BPM-EAI

Recently I was consulting with a leading Cargo shipping company for a legacy modernization program. While debating on the technology choices there was an interesting debate which happened around Event Driven Architecture and which products should be selected in achieving this architecture. The main debate revolved around Rules engine Vs a Complex Event Processing engine to analyse and further act on the events.

1. Usage of BRMS: Typically BRMS systems are more focused around empowering business users to have a better control on the automation of Business Rules. BRMS systems provide the business users with functionality to author the rules and also maintain the rule life cycle. BRMS is generally implemented in automating the business rules  which come into play during the normal execution of business scenarios. For e.g. calculation of a premium amount for an insurance policy, assigning the query resolution SLA based on the card type (Gold vs Platinum),   Calculation of freight charges for a logistics company etc. All these are examples where Business Rules engine would fit in. In contrast CEP is mostly targeted at identification of unusual scenarios which occur in business process execution. Such rules are typically very complex in nature.
    
2. Usage of CEP: If the requirement is to correlate different events and then decide a final course of action, then it would most probably lie in the CEP space. CEP, unlike BRMS, is generally used for correlating different events to find out if something unusual has happened during the execution of the process. This is generally referred to as needle-in-the-haystack identification. CEP execution requires lots of input data streams related to events and the correlation can happen on the following dimensions:
   

• Absence of event: This is detection of some event which was expected at some time but did not happen. For e.g. Shipping container was expected to dock @ 11 AM but has not arrived. The detection of absence of this event could lead to an alert to time keeping office to take remedial actions of reassigning the cargo unloading team to some other task.
  
• Correlation over a period of time: This involves detection of some kind of pattern in the occurrence of event over a period of time. For e.g. A chemical reactor involved in an exothermic reaction the rate of rise of temperature more than x®C /hour may need addition of some chemical to slow down the reaction, An x% increase or decrease in a stock price compared to the last day closing price may need a sell or buy call on the stock,  Credit Card swipes across locations wherein the ratio of the distance between location in miles to the time lag in Hrs is more than 200 may need to be highlighted to fraud detection team etc.
  
• Correlation between multiple different events: Sometimes the single event itself may not be significant but when it is juxtaposed with some other event it becomes important to be acted upon. For e.g. An equipment in a port has broken down and would take a week to fix, there is a priority load booked to be dispatched from the port which needs this equipment. A CEP system can detect the correlation between these events and raise a trigger to rebook the load on a different route avoiding the port.

In the case of the Cargo shipping company we realized that the events which were to be handled were very simple in nature. Further the events were discrete and didn't require any correlation. In our deep dive sessions with the client there were hardly 10-15 simple events which were identified. We also felt that once the business folks are exposed to event driven architecture they would be in a better position to articulate more such use cases which might be more complex than the ones being considered. For the current situation it did not make commercial sense to invest in a CEP engine. So our recommendation was to create an architecture which was enabled for event driven actions. Thus while the applications in the architecture would be publishing events, the event analysis and action would be handled in BRMS to start with. In future if the event requirements increase and become complex, investments can be made to introduce a CEP platform.

Posted by Amit Kumar at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Every day I travel 3 hours in train to Infosys Technologies Limited. On an average I spend around 20 minutes every day waiting for the train due to its unscheduled delays. This pops up several questions in my mind. Doesn't BPM provide a solution? Aren't there any other ways BPM can add value to the railway industry as a whole? What are the ways BPM can bring about Operational excellence in Railways apart from creating Customer loyalty?

Indian Railways has the world's fourth largest railway network with more than 64,015 kms of track and 6,909 stations. It carries over 20 million passengers and 2 million tons of freight daily with more than 1.6 million employees. Also IR owns over 200,000 wagons, 50,000 coaches and 8,000 locomotives. Managing and monitoring such huge network is the biggest challenge of Indian Railways. If BPM is implemented in such a huge network, what would be the outcome? In what ways BPM improves efficiency and effectiveness of the existing network?

My views on BPM + Indian Railways. . .

The few areas where I feel BPM can create huge difference in Indian Railways are:

o Asset management -
BPM tracks the lifecycle and maintenance schedule of the various assets of Indian railway including wagons, coaches, locomotives etc. Material procurement and management will be made easier resulting in efficient data exchange between stakeholders leading to a collaborative environment.

o Traffic management -
BPM identifies and monitors the traffic across various railway tracks and optimizing line capacity thereby running more trains on the same track without collision , saving huge investment and space. Simulation helps to optimize the fault clearing process and thereby reducing fault Detection-to-Correction cycle.

o Freight management -
70% of Indian Railways revenue is from the freight sector. Improvements in freight sector generate tremendous revenue to railway as a whole. BPM creates integrated network ensuring optimum utilization of freight wagons, providing better information available to its customers for booking, payment and real-time consignment tracking thereby increasing customer loyalty.

o Compliance management -
BPM facilitates railway budget compliance. The changes in the budget can be easily implemented to achieve overall end results. It helps in data capture, analysis of demands and creating estimations for Railway Budget.

To conclude, I personally feel BPM in railways would definitely enhance operational flexibility without compromising on safety....

Posted by Saravanan Balaraj at 5:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Guest Post by Dr. Setrag Khoshafian, Vice President of Product Marketing and BPM Technology at Pegasystems Inc. Dr. Setrag regularly blogs on topics related to BPM, BRE/DM, CRM, Case Management, and Risk/Fraud/Compliance through BPM.

It’s always fun to read the predictions for a new year. 2011 will probably be another stellar year for BPM. For instance, Gartner’s Jim Sinur provided 5 trends for the next decade in BPM. The fifth prediction is particularly interesting as it deals with empowering the business towards innovation. The business and customer focus in these various predictions are quite pervasive. Similarly, Forrester’s Clay Richardson summarized the hottest BPM trends in 2011. I found the second trend to be quite illuminating, being the importance of increasing BPM skills and roles as BPM becomes more pervasive in enterprises.

These trends and predictions all indicate BPM is growing (some estimate a CAGR of more than 15%) and fast becoming the core of enterprise ecosystems - and this trend is expected to continue in 2011 and beyond. Below are three trends for BPM that are becoming increasingly important for enterprises. These are not comprehensive or new trends, but rather important dimensions that accentuate BPM’s contribution for agility, change, and achieving an enterprise’s business objectives:

• BPM, Social Networking and Collaboration: Social networking is booming on the Internet via sites such as Facebook and YouTube. The ease of set-up, ad-hoc exchanges, and the freedom of the experience through posting and commenting on text, photos, and videos is creating a new Web phenomenon - often characterized as Web 2.0. There are several definitions for Web 2.0. The “2.0” indicates the second generation of the World Wide Web. The first generation of the Web focused on relatively static Web sites and Web presence. The new generation of the Web provides a much richer experience, and more importantly, focuses on communities. There is not one single tool that captures the essence of networking on the Web. Wikis and blogs are perhaps the most popular social networking applications. This same milieu of innovation and collaboration where participants can listen to each other, provide feedback, exchange ideas and collaborate are becoming increasingly aggregated in all the phases of BPM development, execution, and continuous improvement. The following episode discusses the relationship between BPM and social networking: http://www.pega.com/resources/bpm-professor-episode-6-bpm-social-networking-and-collaboration

• BPM Continues to Contribute to SOA Success: BPM leverages service oriented technologies, but more importantly, it continues to greatly contribute to the success of SOA projects with a focus on business objectives. BPM provides the business performance of enterprise solutions, with real-time activity monitoring of business events. SOA is bottom up - important service focused technology plumbing. BPM on the other hand, focuses on the business and involves human participants with human roles, skills, and perhaps most importantly human innovation. That makes all the difference. The reason BPM is so successful and will continue to be ubiquitous is because it is so much closer to the “user.” This user is the business stakeholder. It is also the operator and the knowledge worker. With BPM, stakeholders can drill down to automated processes and take actions to improve the performance of their processes. This business and performance focus leverages the SOA infrastructures and provides the best mechanism to elevate the value proposition of SOA initiatives - as discussed in http://www.pega.com/resources/bpm-professor-episode-5-the-road-to-soa-success-runs-through-bpm

• BPM Transformation and Legacy Modernization: We have discussed this in previous blogs. BPM provides a robust business agility layer: where business policies and procedures are automated while leveraging underlying legacy, ERP, MDM, or systems of record. BPM extends, empowers, and modernizes the enterprise solution space. Changes in policies and procedures are captured in the BPM agility layer. Modernization is holistic with BPM - involving business objectives, organizational culture, and perhaps most importantly the automation of work as well as dynamic cases. The BPM methodology is iterative and incremental - following a “think big … start small” approach (vs. “big bang” projects that attempt to modernize legacies bottom up). This is discussed in http://www.pega.com/resources/bpm-professor-episode-7-legacy-modernization-through-bpm

Enterprises continue to achieve substantive and demonstrable returns in productivity, business agility, process efficiency, and performance effectiveness through BPM. With its focus on efficient automation of work - as well as increased support for dynamic cases, collaboration, and modernization - BPM will continue to become the core of emerging enterprise architectures in 2011 and beyond.

Posted by Dr. Setrag Khoshafian at 5:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the previous blog, I have mentioned about the significance of emerging trends in Broadband Technologies.

Now, I am back with the next part to discuss about different types of Broadband Connections:

The broadband technology we choose will depend on a number of factors. These may include whether we are located in an urban or rural area, how broadband Internet access is packaged with other services (such as voice telephone and home entertainment), price, and availability.
Broadband includes several high-speed transmission technologies such as:

• Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
• Cable Modem
• Fiber-optic communication 
• Wireless
• Satellite
• Broadband over Powerlines (BPL)

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
DSL is a wireline transmission technology that transmits data faster over traditional copper telephone lines already installed to homes and businesses, ranging from several hundred Kbps to millions of bits per second (Mbps). The availability and speed of DSL service may depend on the distance from home or business to the closest telephone company facility.
The following are types of DSL transmission technologies:
• Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) - Used primarily by residential customers, such as Internet surfers, who receive a lot of data but do not send much. ADSL typically provides faster speed in the downstream direction than the upstream direction. Special filters called micro filters are used to get clear and un-interfering voice calls.
• Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) - Used typically by businesses for services such as video conferencing, which need significant bandwidth both upstream and downstream.
ASDL is faster in downloading data and a bit slower in uploading data, when compared to an SDSL connection, which acts vice-versa.
Faster forms of DSL typically available to businesses include:
• High data rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL); and
• Very High data rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL).
Newer technologies in use mainly include VDSL.

The standard broadband technologies in most areas are ADSL and cable internet. Newer technologies in use include VDSL and pushing optical fiber connections closer to the subscriber in both telephone and cable plants. In a few areas not served by cable or ADSL, community organizations have begun to install Wi-Fi networks, and in some cities and towns local governments are installing municipal Wi-Fi networks. The newest technology being deployed for mobile and stationary broadband access is WiMAX.

Cable Modem
• Cable modem service enables cable operators to provide broadband using the same coaxial cables that deliver pictures and sound to TV set.
• Most cable modems are external devices that have two connections: One to the cable wall outlet, the other to a computer. They provide transmission speeds of 1.5 Mbps or more.
• Subscribers can access their cable modem service by simply turning on their computers, without dialing-up an ISP. You can still watch cable TV while using it. Transmission speeds vary depending on the type of cable modem, cable network, and traffic load. Speeds are comparable to DSL.

Fiber-optic communication
• Fiber optic technology converts electrical signals carrying data to light and sends the light through transparent glass fibers about the diameter of a human hair. Fiber transmits data at speeds far exceeding current DSL or cable modem speeds, typically by tens or even hundreds of Mbps.
• The actual speed you experience will vary depending on a variety of factors, such as how close to your computer the service provider brings the fiber and how the service provider configures the service, including the amount of bandwidth used.

Wireless
• Wireless broadband connects a home or business to the Internet using a radio link between the customer's location and the service provider's facility. Wireless broadband can be mobile or fixed.
• Wireless technologies using longer-range directional equipment provide broadband service in remote or sparsely populated areas where DSL or cable modem service would be costly to provide. Speeds are generally comparable to DSL and cable modem. An external antenna is usually required.
• Wireless broadband Internet access services offered over fixed networks allow consumers to access the Internet from a fixed point and often require a direct line-of-sight between the wireless transmitter and receiver. These services have been offered using both licensed spectrum and unlicensed devices.
• Wi-Fi networks use unlicensed devices and can be designed for private access within a home or business, or be used for public Internet access at "hot spots" such as restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, airports, etc.
Mobile wireless broadband services are also becoming available from mobile telephone service providers and others. These services are appropriate for highly-mobile customers and require a special PC card with a built in antenna that plugs into a user's laptop computer. They transmit data, in the range of several hundred Kbps.

Satellite
Just as satellites orbiting the earth provide necessary links for telephone and television service, they can also provide links for broadband. Satellite broadband is another form of wireless broadband. Downstream and upstream speeds for satellite broadband depend on several factors, including the provider and the consumer's line of sight to the orbiting satellite, and the weather. Typically a consumer can expect to download at a speed of about 500 Kbps and upload at a speed of about 80 Kbps.

Broadband over Powerline (BPL)
BPL is the delivery of broadband over the existing low- and medium-voltage electric power distribution network. Speeds are comparable to DSL and cable modem speeds. BPL can be provided to homes using existing electrical connections and outlets. BPL is an emerging technology that is available in very limited areas. It has significant potential because power lines are installed virtually everywhere, alleviating the need to build new broadband facilities for every customer.

 Quick Comparison of DSL, Cable & Fiber Optic Internet Access
 In a major population center, the choice of broadband is currently among three major types of Internet access -- DSL, cable, and fiber optics. This comparison table gives a fair idea of the speeds and costs involved:
Compare            DSL Internet Cable Internet Fiber Optics
Download (Min)    768 Kbps       4 Mbps       10 Mbps
Download (Max)   7.1 Mbps      16 Mbps       50 Mbps
Upload (Min)       128 Kbps     384 Kbps        2 Mbps
Upload (Max)      768 Kbps     1.5 Mbps       20 Mbps
Connection         Phone Line     TV Cable    Fiber Optic Lines
Monthly Price     $20 to $45    $40 to $55     $45 to $145
   
 Although fiber optics is the fastest, it is also the most expensive. However, most cable companies are upgrading their networks to compete with fiber.
 
Usage of internet with Broadband connections:
 The graph represented below shows the usage of internet with broadband connections in recent years: Systems" - Tunisia 2010

Conclusion:

This blog examined the broadband services and various technologies associated with it. There has been an unprecedented rapid growth in the demand for mobility globally, seamless communication, data services, and ubiquitous computing.
Advances in broadband technologies along with earning potentials are fuelling the tremendous growth in telecom industry. Enhancements in High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) are expected to be a major investment area in this decade while the fixed broadband wireless would be more of a niche service for operators during the same period.

Posted by Bhuvaneeshvari Sethuramalingam at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Wish you all a Happy New Year and hope this blog reminds us of the fundamentals of Architecture.

The Hoover Dam, The Golden Gate Bridge, German Auto-Bahn, The Empire State Building, The Leaning Tower of Pisa are all historical marvels. But the Leaning Tower of Pisa stands as the odd one out as it is an example of an Architecture gone wrong.

Just like how the leaning tower of Pisa has been made to survive with counter lead weights and digging up a side to tilt the balance, there are fixes made to an IT solution that has already been delivered. In such cases the costs of fixes and changes even overrun the actual solution when it was designed and implemented. This is why Architecture is such a crucial part of any development whether it be in buildings or in Technology.

According to Vitruvius, a good building should satisfy the three principles of firmitatis utilitatis venustatis translating to Durability, Utility and Beauty. Isn’t it the same for technology?

Even though the world around us gives us a good amount of reference Architectures, organizations learn the hard way to come to a definitive IT implementations.

Lets take some examples or reference constructs:

1. One size fits all Architecture is doomed for failure in real world as well as the technology world. A good architect designs the building based on customer’s requirement as well as considering the purpose, place and environment conditions. For e.g. Manhattan is appropriate for having the largest number of skyscrapers but no one would think of replicating that in Venice. The bedrock based on Manhattan Schist helps the foundations of tall buildings making Manhattan unique in the world. Similarly Venice is a beautiful city for what it is. The same principle holds good in Systems Integration. We cannot have an integration message bus based on the principles of broadcast just because it is one of the ways or a product vendor sold it. The business requirements, the integration requirements and how the communication needs to happen with other non functional factors determine the technology Architecture.

2. Foundation should be built with end state in mind. This is probably the most crucial one as everyone misses this in IT Architecture. For e.g. Adding even a single floor on top of the 108th floor of Willis Tower could break down the building; Adding an extra lane in the existing roads of central London will require restructuring the associated buildings. Similarly while creating the technology platform for BPM (no. of users, procedures), SOA (no. of services, service assemblies), EAI/ESB (no. of applications to be integrated, no of common services to be part of ESB) should be known at the time of Architecture. Assuming that this could be extensible just through horizontal or vertical scaling at a later point is not really a good idea.

3. Plan for maintenance. There is no building, road or dam in the world that doesn’t require regular maintenance. Obviously it is planned and put in operation even before implementation.

4. Define the end of life. This is more relevant to the IT where Moore’s law comes into effect and organizations need to keep their IT hardware and software updated to be for the simple reason of being best in the business. Every IT Solution thus need to have a life span defined.

5. Patterns do help. Just like there are highways, expressways, main roads, side roads, streets, boulevards, parkways to make a transportation system for connecting different cities or within cities - similar patterns can be put in place for EAI Architecture. One of the common mistakes is using the Enteprise Bus (highway) for all messaging needs. There needs to be a primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary layers for different messaging needs mapping to functional and non-functional requirements.

There are many other such patterns, designs that are successful in real world that can easily be mapped to technology world and make the IT as robust as it is expected.

Posted by Narayanan Chathanur at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)