Almost every business has a stockpile of rigidly-defined processes—typically in ERP or CRM applications. These everyday business processes fall into the system of record layer of Gartner’s Pace-Layered Application Strategy. They’re the glue that holds a business together.
Typically the rate of change for applications in the system of record layer is slow. What falls into the system of record layer today though, may be more suitable for the system of differentiation or innovation layers tomorrow should the business change gears. Maybe a service provider wants to shift its focus onto manufacturing, or vice versa. If so, everyday processes can offer new opportunities for differentiation.
Business Process Management (BPM) solutions are particularly effective for managing the system of record layer. They simplify the discovery and automation of processes that exist within the layer. Consider BPM the connective tissue that enables the system of record foundation to sustain and integrate with applications that support differentiation and innovation.
Having a BPM suite in place will help manage the rapid changes to business processes that occur as applications move from one layer to the next—and will continue to support them in the new layer. Being able to manage rapid changes to business processes makes the system of record layer more flexible and adaptable to whatever the future may hold.
Read our recent newsletter article, Pace-Layered Application Strategy: A Look at Systems of Record, to learn more about this layer of Gartner’s Pace-Layered Application Strategy.