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July 10, 2008
If BPM is the new ERP, where are the Hogans, the HBOs and the JDAs?
When I started researching the ERP market in 1993 for Datapro, I quickly found there were over 100 ERP software providers even though most analysts only counted Oracle, J.D. Edwards, SAP and a dozen or so guys that are now part of Infor. (Some analysts even counted Hyperion’s accounting software as ERP, a credit to one of the best PR people I ever met, Judith Rothrock. She was able to convince some pretty savvy people that little Hyperion deserved to be mentioned in the same breath with the big boys. A few years later she pulled off the same play while quarterbacking Lawson’s PR.)
The difference between their list and mine was that I counted software supporting all industries rather than simply that which supported manufacturing. After all, what was HBO & Company’s (now McKesson) healthcare delivery software but ERP for healthcare? What was Hogan’s software but ERP for banks?
The logical extension of that process: what was the original SAP R/2 but a pharmaceuticals-specific ERP package? A business process management (BPM) trend I’ve started to watch here at ebizQ is the growth of industry-specific BPM suites. If what I found in the ERP market years ago holds true for BPM, it will turn out that dozens of these products already exist but are simply called something else.
For example:
• Over at it-director.com, Bloor’s Simon Holloway points out that Apriso’s FlexNet manufacturing execution system is really manufacturing-specific BPM software.
• Fort Washington PA-based Feith recently announced that it follows the U. S Department of Defense (DoD) 5015.2 standard. I have no idea what that means but based on the press release it looks like Feith’s lead product is a government-specific BPM product (even DoD-specific?)
• FTS, an Israel-based provider of Billing, CRM and Business Control solutions specializes in communication and content service providers; FTS’ BPM engine is actually the Oracle/BEA AquaLogic product
• Kaulkin Information Systems of Rockville MD creates workflow, document, and business process management technologies for its financial-services clients
Where are the equivalent BPM products for healthcare, retail, education and so forth? I suspect the list goes on and on just as it did for ERP and ebizQ would like to hear from you if you have such an industry-specific BPM solution. Particularly if you support the financial-services industry, see the information about our upcoming article here and participate in our survey.
Posted by dennisb in
BPM
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Comments
Dennis,
I agree with your point, but I would not be surprised to discover that most of the industry-specific BPM's are (or will soon) embedding a "generalist" BPM. As you pointed out, FTS is doing that already, probably having developed a wide range of industry-specific processes and perhaps few adapters to some specific technology.
By doing that the company gains flexibility and free resources for their core business (developing industry-specific processes).
Guido Campani.
Posted by: Guido Campani at July 14, 2008 12:16 PM
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Michael Dortch has been an analyst, 'information entrepreneur,' speaker, and writer about IT and 'the real world" for the past 30 years. After almost 10 years at the Robert Frances Group (RFG), Michael begins a new position with Aberdeen Group in September.
