and component reuse, key to the BPM value proposition. So why are most BPMS vendors so set against it?
	BPMS and Business Rules Many users are confused about how BPMS relates to business rules. Here's how the two technologies work in concert.
	Is Visio Your Next BPMS Design Tool? Visio is ubiquitous and familiar to business users, but useless for executable process design. Now new add-ons promise to change all that.
	Without a BPMS, It’s Not Really BPM Some practitioners think is just a management discipline, not a software technology. They are mistaken.
	Standards and the Process Lifecycle Standards in the BPM world have been called chaotic, a mess, a ball of confusion. Fair enough, but things are getting better.

Change Agent

	Sizing Up the BPM 'Leaders' BPM pureplays aren't registering user mindshare, but the perceived leaders aren't really delivering BPM.
	Put Plug-and-Play on the Process Checklist All-in-one BPM suites are great, but what if you've already invested in a modeling tool, rule engine, or integration middleware?
	Dust Off Your ‘Shelfware’ For Process Improvement Two thirds of business process models are defined in Microsoft Visio, but not in a form usable for analysis or BPM. But hope is on the horizon.

Business Rules

	BPM for the Rest of Us If you like the idea of business process management but can't imagine hosting a BPM solution yourself, help is on the way.
	The End Is In Sight for Paper-Intensive Transactions Imaging was good, but still costs far more than pure electronic transactions. Can XML finally replace paper?
	Does Your BPM System Understand Content? Workflow came out of document management, but today's BPM has left content behind. What it means to make BPM more content-aware.
	To Manage, You Have to Measure We used to think BPM was mostly about automating processes. We're starting to get it's really about measuring and optimizing their performance.
	The Dog That Didn't Bark Content management vendors focus on compliance, not getting ready for a new XML/web services world.
	Look Beyond Records for SOX Compliance A lot of content management vendors have positioned their Sarbanes-Oxley solutions as simply records management. But SOX needs much more than that.
	Documentum and EMC: Kismet or Contrivance? What does acquisition of an ECM powerhouse by a storage vendor say about the future of content management?
	Cutting Loose Workflow vendors never figured out integration. BPM software now makes process automation more agile by emphasizing "loose coupling" and "service oriented architecture." Here's what these new buzzwords mean to your business.
	Can Process Modeling Really Replace EDI? The BPM standards war is over, and the winner is BPEL. But more is needed if web services is going to replace EDI for e-commerce.
	Adding Records To the ECM Mix The combined electronic records management requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC Rule 17, HIPAA and federal rules on litigation discovery may look like an impossible mountain to climb. But contrary to what many IT folks think, a document management system or email archive by itself is not enough. Enterprise records management demands a more integrated approach.
	BPM 2.0: Building Processes Without Programmers Last year's business process management (BPM) offerings plunged process designers into a thicket of Java code. Today's offerings are greatly improved, as vendors put end-to-end modeling tools in the hands of business analysts.
	To Collaborate or Control? Control-oriented content management promises security, whereas collaboration software promises productivity.
	Will Digital Copiers Make Imaging Easier? If digital copiers are to become a mainstream way to scan and archive documents, they need to provide three things: ease of use, automatic batch filing and document security. Three current offerings, eCopy, DocuShare and Document Mall, meet some, but not quite all of these requirements.
	Enterprise Content Management Revisited Enterprise content management, including document imaging, document management, report management and Web content management, is now closer to reality, but do people really need it all?
	Lifelines in Hard Times: HIPAA & Other IT Mandates With the new economy in shambles, who's driving investment in e-business technology? Let's give a cheer for government regulation.
	Life's Too Short for Bad Web Printouts We can integrate whole supply chains on the web but we can't create web content that prints correctly.
	Choreography: The Next Step for Web Services Business process management is being retooled on web services technology. Could real B2B standards be on the way?
	Documents Are 'In' Again Plain old document management is resurgent with new features for "collaborative" users.
	CRM Takes on Process Integration Does Siebel's UAN mean application vendors will take control of business process integration?
	ECM's May-December Romance Evolves After a shotgun wedding, I didn't think the marriage of web content and enterprise content could last. Looks like I was wrong.
	How to Choose an E-Form System E-Form technology should do more, not less, in the e-business era.