Welcome to the Real (IT) World!

My name is Max. J. Pucher and I am the Founder and current Chief Architect of ISIS Papyrus Software, an independent software vendor focused on business content (documents?) and process management. My speciality is Machine Learning technology (used to be called Artificial Intelligence) which I use to reduce the amount of programming needed to analyze and create content and related processes.

Max J. Pucher - Chief Architect

My key concept is that there are no processes without content and content without process is irrelevant. Of course there is documentation and marketing content that is not related to a business process instance, but you need a content creation process and signoff just the same. Content state provides a very simple means to control the workflow. It is not a one-to-one relationship as multiple content may make up a single process or mulitple processes may use the same content.

I also claim right here that any customer realated process needs inbound and outbound content, except odd processes internal such as vacation authorization. The need for complex process links disappears when content state controls process progression. I therefore do not see the need for standalone BPM products that only create substantial integration and programming efforts. BPM bureucracy further reduces the agility of a business (despite unproven claims to the opposite) and reduces people motivation that can loose a business its best people. I propose that businesses need a consolidated approach for ECM, BPM, CRM, as well as business rules and operational business intelligence which Forrester Research calls a DBA or Dynamic Business Application. That is the target of the ISIS Papyrus Platform.

It has become increasingly difficult for business executives to understand what the IT marketplace is offering and what realistic business benefits can be expected. What you see as successful products in the market has little to do with business needs, quality or benefits. It is shaped by billions of advertizing, distorted by how much money is spent on analysts, and projects are finally made where the consultancy companies see their revenue. IT is not a business enabler today but rather holds the business back. Why? Businesses now pay dearly for using IT as a cost cutting tool for replacing people rather than to support them. When application software becomes a commodity, the people using it turn into a commodity as well.

The only way forward is creative destruction to make room for new solutions, hence process consolidation by dumping standalone CRM, ECM, and BPM and few other three-letter acronyms. Nicolas Carr’s question ‘Does IT Matter?’ is a very valid one.