Business intelligence (BI) and business process management (BPM) may seem to be miles apart on the corporate agenda and are rarely considered in the same breath. Some industry analysts, however, say there are significant advantages to be gained from merging both technologies.

‘The long-held goal of BI has been to provide information to the right person at the right time and in the right format,’ says Ian Charlesworth, senior analyst at Ovum. ‘Finding the relevant points of integration between BI and BPM will give more control over business processes, helping to reduce waste and drive new strategic initiatives.’

BI vendors have been talking about putting BI into action for a long time. However, it is only the maturing of the BPM market that is making it possible. According to Forrester analyst Colin Teubner, the separate technology areas of BI and BPM not only complement each other, but will converge over the next three to five years, and what he calls the information workplace will deliver key benefits.

Gerry Brown, senior analyst at Bloor Research, says one of the inherent dangers is data overload. ‘BI tends to create knee-jerk management reactions as people become hypnotised by the thousands of figures coming out at them, with the result that data spikes are seen as important trends,’ he says.

Data delivered through BI technology helps companies to make more informed, timely and effective decisions. While BPM focuses on managing work from a cross-functional perspective, it does little to optimise and improve those processes. BI does not really focus on processes, while BPM is limited in its use of BI to analyse process data rather than business data.

All business processes consist of simple control loops, either open or closed, that need monitoring, measuring and managing to function as required by the business. The monitoring and measuring generates information, which can be used to assist in the management of the process. Adding information about the influence of external factors or historical data can provide another dimension, and create a more sensible context for the management of the business process.

In the retail industry, for example, operating the leanest supply chain which allows only stock for the average day presents the danger of running out of goods to sell when there is an exceptional event. Alternatively, carrying too much stock entails additional inventory costs and the potential wastage of perishable goods.

Identifying exceptional events in advance, ranging from sporting fixtures to changes in the weather, and taking them into account can be achieved only by using a BI system that considers historical context and can forecast known events. This will deliver a better performance than the rules-based system provided by most business process tools. Without BI, BPM can only provide a control loop. BI delivers the next level of intelligence, which not only provides automation and efficiency, but also makes that automation more effective.

The ability to execute performance management activities on process data gives organisations more insight into where efficiencies and gains can be made. Applying BI to processes will give managers a more granular view of how their organisation functions. In addition, there will be a capability for early warning if specific violations or deviations from the set goals and metrics occur.