Business Process Reengineering with Object Oriented Technology: Is the Gamble Worth the Risk?

Abstract

The rise of Object Oriented (OO) technologies has been nothing if not spectacular in the past few years. The IT world has witnessed the next generation of cutting-edge technology with the advent of OO programming languages, OO analysis and design, OO CASE tools, OO database management systems (OODBMS), and OO modeling. While the potential for this new technology has IT and business professionals extremely excited, the burgeoning field is undeniably immature and currently lacks the stability necessary to be considered mainstream or a reliable option for companies that are about to reengineer their business processes. Despite the growing popularity of OO technology, there are numerous issues that have contributed to its inability to firmly entrench itself and take over from the older, proven technologies. Object Oriented technology’s image problem has created a highly difficult decision- making process for corporations about to embark on business process reengineering (BPR) projects. At this time, reengineering with OO technology is a significant risk for companies to make, and those who have moved forward with OO technology have not, for the most part, seen the results that they were hoping for and their organizations are now suffering as a result of this decision.