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7 steps to
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A Pragmatic Approach to Leveraging BPM Technology for Business Success
by Mark McGregor
sponsored by
Executive Summary
Business Process Management or BPM as it is commonly referred is itself a management discipline. The technology associated with it is more commonly referred to as a Business Process Management Systems or BPMS. Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably which has led to confusion in the marketplace. The confusion has caused much misunderstanding and quite a bit of infighting among competing process groups, both inside and outside of organizations. Some see process as a technology issue that simply involves automation or system implementation of some kind. Others, such as some in the Quality or Lean/Six Sigma arena believe that technology is not required. While it could be said that both camps are wrong, equally they are both right! Many of the improvements businesses seek do not require an automation solution and can be achieved simply be altering the way that people work. However, from an analysis and design perspective, smart use of technology has many advantages over simple pen and paper approaches. This paper provides the reader with a 7 Step model that seeks to suggest ways in which organizations can maximize their business returns. The model sets out to blend the benefits of non-technology approaches with the more technological ones. Further, it aims to aid the reader in thinking about the ways in which the different types of tools and technologies fit together in order to provide the complete perspective. For example, even if one is not intending to automate a process, use of appropriate technology is still important when considering how to assess impacts and to communicate information effectively. For ease of understanding, the examples presented here are based upon the Casewise product set, however, other combinations of products may be used to achieve the same linkages and results. Similarly, it may be that some vendors are better able and more willing to support you during the nontechnology phases than others.
7 6
It does however place a great emphasis on starting without technology and engaging the people in the process. This is no accident as there is now increasing evidence that starting with a technology focus can cause some people to be disengaged with the process and for others myopia when looking at solutions. As with all good projects, the starting point should always be understanding what the desired outcome is, from this you can assess at which step the objectives can be achieved and then undertake the preceding steps in order to ensure that when your objective is achieved, it is done in the most effective manner and one in which the gains you make can be held on to.
STEP
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7
FOCUS
Waste Elimination Information Capture Effective Communication Process Effectiveness Resource Optimization Operationalizing Models Continuous Improvement
Each of the 7 steps has associated a Focus, this being the suggested objective of that step. The details of the focus for each step can be found in the table. As you can see, the steps provide a logical progression towards achieving the BPM excellence that many organizations seek. It should also be clear from looking at the steps some of the reasons why traditional BPM projects fail to deliver all that was hoped. By starting at step 6, we are already potentially building fat into our systems and we have potentially alienated some of the very people who might be affected by the new systems. If you start from step 1 then you can be sure that you will only be eating the elephant one small bite at a time and you will be delivering business benefits on a more regular basis.
Excel
am
E Re xte po ns si ibl to e ry
Business Architects
Project Managers
Visio
Many of those who have already captured processes have done so using simple diagramming tools such as Visio, while others may have collected information in tools like
automodeler
IT Architects
Operational Staff
Excel. It is easy to criticize these tools or point out the problems, but the reality is that is what people have and so we need to work with that reality.
The best way to leverage the assets that you already have is to ensure that all such maps and diagrams are captured in some kind of central storage or repository. In fact taking the outputs from step 1 and converting them into
Work Carried Out By The People Involved Workshop Approach Produces Results Fast People Feel They Are Being Heard Hard to Resist The Ideas You Suggest Yourself Bottom Line Improvements Realized Now
Visio diagrams may be perfectly suitable in some situations; in others, a full blown modeling tool may be better. The key is to focus on the objective, which is to capture, document and collate all your process information in one place, using the tools you are familiar with. At this stage, if capturing and documenting is your goal then worrying about standards, notations and tooling is to detract from that. In many cases it is the time taken to undertake this phase that concerns business managers; it can be hard to prove value. So the idea of doing it quickly and effectively usually has great appeal. As Analysts, our job is to guide and facilitate this step in the same way as step 1; done well this will also increase user buy in. Many BPMS tools provide support for importing Visio models.
most of these have been single process focused and have not tended to be repository based. As mentioned, having central storage or a repository will prove vital in managing artifacts effectively. The key is to have choice, the ability to decide whether you want some people to have quick lightweight modeling via the web, or whether you would like more business centric users to continue using Visio. Of course for your
serious analysts you will want them to have access to a high end professional tool. The work you are going to require of them cannot yet be done in the more lightweight environments. The key for this stage is process effectiveness, and to be effective we have to be able to link back to strategy and goals, look across multiple processes and to connect with our data, application and network architectures. In many ways this stage could be described as fleshing out the Business Architecture and making sure that all the pieces fit together. To date, many BPM projects have potentially gone down the same route as 4GL environments before them, focusing so much on one element and ignoring the other. This is also the step where we may need to capture and model business rules. Once we think we have the answers we were looking for, we can move on.
Statistical Analysis
may serve the purpose of simplification or communication. But, if you want to generate and execute a system then the workflow description has to be very precise. If looked at another way, the workflow model is nothing more than a visual representation of a computer program, and we all know that if you were to write a program then you have to be very specific. This challenge over
Corporate Synergy (Workow)
Scenario Planning
precision against lack of precision is the cause of many of the debates in the process community today. Ideally you should be looking at an environment that will easily allow you to link the precise workflow models with the imprecise process models and that will allow you to then generate the workflows and execute them in your chosen engine.
The ability to be able to trace forwards and backwards through the various elements (process model, workflow model, application element) will make your life much easier. It should be stated that linguistically it is more important to have a described by linkage than an inheritance type linkage, as you navigate up you will invariably identify increased vagueness this is normal and is advantageous from a business standpoint.
Conclusion
can be easier to: increase buy-in for change, deliver real business results quickly, leverage the tools you have and build on the knowledge that already exists within your organization.
As stated, the steps outlined here are not the only way of organizing your BPM project, they do provide a solid basis upon which you can develop and build your own steps. They demonstrate a way of starting without technology and then bringing in the appropriate technology as required. Through these steps it can be easier to: increase buy-in for change, deliver real business results quickly, leverage the tools you have and build on the knowledge that already exists within your organization. Furthermore, an approach such as this can also be a way of integrating the competing process groups within an organization. A way in which the operational excellence teams can work with the Lean/Six Sigma teams, while all can benefit from the value the IT team bring to the party, and in a way that keeps the risk/compliance team onside too. Fundamentally, BPM is about change and change is about people. So whether you choose to use this model or another, the key to your success will be how well you engage a wide group of people, staff, customers and stakeholders
and how well they buy-in to your program. Finally, as has been said, the 7 Step process can be applied using many different combinations of vendors products. It may be that you will find it useful to ask potential vendors how they will support you through the various steps when assessing new products or suppliers.
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