Lombardi Software

Lombardi Software, founded in 1998 by Brian Cooper and Eric Hanich in Austin, Texas, established itself as a specialized provider of Business Process Management (BPM) software and services. The company focused exclusively on BPM, differentiating itself from larger vendors by not offering products or services outside this niche. Rod Favaron, who joined as CEO in 2002, was instrumental in guiding the company from an early-stage startup to a significant player in the BPM market, culminating in its acquisition by IBM in 2010. Favaron brought extensive experience in growing technology businesses, having previously served as CEO at Mediaprise and in senior roles at pcOrder.com and Texas Instruments.

Lombardi's business model revolved around selling its BPM software suite and related services to large enterprises, particularly Global 2000 companies across various sectors including financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and telecommunications. The company's core mission was to enable organizations to become process-driven, helping them automate, integrate, and improve key business operations to enhance efficiency and lower costs. This departmental-level approach was a key differentiator, empowering business units to model and adjust processes without extensive IT intervention.

The company's flagship product was Lombardi Teamworks, a business process management suite designed for creating, managing, and optimizing executable workflows. Teamworks was particularly noted for its capability in handling human-centric, dynamic processes such as dispute resolutions, loan origination, and supply chain management. A complementary product, Lombardi Blueprint, was a web-based process discovery and documentation tool that facilitated collaboration among teams. It featured a central repository and collaborative tools like wikis and chats, making it one of the early business applications to leverage Web 2.0 principles. The suite was designed to work with IBM's WebSphere environment, a technical partnership that existed long before the acquisition.

In January 2010, IBM acquired Lombardi for an undisclosed amount, integrating the company into its application integration software portfolio. The acquisition was a strategic move for IBM to strengthen its BPM offerings, combining Lombardi's departmental, user-friendly approach with IBM's enterprise-level solutions. Following the acquisition, Lombardi's products were integrated into the IBM family, with Teamworks evolving into what became known as IBM Business Process Manager.

Keywords: Lombardi Software, Business Process Management, BPM, Teamworks, Lombardi Blueprint, process-driven, process automation, workflow management, Rod Favaron, Brian Cooper, Eric Hanich, IBM acquisition, human-centric BPM, process documentation, process discovery, enterprise software, WebSphere, process modeling, business process improvement, departmental BPM