Are software processes business processes too?

There are remarkable similarities in research and practice between the software process and business process communities. These similarities are remarkable, not as a result of the degree of similarity, and not as a result of the closeness of purpose motivating the two communities' efforts, but rather because of the significant differences in history, approach, form, mindset and context dividing the two groups. While the concept of a business process may appear more general from a logical viewpoint, at the moment software process engineering has the benefit of a longer history of general tool support and team-based interaction models. The software community has much to offer businesses as we move forward to more broadly positioned business process engineering systems, and of course, the general business community will bring with it a much wider market for ideas and products.<>