Workflow/Business Process Management (BPM)
Tools Brick

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Description

Business Process Management (BPM) is a general term describing a set of services and tools that provide for explicit BPM (for example, process analysis, definition, execution, monitoring and administration), including support for human and application-level interaction.
BPM tools have emerged from many sources: workflow, applications, collaborative tools, integration suites, Web integration servers, application servers, development tools, rule engines, and commerce offerings.
Business process management suites support the design, execution and optimization of cross-functional business activities by both internal and external business users and technologists to incorporate people, application systems, and business partners.

Brick Information
Tactical (0-2 years)	Strategic (2-5 years)
HandySoft Bizflow 10+ TIBCO iProcess Suite Appian Enterprise BPM Suite Lombardi Teamworks	N/A
Retirement (To be eliminated)	Containment (No new development)
Metastorm eWork	Oracle Workflow 2.6.x HandySoft BizFlow 9.x
Baseline (Today)	Emerging (To track)
HandySoft Bizflow 9.x TIBCO BusinessWorks Oracle Workflow 2.6.x Metastorm eWork	Open Source Tools (e.g. Intalio) IBM (FileNet) Microsoft Office Sharepoint Services (MOSS) Savvion BusinessManager

Comments

Workflow capabilities are the core functionality of business process management (BPM) tools.
Workflow products have evolved into and been subsumed by BPM products.
Usage guidelines:
- BPM tools are typically used for automating, measuring and optimizing business processes.
- While BPM tools have workflow as a core functionality, a full suite is not always necessary for projects requiring “light” workflow. For example, applications whose primary requirement is document routing may be satisfied with document management tools containing embedded workflow (see Document Management Tools Brick). Applications whose primary requirement is document collaboration may be satisfied with collaboration platforms containing embedded workflow (see Shared Virtual Workspace Brick)
Programmer’s libraries (e.g. Windows Workflow Foundation) do not meet the criteria for this brick and were not considered for inclusion.
Smaller, Proof of Concept, implementations will provide additional information to the NIH to inform future recommendations on strategic tools.
Criteria for which products were considered for this brick:
- Tactical and strategic products were selected to leverage NIH's investment in products that are a proven fit for NIH's known future needs. Leveraging baseline products in the future will minimize the operations, maintenance, support and training costs of new products.
- Some baseline products have been designated retirement and containment. These products are either not as widely or successfully deployed at NIH, or they do not provide as much functionality, value, or Total Cost of Ownership as the selected tactical and strategic products.
- Products previously in the BPM and Workflow bricks were only included if they were true workflow/BPM products, not just products that offered workflow/BPM capabilities.
- The previous Workflow and BPM bricks were combined into a new, single brick because:
  - Workflow capabilities are the core functionality of business process management (BPM) tools
  - The workflow market has been subsumed

Rationale for why technologies fell where they did within the Workflow/BPM brick:
- Products which the domain team thought were appropriate for use at NIH today, based on all factors considered, were categorized as Tactical.
- New versions of technologies with which the NIH has some experience were categorized as Tactical.
- Products no longer supported by the vendor were categorized as Retirement.
- Products with an NIH installed base which are being replaced by significant new vendor releases were slated as Containment.
- Products that were not categorized as tactical with which the NIH has no experience were categorized as Emerging.
- Selected “interesting” technologies were categorized as Emerging because they are expected to have significant market impact once there is more clarity around their offering.
- Strategic technologies were not identified at this time due to the lack of hands-on experience with any of the Tactical technologies and due to the ongoing consolidation in the Workflow/BPM market.