BPM in Action

Jim Sinur of Global 360 asked the question "Do We Really Need BPM 2.0?" on his blog last week. He meant it two ways I think:
-- Is there a new generation of business process management (BPM) on the way?
-- Should it be saddled with a hokey numeral the way the web was?
My answers differ a little from his but not entirely.

As to the substantive question, yes we are beginning to see suites that handle STP and workflow, event and data driven processes, case management and adhoc requirements, and other broad characteristics that take me a rubics cube to diagram:

This is the ultimate in BPM capability and is still aways from full availability in the market. But discuss with your potential BPM supplier whether it is looking at its product roadmap this way.

One exception: your supplier does not have to support every industry possibility, just yours. (And any industry that your company might enter via acquisition!)

As for the second question, the use of the hokey numeral, I vote no. BPM is BPM. BPM is finally well understood as business process management and not business performance management. Let's not confuse people all over again.