Thread: How does the concept of a Service Oriented Business Application related to social BPM?

There was a widespread misunderstanding about SOA and BPM being similar or the same thing! SOA is actually an orthogonal concept to BPM in general. BPM is something that you do; or in other words, is a management practice. Where as SOA is the way that you implement a system.
To build a BPM system, you should use an object-oriented programming language to implement a service-oriented system. But this does not mean that BPM is in any way dependent upon how you implement it. This is equally true with Social BPM.

Dear Takashi,

with all respect I disagree with you 1000 per cent.

SOA is a methodology of organising architecture on the principles of service orientation in both Business and Technology according to OASIS SOA standards.

Business process management is a practice of implementation of business services. Such implementation may be expressed in the form of other business services that, in turn, may have manual/operational and technical/automated parts. SOA influences BPM but does not include it as no architecture includes its implementation.

You might not believe in that SOA is what Business does (not the operational business but the corporate business - talk to executives and they tell you they care about business functions/services and do not see processes at all).

To build BPM you should use functional, not object, oriented approach because everything process does it does via functions. Implementation of SOA starts with functions as well (see DOSOM) and only then the functions may be implemented via objects.

Social BPM is one of very popular absurds that easy propagate as a buzz-word. Social carries connotation of non-structured, non-regulated; BPM as built around the process is strictly regulated (by definition) thing. Process cannot exist with uncertain and accidental logic - this contradicts definition of process.

So, we can talk about Soacial Actions that very well with with service orientation but this may be not necessary about architecture.