Differences between workflow, BPM, and EAI

Introduction

Workflow automation is an evolving concept. Sometimes it is complicated to classify related products. Analysts believe that there are more than 100 workflow products on the market. "Workflows" are everywhere ". Many large software vendors, such as Microsoft, HP, SAP, Fujitsu, NEC, Compaq, and IBM, use workflows as one of the important functions of the software they provide. Consumers who want to buy a workflow automation product must first understand the differences between so many products and the definition of the workflow by each software (sometimes conflicting) the requirements of enterprises are clearly defined. In addition, you must understand the nuances of BPM, EAI, and other concepts and their relationships with workflows. This extra work makes it very time and effort-consuming to purchase a workflow automation product.

This article provides a fast and effective way to classify workflow automation products. First, we have a clear definition of the workflow. The reader can understand what is a workflow and what is not a workflow. Then, we divide the workflow product into two types; once again, we will discuss the differences and relationships between business process management (BPM), workflow automation (WFA), and Application System Integration (EAI;

The goal of this article is to solve the following problems:

* Do you want a workflow automation product or other group software?
* What kind of workflow products can best meet your needs?
* If you determine which product you need, how can you determine 2-3 products as an alternative?

Confirm requirement: Workflow?

Workflow automation (WFA) belongs to the "Group software" category in software classification. "Group software" refers to software that can satisfy a group of people to work together. Standalone software, such as wordsoftware, can improve the productivity of a single employee, while group software can improve the productivity of the entire team.

To better understand the group software, you must first understand the three ways in which the team works:

I. Communication. The team communicates with each other via SMS, fax, phone, network, video conferencing, and other means. The communication media must be fast, simple, and inexpensive; otherwise, the number of users will be limited and insufficient utility will be generated.

Ii. Cooperation. The team works together to complete a project. For example, writing project documents, designing a car, developing software, and inventing a specific medicine. The key to cooperative software is "Documentation", because it is a repository of partners' knowledge and achievements, which not only includes the generation and storage of content, but also security requirements such as access permissions. Partners are represented by Lotus Notes, CAD, Sharepoint, docuware, Documentum, and other file management applications.

Iii. Coordination. Individuals in the team must participate in the process or subprocess through coordination. For example, initiate a purchase item request. The requirement is first sent to the direct supervisor of the initiator, and may be approved by the general manager before the report is submitted to the procurement department. Until the goods and invoices are delivered, the report will be transferred among many individuals within the company.

There are a large number of workflows in each organization to process products, services, and knowledge management (including internal management knowledge bases and knowledge bases for customers and partners ). Including: order processing, procurement process, complaint handling process, new employee recruitment process, product quality improvement requirements, etc.

The workflow is defined as follows:

"Two or more people continuously complete tasks in a serial or parallel manner for the purpose of mutual goal ."

This must have the following three key points:

I. A workflow is composed of a series of tasks and people. A single task completed by a person is not a workflow.
II. the routing of tasks is logical and can be expressed in a "serial or parallel" manner.
III. A task must have a clear goal or result, and a group of irrelevant people and tasks cannot form a workflow.

Through our understanding of communication, cooperation, and coordination, we can identify whether to meet the needs through workflow automation or other solutions.
1. Does the requirement involve multiple individuals and multiple applications?
2. Are the interactions between these individuals easy to describe their structures through certain written rules?

If the answer to these two questions is yes, a workflow automation solution may meet your needs.

Concept differences: bpm, EAI, and WFA

Analysts, product descriptions, and sales solutions have almost no distinction between the use of BPM, EAI, and workflow concepts. This makes it inconvenient and misleading for customers to choose products. As described in this article, the above three are not the same concept.

Business Process Management-BPM is an overall product concept for information transmission business process management and control. BPM includes a combination of people, devices, desktop application systems, enterprise-level and BackOffice applications, and these contents. BPM solutions generally provide "flowchart" design tools, methods for extracting business logic from data, and methods for supervising and controlling business execution.

BPM products can be divided into two types:

I. workflow automation-WFA product. Business Process Automation that basically involves people and desktop applications (such as wordsoftware.
Ii. Enterprise Application Integration-EAI products. Process Automation for enterprise-level applications, such as ERP, CRM, and Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems.
(Note: Some EAI solutions only provide "interfaces" for enterprise application systems and cannot provide any management of processes. This type of EAI is beyond our scope ).

WFA and EAI solutions have the following things in common:

I. Define the business logic through the "flowchart.
Ii. Move data as part of the business logic.
Iii. methods to monitor and control processes.
Iv. Extract the business logic from the data.

However, in any case, there are the following differences between EAI and WFA.

Clearly shows the scope of BPM and Its Relationship with WFA and EAI. More importantly, WFA is part of group software, but EAI is not.

WFA Classification

If you determine that the WFA solution meets your needs, the next step is to select a workflow product that meets your needs. The following describes two workflow automation solutions:
I. Professional workflow Products
II. General workflow Products

According to the traditional classification method, there is also a third type of workflow solution "collaborative workflow product". However, in fact, the above two products can already cover this "collaborative" workflow product.

I. Professional workflow Products

In professional workflows, workflows focus on the basic work of participants. The word "professional" is used because the tasks that the participants spend most of their work time processing are the objects of workflow automation. The purpose of adopting professional workflow automation products is to process repeated tasks with fixed processes and a large number of tasks. For example, the cashier of a bank, her main job is the cash cashier process. Maybe she is a member of the quality management team or the convener of the trade union, but these jobs are secondary tasks.

Professional workflows have the following features:

I. Users are always involved in the workflow. The solution must provide a stable connection between the client and the Workflow Server.
Ii. Localization must be implemented for departments or teams.
Iii. the transfer time of a task from one step to another is very important.
IV. The task transfer process usually involves a large amount of data.

The need for professional workflows determines that it is best to adopt a C/S structure to provide stable connections, high connection speeds, fast data transmission speeds, and localization requirements.

II. General workflow Products

General workflow products include all workflows except professional workflows, such as customer orders, purchase requests, schedules, expense reports, and quality reports. Process participants participate in a large number of processes, but there is usually little time to participate in each process. General workflow products must have the following attributes:

I. A large number of general-purpose workflows exist in each organization. The solution must be highly flexible in handling different types of workflows.

Ii. Each person in the organization is a potential participant in the process, so it is highly practical and easy to upgrade.

III. The participants are contingent. General-purpose workflows are not the most basic work functions of participants (not everyone fills in the purchase application all day long, and no one is mainly responsible for filling out the application form ). However, the solution is required to provide a simple and rapid method.

Iv. Since everyone is a potential participant, the solution must consider quickly distributing client software to a large number of users' desktops at minimal management costs (B/S structure is recommended ). A successful general-purpose workflow must be as convenient as a telephone, browser, e-mail, and other tools.

By evaluating the workflow requirements, you can determine whether a professional or general workflow automation solution is used. Of course, the situation may be complicated for enterprises. For example, the procurement process of an enterprise is a general workflow for most employees, because most employees only have procurement requirements by accident. However, for members of the procurement department, it is a professional workflow, because their daily work is procurement. As technology advances, the boundaries between the two types of products are becoming increasingly blurred.