1. BPM Standards and Technology
Understanding tool options, identifying technical requirements, establishing selection approach, and making the final choice

2. BPM Standards
BPM standards are used by business managers to help them analyze and organize enterprise BPM initiatives
Most BPM standards to date are focused on IT: more standards are needed in areas other than IT
Benefits of using standards:
Simplifies the work
Reduces amount of decision-making required
Ensures consistency of information among regions and groups in the organization
Enables consistency of information between organizations, improving the ability to integrate across the supply chain
BA 553: Business Process Management

3. Examples of Commonly Used BPM Standards
Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and all related spin offs/ modifications (session 3)
Framework used to document, categorize and align financial and non- financial enterprise performance metrics with strategy and process initiatives
Supply Chain Council’s SCOR framework (and the DCOR/CCOR variations, collectively known as SCOR+)
Used to document and evaluate multi-company supply chain processes, including benchmarking assessments
VRM and eTOM are similar to SCOR+ (eTOM is specifically designed for the telecom industry)
EFQM (European version of the US Malcolm Baldrige Award)
Used for overall assessment of organizational quality, not just a BPM tool
SEI’s CMMI (covered in session 11)
FEAF: used by the US government, usually (but not always) as an IT standard
BA 553: Business Process Management

4. Our Dependence on Technology
It’s important to understand that technology is just an enabler of the work – it can’t replace the work
We must be able to judge when the technology is useful and when it is taking priority over everything else
BA 553: Business Process Management

5. Integrating Processes With Other Information
As the enterprise builds maturity in its BPM efforts, the process documentation can be integrated with other information in the organization
There are three types of software tools that were designed to assist in this integration:
Business process modeling tools
Workflow tools
Enterprise application integration tools
BA 553: Business Process Management

6. Business Process Modeling Tools
Process modeling tools have been around for a long time
Their purpose is to help users document a process
They are also useful in analyzing processes, and proposing new or redesigned processes
The more sophisticated tools store the process diagrams in a repository
They also store additional information besides the steps, such as which roles are performing the work, and even key metrics associated with the process or process step
Some of the more powerful tools even enable simulation of process changes (although this usually requires a large investment of time and effort, so must be used selectively)
BA 553: Business Process Management

7. Workflow and Document Management Tools
Most flowcharting tools enable the use of hyperlinks
If a given process step involves working on a document, that step in the flowchart could include a hyperlink to the document’s location in a company database
A workflow tool will automatically notify the next person in line who needs to work on or approve the document
These features are even available in SharePoint and eRoom collaboration tools
Another advantage for processes that are done primarily on the computer is that they can include the capture of metrics (e.g., number of items completed, or process cycle time) – this is referred to as Business Activity Monitoring (BAM)
Workflow solutions had some of these capabilities, but many have been replaced by the more sophisticated and flexible BPM suites
BA 553: Business Process Management

8. Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) Tools
An organization’s departments traditionally kept information in different applications, which were sometimes tailored to the specific purposes of that departmental manager
This made integrating the departmental information, such as financials or inventory information, difficult if not impossible
Enterprise application integration tools were new applications developed to help manage the information from multiple applications
By this method, EAI tools appeared to provide a single integrated source of information, but in fact they simulated a single source: original inputs were still made in the individual applications, and the information was moved by the EAI tool
BA 553: Business Process Management

9. Integrating Process Management Software
All of these solutions lacked one critical factor: a common infrastructure by which processes and process information were managed
The internet, and the related standards that have been developed, made it possible to interface with and integrate multiple applications
This led to efforts to integrate the three types of software mentioned previously: business process modeling, workflow, and EAI
The tool that was developed to integrate these is called a BPM Suite (BPMS)
BA 553: Business Process Management

10. BPM Suites
A BPM Suite is a tool that is used to develop a BPM software application
The BPM application is established by creating a process flow diagram or business rules – changes to the process are made by changing the flow diagram or business rules
The process flow diagram describes all possible options or paths for a particular process in the organization
The BPM application also includes a BPMS engine that executes the process
When the BPM application executes the process for a particular situation, it follows only one path through the process depending on the selections of the people interacting with the application
The actual application used to work on the documents, and the documents themselves, are kept separate from the BPM Suite
BA 553: Business Process Management

11. BPM Technology Selection
The critical issue related to BPM technology selection is an understanding of how to make the selection:
How to identify selection criteria
How to use this to make a final selection
How to present the selection and its justification to management
BA 553: Business Process Management

12. Steps in Selecting BPM Technology
Establish a technology selection team, comprised of process owners, BPM COP and COE members, steering committee members, and IT personnel
Identify current and future needs to be fulfilled by the software package
Develop a specification for the technology
Describe each item in the specification as a product feature
Develop weightings for each feature (how important are they?)
Identify potential technology packages to include in the selection process
Modify the features and weightings based upon new information
Have technology selection team members each rate potential technology packages against the features, on a scale (say 1-10)
Multiply the average ratings by the chosen weightings for each feature
Add up the scores and identify the recommended choice
Document the reasons for the selection and provide them to management, including any additional pros and cons of the selected package
BA 553: Business Process Management

13. Potential Selection Criteria for BPM Software
Integration with other BPM components (e.g., a BPM suite)
Ease of use
Performance (speed, quality, etc.)
Cost of purchase / licensing
Cost of ongoing maintenance contract
Ability to modify or tailor software in-house
Integration with current enterprise software (e.g., ERP system)
Ability to import existing documents from (and export to) other applications
Quality of support, and ability to support multiple users
Scalability (ability to increase user base without overloading)
Reputation of the vendor
Availability and quality of customer references
Historical improvement of technology by the vendor
“Business Process Analysis Tool Selection Criteria,” Gartner research white paper, 7 November 2005.
BA 553: Business Process Management

14. BPM Technology Selection Example
Example from a project I worked on:
Feature
Pkg 1
Pkg 2
Pkg 3
Pkg 4
Ease of use: an average person can use it – don’t have to be a programmer
Performance (speed, quality, etc.)
Integration with current enterprise software (e.g., ERP system)
Integration with other BPM components (e.g., a BPM suite)
Ability to import and export information in other formats (Word, Excel, pdf) for analysis and reporting purposes
Scalability (ability to increase user base without overloading)
Cost of original purchase and licensing, plus maintenance
Quality of technical support from supplier
Ability to modify or tailor software in-house
Historical improvement of technology by the vendor
Ownership management and workflow management (e.g., automatic notification to owners and users when changes occur to their processes, or when approvals are needed)
Process repository offered with modeling software to store and retrieve info
Ability to maintain detailed document history with metadata
Automatic change log generated
Automatic revision control
TOTAL SCORE
BA 553: Business Process Management

15. Business Activity Monitoring (BAM)
In previous sessions, we discussed the difficulty of identifying metrics that will measure what’s important rather than what’s easy to measure
We also discussed how collecting the wrong metrics can result in behaviors that are the opposite of what’s desired
Measuring and monitoring measurement results is referred to as business activity monitoring
Most BPM Suites offer a limited capability in this regard, such as collecting information on specific process steps
However, a BPM Suite can’t collect cycle times for the full process lifecycle, if some of the process steps are conducted offline
In order to get the type of information useful to executives, data must be collected from multiple sources, and then analyzed: this often involves the use of BI (business intelligence) applications
The information is usually collected into an executive dashboard: one location which provides a snapshot of how things are doing
BA 553: Business Process Management

16. Example Executive Process Dashboard
accessed 3 March 2010.
BA 553: Business Process Management

17. Additional Tools Related to BPM
ERP (covered next)
SOA (all remaining tools covered in session 13)
SaaS
Cloud computing
Social media and collaboration tools
Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0
BA 553: Business Process Management

18. Additional Tools Related to BPM: ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications are intended to collect and integrate business information to assist in business planning throughout the organization
Most of the large organizations are using some brand of ERP software to manage their activities
As with any software that helps with business planning, ERP software is understood better, and decisions regarding it are made better, if done in the context of the business processes
If you plan on implementing either ERP or BPMS in an organization where the other already exists, it is critical that you identify and address potential conflicts or duplication of effort, or you could end up with a very large problem
BA 553: Business Process Management

19. ERP and BPM Work Together Well
BPM can help ERP:
ERP information is more useful if understood in the context of the organization’s business processes
If the ERP information isn’t what’s desired, it may require a process change
ERP can help BPM:
ERP data provides the KPIs that help identify potential process problems, which are inputs to the executive dashboard
Assists with process design or redesign – helps with forecasting and optimization analysis
BA 553: Business Process Management

20. ERP Modules
The purpose of ERP is to facilitate automated real time data flow between all business functions:
Finance/accounting
Human resources
Manufacturing
Customer relationship management, including sales and marketing
Supply chain management
Project management
It also helps connect firms to their suppliers and customers
BA 553: Business Process Management

21. Steps in Implementing ERP
Need assessment
Document the critical business processes, inflection points and key performance indicators (KPI)
Identify implementation team
Consider hiring or contracting with an experienced professional to guide you through the implementation process
Evaluate ERP systems, and make final selection
Depends on your industry, your business needs and your system preferences.  One consideration is whether you need an on-site ERP system or a cloud computing ERP system.  Many businesses have made the jump to the cloud
Prepare for change
It’s important to stay transparent with your employees about the change and engage them when possible.  ERP transitions are as much about changing culture as changing technology
From accessed 3/14/15.
BA 553: Business Process Management

22. Steps in Implementing ERP (Cont’d.)
Analyze current data
Decide which pieces need to be converted. After your data is all entered into the ERP database (most databases allow data entry via spreadsheet) you need to clean it up
Implement ERP
Conduct testing
System and user acceptance testing is a key phase of the implementation process
Conduct training
Find a group that conducts onsite trainingt o make sure everyone is up to speed. You’ll want to make sure your IT team has extra training to know how to handle any tech problems that may arise in the future
Go live
Provide ongoing support
BA 553: Business Process Management