Business process interoperability (BPI) is a property referring to the ability of diverse
business process
A business process, business method or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...
es to work together, to so called "inter-operate". It is a state that exists when a
business process
A business process, business method or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...
can meet a specific objective
automatically utilizing essential human labor only. Typically, BPI is present when a process conforms to
standards Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
that enable it to achieve its objective regardless of ownership, location, make, version or design of the
computer system
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These progr ...
s used.
Overview
The main attraction of BPI is that a business process can start and finish at any point worldwide regardless of the types of hardware and software required to automate it. Because of its capacity to offload human "mind" labor, BPI is considered by many as the final stage in the evolution of
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
computing. BPI's twin criteria of ''specific objective'' and ''essential human labor'' are both subjective.
The objectives of BPI vary, but tend to fall into the following categories:
* Enable end-to-end
straight-through processing ("STP") by interconnecting data and procedures trapped in
information silo
An information silo, or a group of such silos, is an insular management system in which one information system or subsystem is incapable of reciprocal operation with others that are, or should be, related. Thus information is not adequately shared ...
s
* Let systems and products work with other systems or products without special effort on the part of the customer
* Increase
productivity
Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...
by automating human labor
* Eliminate redundant
business process
A business process, business method or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...
es and data replications
* Minimize errors inherent in manual processes
* Introduce mainstream enterprise
software-as-a-service
Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software.
SaaS is cons ...
* Give top managers a practical means of
overseeing processes used to run
business operations
Business operations is the ''harvesting'' of value from assets owned by a business. Assets can be either ''physical'' or '' intangible''. An example of value derived from a physical asset, like a building, is rent. An example of value derived fro ...
* Encourage development of
innovative
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
Internet-based business processes
* Place emphasis on business processes rather than on the systems required to operate them
* Strengthen
security
Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...
by eliminating gaps among