Facilities Business performance management_1

from the plan, generates alerts to call for action, promotes proactive recommendations for alert resolution, and provides a dynamic user interface to enable the business to respond appropriately. To provide these types of BPM solutions, however, requires a vendor to marshal resources and expertise spanning the broadest imaginable range of business and IT disciplines. IBM is uniquely qualified to do this, owing to the scope of its software portfolio, business and IT services, and industry sector practices. The aim (and result) is proactive business performance management and problem avoidance, in addition to a reactive approach focused on problem impact minimization. Getting the BPM advantage Industry analysts are advising companies to optimize the key activities and business processes that drive their revenues and profits, as a means of meeting their business measurements and goals. BPM is a key enabler, and this redbook will help you move forward with that solution. Business flexibility and agility require continuous monitoring of the business processes and support of a robust business intelligence (BI) environment. By robust, we mean information is available and sufficiently current to support the requirements for both operational and strategic decision making. Although certainly not required in all cases or scenarios, the term sufficiently current is rapidly evolving to mean real-time (or something near real-time). Want to learn more about evolving to a real-time environment? There is another IBM Redbook available on the subject, Preparing for DB2 Near Real-time Business Intelligence, SG24-607, and we suggest this redbook for additional reading. Contents abstract This section includes a brief description of the topics presented in this redbook, and how we organize them. The information ranges from high-level product and solution overviews to detailed technical discussions. We encourage you to read the entire redbook. However, depending on your interest, level of detail, and job responsibility, you may select and focus on topics of primary interest. We have organized this redbook to accommodate readers with a range of interests. Our objective is to demonstrate the advantages of, and capabilities for, implementing BPM with DB2 UDB and WebSphere Business Integration. We structured the redbook to first introduce you to the architectures and functions of 8 BPM Meets BI the products used. Then we describe how to install, configure, and integrate the products to work best together. With a focus on process monitoring and management, we then demonstrate example scenarios, and the procedures required to evolve to this environment. Chapter summary Let’s get started by looking at a brief overview of the contents of each chapter of the redbook, as described in the following list: Ê Chapter 1 introduces BPM and presents key descriptions and definitions to establish a common understanding and point of reference for the material in the redbook. The trends driving BPM are discussed along with associated benefits. We then present a methodology for implementing a BPM environment as a means to help you continue with your evolution. We present information that deals with gathering requirements, architecting a solution, and creating systems that are valuable and beneficial to use. Ê Chapter 2 continues the BPM discussion, describing how BPM integrates with, and supports, a business intelligence (BI) environment. In general, BI is a user of BPM and the means whereby decision makers can better enable management of the business. Here we include discussions of key concepts and technologies such as key performance indicators and analytic applications. We then discuss the implementation of BI and the linkages to BPM, along with the evolution to more of a real-time environment. This is the desired final solution that results in a significant competitive advantage. Ê Chapter 3 continues by establishing a common and consistent understanding of BPM by describing a number of what we call BPM enablers. We describe the IBM BPM framework and discuss the base structure of the framework, namely the Reference Architecture and Model Driven Development. We also look at a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Web services. The discussion will show you how the IBM BPM framework supports an enterprise BPM solution and can integrate with your particular BI environment. Ê Chapter 4 provides an introduction to the IBM WebSphere Business Integration (WBI) product, which also helps to establish an understanding of the BPM capabilities. There is detailed discussion on the architecture, and the concepts of integration and standardization inherent in WBI. Ê Chapter 5 is focused on DB2 UDB. We describe how it enables and supports business intelligence by providing the infrastructure for a robust data warehousing environment. Then we describe a number of key features, including scalability, parallelism, data partitioning, and high availability. Ê Chapter 6 describes the testing environment used for this redbook project. We describe the hardware and software products used, along with the project architecture. We then describe and demonstrate a sample application scenario that enabled us to show BPM in action. The scenario shows Introduction 9 examples of creating the processes and process flows, monitoring them as they execute, capturing their progress, and displaying alerts and status on the user dashboard of a portal. Acting on alerts provided during the sample execution demonstrates closed-loop capabilities of a BPM implementation. The testing of this scenario is a clear demonstration of a working BPM implementation. Ê Appendix A provides a brief set of considerations for getting started with a BPM implementation. One of the biggest challenges with BPM is knowing where to start. This section describes three approaches typically used in many organizations. That’s an overview of the contents of the redbook. Now it’s time to make your reading selections and get started. 10 BPM Meets BI 1 Chapter 1. Understanding Business Performance Management Business performance management (BPM) is a key business initiative that enables companies to align strategic and operational objectives with business activities in order to fully manage performance through better informed decision making and action. BPM is generating a high level of interest and activity in the business and IT community because it provides management with their best opportunity to meet their business measurements and achieve their business goals. IBM uses the term BPM for business initiatives that emphasize aligning strategic and operational objectives in addition to monitoring and managing business processes and associated IT events. In this chapter, we describe BPM in detail, review BPM trends, and introduce a BPM framework and implementation methodology. © Copyright IBM Corp. 2004. All rights reserved. 11 1.1 The BPM imperative In today’s dynamic business environment, increased stakeholder value has become the primary means by which business executives are measured. The ability to improve business performance is therefore a critical requirement for organizations. Failure to improve business performance is not tolerated by stakeholders, who are quick to exercise their power. One result of this is the volatility of stock prices, which creates a tense roller coaster ride for executives. Bringing more pressure to bear is the fact that business performance measurement time frames are becoming ever shorter. Quarterly targets have replaced annual ones, and the expectation of growth and success is there at every quarter end. To help smooth out the roller coaster ride, businesses need to react quickly to accommodate changing marketplace demands and needs. Flexibility and business agility are key to remaining competitive, and, in some cases, viable. What is needed is a holistic approach that enables companies to align strategic and operational objectives in order to fully manage achievement of their business performance measurements. To become more proactive and responsive, businesses need information to give them a single view of their enterprise. With this type of information, they can: Ê Make more informed and effective decisions. Ê Manage business operations and minimize disruptions. Ê Align strategic objectives and priorities both vertically and horizontally throughout the business. Ê Establish a business environment that fosters continuous innovation and improvement. The need to continuously refine business goals and strategies, however, requires an IT system that can absorb these changes and help business users optimize business processes to satisfy business objectives. BPM assists here by providing performance metrics, or key performance indicators (KPIs), which can be employed to evaluate business performance. A KPI is a performance metric for a specific business activity that has an associated business goal or threshold. The goal or threshold is used to determine whether or not the business activity is performing within accepted limits. The tracking and analysis of KPIs provide business users with the insight required for business performance optimization. BPM also becomes a great guide for IT departments who are being asked to do more with less. It helps them focus their resources in areas that will provide the most support to enable management to meet their business goals. They can now 12 BPM Meets BI ... - tailieumienphi.vn