Business Process Networks

Enabling precision execution of multi-enterprise,
operational processes

Business Process Networks: The 3rd Wave Of Computing

The execution of every key business process spans multiple organizations - global operations, customers, trading partners, outsourcing providers and regulatory agencies. For corporations and governments alike, operations are managed across a combination of internal, outsourced and shared processes.

Unfortunately, organizations are attempting to manage these multi-enterprise processes using IT systems that were designed for use only within the “4 walls”. As shown below, internal or one-to-one computing is well suited for administrative, high standardized tasks. Driven in large part by the Internet, the 2nd computing wave hit in the mid 1990s as organizations increased the level of information sharing with customers and suppliers. One-to-many computing required a new set of technologies to enable trading partners to securely access internally hosted, behind-the-firewall IT systems.

Business Process Networks: Disconnected Processes in Supply Chain Cannot Enable Demand-Driven Supply Networks

While one-to-many computing improved multi-enterprise collaboration, it did little to improve visibility, transaction management and leveraging system usage across a common trading community. But now, with One Network, the pace of technology innovation has caught up with the pace of process and organizational change.

Business Process Networks: History of Multi-Enterprise Processes

One Network is the pioneer of Business Process Network solutions, a critical innovation in technology, enabling precision execution of multi-enterprise, operational processes. Designed specifically for many-to-many computing environments in which end-to-end process execution spans many organizations, Business Process Networks are built on an advanced process-centric software architecture and delivered via a highly available and scalable network.

Download our Technical Brief on Business Process Networks and business process optimization. [registration required]

 

Business Process Networks Examples

Business Process Networks deliver precision execution of multi-enterprise, operational processes, managed in multi-tenancy, single instance architecture.

Business Process Networks are designed for the following environments:

Process Characteristics

  • Multi-enterprise
  • Highly collaborative
  • Incremental or sense and respond decision support
  • Transaction centric
  • Industry supported to accelerate adoption rates

Operational Characteristics

  • Supply network management
  • Transportation management
  • Logistics management
  • Order management & collaboration
  • After-market service

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Business Process Networks Value

Business Process Networks deliver significant, quantifiable and recurring value to every organization that participates in the end-to-end process. One Network designed OneValue™, an advanced tool for building and quantifying the business case. The OneValue service includes:

  • Development of company specific KPIs
  • Model that compares current state performance for those KPIs against the industry and competitors
  • Prioritized areas for operation gains (reduce costs, increase revenue or improve service level delivery)
  • Operational and deployment plan to achieve the projected gains

To learn more about OneValue, call:
John Keenan at 972 455 3581.

While the business and technical value delivered by Business Process Networks is unique to each organization, the improvements that every One Network customer has achieved includes:

  • Precision execution of operational processes that span internal operations, customers, trading partners, outsourcing providers and regulatory agencies
  • Advanced sense-and-respond capabilities that enable real-time, incremental decision support
  • Delivering the “network effect” in which common trading partners operate in a multi-tenancy, single instance architecture that reduces operating costs and learning cycle times and accelerates system adoption rates
  • Lowers IT costs

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Beyond Software As A Service

At first glance, a Business Process Network may seem to be synonymous with a hosted, software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. While SaaS delivers very tangible value, there are fundamental usage and architectural differences that clearly distinguish a Business Process Network.

The core difference goes back to the one-to-many and many-to-many concept. SaaS is designed for a one-to-many operating environment in which a multi-tenancy hosting environment allows many organizations to access a set of business applications. Salesforce.com is an example of SaaS, serving a one-to-many customer base. Thousands of users have secure access to hosted CRM applications, with information access and transaction management limited to each individual customer. As noted, SaaS delivers quantifiable value, measured by reduced complexity, improved control for the business unit and lower IT costs.

A Business Process Network extends that value to multi-enterprise, collaborative processes where connections can be leveraged to the benefit of every company that participates in the end-to-end process. This is known as the network effect, as every participant shares a single instance of the system, leveraging industry-wide connections, reducing learning curves and accelerating adoption rates. A Business Process Network unites processes and companies into one network.

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