BPMS architecture modernizes legacy tech, makes IT more strategic

A much underused technology, BPMS offers a new way to structure and create applications. It allows you to determine and model how applications align, providing a technology-agnostic view of application interactions.

The breakthrough advantage of BPMS technology is that it allows you to create a type of three-dimensional hierarchical model of all the business functions and the application systems that support them. This allows you to align how the applications interact with one another and how they support business operating functions. Because of this capability, you can now better control the use of legacy applications, and for new solutions, better control how they are mixed with new special-purpose tools like RPA and AI-based applications.

A BPMS architecture supports decomposition at the functional workflow level, breaking down components into work steps and — at an even lower level of decomposition — into the tasks that make up a work step. Because of the alignment, the applications that support each level of the work breakdown are clearly shown. Notwithstanding that the nomenclature of these various layers differs from company to company, the result is that the hierarchy is created around work, not organizational structure — although it is aligned to it. This creates a model of the integrated business and application architecture in increasing levels of detail.

At the solution level, a BPMS architecture is used to orchestrate business activity, with the model showing how all work fits together, how it is executed, and how it is supported by applications. The organization of applications around work creates a new way to look at a business — as an amalgam of activity and application support that cannot be separated. In this model, the BPMS controls the execution of activities and presents applications. Through interfaces (APIs), the BPMS architecture allows you to link to any legacy application or to an application in any other technology — RPA, AI, voice recognition, et cetera. This makes the solution fairly technology-independent.