- The Value Migration Toward Services
- The Emergence of Service Platforms
- Elements of a Service Platform
- Conclusion
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Elements of a Service Platform
Figure 3 presents a high-level view of a service platform, which includes the following layers:
People Integration. The multi-channel user interaction layer (web portals, mobile handhelds, call center interfaces, and in-store interfaces).
Process Integration. The composite process layer (order-to-cash, target-to-engage, and invoice-to-settlement).
Application Integration. The integration layer (security, identity management, and integration services).
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Figure
3 The three layers of service platforms.
The multi-channel interaction layer is the enterprise portal layer. It's the window through which a customer, supplier, employee, manager, or auditor interacts with services. The portal by itself is rather useless. The value is in the services that are delivered through it. Service delivery through portals customized by channel—brick, web, mobile, and call centers—is the way that business will be done in the future.
Services are created and assembled in the composite process layer, a relatively new development in business computing. This layer is where the context and intelligence resides. It captures the unique characteristics of the workflow—how a company relates to its customers, suppliers, and employees. The composite process layer coordinates the integration of multiple applications and delivers their functionality to users via multiple portals. The composite process layer is really an intelligent layer that understands the channel and type of service request and triggers the next steps accordingly.
The integration layer enables the secure integration of the various front-office and back-office applications. This layer enables services integration, provisioning, and assembly by taking functionality from multiple applications, including CRM, ERP, and others. The goal is to leverage and reuse existing applications, not buy new ones; this way, companies don't waste money building the same functionality repeatedly.
However, all three layers are simply the means to the end. The goal is to support digitization focal points. As a result, we need a much better understanding of how to create, deploy, maintain, and enhance cross-enterprise processes that can run on top of the integration layer.