 |
In Context, by Doug Henschen
Doug Henschen joined Intelligent Enterprise as Editor in 2004 and was named Editor-in-Chief in January 2007. He has specialized in covering the intersection of business intelligence, performance management, business process management and rules management technologies within enterprise applications and architectures. See More by Doug Henschen Process, Prediction and Icahn's Interest in BEA
It's pretty clear to me that the business-process- management and operational-performance- management camps are singing from the same hymn book these days. Throw in the business-rule and predictive-analytics camps and you've got a quartet singing in four-part harmony. The question is, when and which vendors will move beyond marketing deals and start putting this stuff together? Could Carl Icahn's interest in BEA spark some serious deal making? Perhaps I'm mashing together too many ideas here, but I haven't seen a BPM press release all year that didn't include at least one mention of an analytic/business intelligence upgrade. And lately, big BI vendors are falling all over themselves to talk about performance management. Okay, Business Objects and Cognos have been talking mainly about financial performance management in recent weeks, but their next salvos will branch into areas like supply chain, where many BPM vendors offer end-to-end process improvement (and don't forget Business Object's acquisition of nSite). As Jim Taylor and Neil Raden have cogently observed in their recent book, Smart Enough Systems, it's time for analytics and prediction to get in sync with operational decision making in real time. This morning I noticed SPSS talking about "Predictive Enterprise Services… facilitating process improvement" as part of its SPSS 16.0 launch. This put me in mind of TIBCO CEO Vivek Ranadivé and his book "The Power to Predict." One of TIBCO's rivals is BEA Systems, which late last week gained the attention of billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who seems to think it's time for the company to find a buyer. BEA isn't as up on BI and prediction as is TIBCO, which this year acquired Spotfire, but they are rivals on the BPM and SOA fronts (along with Software AG, another mid-sized vendor with BPM and SOA prowess, bolstered most recently by its acquisition of webMethods). Maybe I'm free associating here, but I think BEA is too big of a plum not to cause another wave of IT consolidation. To my mind, BPM and business rules vendors are ripe for acquisition, and as my friend Seth Grimes has observed, predictive analytics vendors are also low-hanging fruit. The only question is, which vendors have the appetite to start picking?  E-MAIL | SLASHDOT | DIGG This is a public forum. CMP Technology and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. CMP Technology makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers. Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of CMP Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in CMP Technology's Terms of Service. Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.
|
|
Blog Channels
Cindi Howson on Business Intelligence The Brain Food Blogger Tony Byrne on Content Management SQL Puzzlers by Joe Celko Rajan Chandras on IT & Information Management Seth Grimes on Analytics In Context by Doug Henschen Phil Kemelor on Web Analytics Sandy Kemsley's Column Two Nelson King on Enterprise App Development David Linthicum on Software as a Service Natural Insight, By Mark Madsen Alan Pelz-Sharpe on Content Management Mark Smith on Performance Management Neil Raden on Business Intelligence Bruce Silver on Business Process Management Product Maven  Subscribe to RSS Archives
|
|
|