Book Review of "Intelligent BPM: The Next Wave for Customer-centric Business Applications”
- Details
- Published: November 29, -0001
- Written by Nathaniel Palmer
Last month I received a copy of Dr. Setrag Khoshafian's latest book, "Intelligent BPM: The Next Wave for Customer-centric Business Applications." I had peer-reviewed an early version and offered a jacket quote, but in all sincerity had I come across it any other way I would have bought it immediately. It's quite good.
Dr. Khoshafian is someone I have known for many years, back to the 1990s when he was the head engineer for the company that later became Savvion. He joined Pegasystems in 2003 (from Savvion) where he serves as Chief Evangelist and VP of BPM Technology, but his street cred and contributions to the evolution of BPM transcend any single vendor.
He is one of those visionaries who frustrates budding futurists and industry soothsayers, as he doesn't readily buy into fads or "next big thing" trends that the rest of us often get excited about. Yet he keeps his finger on the pulse of what is actually happening next. I can't count how many times I have looked in introspect and realized "Wow, Setrag called that one!"
This prescience comes through in this latest work, the most recent of at least 20 books by my count (many of which considered the gold standard for their respective areas, such as SOA and Object-Oriented Technology). Dr. Khoshafian can walk into the CIO's office of any major bank or similar enterprise and explain in meaningful terms what they need to do today to be ready for the next 5-10 years (or beyond).
This book offers a similar narrative, as if you were having that conversation with him one on one. It is about BPM technology, not theoretical concepts. But technology in the context of tangible business missions, like governance, adaptability and customer experience.
It covers lightly issues like Six Sigma (something that has arguably held back BPM in many organizations – my words not his) while also framing the technology mission of BPM (what it is today, at its most evolved point, in precise definition, not sweeping generalizations) within the context of enterprise transformation and business architecture.
At just over 200 pages is digestible, a fairly quick read with a good balance of brevity and depth. There is not an agenda there, it doesn't require buying into a 'Manifesto' (can we be done with those already!) or ideas that will feel counterintuitive. Rather it will likely feel quite intuitive, connecting what you are no doubt already seeing and experiencing with what you should to be doing and why (and in many cases how as well).
The book is available in hardcopy, as well as an e-book directly from Pega. Further details can be here.
