Recently I was speaking with a CIO of a major retail chain who told me about their latest case management initiative around employee onboarding. They wanted to reduce the time it took to onboard a new employee, which at the time averaged a whopping 60 days. They began by identifying the departments and processes involved, and then targeted those processes that could potentially be automated. When I asked if they had considered the orchestration of their processes, he responded that they were choreographing them.

The concept of process choreography, or rather, service choreography, is not new. It has been around for a number of years. However, to date, there’s been some debate over whether organizations should automate their business processes, orchestrate their business processes, or choreograph their business processes.

We’ve previously discussed business process automation and why automation for the sake of automation is not necessarily a good thing. Automation of bad processes only leads to the same results more quickly. Once a process is fully understood, automation efforts (if necessary) can begin. However, automation alone is often not enough, as automation efforts frequently happen in silos. As such, when the automation ‘processing’ ends, so does the overall process, unless there’s a designed notification that something else should now begin. In order to avoid the silo effect, it’s critical to understand not only the processes being targeted, but also how they relate to each other. Once this is realized, an end-to-end business solution can be achieved.

MAKING MUSIC

It’s easy to see how the concept of orchestration can be applied to business processes by considering the example of a symphony. A typical symphony orchestra is comprised of five sections of musical instruments: woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings and keyboards. On their own, each section is capable of producing sound by pressing keys, plucking strings, blowing air or striking an object with a mallet or stick. Each section can work independently as a functional silo to produce melody by hitting a sequence of notes, but it actually takes a conductor to bring these functional ‘silos’ together to create music in harmony.

Similarly, an “orchestration tool” acts as a conductor, aligning fragmented business processes through a central system, directing and synchronizing multiple processes. In fact, orchestration as it relates to computing describes the automated organization, synchronization, and management of processes, systems, and services via a workflow or orchestration tool. It acts as a conductor, ensuring each piece is invoked at the appropriate time, whether system-initiated or manually-driven.

An orchestration tool ensures that business needs are met by engaging the proper applications and systems, obtaining and compiling the right data and accessing and utilizing the appropriate infrastructure.

Automation is, of course, a fundamental element of orchestration. An orchestration tool with automated workflow capability, automated provisioning methods, and automated change management controls is essential to ensure the timely delivery of services. Just

EXECUTIVE BRIEF

From Automation to Orchestration to…. Choreography?By Cesar Fernandez, Director of Product Solutions

“In order to avoid the silos,

it’s critical to understand

not only the business

processes, but also how

they relate to each other.”

EXECUTIVE BRIEF

FROM AUTOMATION TO ORCHESTRATION TO….CHOREOGRAPHY?

like a symphony conductor, it makes certain that each functional silo responsible for meeting the business needs hits their respective note at the appropriate time.

Consider virtual server provisioning in its simplest form as an example. Here we see an orchestrator function in the following manner:

• Receive external input via a customer request for a new VM• Route the request to a manager for approval (if necessary)• If approved, route the request to a VM administrator, who provisions the request (if

necessary)• Route the request to an applications team to install the necessary software and

applications, initialize the database (if applicable), etc. • Enable monitoring and change management functionality moving forward for the

provisioned server• Once provisioned and installed, route the request back to the initiator, indicating

completion

So if “orchestration” creates a cohesive process to achieve an end result and satisfy a business demand, then why the discussion around “choreography”?

INTRODUCING MOVEMENT

The choreography reference is intriguing. How does an IT organization choreograph business processes? After all, choreography relates to the sequence of steps and movements in dance, or figure skating. When we think about choreography, we tend to envision ballerinas pirouetting to Swan Lake – not virtual server provisioning.

But let’s consider choreography more closely as it relates to orchestration. Similar to the symphony orchestra analogy, a typical dance company is comprised of many types of dancers: jazz, ballet, tap, ballroom, and so on. Like the aforementioned orchestra sections, each dancer is capable of producing dance routines set to individual musical compositions. But it takes a choreographer to bring the different types together to create a dance performance.

The difference between a choreographer and a conductor, however, is that once a choreographer scripts a performance, dictating the specific movements to take place, they will step back and let the dancers perform. They may monitor the performance, and provide support as needed during ‘run-time,’ but for the most part, they are not directing during the performance. On the other hand, a conductor is a necessary part of the symphony process from beginning to end, ensuring that all pieces of the orchestra are engaged at the appropriate time.

Service choreography has been described as message-based exchanges among several independent service participants from a global viewpoint. At process run-time, each service contributor, or participant, will perform its part (i.e., function or role), based on the actions and communication of all others. The concept relates primarily to web service choreography, the web service choreography description language (WS-CDL) based specification from the W3C. In such cases, choreography can be executed as individual service orchestrations all interacting with one another. This concept is known as projection, but we can leave that for another discussion.

Just as with choreography and dance, business processes have movement. And, they, too, can also be “choreographed,” in a sense. External systems, applications, data feeds, and human interaction all come together through automation, communicating with each other to ensure that a business demand is met.

EXECUTIVE BRIEF

FROM AUTOMATION TO ORCHESTRATION TO….CHOREOGRAPHY?

So, in the case of virtual server provisioning, we see a choreographer function in the following manner:

• Receive communication indicating the need for a new VM• Route the need to a manager for approval (if necessary)• If approved, notify a VM administrator, who provisions the VM (if necessary)• Notify, in parallel, an applications team to install the necessary software and

applications, initialize databases, (if applicable), etc.• Enable monitoring and change management functionality moving forward for the

provisioned server• Once provisioned and installed, notify the initiator, indicating completion

But, wait; doesn’t the choreographer still dictate each step in the dance, even if the dancers are left to run on their own during the performance? Isn’t the choreographer, just like the conductor, still the director of each functional silo, regardless of its part?

The answer is yes. Each participant will perform its part when called upon, or when notified via communication, or prompted by another participant’s action. And, fundamental to both concepts is ensuring the right automation tool drives the movement.

So, how do you select the right automation tool? Consider these critical capabilities:

• Support for simple or complex processes• Intuitive and quick workflow process creation• Integration with internal and external systems• Configurable communication and messaging capabilities• Fulfillment/delivery tracking • Human activity assignment• Management reports or dashboard for monitoring performance metrics

SUMMARY

When discussing business processes, it doesn’t really matter whether you want to orchestrate them, choreograph them, coordinate them, or manage them manually. What is key is having a complete understanding of the underlying business processes and how they relate to each other. By doing this first, you can then work to automate your processes, ensuring they execute at the appropriate times, in unison when needed, and are communicating with the appropriate parties (internal and/or external) as required. This, in turn, will ensure business flow and continuity throughout an organization, making it more efficient and, ultimately, more profitable.

Cesar Fernandez is the Director of Product Solutions for PMG, a software company that deploys enterprise service catalog for the Global 2000. With a Six Sigma Black Belt and ITIL v3 certification, Cesar has over 20 years of experience in business process management. After several years of working closely with the PMG customer base, he now leads the company in developing service catalog solutions targeted to specific customer and industry needs.

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