Business Process Management, Service-Oriented Architecture, and Web 2.0: Business Transformation or Train Wreck?

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW The challenges faced by today's government agencies and commercial operations are many and varied—and to stay afloat, these organizations must not only promote change from within, but they must also be agile enough to quickly adapt to evolving markets, policies, regulations, and business models. Fortunately for them, the convergence of a trio of technologies and business practices—business process management (BPM), service-oriented architecture (SOA), and Web 2.0—is providing a solution. INTRODUCTION As the technologies and business practices surrounding BPM, SOA, and Web 2.0 mature, more and more organizations are adopting them—both individually and collectively. As a result, fundamental changes have arisen in the way IT and business stakeholders work together. Although the opportunities this presents are enormous, so too are the risks: security, inefficiencies, disruptions, and possible organizational misalignment.