Component Business Model

I first heard about IBM's Component Business Modeling CBM approach in a speech by Sam Palmisano (speech, my original comment). At first, it seemed as if this indicated a move by IBM into the subject of my 2001 book: Component-Based Business (book, blogpost).

I have now had a chance to look at some examples of CBM in practice.

• Component business modeling: A private banking example (June 2004)
• Component business modeling - mapping the way in insurance (June 2004)
• Component business modeling in retail banking (June 2004)
• Financial services firms prepare for an on demand world (July 2004)

As far as I can see, IBM's method is pretty close to Information Engineering. The business component model itself looks remarkably like an old-fashioned business system architecture. IBM doesn't tell us how it arrives at this model. The model is closed, internally focused, and apparently set in concrete. There seems to be little attention to the coupling between the business components, or to the interfaces between the business and the outside world. The reported experience seems to be largely at the ISP (information strategy planning) level.