 |
|
 |
|
| Home > BPM Vendors / Consultants > Software Suites | Search: | for |
|
| Highlights: |   | | |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
|
|
|
BPM Software Report: Lombardi TeamWorks Enterprise Edition
By Lou DiToro Gartner has counted 150 products that could be described as belonging to the category of business process management (BPM) software. How do you wade through the myriad offerings to find those companies and tools that are relevant for your organization's work? This column can help. We examine the companies and products that have a strong leadership position in the BPM space to help you understand what sets each apart. This report examines Lombardi Software and its TeamWorks Enterprise Edition. Lombardi Software TeamWorksLombardi Software, like Pegasystems and Savvion, offers an incremental approach to developing, deploying, simulating and optimizing processes in a modular, J2EE-based BPM suite. Built on open standards, TeamWorks Enterprise Edition provides ease-of-use, on-going process visibility and control and extensive capabilities to manage process activity and decision-making. Its strengths: It provides real-time feedback, process simulation and optimization and enterprise-wide interoperability, scalability and governance. Key ComponentsTeamWorks Enterprise delivers efficient change management, end-to-end control and visibility across all process types, and enterprise scalability. Its main components include:
Process Modeler provides a graphical environment for users to define processes involving people, systems and events. It uses the BPMN standard and can import from leading modeling tools or BPEL. Process Optimizer helps identify bottlenecks and recommends alternative approaches within the processes. Customizable Process Portals and personalized Process Coaches help managers and workers prioritize work and monitor activities. Process Scoreboards allow managers to track performance in real-time.
Service Modeler uses an Eclipse-based graphical interface to let developers build, validate and re-use activity implementations across processes. Process Inspector (using Playback, explained shortly) allows teams to validate process designs collaboratively. Process and Performance Servers execute processes, monitor business events across the enterprise and collect and present performance metrics in real-time. The Console enables system administrators to manage processes in deployment throughout the enterprise. TeamWorks Enterprise Edition's authoring environment gives users the ability to execute a process model in real-time as the process is being developed. Termed Playback, the tool provides users with instant, iterative feedback. Every process component built through TeamWorks becomes a reusable, data-driven "artifact" that can be used to build follow-on processes. It provides a repository to manage process artifacts and includes versioning, locking and collaboration capabilities so that work can take place among multiple people across the enterprise. TeamWorks 5.5 also has a graphical forms designer that allows "round-trip" development. (Round-tripping refers to the ability to make changes to the process and have those changes reflected in the original process model, such that the model is constantly being iterated to reflect the actual activities of the process.) A library of pre-packaged templates provides a jumpstart for a variety of vertical and functional processes, including finance, HR and operations. Processes are self-documenting and are displayed in a visual representation to make them easier for users to follow. Its templates support the BPMN standard and are modifiable to fit business-specific requirements. The Process Optimizer features "heat mapping" for identifying bottlenecks and exception paths. The software provides interactive recommendations for possible improvements. TeamWorks supports Microsoft applications (Outlook and Infopath) and collaboration (SharePoint and .Net Services). Pricing for Lombardi TeamWorks starts at $150,000. Latest DevelopmentsIn March 2006 Lombardi announced the availability of Lombardi for Office 2003, an integrated add-on to TeamWorks for the Microsoft Office System. This product offers a way for companies to expand BPM to more employees by enabling them to participate in any business processes directly from their desktop using Microsoft Office software -- including Word, Excel, Outlook and InfoPath. According to the company, process performance can be managed directly from Outlook, without the need to set up and maintain separate portals. Likewise, letters written in Microsoft Word can automatically incorporate process information, such as current status of a loan application. More recently, the company said it would shortly release version 2 of the Office product, which will let users:
In March 2006 the company also released Lombardi OEM Edition, a specialized version of the TeamWorks platform that software vendors can use to extend their core product offerings with BPM functionality. The product includes configurable deployment packaging, standards-based integration points, integrated application and database servers, and support for rebranding and localization. Also new with TeamWorks 5.5 is TeamWorks Enablement Practices, a set of formal services programs and best practices designed to take advantage of the organizational and developmental opportunities that the TeamWorks platform provides. An option for the suite, TeamWorks Enablement includes individual skills training, team methods and best practices, organizational best practices, certification and a process toolkit and a library of re-useable templates for process implementation. Best Use CasesTeamWorks focuses on helping users find and resolve process design and execution problems. It analyzes processes to determine situations in which humans make the same decisions over and over, such as a loan officer declining all loans with a certain amount of risk. The software recommends a resolution to the situation and adds the steps needed to implement within the process. Additional use cases include submission of approval of payables, resolution of billing and invoicing exceptions, on-boarding, termination and other HR processes, and exceptions for end-to-end procurement processes spanning multiple systems and organizations. To increase worker efficiency, TeamWorks offers tight integration with Microsoft Office, making it harder for users to deviate from assigned processes. "Most users of process applications use them through a browser," said Rod Favron, president and chief executive at Lombardi. "But if users have to go to a browser...to notify them of a task that needs performing, they can ignore it." He added that integrating TeamWorks with Office allows firms to push task notification into a user's Office environment, ensuring that tasks or notifications of events are only deleted when the task is completed. Lombardi's base of user organizations currently includes:
Hasbro used TeamWorks to consolidate two supply organizations in Hong Kong. That company now manages twice the volume with the staff of just one of the original operations. Maritz Travel Company, a global leader in meeting, event and incentive travel management, recently chose TeamWorks to support the company's process activities (as profiled in a case study on BPMEnterprise.com). Business Rules and IntegrationThe TeamWorks Rules Service enables business analysts and developers to define business rules and corporate policies graphically. Users manage rules centrally and define them in a spreadsheet-like interface. They can be chained together or represented hierarchically. TeamWorks supports BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere and JBoss running on Windows, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX and Linux. The suite's Connector Framework, which contains out-of-the-box connections to popular systems, includes an integration wizard that assists the user in tapping Web services and integrating process applications to ERM, ERP, ECI and legacy applications. TeamWorks integrates with existing portals using the Java JSR 168 portlet specification or Web Services for Remote Portlets (WSRP). The CompanyLombardi Software is headquartered in Austin, Texas and has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York City, and San Jose, while London is the site of its European headquarters. Lombardi OEM/resellers include Cognos, Fiserv, Paisley Consulting and Extensity. Strategic partners include BearingPoint, CSC, Deloitte, CGI and Satyam. Lombardi Software, Inc. Useful LinksLombardi Software "Maritz Travel: Business Process Management Helps Manage Constant Change" Forrester Wave: Human-Centric Business Process Management Suites, Q1 2006 About the Author: Lou DiToro is a freelance writer who specializes in writing about business processes and competitive strategy. He welcomes feedback on his articles for BPMEnterprise.com. Contact Lou DiToro at louditoro (at) hotmail.com.Reproduction Without Permission Is Strictly Prohibited – Request Permission Publish an Article: Do you have a process management tip, learning or case study? Share it with the largest community of Business Process Management professionals, and be recognized by your peers. It's a great way to promote your expertise and/or build your resume. Read more about submitting an article.
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
| Home | Discussion Forum | Event Calendar | Job Shop | |
 | |
| Link To BPMEnterprise.com | Report A Problem | Submit Article For Publishing | |
| |
| Terms of Service. ©2003-2008 BPMEnterprise.com, CTQ Media LLC. All rights reserved. v1.0, 0.0 |
About BPMEnterprise.com · Contact Us · Privacy Policy · Site Map. |