Summery
The paths to creating e-businesses are repeatable. Many companies assume that they are unique and that therefore very creation of an e-business has to be learned as you go. While this may be encouraged by some service providers and programmers (because it is both profitable and allows programming artistic flair), IBM has learned that in fact, there are lessons and architectural paths or patterns that can be discerned from all these engagements. Whether your company is a start-up or has extensive legacy applications, these patterns allow you to reuse existing technologies so that your projects can be completed quickly
A prescriptive approach
The paths to creating e-businesses are repeatable. Many companies assume that they are unique and that therefore very creation of an e-business has to be learned as you go. While this may be encouraged by some service providers and programmers (because it is both profitable and allows programming artistic flair), IBM has learned that in fact, there are lessons and architectural paths or patterns that can be discerned from all these engagements. Whether your company is a start-up or has extensive legacy applications, these patterns allow you to reuse existing technologies so that your projects can be completed quickly
A prescriptive approach
The Patterns for e-business also
provide a prescriptive approach. Physicians are formally taught a process to
evaluate a patient and arrive at a treatment plan. They do this by quickly
assessing the major systems, then honing in on the system or systems with
problems. The physician can then follow a standard decision tree logic pattern
to arrive at a treatment plan. In the case of the Patterns for e-business, you
can start with the customer's wants and needs, their business problems,
existing business processes and rules, and any existing systems, data, or
infrastructure. You can then follow a structured approach to arrive at a
customized solution for the customer that addresses the business functions
(such as Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management, Knowledge
Management, Business Intelligence, customer or employee Collaboration,
e-commerce.
The Patterns for e-business topologies can also help
describe how to construct systems that incorporate existing applications and
infrastructure. One of the key points of the IBM Application Framework for
e-business is that you can build on your existing infrastructure and systems to
speed development. Shortening time to market but also reusing existing assets
can greatly increase your likelihood for success, since the core of the new
application is well understood and proven. So, you can add new function to
existing systems while continuing to use them in the old way, providing a
smooth transition. It's a good idea to serve customers or other businesses
using the existing channel while bringing a new channel online and providing
users and other businesses time to convert or adopt the new access and
services.
The Patterns for e-business are equally usable for new
businesses or new companies starting on the Web.
Patterns and associated customer uses
Business patterns e-business
solution areas
User-to-Business CRM,
customer self service
User-to-Online buying e-commerce
Business-to-Business SCM,
shipping, e-marketplaces
User-to-User Collaboration,
customer service
User-to-Data Business
intelligence, knowledge management
Application Integration Business
application integration (key for ERP package implementation)
The pattern names reflect the generalized nature of each of
the patterns. The business solution areas are only examples of the general type
of application solution provided by the pattern. It should be clear that the
patterns can be and often are combined to solve more complex business problems.
Reference
"EPISODES: A Pattern Language of Competitive Development" by Ward Cunningham, in Pattern Languages of Program Design edited by Norman Kerth, James Koplien, and John Vlissides (Addison Wesley)
Reference
"EPISODES: A Pattern Language of Competitive Development" by Ward Cunningham, in Pattern Languages of Program Design edited by Norman Kerth, James Koplien, and John Vlissides (Addison Wesley)
Design Patterns - Elements of
Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson,
and John Vlissides (Addison Wesley)
A Pattern Language by C.
Alexander, S. Ishikawa, M. Silverstein, M. Jacobson, I. Fiksdahl-King, and S.
Angel (Oxford University Press)
Pattern - Oriented Software
Architecture: A System of Patterns by Frank Buschmann, Regine Meunier, Hans
Rohnert, Perter Sommerlad, and Michael Stal (Wiley, John, & Sons)
