With new technologies springing up at a prodigious rate,
IT managers are under increasing pressure to satisfy growing
demands, writesJim Close, senior vice-president and UK country manager
at Software AG.
In fact, instead of helping, modernisation can pose a massive
problem for business IT. So how can companies keep on top of new
developments while ensuring their existing infrastructure runs
smoothly?
IT can seem like a relentless uphill struggle at times, like you
are a hamster on a wheel that turns ever faster the harder you run.
The more capabilities your team has, the more your users come to
expect. Conducting business operations manually in the modern
market is unthinkable - so why the constant complaints about
IT being expensive and slow to change?
Do users not remember the time before e-mail, order systems, the
internet and automation? It is unthinkable to revert to pre-IT
ways. Perhaps business users are too influenced by
technology in the home. There, if you want the
latest gizmo, you can simply buy it and replace the old one. Sadly,
in business, it is not so simple.
The main problem for businesses is that after years of buying
and developing multiple systems, firms have an immensely complex
mix of applications, all connected with a spaghetti of integration.
These are often 100% reliable, but lack the flexibility to keep up
with changing business demands.
The consequences of this are all too familiar: business is held
back not by the technology but by the effort required to make the
changes in a risk-free manner. Ultimately, business processes break
down leading to weakened customer service, costs rising faster than
revenues and innovation being strangled.
The manufacturing industry faced similar problems of disjointed
applications nearly a century ago. Henry Ford created
the first integrated production line, whose granular and
repeatable tasks cut car production time to two hours from 14. In
short, the components were the same but the processes were
different.
Manufacturing continues to lead the way, with its Six
Sigma and Lean principles becoming commonplace in other
industries. This is putting an even greater strain on IT
managers.
So how has the IT market responded to modernisation demand thus
far? With new software of course. Business process management (BPM)
systems abound, and are heavily marketed around the principles of
Six Sigma and the promise of infinitely flexible, drag-and-drop
business change.
But results from BPM systems are mixed, and many failures lurk
behind the success stories. Although excellent in theory, without
the knowledge and rules that have been embedded in current systems
built over the past few decades, new management systems are liable
to fail to deliver.
So what should companies do once they have decided to invest in
business process management technology? The key to success lies in
modernisation - opening up existing systems and ensuring that BPM
technology can cope with the challenge of existing infrastructures.
This is what is driving the rapid growth in the service oriented
architecture market right now.
A BPM can actually add to system complexity unless it is tightly
coupled with existing technology. Suppliers are realising this,
hence the consolidation of BPM and SOA companies. Those that cannot
do both will struggle to survive.