Whiteboard Study Guide Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphere Version 1.0...

Whiteboard Study Guide

Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereVersion 1.0

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September 22, 2011

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphere

Preamble

Customer Scenario - part 1

Customer scenario - part 2

Introducing WebSphere Capability Domains

Mediation Services

Innovation, Standards and Security

BPM - Part 1

BPM - Part 2

Managing Growth

Cloud Support

Business Agility Realized

Smarter Solutions

Recapping the Discussion

Next Steps

Appendix 1 - Portfolio Mapping to Use Case

Appendix 1 - Mapping Diagram


Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSpherePreamble Step Script

Sales ScriptBe sure to read through the notes so you are aware of intended use of the whiteboard.


Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereCustomer Scenario - part 1 Step Script

Sales ScriptThank you for your time today and the opportunity to discuss

how IBM WebSphere software enables companies like yours to operate dynamically in today’s marketplace. I will use a fictitious company and one of its business processes as an example.

For decades JKEnterprises (JKE) has distributed widget assemblies to customers in a number of industries in their home country. They operate customer centers to which their clients call or fax requests for a price quote. Their CRM system is the control point and source for all customer information including order history for the last 5 years. Large volume customers have assigned field sales agents (high touch) who request quotes and place orders via a VPN and Java-based web applications.

With the complete parts lists received, an automated workflow is kicked off to generate the quote. 1 business day turnaround is the typical commitment for JKE; special T&Cs sometimes require 2 business days.

On-hand inventory is checked for fulfillment. Preferred suppliers regularly check JKE component inventory and re-stock per contracted running inventory terms. If there are parts in the list for the quote not on-hand or inbound, sales ops staff contact preferred suppliers for pricing and delivery timeframe. To reduce costs, JKE wants to migrate to a JIT inventory model; their suppliers have been made aware of the upcoming change in operations.

Inventory and pricing data along with any contractually-specified discounting terms and buying history are compiled by the pricing application; a proposed quote is generated and queued for review/approval by the sales manager. In cases where non-standard terms have been requested by agents, the manager receives the inventory, cost, and delivery timeframe information and prepares the quote in the pricing application. When approved, the pricing application sends e-mail notification to the request originator (center staff or agent) with the link to the quote document for delivery to the client.

This operating model is becoming stressed with the trends driving supply chain operations. Many JKE customers are shifting to JIT inventory also, and have informed their sales agent that they need quotes returned more rapidly in support of this change. They also expect the best available T&Cs on a per transaction basis for commoditized assemblies, so there are more competitors to JKE … including some of their current suppliers who want to grow their business organically through diversification.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereCustomer scenario - part 2 Step Script

Sales ScriptPO receipt triggers the Process Order workflow. Inventory is

updated and parts are ordered from suppliers if needed. Distribution centers fulfill the customer orders, and use the Logistics application to register completion and schedule shipment.

JKE provides short-term credit for their preferred customers when required. The transactions with their bank run each evening as batch jobs.

Invoices are generated and e-mailed to the client’s accounts payable department when shipment confirmation occurs in the Logistics application.

Compliance with regulatory requirements requires ongoing change to systems to support new mandates. There will be additional requirements as JKE expands into new markets.

Increased competition and margin pressures are pushing JKE to organic expansion through expansion to markets in other geographies. Within 3 years they will operate 24 by 7.

The other element of their global expansion is opening an internet sales channel. A new widget product line is expected to be popular with consumers, so a B2C capability is needed. Initially standard browser client access will be supported, but mobile support is to be introduced within six months of the new channel’s launch. To support internet sales, JKE will need to support credit card transactions.

Shifts in supply chain expectations by customers, new compliance requirements, and the systems to support their overseas and web operations must be accommodated within the realities of the resources in the IT organization. Despite additional funding there will be ongoing pressure to deliver all needed new capabilities on schedule while maintaining the current environment. “Doing more with less” is the backdrop against which innovation must continue so they can remain competitive.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereIntroducing WebSphere Capability Domains Step Script

Sales ScriptJKE's siloed application capabilities need a platform and

approach for non-disruptive, iterative improvement without business logic recoding. They recognize that a Java middleware solution is the most advantageous.

IBM believes a service-oriented (SOA) approach is best. Appl functionality is re-factored into services, which map to business tasks making them reusable. Investment and benefits can be shared by organizations using common services, making the value proposition simple to quantify and measure.SOA appls run in middleware like WebSphere’s appl server. WebSphere’s appl servers operate on all major OSs and support SOA appls using web services or SCA in addition to Java EE appls. Our appl server is simple to manage and configurable for topologies for departmental operations up through high performance, highly available enterprise clusters.

JKE integrated some appls with a point-to-point approach where integration code is within the appls. Sizable IT budget and developer time is spent on maintenance and code upgrades rather than new appl function. JKE will need a platform that scales and is reliable and secure … especially as they integrate with suppliers and new credit agencies for the B2C initiative.

WebSphere’s integration platform can meet these challenges. At its core is a reliable messaging infrastructure providing guaranteed delivery of appl msgs from data buffer to full file sets with configurable qualities of service and delivery channels across the messaging network. The network can extend to msg senders outside JKE, including sensors and devices that are prevalent today. Reliable messaging is a core requirement for sustained 24 by 7 operations and complying with mandates to safeguard information integrity. IBM's integration platform supports all industry standard messaging and transfer protocols as you should expect.

From a business perspective, JKE needs to extend and improve their existing business processes. WebSphere provides business process modeling platforms so JKE’s process stakeholders can collaboratively analyze and change their processes as needed. Industry process models and IBM best practices documentation in the platform help save time and have the improved process deployed faster. When new services are needed for a process, IT development uses the process definition from the platform to prepare the new services for assembly and deployment.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereMediation Services Step Script

Sales ScriptTo avoid point-to-point architecture, service requesters and

providers require an intermediary to be uncoupled and reusable across processes. This is done by an Enterprise Services Bus or ESB.

WebSphere’s ESBs provide mediation services for SOA appls so service requesters can invoke service providers in the ESB’s domain despite disparities in appl protocols, message or data payload format.

Mediations are integration code, and are developed using tools provided with the ESB. These tools are designed for the expertise of integration logic developers, and provide guidance on design practices for common and industry-specific integration scenarios. The tools also interface with service asset repositories so that mediations as well as other business services can be reused. This helps the JKE IT team save time and cost getting their integration platform prepared for deployment.

Mediations also enable dynamic message routing, so that the best available service provider is matched to a service requester based on current conditions and/or the actual message content. Route selection is made using data provided from the domain’s service registry/repository platform.

These SOA capabilities are essential to JKE’s growth initiative since their new suppliers and partners are expected to be operating with web services but using a spectrum of message types and protocols.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereInnovation, Standards and Security Step Script

Sales ScriptTo help enable competitive differentiation with their upcoming

internet sales channel, JKE wants to leverage newer programming approaches such as Web 2.0 to provide an engaging, responsive experience on their web site as they shop. The “on the glass” experience is delivered through the application server’s support for Java programming standards and frameworks, and selectable add- on support for applications using emerging standards and high interest technologies like mobile computing, dynamic scripting, CEA, JPA, and OSGi. This is WebSphere’s approach for delivering programming innovation options to our clients.

Support for industry and open standards is pervasive across IBM’s software portfolio. IBM has played a key role in the definition and evolution of many of these standards and actively promotes their use as a basis for interoperability and vendor neutrality. This is essential to effectively unlock existing application logic investments so they can be reused in support of new processes and business capabilities.

As we know, cyber attacks have become more adept at exploiting security vulnerabilities in applications and infrastructure that is internet accessible. As JKE launches their new B2C channel, their infrastructure needs to be protected from intrusion. There are many approaches to addressing this problem; the WebSphere integration platform provides capabilities to detect problems such as falsification of credentials and malicious messages and prevent their access to the infrastructure.

Within the infrastructure, our application servers support all Java security programming standards. Our reliable messaging infrastructure can secure messages between applications and services while at rest or in transit, and the ESB provides multiple approaches for enforcing controlled access to application services. Our capabilities in these layers provide JKE with a choice of implementation approaches and security layers to utilize for their environment.All of these capabilities provide improvements for the IT services running in support of JKE’s business processes.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereBPM - Part 1 Step Script

Sales ScriptJKE will make many changes to their processes; we will look at

a few. New services in “Check Inv & Price” process query on-hand inventory and if needed launch parralel service requests to all suppliers on item availability, price and delivery date. Responses are aggregated, logged, and a supplier selected based on the customer channel (business vs. internet) and cost. Fulfillment data is passed to the “Apply T&Cs” process as it is invoked by automation.

JKE has standard discounts for internet shoppers, but their frequent buyer program offers special discounts periodically. These promotions change regularly so it’s unfeasible to maintain them as a part of the pricing application. They need a different approach.

Pricing policies like these can be accessed as services in a business process using automated business rules. Rules are composed within a GUI using simple logic statements, and structured so key values can be changed easily. Business users can make the changes and activate them without assistance from IT in many cases. This gives JKE the ability to react to changing market or competitive conditions as well as price changes from suppliers more quickly, which should help improve their business results.

For special bid requests, the “Apply T&Cs” process logs the special bid task and notifies the sales manager. As before the managers will act as decision makers on how to structure discounting and payment terms. However, what’s new is that their task is tracked and if not completed on time is escalated automatically to other decision makers. This helps insure committed turnaround times for larger clients are met.

Limiting human involvement with automation in “Check Inv/Prices” and “Apply T&Cs” will save manpower costs while improving compliance with company pricing policies and fair consideration for their suppliers.

Task escalation shows why visibility into the operational status of the process environment is essential. WebSphere can embed “probes” to measure process performance at a fine grained or macro level. Monitoring data is assimilated into scorecards on business dashboards that provide near real-time status based on key performance indicators, and process status maps that identify problem areas. Stakeholders use this information for tactical decisions on adjustments to resources.

These capabilities and the methodologies for using them are referred to collectively as Business Activity Monitoring, or BAM.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereBPM - Part 2 Step Script

Sales ScriptMonitoring data is warehoused for extended process

performance analysis to get insights for other processes changes needed. Improvement is a learning lifecycle discipline … model, deploy, measure, change and redeploy. It needs to be carefully governed so the impact of changes are understood by business and IT stakeholders, and properly managed in preparation for deployment. WebSphere provides tools and guidance for this lifecycle in its process modeling tools and repository platform

Business events in processes support another dimension of business awareness. WebSphere has capabilities to detect and respond to events from service applications. For example, a “Apply T&C” process service can emit an event for each special bid request received. WebSphere’s event platform can be configured to recognize multiple enqueued requests from the same customer, and take action by starting a process to determine if they are duplicates; the outcome is forwarded to the sales manager for action. Duplicate or not, this additional information gives the sales manager actionable insight to the situation to make better decisions.Patterns of events can also be monitored. For example, detecting potential fraud in the form of 3 or more transactions with the same credit card within an hour from the same internet customer, or a business customer with invoice disputes in excess of $25K each occurring 3 or more times within 6 months. Or conversely, the lack of detection of an event for a queued special bid from a large business customer within 6 months initiates notification to the sales management team for follow-up. Whether proactive or reactive, business event processing with WebSphere enables sense-and- respond capabilities within the business.

The collective capabilities drawn around JKE’s process are comprise the core of WebSphere’s support for Business Process Management. And the capabilities I discussed earlier for appl optimization and integration are enablers of process flexibility and integrity as well.

Let’s begin listing outcomes JKE will see by using WebSphere capabilities we have discussed:- By hardening their infrastructure boundary, codifying their business terms and conditions as business rules, and using business events for fraud detection JKE has reduced their business risk.- Leveraging process and decision automation reduces human involvement in business processes and should lower their operational costs.- Visibility from BAM and business events supports more timely and accurate decisions.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereManaging Growth Step Script

Sales ScriptSuccess from the initial deployment of the SOA appls and

services has other JKE operating units wanting access to these services for their own business processes. Shared assets and reuse are the compelling economic benefit derived from service orientation, but careful consideration of the impact from sharing services among business processes is needed to avoid operational issues. Some JKE business units want new function added to these shared services for their unique needs. This requires collaboration amongst the stakeholders and prescriptive guidance on managing development, testing and migration to the upgraded service.

Managing the lifecycle of services and providing impact analysis in support of intelligent provisioning of shared services for cost sharing and capacity planning reasons are two of the many aspects of service governance, or more generally SOA governance. WebSphere supports SOA governance with capabilities within the service registry and repository tools of our integration platform.

When coupled with process governance, this enables a comprehensive management framework with tools to help the lines of business and IT collaborate effectively and bring their needs and priorities into better alignment. This helps improve ROI for these projects and helps bring new features online more expeditiously.

With “winner products” for consumers, JKE’s internet sales will accelerate and increase transaction volumes. We will talk about options for scaling their environment in a minute. For now the question is how to contain spikes in demand without significant degradation in responsiveness for users of the process? WebSphere provides a solution through elastic caching, where large memory caches are used to store service responses and to allow data-intensive applications to use memory as a data grid for steady responsiveness under load. The cache supports service providers in the application infrastructure as well as services running in the ESB.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereCloud Support Step Script

Sales ScriptCloud computing enables reduced operating costs; we touched

on that a few minutes ago. Often this means offloading appl tasks to pay-as-you-go public cloud applications; salesforce.com is a well known CRM SaaS implementation. JKE is piloting SaaS CRM to make access to customer info and orders easier for their field sales agents as they expand overseas. WebSphere cloud integration capabilities can migrate their legacy CRM data to the SaaS platform and maintain synchronization with their on-premise system going forward. The integration is defined and deployed quickly since it’s built from existing template integration processes, or TIPs, which only require configuration and minor customization to be ready. So integration with public cloud is quick and simple.

WebSphere’s integration platform software is hypervisor- enabled. This means our integration software can operate and elastically scale within a private cloud. It also means the collective integration capabilities we have discussed can be deployed as an “integration cloud” used to integrate on-premise services applications to those in private clouds and public clouds. This cloud topology is called a hybrid cloud, and may prove interesting for JKE in the future.

WebSphere also offers capabilities to configure and deploy middleware software platforms for private cloud environments on demand; this is termed Platform as a Service (PaaS). Hypervisor- enabled images of WebSphere portfolio software are selectable from an image library and are already performance optimized using proven configurations and production best practices from IBM engagements. They only require customization to be ready for deployment in minutes. A common use case is application development testing, since test nodes can be instantiated and decommissioned rapidly. This improves test resource utilization and reduces software licensing and hardware footprint costs. Since JKE already has server infrastructure virtualization (such as VMWare) in use, they could leverage PaaS. They could use it for production systems as well, deploying their SOA applications into a WebSphere infrastructure running in a private cloud. This provides an cost- effective, on demand approach for scaling their SOA application and process capacity, while still leveraging elastic caching to contain peak demand with sustained performance as we discussed earlier.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereBusiness Agility Realized Step Script

Sales ScriptAs JKE’s middleware infrastructure grows, application workload

management challenging, costly, and very important. With 24 by 7 operations, service level (SLA) requirements are most effectively addressed when the application resources themselves are virtualized. IBM WebSphere has capabilities- to manage resource workload and traffic using policies aligned to SLAs- to monitor the health of application resources and redistribute workload when needed- to make changes in the virtualized resource pool (such as application upgrades) non-disruptively, which is essential for 24 by 7 operations.These capabilities enable WebSphere to be an “intelligent manager” of running Java application resources, and when coupled with server infrastructure virtualization and cloud elasticity raises the value proposition for virtualization to a new level with greater resource optimization which significantly reduces capital and operating expenses.

JKE’s move to SOA applications alters the traditional notion of transactions within their business processes. These ‘units of work” can span many services and even multiple processes; they are more correctly called a business transaction. As always, the steps comprising them all must complete successfully or be backed off in cases of failure so there is no loss of information integrity. WebSphere’s support for business transaction integrity is built on more than 20 years experience with transaction systems and is the best of breed the industry. And it’s another part of the foundation supporting business process integrity across our portfolio.

If we look at the core capabilities discussed:- flexible application and integration infrastructure platforms- multiple production deployment models and scaling approaches- business process and decision automation.These are the building blocks for engineering flexibility into JKE’s

operation. They are quintessential for their success as they pursue their growth initiative and face new competitive threats and changes in customer buying patterns and supplier performance which drive the need for spontaneous adaptability.

Successfully assimilating those capabilities enables real business agility and boosts their odds of success.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereSmarter Solutions Step Script

Sales ScriptSo we know what WebSphere brings to the table to help JKE

succeed with their growth initiative. How far can we they take this? Here’s a simple example … how else could sense and respond be used? The fulfillment portion of “Process Order” could be instrumented to send a business event when individual orders contain more than 200 of the same part number. The event processing platform is watching for a pattern wherein 500 or more of these events per 48 hour period signals potential inventory exhaustion, which can result in lost sales. The event processing platform can launch a process to gather inventory data for that part number from all JKE distribution centers and forward it as a high priority task for the inventory manager at headquarters. The manager can work with the logistics team to determine the location of inbound palettes for that part number and initiate rerouting of shipments as needed.

Ultimately, with RFID tag tracking by palette and GPS technology this scenario can become automated and managed with the same capabilities we’ve discussed. This is a simple illustration of the possibilities IBM software brings to the table for its clients to realize the vision of Smarter Operation for a Smarter Planet.

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereRecapping the Discussion Step Script

Sales ScriptLet's very quickly recap a few WebSphere’s capabilities which helped JKE overcome the challenges of their growth initiative.

Customer expectations for responsiveness, price, and overall shopping experience were met through:- an engaging, interactive web interface that leveraged Web 2.0 technologies- process automation leveraging dynamic routing along with decision automation returning quotes at the speed expected for the channel and frequent buyer program level (on the internet)

Their expansion need not be impaired by IT economics thanks to:- WebSphere’s “right fit” approach to packaging platform capabilities that provides required function on a choice of operating platforms- Support for cloud deployments- Governed process and business service assets for the enterprise

Internal and external compliance mandates were addressed by:- Process and business transaction integrity protecting information moving internally and with external business partners (the suppliers and financial institutions)- Security and reliable messaging to safeguard information moving within JKE and in transit to external business partners- Process and service governance- Codifying business policies within rules, and establishing event processing triggers to identify “abnormal” conditions in daily business activity

And being able to respond to competitors or changing in buying patterns by:- Implementing discounting terms as reconfigurable business rules- Detecting changes in purchase activity using event processing and triggered actions to respond- Monitoring processes and making changes as needed to maintain optimal performance and customer satisfaction with JKE’s responsiveness

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Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereNext Steps Step Script

Sales ScriptYou have had a very quick tour of WebSphere’s capabilities in our discussion today.

I’m certain you heard things that interest you … the question is where do we go from here? I would like our next discussion to focus on understanding your priorities and challenges in more detail so I can determine where to focus within our portfolio to explore potential solution approaches with you.

Thanks again for your time.


Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereAppendix 1 - Portfolio Mapping to Use Case


Enabling the Dynamic Enterprise with IBM WebSphereAppendix 1 - Mapping Diagram


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