What Is BPM? A decade ago, Michael Hammer pushed the idea that process re-engineering was the next business revolution. He promised companies that if they overhauled their business processes the businesses would become more efficient. Most businesses that bought into the argument laid a lot of people off, but the expected efficiency eluded them. In part, this was because it was hard to get everybody who was left to agree to change their work processes. And in part because even if they did, companies had no mechanism to enforce the changes. But today, the concept is back in the guise of BPM software, which provides a way to monitor and enforce efficient business practices. BPM software does this by extracting data from a company's business applications and doing one of two things with it: tracking how the information is used to perform a task so that you can map an existing business process, or escorting the data through a set of tasks to ensure that a business process is being followed. There are three basic varieties of BPM software: monitoring tools, workflow software and tools that support EAI. Here is a look at each type.

EFFICIENCY MONITORS BPM monitoring products are essentially computerized versions of the 1950s efficiency consultant who would stand next to the assembly line staring at a stopwatch through "Coke-bottle" glasses. A monitoring product uses built-in application programming interfaces to connect with each of the systems a company uses for a particular process (for instance, tracking an order from the time it's placed to when it ships), and then monitors the process for inefficiencies. A company may discover that there is a consistent 12-hour lag between the time a product is placed in the shipping queue and when it actually ships. Then it's up to the company to figure out a solution. (Maybe it hires an extra loading dock worker or invests in load-scheduling software.) Monitoring software can also be used to keep tabs on a process and send out alerts when the correct process isn't being followed.

Canadian mutual fund company AIC used BPM monitoring software from Sajus to speed up its process for updating clients' accounts whenever there is a transaction. AIC is Canada's largest privately held mutual fund company with approximately $US12 billion in assets under management.

Traditionally, customer transactions would sit in a queue on the mainframe, waiting for a nightly update to AIC's shareholder management system. That meant AIC financial advisers were not able to see the most recent transactions when they logged on to AIC's Web-based customer portfolio management system.