A Friday Column
Our guest blogger today is inspired by E J Thribb, poet-in-residence at the London-based, and allegedly satirical, magazine Private Eye.
In Memoriam
So. Farewell then BPM...
Business Process Management, some said.
You burst in a decade ago, the Next Big Thing after Process Re-Engineering
Fed by Big Vendor marketing, feted by Big Consultants, you held the key to everything.
We all had to have a BPM strategy. A BPMS was the ultimate corporate bling.
But Keith's Mum always said that it was unreal, like Series 4 of Lost.
Sure enough, your bubble burst too, just like your difficult sister SOA always predicted.
It wasn't just Outside-In any more. It was pear-shaped.
Everyone wanted 're-definition'. They said that really you had been BAM or ECM or KM or 'Social' BPM all along.
There was confusion. People started to think for themselves. It was dangerous.
So you were toast. And the week confirmed it was RIP BPM.
On Monday, BPM Redux disappeared to become Redux Online, On Tuesday, Accenture announced its new enthusiasm for Lean Six Sigma. And they say Gartner will publish this year's BPM Hype UniCycle
It was all over, Luckily, like Craig Venter creating new life in his petri dish, the Big Vendors are working feverishly in their labs on your successor.
It will sound alluring, even compelling, in the executive suite. It will be The Next Business Imperative, something for us all to get behind, thank goodness.
They say it might all favour Nimbus but I don't think so. Their message is too simple. It's not a quick fix either.
Anyway Keith's Mum says that just because something's intuitive doesn't mean it's going to catch on. Look at the iPhone.
J. R. Forrest-Trees IV (17½)
Barry Fantoni created E J Thribb in 1972, the year I first went to University. His weekly 'poems' have appeared ever since. These days I very rarely read Private Eye - but when I do, it's E J Thribb's deathless lines I look for first.
Favourite line of the week is the last line of this piece - Thanks Mike - started my day with a smile.
Posted by: Mark Jarvis | 03 June 2010 at 09:09 AM