200 likes | 315 Views
People Integration: Portals, Dashboards & Web 2.0. Dr. Julius PETER SOA Sales Executive, CEMAAS SWG julius_peter@at.ibm.com. People and SOA: Improving productivity though people collaboration. Main Findings Organizations depend on processes -- and processes still depend on people
E N D
People Integration:Portals, Dashboards & Web 2.0. Dr. Julius PETER SOA Sales Executive, CEMAAS SWG julius_peter@at.ibm.com
People and SOA:Improving productivity though people collaboration Main Findings • Organizations depend on processes -- and processes still depend on people • People must have the capability to easily interact with technical systems • Existing siloed applications need to be part of the solution • A portal approach provides the front end interface, as well as the back end integration, to provide a suitable solution • Employee self-service and management capabilities can provide strong business benefits while establishing a platform for further growth • Inclusion is key – the chosen solution must be open and easily implemented and maintained Conclusions • Enabling people to become a main force within the business processes, while maintaining control of the business itself, has been an enduring problem throughout the application era. • People will remain a core part of businesses going forward. Clive Longbottom, Quocirca LtdMay 2007
Business Users Business Partners All Employees Executives Customers Business Services DevelopmentServices Management Services Interaction Services Process Services Information Services Enterprise Service Bus Partner Services Business App Services Access Services Apps & Info Assets Infrastructure Services Who are these the ‘People’ in SOA?Everybody who consumes Business Processes & Information SOAInfrastructure
People in SOA: Core Capabilities Interface from People to SOA • People use computers in many ways, and SOA supports them.Now we just need a good user interface to do it easily! Interface from SOA to People • An automated Business Process can manage both manual and automated tasks. But how can an automated process ask a person to perform a manual task? New Web 2.0 Capabilities that Complement SOA • Web 2.0 is the hot new buzzword. But what does it mean to you, and to your customers?And what is its relationship to SOA?
Interaction Services – Services for People Making SOA Consumable User Interface Services Portal Dashboards • Decision making? • Real time alerts? • Visibility into operations? User Interface User Interaction Services Dashboard User Interaction Portal People Deployment Visualization Business Process Composite Applications Alerts Forms Collaboration External Master Data Management Services Information as a Service Deployment Services Multiple device management and deployment Operational Systems Application Application Data Content Registry Connectivity (Enterprise Service Bus) Multiple server sources Rich Clients Browser Mobile
Flight selection Portlet Flight selection service A Portlet is the entry point to a service
Portlet A Portlet B Portlet C Portlet D Service A (Credit Check) Service D (Place Order) Service B (Account Balance) Service C (Check Inventory) The flexibility of Portlets make the difference. Orchestrated Workflow: • Based on the user’s role, it orchestrates their navigation through “task pages” and portlets to complete a process • Presents the business processes in context with applications and people needed to complete it • Allows humans to handle process exceptions • Maintains the state information about the process so it can be monitored Composite Applications: • A way to aggregate business services and present them to the right users at the right time. • A method to complete a task by utilizing standardized and reusable business processes • A way to automate services by exposing human accessible processes in structured ways • Built using IT services such as integration, personalization, security, collaboration and orchestrated workflow services
Examples of Form-Driven Processes: New Account Open Public Self Service Health & Safety compliance processes Threat and Risk Assessment Supplier Management Leave Request and Approval Travel Request and Approval Procurement Approval Timesheet Recording & Approval Performance Management Personnel Profile and Updating Records Management Contract Management Forms Management Compliant Document Generation Lotus Forms: Initiating a Business ProcessInterface from People to SOA • Scan in an existing paper form, or design from scratch • Turn it into a Web page • Attach SOA actions • e.g. start a business process to process the form using automated and/or manual tasks “More than 80% of the processes in public and private businesses depend on forms.” - IDC
Business Process Automated Task People Facing Task Automated Task People Facing Task Automated Task Business Processes can ask People to do thingsInterface from SOA to People Alerts Manual Approval Request Task Portlets Task Portlets Task Portlets provide a user interface for people who perform manual tasks as services in a business process “…processes still depend on people” May 2007
IBM Software Group WebSphere Portal @ ViessmannCompany wide Portal (B2E B2B B2E) with backend independent GUI Use Case Partner Support system: spare part delivery Domino based database for ‘Standard Proposals’ JAVA Shopping cart UPS parcel status – external Web Service SAP Sales data
Managed Business Process Monitoring and Interacting with a Business Process Interface from People to SOA • WebSphere Business Monitor provides configurable, pre-built portlets for • Examining a running process, drill-down to examine aspects at any level of detail • Study the results of many running processes • Stop, cancel, or restart a process • Redirect an activity – for example, send a manual approval request to a different approver, because the original approver is out sick • Displaying key performance indicators in graphical, self-updating displays • These Monitor portlets use WebSphere Portlet technology, so they can be assembled on a Dashboard along with any other kind of portlets • This provides enormous flexibility for specialized information presentation for many job roles in a highly readable manner, all on one page Monitor Redirect Drill down
Research & Collaboration CapabilitiesInterface from People to SOA Provide access to research and collaboration for decision-making within the context of a business process Main area of business focus: the core business process in the context of the user’s role Peripheral services assist with the main business focus. Dashboard Framework & Real-time monitoring
Enterprise Portals – The View From The Analysts “Through 2007, an enterprise portal will bethe first major application of SOA concepts formore than 50 percent of enterprises (0.6 probability).” Analytical source: Gene Phifer, Gartner Research; Publication Date: 12 October 2005/ID Number: G00132930 Gartner 10/12/05 “Forrester research has suggested that 80 percent of new application development is going to be in composite applications, rather than more-traditional apps.” August 24, 2006 - Intranet Journal: IBM's New Portal Server Embraces 'Composite Applications', By: Tom Dunlap, August 24, 2006
Web 2.0: Hype or Innovation? “…a second generation of web-based communities and hosted services such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies, which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing among users.” • The term “Web 2.0” was coined by O’Reilly to promote a conference on several new vaguely-related Web technologies, so some people dismiss the term as hype. Despite it’s name, it is not a standard. • Web 2.0 identifies several applications or technologies that are very useful for business: • Mashups – remixing disparate content and Web services into innovative Web-based applications • Data Driven - business value is centered on content • Remixability - new business opportunities to combine content • OpenAPIs - building/extending ecosystems both with ISVs & customer collaboration • Rich Internet Applications - improved user experience leads to improved revenue. For example, AJAX greatly improves maps.google.com. • User Generated Content - active participation and self organization to influence product development • Focus on Simplicity - empowering content-centric developers • Our customers are interested in Web 2.0. IBM has products now, and more coming, using and providing Web 2.0 ideas. Many capabilities are added to existing products, a few are in new offerings.
WebSphere Portal Server 6.0 with WebSphere Portlet Factory 6.0.1 provides AJAX capabilities, such as dynamic refresh (think: maps.google.com) to facilitate greater ease of use and increased user affinity Mashups • Social software for business. Dynamically build new connections between people, the information they know, and the tasks they are executing. • Allows end-users to easily assemble enterprise and internet content for innovative and task-specific applications, and tailor to their own use. Mashup demo: see http://pokgsa.ibm.com/~ncarrier/ Web 2.0 Capabilities in IBM Software Products Announced! IMPACT 2008, April
Selling Opportunity: Portal Accelerators Collaboration Portal Accelerators are collections of products that provide a quick end-user solution to key business problems. Because they resonate well with Business users, we sell them to LOB, and it helps IT sell the idea to LOB with a visible solution. Examples: • Process combines WebSphere Portal Server and Lotus Forms (requires WPS and WBM) • Dashboard bundles Lotus Active Insight and Dashboard Framework • Industry-specific – Government, Retail, Healthcare Industry Content Dashboard Self-Service Process Learning Enterprise Suite Portal and Accelerators demo: see http://pokgsa.ibm.com/~ncarrier/
Summary & Call to Action • The People entry point is ideal for demonstrating fast, highly-visible results for a pilot SOA project • Portal & Dashboards are great starting points for a SOA • Suggest the use of portlets for creating composite Web pages from components, leading to reuse and rapid creation and customization • Suggest the use of Dashboards to monitor processes and business activities • Promote Web 2.0 as a complement to SOA • Put power into the hands of your users to create their own applications, leading to innovation and efficiency • Create new ways for people to collaborate – make it easy for your customers to provide feedback to you, facilitate people finding each other within an organization to collaborate to solve business problems and create opportunities • Promote Collaboration • Fast access to other people and information is key to decision-making in a business process