For a list of acronyms around this subject, see this page
In life, it’s not the difficult things that make an impact, it’s joining-up simple concepts to make an elegant solution. It’s making connections between what appear to be different things and creating a sense of order. A simple solution to a difficult question is far preferable to a complex one.
How often do we feel frustrated because the basic things get done poorly? If I join a new company I know that I have to fill out forms. But why do all the forms ask for the essentially same information?
Gartner’s view on Business Process Management:
“Business process management provides governance of a business’s process environment to improve agility and operational performance…employing methods, policies, metrics, and software tools to continuously optimize an organization’s activities and processes.”
What is BPM?
As a simple view of Gartner’s definition, Business Process Management is the management of business processes. I told you it was simple. In practice, this means that there are software applications that capture and manage business processes that start with the basic capability of designing process flowcharts. These products are addressed at different markets, but usually offer either a business or IT-focused approach. The major distinction is that the latter will be more concerned with the design of IT systems and integrating with BPEL products with an emphasis on modeling to identify bottlenecks and optimum process paths.
The 80/20 rule
All enterprises are different, but it’s safe to assume that 80% of what they do is the same – they all have to do the basics like pay suppliers and print a balance sheet. The remaining 20% represents what they do differently that distinguishes them from their competitors. The 80/20 rule is key to delivering the message that it is possible to implement ‘best practice’ in a unique business environment.
Best practice
In most cases, the phrase ‘best practice’ is rather subjective but best translates into ‘common sense’. Obviously, where you can tie a process to a standard such as ITIL, then all the better.
But how do you communicate that ‘best practice’ to a client? Easy – that’s what BPM gives you – a method of showing what good practice actually is. So instead of creating processes from the ground up, imagine the benefits of being able to demonstrate processes that you already have (the 80%) and using a tool to model the remaining 20%. From a sales perspective, this is a compelling proposition as it proves to the client that you have actually done this sort of thing before. As a potential customer, if I were judging two consulting organisations and one proactively offered a rounded solution based on existing quality collateral rather than re-inventing the wheel, there would be an obvious winner.
Processes are an enabler to the sale because they are an enabler to the business. It’s a win-win proposition.
Many organisations have poorly documented processes and would love to get both an improved IT system (using commonly accepted ‘best practice’) and properly documented processes.
And the best thing about this is that the proposition is targeted at the end-user business community and the tangible benefits to the business, not the IT department and the cost of the shiny new box. Too often it is the IT folk who try to persuade the business to invest in newer technology
Even in situations where the proposed solution is totally unique and no existing processes or collateral exists, we would still be able to use the same tools and techniques to create the processes.
The benefits of BPM
So what does a BPM system offer? It’s probably easiest to say what it is not: IT-specific diagrams, usually created in Visio, that are created solely for the project implementation and are never seen again.
When is BPM used?
Gartner provide 4 examples of opportunities to use BPM products:
- Implementation of a Specific Process-Based Application
- Support for a Continuous Process Improvement Mentality
- Redesign for a Process-Based SOA
- Business Transformation Initiatives
I think that this is a little to IT-focused for where the real benefits can be achieved and I will reference a product called Nimbus Control 2007 which was identified in Gartner’s Cool Vendors in Business Process Management, 2007.
Gartner has a long list of what they consider to be defining elements of a BPM system in Magic Quadrant for Business Process Management Suites (Feb 2009). Although there are significant benefits to be gained through using an IT-focused product such as modeling or workflow creation, the business-focused products get my vote.
From a business perspective, the two key elements of a BPM system are simplicity and re-usability. A BPM tool must be easy to use and comprehend as it should be at the centre of what a business does. Simple boxes have replaced traditional IT flowcharts or BPMN with not even a decision box in sight. What works for the Amazon customer or facebook user will just as easily suit the user in the enterprise.
Defining Scope
Scope is king. It defines what is being provided by the supplier to the client and maps to the required software for licensing purposes. If you can define scope by detailed description of the process, the likelihood of a misunderstanding by either party is significantly reduced.
Testing Processes
Business Testing is critical for ensuring that a new IT system will deliver what it has been designed to do. The BPM system should be able to:
1) Track business requirements
2) capture current business processes to determine baseline
3) Create proposed future flows and map business requirements to specific activities. This ensures that the requirements are tracked to ensure they are satisfied, providing a high degree of visibility of what is being delivered and is used to measure success or failure.
4) Use the flows as a basis for all delivery:
- Test scripts and multiple scenarios
- Training manuals
- User desktop guides
- User processes and procedures
- Compliance monitoring
- Future project testing
- Regression testing
- What-if scenario testing
‘Live processes’
Going back to an earlier comment about the limited use of Visio diagrams, it is absolutely vital to ensure that processes are seen as core to the business and are kept up to date and visible as well as subject to audit control. The Nimbus product provides a web front-end that delivers role-specific processes that drill down to lower levels of detail and can punch-out to other web sites, web forms, documents, training videos and more.
HR would love to have a detailed list by role of what people in the business do. This would enable them to measure current employees and provide a detailed job specification.
Training manuals and desktop procedures are based on a combination of role-specific and common activities that are process-based. Keeping these updated would no longer be a separate activity, but linked directly to the process held in BPM.
Testing the business process
The most important part of introducing new systems or functionality is testing. A BPM system will provide the detail of what processes should be tested. Control 2007 provides a method of creating multiple scenarios using one process as the basic template; for example, the small difference between entering an AP invoice with one or multiple VAT rates. Simply by keeping business processes up to date gives you the capability to create test scripts for regression testing or future deployments.
- We are delivering a business solution, not an IT project
- The business process is at the heart of the business
- Keep the processes simple so that they are used
- Use business processes to create other key outputs like user guides and test scripts
