Case study: Headless BPMTodor Mollov

Senior technical specialist

Ascendant Technology (an Avnet Company)

Agenda

• Introduction• The Business Problem & Project Background• The BPM approach• Why Headless BPM?• Project and solution details

About Ascendant

• 600 People Worldwide across 4 Continents

o Europe – London, Stockholm, Belgrade

o US – Austin, Denver, and San Francisco

o India – Chennai

o Brazil - Florianopolis

• Expertise in both Business, Creative and Technical Consulting

• Part of the AVNET Group

• 500 IBM Certifications, 21 IBM Redbooks

About myself

• In the software industry for 10 years• Using IBM software for the past 5 years• Live in Worcester, UK• Married with 2 boys• No medals in rowing yet

The Business Problem &

Project Background

Project background

• The client: major international financial institution• Selling financial products to corporate clients• Complex pricing calculator – profit and risk• Delivered by .Net offshore team• Basic UI

Customer’s requirements and constraints

• The requirement : Approval process for the existing pricing calculator – different level of approvals for the deal, based on product types and product parameters

• Two phase process – modelling of pricing and pricing approval

• Keep the offshore delivery capability in .Net – existing platform of choice

ExecutiveManagement

CustomerService

InvoiceReconciliationTeams

Finance and Ops

AccountAdministration

??

Inefficient

Ineffective

Inaccurate

Incomplete

Inconsistent

Inflexible

Invisible

“Business As Usual” Begs for Operational Improvement

The BPM approach

ExecutiveManagement

CustomerService

Risk ManagementTeams

Financeand Ops

Account Administration

10

Proc

ess

Deci

sion

s What to do.

How to do it.

When to do it.

IBM’s Business Process Manager

IBM Business Process Manager

Governance / Visibility

Deploy

Define Improve

Process Designer / Optimizer

IntegrationDesigner

Process Center Console

Process Center

PortalMobile

Process ServerCore BPM Advanced Automation & Integration

BPMN BPEL AdaptorsProcess Rules PerformanceData Warehouse

ESB

Social

CoachesOptional Microsoft Add-ons

Business Space

Measure

Network Multiple Process Centers

Server RegistryShared Assets

Versioned Assets

Agile BPM Approach

• Develop the solution with the Business, not for the business.• Agile development and deployment cycles (12-18 weeks in total duration)

User stories to capture business needs. Time-boxing, 2-4 week iterations.

• Prioritize iterations based on business value and risk mitigation.• Frequent “Playbacks” to capture feedback of the sponsors and validate iteration content.• Monitor execution and incorporate changes quickly.

Process

UI

BPM

Typical BPM solution

• UI and Process in one application

DB

Approve

SOR (System of Record) EIS

Coach screens

Flow logic

Data store/ BI reports

Deliver

Review

Is approved?

no

yesStart End

Screen: Approve

Screen: Review

Screen: Deliver

Why Headless BPM?

What’s headless software?

• No GUI• Provides set of API for controlling the execution• Useful when automating repeatable task with predefined

inputs or integrating with another system• Examples: headless installation, headless server,

headless Linux

Options considered

1) Have BPM implement the whole UI

2) Only buttons for approve/reject

3) No coaches at all – REST API

.Net page

BPM page

.Net page

BPM buttons

Decision points

• Requirements - “Lickable” interface• Consistent UI experience – same web controls, view

details and approve on one page• Technical challenge - event handling – how do we

capture the end of the coach in iFrame• Capability – available team with .Net skills already

developing the presentation layer

.Net page

BPM page

.Net page

BPM buttons

Rest API

Approve

Web pages

Flow logic

Deliver

Review

Is approved?

no

yesStart End

Screen: Approve

Screen: Review

Screen: Deliver

Our solution

Headless BPM – no GUI developed in BPM i.e. no coach services.

BPM

DB

UI

Process

SOR (System of Record) EIS

Data store/ BI reports

.Net

IBM BPM REST API

Solution Details

• External Activities – external systems working with BPM tasks

• REST API – getTaskList, getTaskDetails, claimTask, finishTask.

• Authentication – task list per user - SSO using WebSeal and LDAP

• Rules/triggers, Emails, Timers, escalations• Automated regression testing

Offshore

Project team

Onshore

BPM CoE

.Net developers

Testers

Product owners LDM owner

PM/Managers

BPM designer BPM Tester

.Net developers.Net

developers

TestersTesters

UAT manager

Solution architect

Lessons learnt

• Scrum meetings – 25 people for 15 minutes, too formal and reporting – focus on the problems not on time reporting

• Time zone – gone home by 2PM (6:30 PM). Less time for collaboration. – one tester was working UK hours.

• User story done ? • Away from the source of the requirements – write specs

Summary

• BPM for approval processes• For existing UI platform and skills – consider

headless integration• Be prepared for the challenges of offshore delivery