What BP&A Pros Need To Know About Architects' Proper Contribution To Packaged Apps Selection

In an era of rapid consolidation in the vendor market, a plethora of deployment options, and the progression to a next generation of applications built using techniques such as service-oriented architecture, business process management, and Web services, selecting the right vendor remains a critical success factor for every enterprise. Thus, today's packaged apps vendor selection requires an increased diversity of decision-makers that consider business-value-oriented criteria. As business process and applications (BP&A) pros work more closely with new roles such as enterprise architects, one critical component includes assessing the economic impacts of the architectures and technologies of each candidate's solution in the selection process. Forrester defines this approach as Architectural Business Value (ABV) and recommends that business process and apps pros align more closely with enterprise architects, ensuring that enterprise architects move beyond a narrow focus on IT standards. The result? Improved visibility into the impact of technology choices and the selection of the candidate that provides the best all-around business value.