Click here to read a paper by Appian Principal Consultant Glenn Smith on “Intelligent Business Operations: BPM & Analytics in the Event-Driven Enterprise.”

Gartner first outlined the tenets of IBO in a mid-2011 report called “The Trend Towards Intelligent Business Operations.” The report says, “Intelligent business operations are a style of work in which real-time analytic and decision management technologies are integrated into the transaction-executing and bookkeeping operational activities that run the business. Intelligent business operations are becoming increasingly practical because of the growing amount of data generated by sources inside and outside the company, and because of the wide availability of software tools to process that data immediately.”

To be sure, comprehensive IBO requires more than an iBPMS exclusively. But by combining process, events, data and analytics, masking their collective power and complexity behind a simple social interface, and making it all universally accessible on any device platform, Appian gets you further down the IBO road than any other technology. And not just farther – we get you there faster, too. The rapid and broad BPM user adoption enabled by Mobile and Social is complimented by the delivery speed made possible by Cloud BPM and Appian’s drag-and-drop, zero-code development/composition.

Companies that have been using Appian software for years are evolving to programs and use cases that look exactly like Gartner’s IBO vision. We’re also finding that Mobile/Cloud/Social is helping “BPM newbie” organizations leap-frog to cutting edge deployments much more easily than in the past. Read Glenn’s article for a more thorough examination and some food-for-thought on what IBO might look like in your organization.

-Ben Farrell, Director, Corporate Communications

Gartner’s Daryl Plummer is a Managing Vice President, Chief of Research and Chief Gartner Fellow. He is Chief of Research for cloud computing and Chief of Research for emerging trends. He will open your eyes about the challenges and opportunities for putting mission-critical processes in the cloud.

Clay Richardson, Senior Analyst at Forrester, is a BPM thought leader. His recent research around the ROI of BPM suites – and how to maximize it – will inform his Day 2 keynote.

Sandy Kemsley is recognized as a leading independent BPM analyst, and her Column 2 blog is a must-read for the community. Sandy will deliver a keynote on the business and cultural changes that are enabled by social BPM technologies.

Neil Ward-Dutton, Research Director at MWD Advisors, is one of the UK’s BPM luminaries. He will discuss BPM for Case Management best practices. He will also lead a panel discussion on BPM Centers of Excellence, and their role in building a high-value program.

Don’t miss this opportunity! Register today.

-Ben Farrell, Director, Corporate Communications

Gartner has chosen a theme of “Re-imagine IT: Leading From the Front.” It is very apt. Things are changing rapidly in business, and just as rapidly in IT. These “Game Changers” are driving lots of innovation – and turbulence – just at the time that the CIO is being mandated to become more of a growth-driver than ever before.  And look out, because the Game Changers are actually just getting warmed up. For all the talk, the reality is that the majority of IT organizations are only just now starting to figure out their Cloud and Mobile strategies (and Enterprise Social appears to lag those two by a bit more).

As these strategies are developing, they are certainly encountering necessary questions (what to put in which type of cloud, mobile app dev cost, etc.), but they are also uncovering world’s of new possibilities for creating (finally!) truly customer-responsive and customer-driven businesses.

Gartner promises that the more than 8,500 senior IT/business and IT strategist (including more than 2,000 CIO) attendees will “come away with new ways to re-imagine a business structure in which information users are simultaneously creators and consumers; re-imagine information technology through a process of ‘creative destruction’; and re-imagine the evolving role of the IT department as a whole.”

A worthy (if lofty) goal. See what all of that actually looks like in the real world through a live demonstration of the industry-leading Appian BPM Suite.

Hope to meet you at our booth!

-Ben Farrell, Director, Corporate Communications

I’m not going to say corporate conferences are necessarily a bellweather of the economy, but judging by last week’s BPM Summit in Maryland, something has changed. The place was packed, and the general vibe was way up on the optimism scale.

The analyst and end-user content was top-notch, as usual. The discussions covered all the themes near and dear to our hearts at Appian: Mobile BPM, Cloud BPM and Social BPM. We were very proud to have two customers on the agenda presenting their success stories.

John Verburgt and Brian Toba at CME Group gave a fantastic tag-team presentation on business and IT perspectives on launching a BPM program. Key take-aways: get strong exec sponsorship, understand that BPM requires a new level of cross-function communication and collaboration, and get started faxst with a pilot in the cloud.

Derrick Hill of UPS was on-hand not only to detail his company’s BPM journey, but also to accept UPS Gartner 2011 BPM Execellence award. Congrats again to Derrick and his team!

It’s a reach to declare the return of economic growth based on one conference, but I was very glad to see such strong attendance at such a worthwhile event.

-Ben Farrell, Director, Corporate Communications

UPS’ IT Shared Services Group was named Winner in the category of Furthering BPM Disciplines.  UPS knew a standardized BPM platform would help in addressing a number of process and service challenges. Gartner points out that “while driving change for enhanced business value and alignment…the company achieved the needed results utilizing only internal resources without the aid of outside vendor professional services consultants.” I can’t think of a better testament to our claim that Appian is the easiest BPM suite on the market to use, deploy and adopt.

UPS uses Appian’s business process management software in support of a mandate from the company’s CIO to deliver better, faster service at reduced cost. With more than 100 process applications deployed, UPS has improved operational efficiencies, enhanced customer service excellence, and generated significant cost-savings. UPS will share its award-winning BPM expertise in a series of winner-user roundtables with conference attendees at the Gartner BPM Summit taking place April 27-29 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront in Baltimore, Maryland.

Nokia Siemens Networks was named Runner Up in the category of Best Practices in Advancing BPM Competencies. Using Appian’s BPM software, NSN has deployed a sophisticated, pan-organizational BPM program driven by one of the most mature Center of Excellence organizations in the BPM industry. Appian drives process automation, process governance and consistency across the fundamental areas of NSN’s business, from its Business Solutions & Operations to its Managed Services and its Global Network Implementation Centers. The Appian platform has been leveraged to provide a multitude of applications that deliver millions of dollars in return on investment annually.

Congrats again to the BPM teams at UPS and NSN. If you want to learn more about either of these BPM software success stories, both customers are on the agenda for Appian World 2011. Register today for this free BPM industry event.

Ben Farrell, Director, Corporate Communications

The Appian World 2011 agenda will feature customer case studies and presentations from leading analysts.  Below is a quick snapshot of confirmed speakers.

We are working to confirm even more speakers and presentations.  Keep checking back for more updates.

For those of you who are new to BPM, Sandy Kemsley will be leading BPM 101 presentation to help you get up to speed quickly.

For advanced Appian developers and BPM practitioners looking to extend your knowledge, we have lined up 10 different advanced training courses.

As with all previous Appian conferences, this event is entirely FREE for Appian customers, partners, and invited guests.

Appian World 2011 will be hosted on April 13th – 15th 2011 in the Washington D.C. area.

Don’t miss your slot.. Register today! We are planning for 500 to 600 attendees and registrations are filling up fast.

Thanks,

Malcolm Ross

Director Product Management

Appian is a sponsor of the event, which runs October 18-21. We will be on-site giving demonstrations of our Appian 6 platform in Booth #320 throughout the conference. Please stop by to see one, or to schedule a private one-one demo.

In addition to BPMS-focused presentations, Gartner analysts will also be talking about a range of issues related to BPMS success. These include moving from operational excellence to adaptive processes, advancing process management maturity, measuring BPM, a look at the skills and roles needed for BPM success, and more. If you are currently using, or thinking of moving to, cloud-based BPM, I encourage you to check out Michele Cantara’s session on “How Cloudy is Your Business Process Management Suite and Why Does it Matter?”

It’s exciting to see Gartner move the topic of BPM beyond the realm of a Technology Summit and into something as big as ITxpo. We hope to see you there!

Ben Farrell, Director of Corporate Communications

As with previous Appian user conferences, the event is completely free to Appian customers, partners, and those simply interested in learning more about Appian and Business Process Management. Whether you are a business or IT professional, a process improvement expert or a BPM newbie, with a commercial organization or working in the public sector, this is a must-attend event.

At Appian World 2011, BPM industry luminaries and leading practitioners will share the insights you need to drive business value through process improvement. Analysts from firms such as Gartner and Forrester will discuss where the BPM market is today, where it is headed, and how BPM suite technology will support it. People on the front-lines of BPM use in government and commercial markets will share their success stories, lessons learned, and tricks of the trade. From the visionary to the practical, the speakers will help you understand how to make the most of a process improvement program, and how to drive maximum value from a BPM technology investment.

Appian World 2011 is also a one-stop shop for learning everything you need to know about the on-premise Appian BPM Suite and the SaaS BPM Appian Anywhere. Day 1 of the conference features multiple training tracks where you can get the basics through a BPM 101 tutorial, get hands-on with the latest Appian 6 platform, discuss BPM value measurement, learn about proven methodologies for program success, and more. The training continues on Day 3 with dedicated product and methodology tracks.

In between, the focus will be on industry experts and real-world case studies, with plenty of networking time with other participants and Appian executives. Approved Appian partners are invited to attend a comprehensive Partner Forum dedicated to enablement and success best-practices.

Early-bird registrants will receive a complimentary copy of Empowered, the new book by Josh Vernoff and Ted Schadler of Forrester Research, and can take advantage of discounted rates at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Reston.

Don’t miss out! Register for Appian World 2011 today.

-Ben Farrell, Director of Corporate Communications

So far in 2010, our new customers have come primarily from the federal government, financial services, insurance and healthcare industries. Anyone remotely up on current events can identify the common drivers in those markets right now: reducing cost, minimizing risk, driving collaboration and improving the customer (or constituent) experience.

BPM is the best way to tackle all four of these objectives at once. BPM that’s easy to use, delivers fast value and offers flexible deployment options for on-premise, SaaS, or a mix-and-match of both is the only way to tackle all four under current economic conditions. That’s precisely what Appian offers through a powerful combination of technology, people and methodology.

Appian’s success is based exclusively on the success of our customers. So it with a big thanks to them that I point out Appian’s many industry accolades over the past six months. Once again, we were named to KMWorld’s 100 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management. Lead411 gave us a “Hot Company” award for the Washington, D.C. region. Our leadership team was named a finalist for the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s “Hot Ticket – Hottest Management Team” award. Our President and CEO Matthew Calkins was named an Executive of the Year finalist in the American Business Awards (the “Stevies”).

In addition, Gartner identified Appian as one of the six fastest-growing vendors in the worldwide Application Infrastructure and Middleware Software market, and IDC named us one of the fastest-growing vendors in the worldwide Application Deployment Software market.

It has been a good six months for Appian. In the next six and beyond, we’ll keep growing by delivering what our customers need, in the way they want to consume it, to help their businesses grow.

Ben Farrell, Director of Corporate Communications

So let’s cut to the chase: you have to get off the sidelines and actually deploy your first BPM process and start the process improvement lifecycle. This initial win makes it easier to get your second, third and fourth, and before you know it you’re on your way to optimizing your entire organization for speed and agility.

Sounds easy – and if you have the right tools it really can be. You can see how at the UK Gartner BPM Summit on March 1 and 2. I’ll be leading two Learning Lab sessions on “BPM Simplified,” where in just 45 minutes I’ll show you how the Appian 6 BPM Suite enables you to quickly identify troubled processes,  model the process flows, compose an automated BPM application, and quickly create reports needed to track and improve process efficiency. You can read more information and register here. On March 3, we’ll be presenting a Virtual Lab for those who can’t make it to the conference. Register for that by sending an email to javier.regueiro@appian.com.

Hope to see you there!

Malcolm Ross

Director of Product Management