Data, Applications, and Technology

Increasing the level of supply chain maturity is driven by process. This is where
the value is generated. This can only happen with the will of the organizations
involved, and organization and location follow, to institutionalize and socialize
the changes. The enablers that underpin this condition and make the management
of complexity possible are data, applications, and technology, but they are
enablers and increasingly will be invisible to the business users.
As the processes begin to flow across the boundaries, the extended chain
will need real-time visibility of key partner data (such as stock dispositions and
demand forecasts). The role of BPM and the architectures such as CSC e4SM
becomes paramount.
All applications are plugged into the service layer with lightweight
adaptors, making their data available to the rest of the enterprise.
_ All the process rules are managed by the business process manager at
the heart of the architecture, which sits between the applications and the
user, who no longer needs to know with which applications she or he
is working. Written in a process language that obeys the protocols
discussed earlier, this process engine can now talk to other process
engines in the value chain.
_ Business users see the system through the coordination layer. They are
presented by the business process manager with the information they
need to execute their process, which then shares back the results with
the appropriate applications. Of course, if the technology managers want
All applications are plugged into the service layer with lightweight
adaptors, making their data available to the rest of the enterprise.
_ All the process rules are managed by the business process manager at
the heart of the architecture, which sits between the applications and the
user, who no longer needs to know with which applications she or he
is working. Written in a process language that obeys the protocols
discussed earlier, this process engine can now talk to other process
engines in the value chain.
_ Business users see the system through the coordination layer. They are
presented by the business process manager with the information they
need to execute their process, which then shares back the results with
the appropriate applications. Of course, if the technology managers wanted.