BPM and SOA

This latest post on SOA Evolution details the evolution of business process management from the 1980’s all the way to today’s day and age. In the 1980s BPM consisted of jotting down processes on pen and paper, getting a team of programmers to build it, and then implementing it usually on one huge computer. In the 1990s BPM changed to a more organizational approach. Systems included process diagrams, IT and business change. It is easier to make sense of business process management than SOA, and this is why businesses are hesitant to embrace SOA. IT departments are aware that SOA is needed in order to make SOA work, and this is how BPM will eventually “save” SOA.

Is BPM Automation Possible?

On Saturday Avinash Malik, an enterprise architect from Microsoft, wrote an article explaining his view on automated BPM, and how despite the “hype”, it can never be truly automated. His theory states that about 15 to 20 years ago, organizations started developing BPM, and working this new concept into their budgets. This led IT developers to develop unique languages, namely BPMN or BPEL, in order to create software His opinion is that people think that with these developments it would be possible to save costs and not keep any IT developers on staff. The problem with this thinking, as he states in the article is that,

“We can automate a small number of situations where coherent activities, in sequence, are performed entirely by computer. Certainly, we want these situations to increase. But the overall impact on the cost and quality of IT-developed software is minimal. And if we are not addressing the cost and quality of IT software... why even discuss BPM automation?”

Other experts have already added their opinions to the fray as can be seen by this post from Bruce Silver, who has a different opinion. Another post that discussed Malik’s opinion can be found here. What are your thoughts on the pros and cons of BPM automation?