|
The importance of having an efficient system of business processes to drive an organization may seem like basic principle. If a business isn't running efficiently, it may not be realizing or maximizing its financial, market coverage or other strategic goals. In a recent survey of 1,400 CIOs by Gartner Executive Programs, the top business priority identified by CIOs was business process improvement1. For individuals or organizations that are being asked to investigate process improvement, Business Process Management or BPM is a term that frequently associated with the process improvement. Unfortunately, BPM sometimes seems to have as many different meanings. Which definition is correct and how can BPM be applied to help achieve process improvement goals?
There are many sources of information about BPM and how it can be applied in organizations. These articles span all industries and address many different business processes. Finding, understanding and applying this knowledge is an evolutionary process. In this paper, we will summarize the key BPM concepts relevant to early discovery and point readers to more in-depth concepts that build on BPM basics. Initial discovery topics include:
- A history of business process management, both as a discipline and as a technology offering
- How BPM is being positioned by market analysts
- Where BPM fits in today's dynamic organizations
- How organizations can start to apply BPM to improve their processes
- Success stories an organization can use to understand how BPM can be applied to deliver business value
BPM Distilled
Business Process Management (BPM) is the understanding, visibility and control of business processes. A business processes represents a discrete series of activity or task steps that can span people, applications, business events and organizations. Based on this definition, the reader could logically relate BPM with other process improvement disciplines. That assumption is valid ? there is certainly a described process (or methodology) that should be followed to help an organization document their business processes and understand where they are being used throughout their business. During discovery, everyone agrees on how the current process is defined. The ?as-is' process' is then used as a basis for determining where the process can be improved However, simply documenting what the process look like does not give the business managers (those responsible for the actual results) control over the process.
The real value of BPM comes from gaining visibility and control of the business process. By applying technology, BPM software can activate the process, orchestrate the people, data and systems that are involved in the process, and give the business managers a view into how the process is operating, where bottlenecks are occurring and highlight possible process optimizations. Process operational metrics are automatically collected by the BPM software. Business metrics, or key performance indicators (KPIs) can also be measured to add specific process or organizational context to the data.
Armed with data on how the process is currently operating, business managers can use any process improvement technique to optimize the process. The next generation process will drive maximum performance and efficiency. The impact of an improved business process can be realized in many ways, including reductions in cost, improved customer satisfaction, increased productivity by allowing reallocation of resources to more value added tasks, or by compliance with industry or regulatory requirements.
The description above represents the promise of BPM - process ?nirvana'. Most companies are far from achieving this level of process capability. Business managers have limited visibility, especially for processes that may cross outside the borders of their department or outside the organization. Individual work activities may be processed in a first in ? first out fashion, rather than being based on an optimized global prioritization. For organizations that have expanded or grown by acquisition, each business unit may perform similar processes, but each completing the work using specialized processes that don't allow sharing of human and technology resources. Not knowing the current status of work paralyzes the business because managers cannot predict when work will be completed, who will complete it, if there are problems and how much the work is costing the company.
The term Process-Driven means that a person or organization has a passion for superior business performance through process innovation.
|
