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Request Management Solutions:
Comparing Kinetic Request to Business Process Management
This document outlines how Kinetic Request compares to business process management (BPM) tools for use in enterprise self-service and other request management solutions. The points outlined in this document are a result of Kinetic Data’s 16+ years of project experience in the large enterprise/Global 2000 customer space.
Overview
BPM Tools have been around for many years in the enterprise software space. Most, if not all, large corporations have investments in BPM tools for use for key business processes. There are many vendors we come across in that space, with some of the commonly used products coming from OpenText, Appian, IBM, Pega Systems and Tibco, just to name a few.
These BPM products are typically used to automate specialized operational processes related to the business of the organization. An example process would be managing back-end credit card transactions across various merchant networks. Normally, these are highly complex, business-centric, mission-critical processes in which human interaction is minimal. These types of products generally require technical resources to make modifications or changes, such as adding a new connector or creating a new process.
Self-service types of processes, in contrast, are typically focused on delivery of key support and business needs to customers and/or end-users. By nature, they are typically human-oriented and often require a variety of interactions including machine-to-machine, human-to-machine and human-to-human. In most large enterprises, there are many different tools utilized in service delivery across operational and business support fulfillment silos. For example, just within the HR group, there will be multiple specialized fulfillment systems (an HRIS system for tracking HR tasks, a payroll system for managing payroll, etc.).
Key Differentiators
1. Kinetic Request is a true self-service solution
Kinetic Request is the leading enterprise request management (ERM) solution in the world. ERM is an approach that enables users to request any type of service, equipment, or resource via an intelligent Web portal, coupled with an automation engine to accelerate fulfillment.
The approach enables organizations to automate business services accessed via a Web-based portal in a scalable, cost-effective and easily manageable approach. Services are delivered via intelligent, data-driven forms that are themed and branded for the enterprise. An ERM interface enables users to request services via the portal without the need for training, can be extended in any local language, and is available 24x7 and 365 days a year.
BPM tools typically do not have robust form and portal automation capabilities, and they focus on back-end processes rather than front-end usability. We believe, in this “age of the customer,” user experience must drive successful implementations, and process should follow this experience vs. driving what a user sees.
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2. Nontechnical system management
The solution is designed so nontechnical process owners can build their processes in Kinetic Request, allowing you to distribute the management of catalogs of services to the groups that need to manage them. Our approach allows for someone who has an understanding of processes—like a business analyst—to be able to build in the solution once he or she has had a couple of days of training.
This results in a more productive enterprise and happier customers. With the ERM approach, the specific business groups being supported can manage their own processes safely, eliminating the need for specialized developers to build all of the services in the system.
BPM tools are typically not designed to be used or managed by nontechnical staff, and much of the implementation and ongoing maintenance require highly skilled people with technical backgrounds to build processes.
3. Open architecture/speed of extension/cost
The Kinetic Data solution features an open architecture designed for ease of integration, flexibility and scalability. The workflow engine is designed to be extended not only to COTS systems, but to any system that can be communicated with via common methodologies using REST, SOAP, native APIs and others.
The focus of the design was to allow organizations to leverage data from any systems, applications, or databases for use within the portal, as well as in the fulfillment processes for requested services. The design allows the organization to leverage existing investments in key fulfillment systems across the enterprise. For example, IT’s existing knowledge management system, the ITSM platform, and any other key data sources can be used where Kinetic Request is the single point of entry for self-service, ensuring a great and simplified user experience.
On the user experience side, data can be leveraged in the forms and portal from external systems in real time via Kinetic Bridges. On the back-end processing side, the solution benefits from a large library of “task handlers” that allow Kinetic Task (the workflow automation component of Kinetic Request) to not only interact with systems, but also to orchestrate actions like corporate
approvals, messages, and task assignments, making it easy to configure automated workflows seamlessly across the enterprise.
There is no cost for extension of the Task Engine, as Kinetic Data does not charge for Handlers. We also encourage our customers to extend the use of the engine by building their own libraries of Task Handlers. This enables fast extension of the Kinetic Data solution across the enterprise without the need for consulting or the cost of purchasing “connectors” to new systems.
Additional information on publicly available Task Handlers can be found on Kinetic Community:
http://community.kineticdata.com/20_Kinetic_Task/Task_Handlers.
Most BPM tools charge for licensing for connection to external systems, and the developers control the rights to extension of the engines, often requiring consulting resources to handle system upgrades and extensions. Not only is the “cost” of bringing in BPM consultants prohibitive to the extension of the tool, but it requires projects to be defined, funded, and staffed as the BPM tools are pushed out, equating to long delivery cycles. The design of Kinetic Task eliminates these headaches and prohibitive costs.
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4. Distribution of system management
The Kinetic Data solution is designed for distributed management of the system. Each customer catalog and back-end processes can be managed independently on one instance of the product without the risk of conflict in service design across multiple catalogs. This will enable the
organization to safely allow business groups to build and manage their own services in the solution. BPM tools are typically designed to be managed by highly skilled technical staff in a centralized approach. It is uncommon for an organization to allow business groups to manage their BPM tools, as the tools are not designed for that type of distributed use. This creates a roadblock in being able to offer the BPM tool as a platform for automating all kinds of services, as the risk for breaking existing processes outweighs the benefit of allowing business users to solve their own challenges. Kinetic Request was designed to safely allow nontechnical people with minimal training to build their own services, without fear of them breaking someone else’s process.
