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Survivor's Guide to 2007: Enterprise Applications: Page 3 of 6

In recent years BPM suites have been transformed by the BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) standard and Web services. Last year's BPM suites don't have the abilities a BPM suite will require in 2007. For example, demand for capable business-rules engines is growing. In the newer models, a business analyst should be able to change the discount on widgets based on seasonal demand, without the assistance of IT. Such externalization of rules is based on sound SOA principles and shifts the responsibility for defining those rules from developers back onto the business itself--a huge step toward true agility. But BPM doesn't stop there.




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Customers typically hit your Web site to purchase something, leave feedback about a product or service, or inquire about the status of an order. While you've probably got the first two items down, the functionality that supports order-status requests might be less robust. If you think you have this service down to a science, answer this: Is it truly integrated with your current CRM and tracking systems? Probably not.

Also, don't underestimate the importance of communicating. Visibility goes both ways, and while customers desire visibility into the shipping process, your customer service reps need visibility into the health of your relationship with each customer. That includes feedback--both negative and positive--received through your Web site. A BPM suite can create this visibility by automatically routing requests to the proper system, say, a queue reps can use to handle customer requests, or a defect-tracking system developers can access to examine complaints and prioritize according to impact on the system.

And remember: 80 percent of the revenue comes from 20 percent of the customers. BPMs help make the most of that top 20 percent by prioritizing customers' requests. Integrated into the application infrastructure, a BPM system with a well- constructed set of business rules can easily pull order and revenue data from back-end systems and determine a customer's importance to the business. The BPM system can then route the most important requests to a customer service rep for immediate attention, rather than keep your best clients lingering in FIFO limbo.