Page 489 - Handbook of Modern Telecommunications

4-20 CRC Handbook of Modern Telecommunications, Second Edition

can be used and most of these, such as database management systems, mobile phones, and Internet,
have been available for many years. Leaders in the race to real time have energetically exploited these
technologies, often at considerable cost and risk.
Many emerging technologies will become essential parts of RTE. The most promising technologies are:
a. Electronic tags based on radio frequency identification (RFID), allowing easier and more precise
tracking of objects and packages.
b. Web services, which will ease the linking of applications and enterprises in support of business
processes.
c. Enterprise instant messaging (IM), which will add a real-time, customer service option and link
people internally and with partners.
d. E-mail response systems (ERS), which will make e-mail a real-time process.
e. Just-in-time e-learning, which will enable enterprises to continuously train their staff in real
time.
f. Emerging applications, such as decision engines and business activity monitoring (BAM).
The 10 critical steps toward a real-time enterprise are:
• Real-time visibility: It is important to understand what the status of the process is before enter-
prises can improve it. All critical metrics should be presented in real time.
• Real-time management: Embedding key controls, alerts, and metrics into existing legacy, BPM,
CRM, and supply chain systems allows business management the chance to see real exceptions
and take action.
• Business process modeling: With time to produce new products going from years to days, stay-
ing with the status you have actually means failure. Simulation tools may help let a company
understand a process by cost, time, and other metrics.
• Process automation: A number of processes and models can have very robust decision rules that
allow enterprises to follow multiple paths and have each of the process models included so that the
business areas can be as unique as they need to be in order to satisfy customers.
• Rapid deployment of solutions: Companies cannot afford to rip and replace technology. New
BPM and enterprise integration architecture (EIA)-based solution templates from various ven-
dors can provide anywhere from 20 to 80% of solutions to problems such as Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
• End-to-end integration: Integration is targeted among computing platforms, applications, peo-
ple, and processes.
• Flexible infrastructure: Real-time enterprises need to react quickly to both business and technol-
ogy changes.
• Service-based architecture: Component- and service-oriented architectures provide maximum
agility and flexible deployment options that isolate and enable infrastructure changes.
• Support for standards: Electronic commerce demands have sparked more rapid adoption of
standards, such as RosettaNet, XML, SOAP, WSDL, UDDI, and UML. They can reduce the cost
of maintaining skill sets within an organization.
• Organizational agility: Most people resist change just as a matter of fact; new metrics are needed
that reward employees according to their project’s contribution to real-time agility and long-term
return on investment (ROI).

4.2.5 Directions for Service Orientation

Driven by Web services momentum, service-oriented architecture moves from leading-edge software
projects to the mainstream. However, most enterprises are confused about its benefits and do not under-
stand its risks.