Abstract:
A system, comprising at least one intelligence analytics engine for determining a metric relevant to a business process of an enterprise and a data structure in communication with the intelligence analytics engine is disclosed. The data structure, according to various embodiments, is for retrieving data from a plurality of data sources as needed by the intelligence analytics engine. In addition, the system may include at least one output device in communication with the intelligence analytics engine for displaying the metric relevant to the business process of an enterprise. In addition, the system may include at least one process management engine for executing and monitoring the business process of the enterprise and a data structure in communication with the process management engine. The data structure may be for retrieving data from the data sources as needed by the process management engine.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM  
       [0001]     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/505,282, filed Sep. 23, 2003.  
       CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0002]     The present application is related to the following concurrently filed applications: 
        1. U.S. application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Methods for Optimizing Business Processes, Complying with Regulations, and Identifying Threat and Vulnerability Risks for an Enterprise,” by DeAngelis et al. (Attorney Docket No. 030697-1); and     2. U.S. application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Systems and Methods for Optimizing Business Processes, Complying with Regulations, and Identifying Threat and Vulnerability Risks for an Enterprise,” by DeAngelis et al. (Attorney Docket No. 030697-3).       
 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0005]     Embodiments of the present invention are directed generally to methods for optimizing business processes, complying with governmental regulations, and identifying threat and vulnerability risks for an enterprise.  
         [0006]     Businesses today face many external pressures. One set of pressures is economic, such as meeting shareholder demands to leverage existing investments to improve performance, thereby increasing the shareholders&#39; investment. Another set of pressures includes compliance with governmental regulations. Over the last several years, a tremendous amount of new laws and regulations have been promulgated, which have created costly and complex compliance requirements for businesses. These new compliance requirements include the U.S. Patriot Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), privacy laws and regulations, and others. Another set of pressures concerns security. Businesses today face both internal and external security concerns, ranging from employee theft of company trade secrets, to denial of service attacks on company web sites, to catastrophic terrorist attacks. A business&#39;s ability to address these technological concerns is often exacerbated by the fact that many businesses today use disparate, unconnected information systems.  
         [0007]     One known technique for assessing the information security risks of an organization is the OCTAVE® (Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluations SM ) risk-based strategic assessment and planning technique for security. OCTAVE defines the essential components of a comprehensive, systematic, context-driven information security risk evaluation. By following the OCTAVE risk assessment technique, an organization can make information-protection decisions based on risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical information technology assets.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0008]     In one general aspect, various embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system, comprising at least one intelligence analytics engine for determining a metric relevant to a business process of an enterprise and a data structure in communication with the intelligence analytics engine. The data structure, according to various embodiments, is for retrieving data from a plurality of data sources as needed by the intelligence analytics engine. In addition, the system may include at least one output device in communication with the intelligence analytics engine for displaying the metric relevant to the business process of the enterprise.  
         [0009]     According to other embodiments, the system may include at least one process management engine for executing and monitoring a business process of the enterprise. The process management engine is in communication with the data structure. The data structure may be for retrieving data from the data sources as needed by the process management engine.  
         [0010]     According to various implementations, the system may further comprise a collaboration technology engine in communication with the data structure. Additionally, the system may also comprise a security and counter-terrorism services engine in communication with the data structure. The security and counter-terrorism services engine may perform link and predictive analysis on the data in the data sources to identify security and terroristic threats for the enterprise. Further, the data structure may be manifested as a zero-latent universal data model. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0011]     Embodiments of the present invention are described herein by example in conjunction with the following figures, wherein:  
         [0012]      FIGS. 1-10  are flowcharts illustrating various aspects of methods for optimizing business processes, complying with governmental regulations, and identifying threat and vulnerability risks for an enterprise according to various embodiments of the present invention; and  
         [0013]      FIG. 11  is a diagram of a system used in the performance of the methods according to various embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]      FIGS. 1-10  illustrate methods of optimizing business processes, documenting compliance with regulations, and identifying threat and vulnerability risks for an enterprise according to various embodiments of the present invention. The enterprise may be, for example, a business or a government agency.  
         [0015]     With reference to  FIG. 1 , the process starts at block  10 , with the identification of critical assets of the enterprise. This may be performed by a review of the enterprise&#39;s functions and assets, including interviews with its employees and principles. For example, if the enterprise is a bank, a critical asset may be a customer. According to various embodiments, the technique used by OCTAVE to identity critical assets of the enterprise may be employed. After the critical assets have been identified, the process advances to block  12 , where key business processes of the enterprise associated with the identified critical assets are identified. For the banking example, a key business process related to the critical asset (i.e., customers) may be the intake of new customers.  
         [0016]     Having identified the key business processes at block  12 , the method, according to various embodiments, includes a technological assessment branch, a business process interdependency analysis branch, and a business assessment branch. On the technological assessment branch, the process advances to block  14 , where key technological components related to the key business process identified at block  12  are identified. More details regarding the process for identifying key technological components are provided below in connection with  FIG. 4 . From block  14 , the process advances to block  16 , where selected key technological components identified at block  14  are evaluated. More details regarding the process for evaluating selected components are described below in connection with  FIG. 5 .  
         [0017]     On the business process interdependency analysis branch, the process advances to block  17 , where an interdependency matrix of the various business processes identified at block  12  is created. The purpose of this analysis is to detect vulnerabilities in process flow by identifying non-compliant, unsecured, suboptimal and/or conflicted links between the business processes of the enterprise by showing, for example, where processes of the enterprise intersect. More details about the process for generating the interdependency matrix are provided below in conjunction with  FIG. 5A .  
         [0018]     On the business assessment branch, the process advances from block  12  to block  18 , where areas of concern related to the business process identified at block  12  are identified. These areas may include, for example, compliance issues (block  20 ), data/information issues (block  22 ), systems issues (block  24 ), business processes (block  26 ), and people issues (block  28 ). Continuing with the banking example, therefore, the compliance issues may include meeting regulatory compliance requirements with respect to the intake of new customer, such as Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations, privacy regulations, U.S. Patriot Act requirements, the Bank Secrecy Act, other banking regulations, etc. Additional details regarding the identification of areas of concern for the identified key business processes are described below in connection with  FIG. 2 .  
         [0019]     Based on the identified areas of concern, the threat profiles for the enterprise related to the business process are created at block  30 . Additional details regarding the process for creating the threat profiles are described below in connection with  FIG. 3 .  
         [0020]     On the basis of, for example, the threat profiles on the business assessment branch, the business process interdependency analysis, and the evaluation of the selected components in the technological assessment branch, risk, compliance, and optimization analyses may be performed at block  32 . Additional details regarding these analyses are provided below in connection with  FIG. 6 . It should be noted, however, that the risk, compliance and optimization analyses of block  32  may be performed with only one or any combination of the threat profiles on the business assessment branch, the business process interdependency analysis, and the evaluation of the selected components in the technological assessment branch. The output of these analyses may be used in the development of a protection/security strategy at block  34 , the development of a compliance strategy at block  36 , and the development of an optimization strategy at block  38 . Details regarding the development of these strategies are provided below in connection with  FIGS. 7-9 .  
         [0021]     Based on the protection/security strategy (block  34 ), the compliance strategy (block  36 ) and the optimization strategy (block  38 ), a master plan related to the business process may be developed at block  40 . Included in the master plan may be an action list, which may be executed at block  42 . At block  44 , monitoring tools to monitor execution of the items on the action list are implemented. This may include the implementation of monitoring processes and tools to monitor compliance with the protection/security strategy, the compliance strategy, and the optimization strategy. Additional details regarding the monitoring process are described in below in connection with  FIGS. 10 and 11 . The results of the monitoring process may be output to end-users associated with the enterprise at portals and dashboards, etc., so that the enterprise may take prompt remedial action. The monitoring of these strategies developed as part of the master plan may be an ongoing process, at block  46 , and, if problems are found at block  48  as part of the ongoing review, a mitigation response plan may be executed at block  50 . Further, because new protection/security, compliance and optimization concerns may arise over time for the enterprise, the process described above may undergo, as signified by block  51 , a continual “life cycle” strategic monitoring of the business process so as to permit the development, for example, of a revised master plan in view of new threats, compliance issues and optimization opportunities.  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  illustrates a process for identifying areas of concern (block  18  of  FIG. 1 ) for an identified key business process of the enterprise according to various embodiments. The process may include, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , interviewing senior managers, at block  52 , interviewing operational managers, at block  54 , and interviewing support staff, at block  46 , to learn about possible areas of concern. Next the process may undertake an evaluation of relevant compliance issues related to the business process. This may include, for example, identifying compliance issues (block  20 ), identifying data/information issues (block  22 ), identifying systems issues (block  24 ), identifying business process issues (block  26 ), and identifying people issues (block  28 ).  
         [0023]     With respect to compliance issues, the process may include determining applicable laws and regulations at block  56 , conducting a compliance survey with respect to those laws and regulations at block  60 , reviewing compliance policies of the enterprise at block  62 , determining current compliance practices at block  64 , identifying affected processes at block  66  and determining the current state of a compliance at block  68 .  
         [0024]     Evaluation of the data/information issues related to the business process may include, for example, determining confidentiality requirements at block  70 , determining integrity requirements at block  72 , determining availability requirements at block  74 , conducting a security survey for the enterprise at block  76 , reviewing security policies of the enterprise at block  78 , and determining current security practices for the enterprise at block  80 .  
         [0025]     Evaluation of the systems issues may include, for example, identifying threats from the hardware defects at block  82 , identifying threats from software defects at block  84 , identifying threats from malicious code and viruses at block  86 , identifying threats from utility outages at block  88 , identifying threats from loss of network connectivity, such as outages from telecommunications providers or ISPs, at block  90 , and identifying threats from fire, flood and other natural disasters at block  92 .  
         [0026]     Evaluation of the business process issues may include, for example, setting criteria for performance optimization at block  94 , identifying process bottlenecks at block  96 , identifying process failure points at block  98 , selecting key performance indicator (“KPI”) metrics for monitoring at block  100 , determining monitoring tools and methods at block  102 , and identifying process security requirements at block  104 .  
         [0027]     Also, evaluation of the people issues may include identifying, at block  106 , internal threats from deliberate action, identifying internal threats from accidental action at block  108 , identifying external threats from deliberate action at block  110 , and identifying external threats from accidental action at block  112 .  
         [0028]     Based on each of these analyses, e.g., the analyses of compliance issues, data/information issues, systems issues, business process issues and people issues, threat profiles for the business process may be created at block  30 .  
         [0029]      FIG. 3  illustrates a process for creating the threat profiles according to various embodiments in the present invention. First, as explained previously, areas of concern are identified at block  18  (see  FIG. 1 ). Having identified the areas of concern, the process may undergo both a security/compliance analysis and a performance optimization analysis. With regard to the security/compliance analysis, the process advances to block  114  where access to the asset or process of the enterprise is identified. For both physical and network access, the threat actors are identified at block  116 . After identifying the threat actors, for both inside and outside threats, the threat motives are identified at block  118 . Having identified the threat motives, for both deliberate and accidental motives, the potential outcomes from the threats are identified at block  120 . The potential outcomes include, for example, unwanted disclosure of information of the enterprise, modification of internal information of the enterprise, destruction of internal information of the enterprise, interruption of the workflow of the enterprise, litigation, fines, and/or shutdown of aspects the enterprise&#39;s business process. From block  120 , the process advances to block  122  where compliance exceptions are identified.  
         [0030]     With regard to the performance optimization analysis, the method may include evaluating process design at block  124 . Next at block  126 , an evaluation of denial of service impacts may be undertaken. At block  128 , degradation of service impacts may be evaluated. At block  130 , sub-optimal performance risks may be identified. The results from the security/compliance analysis and the performance optimization analysis are used in the performance of the risk, compliance, and optimization analysis (see block  32 ,  FIG. 1 ).  
         [0031]      FIG. 4  is a diagram of a method for identifying key technological components (see block  14 ,  FIG. 1 ) of the business process according to various embodiments of the present invention. The process may include, at block  140 , identifying key classes of components. Such classes of components may include, for example, servers  142 , networking components  144 , security components  146 , desktop workstations  148 , home computers  150 , laptop computers  152 , storage devices  154 , wireless components  156 , other components  158 , application software  160 , and other virtual assets  162 . At block  164 , an optimization analysis of how each of the technological classes of components is operating in the system is performed. Based on that analysis, certain components are selected for evaluation at block  168 . The components selected for evaluation may be those that are performing sub-optimally in view of the optimization analysis at block  164 . Depending on the nature of the selected components, they may be managed, for example, by internal IT staff  170 , external experts  172 , and/or service providers  174 . The selected components are then evaluated at block  16 .  
         [0032]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of the process to evaluate selected components  16  (see  FIG. 1 ). The process may initiate at block  176  where evaluation tools relevant to the key technological components are identified. At block  178 , the evaluation tools may be run, and at block  180 , the evaluation results may be analyzed. The results may be grouped, for example, into three categories: high severity/fix immediately  182 ; medium severity/fix soon  184 ; and low severity/fix later  186 . Based on the categorization of the evaluation results, a vulnerability summary may be created at block  188 . The vulnerability summary may be used in the risk, compliance, and optimization analyses at block  32  (see  FIG. 1 ).  
         [0033]      FIG. 5A  is a diagram of the process for generating the interdependency matrix  17  according to various embodiments. The process includes, at block  500 , based on the key business processes identified at block  12 , identifying parent processes of the enterprise. Parent processes may be processes that the subject process depends upon. Next, at block  52 , child (or subordinate) processes, e.g., processes that depend upon the subject process, are identified. Next, at block  504 , intersections between the various parent, child and subject processes may be identified. Having identified the intersection points, the types of interaction between the processes are evaluated and/or enumerated with respect to different factors. For example, at block  506 , the types of interaction with respect to operational grids may be evaluated and/or enumerated. Operational grid factors include, for example, management, financial, compliance, security, external, etc. At block  508 , the types of interaction with respect to physical grids may be evaluated and/or enumerated. Physical grid factors include, for example, server systems, LAN/WAN networks, data/information, applications, communications, etc. At block  510 , the types of interaction with respect to knowledge grids may be evaluated and/or enumerated. At block  512 , the results from the analyses at blocks  506 ,  508  and  510  may be compiled into an interdependency matrix. The interdependency matrix may be used in the performance of the risk, compliance and optimization analyses  32 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 6  is a diagram of the process for performing the risk, compliance, and optimization analyses  32  (see  FIG. 1 ). The process may start at block  190 , where impact categories may be determined based on the threat profiles determined at block  130  (see  FIG. 1 ), the evaluation of technological components at block  16  (see  FIG. 1 ), and the business process interdependency matrix  512  (see  FIG. 5A ). The impact categories may include, for example, reputation  192 , customer safety  194 , employee safety  196 , fines and legal penalties  198 , financial  200 , and other risks  202 . At block  204 , the risk of the threat on each of these categories may be evaluated, and at block  206 , the risk impacts may be assigned to the threat profile. The risk impacts may indicate the level of severity (such as high, medium or low) and the relative priority (fix soon, etc.). The risk impacts may be used in the development of the protection/security strategy  34 , the compliance strategy  36 , and the optimization strategy  38  (see  FIG. 1 ).  
         [0035]      FIG. 7  is a diagram of the process for developing the protection/security strategy  34  (see  FIG. 1 ) according to various embodiments. The process may include, at block  210 , consolidating results (such as work sheet and survey results) from the risk, compliance, and optimization analysis  32 . From there, the process may advance to block  212 , where the results in strategic practice areas may be evaluated. Those strategic practice areas include, for example, security awareness and training  214 , security strategy  216 , security management  218 , security policies and regulations  220 , cooperative security management  222 , and/or contingency planning, disaster recovery  224 . Based on the evaluation results on these strategic practice areas, a strategic protection strategy may be created at block  226 .  
         [0036]     In addition, the process may include evaluating results in operational practice areas, at block  228 . The operational practice areas may include, for example, physical security  230 , IT security  232 , and staff security  234 . Based on results from the evaluation of the operational practice areas, and operational protection strategy may be created at block  236 .  
         [0037]     At block  238 , a risk mitigation plan may then be created based on the strategic protection strategy created at block  226  and the operational protection strategy created at block  236 . Based on the risk mitigation plan, an action list of near-term solutions may be created at block  240 . From the action list of near-term solutions, the master plan may be developed (see block  40 ,  FIG. 1 ).  
         [0038]      FIG. 8  is a diagram of the process for developing the compliance strategy  36  (see  FIG. 1 ) according to various embodiments. The process may include, at block  242 , an evaluation of the results from the compliance analysis  32  in strategic practice areas related to compliance issues. The strategic practice areas may include, for example, laws/regulation awareness and training  244 , implementation strategy  246 , regulatory updates management  248 , compliance polices and regulations  250 , collaborative policy management  252  and auditing and reporting  254 . Based on the results in these strategic practice areas, a strategic compliance strategy may be created at block  256 .  
         [0039]     In addition, the method may include evaluating the results from the compliance analysis  32  in operational practice areas at block  258 . The operational practice areas may include, for example, physical accessibility  260 , data accessibility  262  and personnel issues  264 . Based on the results in these operational practice areas, an operational compliance strategy may be created at block  266 .  
         [0040]     At block  267 , a risk mitigation plan for compliance issues may be created based on the strategic compliance strategy at block  256  and the operational compliance strategy at block  266 . Based on the risk mitigation plan, an action list of near-term solutions may be created at block  268 . This information may be used in the development of the master plan  40  (see  FIG. 1 ).  
         [0041]      FIG. 9  is a diagram of the process for developing the optimization strategy  38  (see  FIG. 1 ) including the various embodiments. The purpose of this process may be, for example, to make the enterprise&#39;s business processes more efficient. The process may include, at block  270 , evaluating the results from the optimization analysis with respect to strategic practice areas concerning business process optimization. The strategic practice areas may include, for example, operating systems  272 , network topology  274 , security measures  276 , technology training  278 , collaborative and operability  280 , and contingency planning and disaster recovery  282 . Based on the evaluation of results in these strategic practice areas, a strategic optimization strategy may be created at block  284 .  
         [0042]     In addition, the method may include evaluating the results from the optimization analysis  32  in operational practice areas related to business process optimization. The operational practice areas may include, for example, hardware components  288 , software components  290 , and manual processes  292 . Based on the evaluation results in these operational practice areas, an operational optimization strategy may be created at block  294 .  
         [0043]     The method may further include, at block  296 , the creation of a performance optimization plan based on the strategic optimization strategy at block  284  and the operational optimization strategy at block  294 . From the performance optimization plan, an action list of near-term solutions may be created at block  298 . This information may be used in the development of the master plan at block  40  (see  FIG. 1 ).  
         [0044]      FIG. 10  illustrates additional detail regarding the process of implementing monitoring tools to aid in the execution of the action list for the master plan. As illustrated in  FIG. 10 , monitoring tools may include, for example, business activity monitoring  300 , business intelligence reporting analysis  302 , portals and dashboards  304 , and alert and messaging software  306 . In this way, important information about the enterprise&#39;s business processes, be they compliance issues, optimization issues, or security issues, may be communicated to persons who can use the information.  
         [0045]      FIG. 11  is a diagram of an integrated enterprise information system  350 , according to various embodiments, to be employed, for example, in the performance of the above-described methods. For example, the system  350  may provide access to the data needed in the performance of various of the procedures outlined above, as well as provide a mechanism to communicate key information about the enterprise to persons who can use the information in a timely manner.  
         [0046]     As illustrated in  FIG. 11 , the system  350  may include a data structure  360 , which may collect information from various data sources. The data structure  360  may be, for example, a zero-latent universal data model. Data from the various data sources may be persisted in the data structure  360  for only as long as needed. The data sources may include, for example, legacy system data and data from other enterprise applications  362 , the Internet  364 , relational databases  366 , information integration databases  368 , XML Metadata repositories  370 , and unstructured data sources  372 , such as, for example, hard-copy documents. Some of these data sources, such as the legacy system data and data from other enterprise applications  362  and the relational databases  366 , may be considered “structured data” as the information may be stored in structured databases. Other data sources, such as the unstructured data sources  372 , may be considered “unstructured” because they are not stored in structured databases. Unstructured data may be “structurized” for use by the data structure  360 , for example, by converting the unstructured data to XML data with associated meta data.  
         [0047]     The data structure  360  may retrieve data, including metadata, from the data sources  362 - 372  as needed in the performance by the system  350 , such as for the optimization, compliance and security analyses and implementation routines described above. Metadata is data about data. Some of the retrieved data may be persisted in the data structure  360  and some retrieved data may not be persisted, residing instead in the data structure  360  on only a temporary basis. Data in the data structure  360  and its relationship to other data may be defined according to, for example, a data description language (DDL). In addition, according to various embodiments, all of the data from the data sources may be accessible in XML. The data structure  360  may manifest itself, for example, as a federated database and/or a virtual data aggregation layer.  
         [0048]     The system  350  may include a number of engines in communication with the data structure  350 . The engines may assist in the compliance, optimization, and/or security processes described above in conjunction with  FIGS. 1-10 , in an ongoing and continual basis. For example, the system  350  may include a number of intelligence analytics engines  380 , a number of process management engines  382 , one or more collaboration technology engines  384 , and one or more security and counter-terrorism services engines  386 . The engines  380 ,  382 ,  384 ,  386  may retrieve data from the data structure  360 , which in turn may retrieve data from the data sources as needed. The data retrieved by the data structure  360  need not be persisted in the data structure, but rather may be passed onto the appropriate engine  380 ,  382 ,  384 ,  386  for use by that engine.  
         [0049]     The engines  380 ,  382 ,  384 ,  386  may be implemented as software code to be executed by a processor(s) (not shown) of the system  350  using any type of computer instruction type suitable, such as, for example, Java, C, C++, Visual Basic, etc., using, for example, conventional or object-oriented techniques. The software code may be stored as a series of instructions or commands on a computer readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as a hard drive or a floppy disk, or an optical medium such as a CD-ROM.  
         [0050]     The system  350  may also include, as illustrated in  FIG. 11 , a number of output devices  400  for communicating information to persons associated with the enterprise. The output devices  400  may be in communication with the engines  380 ,  382 ,  384 ,  386  and may, for example, display information from the engines  380 ,  382 ,  384 ,  386 . The output devices may include, for example, portals  402 , dashboards  404 , alert messaging systems  406 , etc. The output devices  400  may display, for example, real-time or near real-time business activity monitoring (BAM) metrics that are important to the monitoring of the business process optimization, compliance and risk routines described above. The output devices  400  may be, for example, web-based, enterprise information system tools, application-based graphical user interfaces, etc.  
         [0051]     The intelligence analytics engines  380  may analyze enterprise data, on an ongoing and continual basis, to determine parameters and business metrics relevant to the enterprise. For example, the intelligence analytics engines  380  may determine, on an ongoing basis, whether certain performance requirements for business processes of the enterprise, such as determined by the optimization strategy  38  (see  FIGS. 1 and 9 ), are being satisfied. For instance, if the enterprise includes a call center, one of the intelligence analytics engines  380  may analyze whether calls are being answered within a predetermined period of time. If not, the intelligence analytics engine  380  may issue a notification or otherwise alert somebody associated with the enterprise via one or more of the output devices  400 .  
         [0052]     The process management engines  382  may use, for example, Business Process Management (BPM) technology. BPM is a knowledge-based process management technology that executes and monitors repeatable business processes that have been defined by a set of formal procedures. For example, the process management engines  382  may, for example, on an ongoing and continual basis, execute and monitor various business processes of the enterprise that have been defined to satisfy the master plan for the process (see  FIG. 1 ) in terms of compliance, optimization, and/or security. For example, certain of the process management engines  382  may implement procedures to comply with government regulatory compliance requirements as determined by the compliance strategy  36 , and/or procedures to optimize the business process, such as determined by the optimization strategy  38 , and/or procedures to implement the protection and security plan  34 . In addition, output from these procedures may be communicated to the output devices  400  in order that, for example, persons associated at the enterprise, such as executive and managers, may monitor aspects of the performance of these procedures.  
         [0053]     In addition, the process management engines  382  may employ business process integration (BPI). BPI is the automated operation of a straight-through business process across multiple applications, typically focused on the exchange and update of information and the elimination of manual intervention (with its attendant cost and inaccuracy). BPI systems are based on real-time interactions via the Internet and are not limited to batch processing cycles, unlike EDI. The process management engines  382  may be programmed in, for example, Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), which defines a notation for specifying business process behavior. Further, one or more of the intelligence analytics engines  380  may use data from the process management engines  382  and one or more of the process management engines  382  may utilize data from the intelligence analytics engines.  
         [0054]     The collaboration technology engine  384  may, for example, gather and arrange critical, time sensitive enterprise data for presentation to those users that need to disseminate that data immediately or promptly.  
         [0055]     The security and counter-terrorism services engine  386  may, for example, provide link analysis and/or predictive analysis on the data in the data sources to identify potential security or terroristic threats. When a potential security or terroristic threat is identified, that information may be communicated via one or more of the output devices  400 .  
         [0056]     While several embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, it should be apparent that various modifications, alterations and adaptations to those embodiments may occur to persons skilled in the art. For example, various steps in the process flows of  FIGS. 1-10  may be performed in different orders. It is therefore intended to cover all such modifications, alterations and adaptations without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.