BAM: Capabilities & Applicability (Part 3)

BAM Matrix

The primary input to the BAM engine can be gathered in a BAM process matrix (table below) that interconnects different systems from business process point of view and also outlines the significant signs to monitor along with the corrective and proactive actions to take in case of contingency. As shown in the third row of the table below, if the estimated delivery date is not generated by the inventory system within three hours of receiving the order, the BAM engine will first fire an API call to check if any detailed status message can be obtained. This will be followed up by sending an email alert to its system owner along with the order and status details. Proactively, the BAM engine can also update the billing engine to delay the billing start date of this order.

BAM process matrix

Integrating Intelligence

A typical business process is influenced by both internal and external sources of information. The BAM model described so far only takes the internal sources of influence into account. The same model can be extended to include external sources of information like weather forecasts, selective news feeds and customized dashboard for manually feeding in intelligence information collected offline. Figure below shows the manner in which this system can be extended.
For instance, when the model depicted above receives some critical weather information about an incoming cyclone, it can update the inventory system to stock appropriate items in the store. Considering another example, the administrator can pull up the list of best selling items during a festival season from the BI system and manually feed it in using the Admin dashboard. At times critical news items can also influence the business process. For instance, in case a popular news source publishes the reviews of a movie with a rating of 5 stars, the systems can send out an alert to increase its inventory. Alternatively, if a stocked movie has really got a bad review, then the stock reorder requests can be put on hold without any manual intervention.

BAM integrated with external systems and feeds for intelligence

Considerations for Implementation

Rolling out a BAM process takes a considerable amount of effort and commitment from the business side. Here are few things for the stakeholders to consider before deciding to go ahead with BAM implementation.

BAM is a Business Solution, Not a Technology Solution: A systematic study of the business processes in context is required as the first step to BAM roll out. Once the study is over a process matrix (table above) has to be created to outline the key stages in the lifecycle of a business entity as it goes through the business process. After the matrix is defined, it will be used to configure the BAM solution to monitor the appropriate significant signs and take the right corrective action. This is purely a business activity and does not have much of technology dependency. It has to be ensured that the required time and effort is committed by the business personnel to make this activity successful.


The idea might need to be sold: A number of existing important business applications might require to get modified for a BAM rollout to be effective. It is important to get the accurate data out of the applications and analyze the same to get precise meaning out of them so that they can be used properly during the BAM implementation. The applications those are architected to be extensible or that follow SOA paradigm will not have many issue in incorporating changes. For the rest, willingness and preparedness to accommodate the changes has to be explained and understood. Most of the time this would require selling idea to all the parties involved and explaining them how the investment will bring in greater benefits to the business.


Compatibility Aspects: Though it sounds very exciting, there is a problem at the last lap of BAM rollout. Since BAM works as a information aggregator, it needs to interact with multiple systems based on the diverse platform and technologies. To avoid the complicacies caused by the heterogeneous platforms and technologies it’s recommended to use web services and SOA paradigm wherever possible during the integration. This would bring in compatibility among the applications running on a heterogeneous environment. While planning for a custom built BAM solution it is very important to consider the needs of the existing applications and the time required to integrate the BAM into the existing environment.


To Start on a Large Scale or Not: For an effective BAM roll out it’s very critical to integrate it with all the systems that participate in the business processes. Before planning for the roll out the complexity of all the candidate systems should be evaluated. Typically all enterprises will have a combination of small and large scale business processes. Small ones will have lesser issues for integration than the large ones. Time and effort required for each of the business processes should be estimated properly. Once the estimation is done the business processes should prioritize based on their sizes otherwise this can put a hold on the business operations for a long period. For example, if the Shipping and CRM systems are found to be the most active ones among the other systems participating in a business process, they should be targeted as the initial candidates for BAM roll out. Once they are integrated with BAM and start to produce results on the BAM reporting interfaces the rest of the systems can be integrated gradually. Another option of the roll out is to break up the business processes in small segments and start the integration in an incremental manner.