Can IBM Simplify Complex Event Processing?

Big Blue gets into BPM, while trying to mix social networking with SOA. – Apr 8, 2008 – by Andy Dornan, NetworkComputing.com

Think complex event processing sounds too complex? IBM can help. It has renamed the technology business event processing in one of several announcements it’s making at Impact, its annual SOA conference that starts today.

Though the conference is nominally about SOA, IBM’s two biggest product launches are both focused on BPM. As well as the new spin on CEP, it’s releasing the IBM Business Process Management Suite, a bundle that’s essentially BPM in a box: a complete stack that contains a modeling environment, fabric, and all the underlying SOA components needed to get BPM working. This focus on BPM isn’t a huge surprise. Many vendors (IBM evidently included) believe that BPM is the killer app for SOA, thanks to its relatively rapid ROI for some users.

Called WebSphere Business Events, the new CEP product has more than just a friendlier-sounding name. IBM says it’s also trying to make the technology more accessible to nondevelopers — which means any staff member within an organization, not just business analysts. The theory is that though the processing itself and the pattern recognition on which it depends may be complex, CEP ultimately follows rules that can be set by anyone. Read the complete News report on NetworkComputing.com.

See also:

IBM Business Events challenges TIBCO.