WEBM Webmediabrands (MM)

webMethods, Inc. (Nasdaq:WEBM), a leading business integration and optimization software company, today announced that it is serving as a Platinum Sponsor for the Gartner Business Process Management Summit taking place this week (February 26-28) in San Diego. As part of the company�s significant presence at the event, webMethods will be showcasing webMethods BPMS, a full-feature business process management suite (BPMS), and other key components of the recently released webMethods Fabric� 7 product suite. webMethods� executives and customers will be featured presenters at the Summit with webMethods also hosting a BPM Master Class immediately following the event. �Many of the approaches that we�ve long championed are fueling BPM�s rapid ascent at the enterprise level,� said Kiran Garimella, vice president, Office of the CTO, webMethods, Inc. �Increasingly, enterprises recognize the benefits of building from a business integration core as well as the underlying role that SOA plays in driving long-term agility. What�s becoming equally clear is the need to monitor and measure first as a means for achieving sustainable process improvements with an end-goal of putting more power into the hands of end-users. Bringing all of this together into a cohesive whole requires the right people, processes and technologies, which will be the focus of our discussions at the conference.� In a recent report1, Gartner, Inc. declared �[a]lthough many user organizations have separate service-oriented architecture and business process management initiatives under way, both are more successful and the benefits are compounded when they are united.� The research firm went on to report that �organizations that align their BPM and SOA initiatives in 2007 will double their likelihood of becoming industry leaders in 2011 (0.7 probability).� webMethods� sponsored presentations at the Gartner Business Process Management Summit include: �Cox Communications Improves Order Processing through SOA-based BPMS� � Bruce Beeco, Cox�s director of technical architecture, will discuss how one of the nation�s largest cable providers is implementing a service-oriented architecture (SOA)-based BPMS to reduce errors, improve productivity and speed order processing times across its customer-facing operations. �Aligning the Right Approach and Technology for Faster ROI� � Garimella, the author of �The Power of Process: Unleashing the Source of Competitive Advantage� and Susan Ganeshan, webMethods� vice president for product management, will share winning strategies for ensuring long-term success with business process management (BPM). A specific goal of their presentation is in helping enterprises more quickly and effectively measure, model, implement and improve business processes. Also being showcased during the event is webMethods Fabric 7.0, the latest version of webMethods� flagship product suite, which is distinguished by the inclusion of webMethods BPMS as a newly available solution. Key features of this comprehensive business process management suite (BPMS) include an Eclipse-based process modeling environment for codeless development, extensive support for both human-to-human and system-to-system task flow, business rules management, and a new semantic metadata library. Another differentiating aspect of webMethods BPMS is the enhanced process monitoring and real-time business analytics that it offers as an integrated feature. This provides enterprises with the �actionable insight� needed to effectively model and improve business processes. webMethods� core business activity monitoring (BAM) technology is also fundamental to webMethods Optimize for SAP, a new performance monitoring solution for SAP-based business processes, such as Order-to-Cash, that is also being showcased at the event. Following webMethods� recent acquisition of Infravio, webMethods Fabric 7.0 is also marked by the debut of best-in-class SOA governance components as well as the continued inclusion of industry-leading business integration capabilities. �The customer response to �7�s� release has been uniformly positive with client projects already in production,� said Ganeshan. �For these organizations, this latest release of webMethods Fabric answers a fundamental question � why should I continue to invest in distinct silos for business integration, SOA and BPM when I don�t have to? Users benefit from closer alignment between IT and the line-of-business as our customers are thrilled with the overall reduction in time, cost and effort required to develop new process applications for their businesses.� Immediately following the event, webMethods will bring its popular BPM Master Class program to San Diego on March 1st. Led by Garimella and Bruce Williams, the author of �Six Sigma for Dummies� and a Gartner BPM Summit keynoter, this one-day session will prepare business analysts and enterprise architects alike to fully-leverage an emerging generation of BPM technologies targeting enterprise-level requirements. During the program, they and other executives will outline models and approaches for defining BPM in the business lexicon; achieving continuous process improvements; creating the business case for BPM investments; and avoiding common pitfalls and other lessons learned from actual implementations. Additional information on this program, as well as other BPM Master Classes occurring throughout North America, can be found at http://www.webmethods.com/bpmeducation. 1 SOA and BPM Are Better Together (February 9, 2007) by Paolo Malinverno and Janelle B. Hill, Gartner, Inc. About webMethods, Inc. webMethods (Nasdaq:WEBM) provides business integration software to integrate, assemble and optimize available IT assets to drive business process productivity. webMethods delivers an innovative, enterprise-class business integration platform that incorporates proven integration technology with next generation capabilities into one interoperable set of tools that delivers a unique combination of efficiency, agility and control. webMethods combines industry leadership with a zealous commitment to customers to deliver tangible business value to more than 1,500 global customers. webMethods is headquartered in Fairfax, Va., with offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Japan. More information about the company can be found at www.webMethods.com. The webMethods name and logo are registered trademarks of, and webMethods Fabric is a trademark of, webMethods, Inc. All other marks mentioned are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.