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Visual Biz-IC and BPM

Source: E M E R G I C . o r g: Rajesh Jain

Indian companies can definitely capitalise on the real-time trends. The focus needs to be on the business process. Considering that most Indian enterprises have a very limited legacy of technology usage, there is now an opportunity to leapfrog to the intelligent enterprise. How is this going to happen? Think Visual Biz-ic.

Visual Biz-ic (a term I have coined) is about creating a integrated development environment for business processes. Just as Visual Basic from Microsoft transformed software development, Visual Biz-ic can create the platform for a similar transformation in how enterprises in India manage information flows across their extended enterprise.

Visual Biz-ic consists of a forms designer, process designer, process engine and reports generator. The forms designer allows the creation of interfaces to connect with databases and display the necessary information to users. The process designer is a graphical environment where the business flows are encapsulated. The process engine is the run-time execution system, which makes the processes come alive. The reports generator creates the custom reports that provide the necessary information to users.

Visual Biz-ic is complemented by four other components: a digital dashboard, which provides all the information that a manager needs to know on a single screen; an events manager which provides notifications of exceptions; an information aggregator, which provides a way to manage subscriptions to event feeds and display the appropriate events (in an email client or a browser); and a weblog to help team members share tacit knowledge.

Taken together, these components create an integrated platform for the “information refinery” in an enterprise.

Visual Biz-ic needs a process library. This can be done by considering the key 10-12 industries and the 8-10 types of companies in each industry. The 100-odd process models will be sufficient to cover most enterprises. Unlike the large enterprises which needs uniqueness in their business processes, most small- and medium-sized enterprises need completeness and integration via off-the-shelf components. IT is indeed a commodity for them. Visual Biz-ic’s built-in process models provide the necessary platform to cover 80-90% of their needs. If needed, they can easily tailor specific processes to their unique needs via the graphical interface provided by the process designer.

Visual Biz-ic is a dream. It does not exist. But if created, it can herald a transformation for Indian SMEs in terms of technology adoption. I can imagine a day in the not-so-distant future when companies will go to a website, navigate through the industry classification directory, select their type, and instantly get all the business processes for themselves. They can either then modify some existing processes that are currently being followed to match the standard or suitably modify the inherited processes for their needs. Either way, they have an integrated eBusiness suite necessary to make them into real-time enterprises in a matter of minutes.