A simple plan

Tom Crawford explains how businesses can manage growing volumes of data across geographies and systems while meeting the demands of transparent business insight and control.

“The new generation of enterprise-class BPM technology can build, deliver, augment and integrate the systems that support transparency, agility and control for data throughout all parts of the enterprise”
-Tom Crawford

A spotlight is being shone on FS firms' balance sheet exposure, bringing to the surface the need for companies to be transparent about risks they are taking.

But underneath the surface are complex requirements to analyze and report on multiple counterparties in multiple jurisdictions and across multiple asset classes, which is especially difficult when transactions involve hard-to-value OTC instruments. This issue is further compounded by disparate regulatory requirements for lending securities originated in different countries and jurisdictions. 

Think about the complexity of this picture. More and more attention and resources are being invested in systems and processes: data management, compliance rules, process automation, accounting rules engines, financial data repositories and balance sheet explosion.

The key question is how companies can address these demands for transparency, agility and integrity over complex processes and high volumes of data events and positions? The answer is now real: next-generation enterprise-class business process management (BPM) technology.

The new generation of 'enterprise class' BPM technology can provide the toolset to build, deliver, augment and integrate the systems that support not just transparency but also agility and control for data throughout all parts of the enterprise. Furthermore, the right software solution lets companies transform data and processes, implement business rules and calculation engines, securely interact with users and orchestrate, consume or publish SOA services.

But most BPM solutions are too slow for today's increasingly data intensive environments. Poor performance is exacerbated by the use of a workflow-only architecture rather than one that is data, rules and event-based: most existing BPM solutions can track information from point A to point B but don't have the intelligence to detect and respond to a breakdown in approvals or process.

In contrast, using a next-generation BPM suite in conjunction with SOA enables organizations to respond faster to changing business requirements. For example, an organization growing through acquisition has the need to integrate diverse applications or process steps into an integrated process. SOA is becoming important in this regard as it supports the rapid assembly and coordination of process micro-flows and services.

Using a system like Microgen Aptitude, this company would have SOA orchestration, external library and system calls, fast transactional control, user GUI deployment and strong integration, graphical business rules and process simulation in one suite.

Next-generation BPM suites must be able to manage massive amounts of data at very low latency. But raw performance is not enough; you also need full transactional control. For example, it is not acceptable that a core business system receives a data update but its associated data warehouse does not. Yet many businesses live with this reality, without even realizing the potential risks associated with this inconsistency.

From a regulatory perspective, an enterprise-class BPM suite will enable businesses to enforce policies and procedures and provide a method for organizations to define, manage and audit their critical processes.

Smart businesses operate with a mixture of processes, rules, supporting systems, information flows, policies, organizational structures, assets and resources. Smart BPM systems match this operating environment to deliver measurable value. These software suites also create a foundation for flexibility and the ability to change 'in flight' what was previously embedded in coded applications.

So how do you know whether a new BPM suite will make the difference for your firm? Well, consider what you have to lose: if you maintain business as usual, what do you risk? The operational risks of not effectively managing information and processes are huge, and more publicly exposed than ever.

The business drivers for true enterprise-class business process management are urgent and real. Hardware has stepped up to meet many firms' data intensive processing challenge, but the next stage is intelligent 'enterprise class' BPM software that enables the transparency, agility and control that modern FS firms demand.

Tom Crawford joined Microgen as Divisional MD in February 2003 after five years as COO at another high growth quoted software business. Integrated and led, post acquisition, four Divisions of Microgen spanning Banking, BI, Energy and Wealth Management sectors. Now SVP of Microgen North America; building out the Microgen Aptitude business in the US.