What is BPM and How Can it Work for Us?

August 12, 2009

Throughout the web, there are many different definitions about what Business Process Management, or BPM, is. One of the versions I preferred is from Wikipedia, and states:

  • As a managerial approach, BPM considers processes to be strategic assets of an organization that must be understood, managed, and improved to deliver value added products and services to clients. This foundation is very similar to other Total Quality Management or Continuous Improvement Process methodologies or approaches. BPM goes a step further by stating that this approach can be supported, or enabled, through technology to ensure the viability of the managerial approach in times of stress and change. In fact, BPM is an approach to integrate a “change capability” to an organization – both human and technological.

More simply put, BPM workflow defines the electronic routing of tasks based on established rule sets. Once defined, these rule sets and tasks can be readily updated, allowing businesses to nimbly adapt to changes in their operating environment. This may be of particular relevance for routine, back office processes such as invoicing and claims processing, but also for processes that are  required to meet regulatory requirements, as Managers can monitor and report on process compliance.

In addition, some of the specific benefits that may be achieved, include the ability to:

  • Automate time consuming manual business processes;
  • Improve operational efficiency;
  • Make business processes consistent and streamlined;
  • Optimize complex business processes;
  • Reduce processing costs; and
  • Benefit from remote access to business processes.

In my previous post on documenting your processes, I mentioned several affordable options for Business Process Management. As most of the options were shown based on their offering of free process modeling tools, I’ve updated the list of BPM software to include Open Source options.

There were two main packages that I found in the open source BPM market, Intalio|BPM Community Edition and ProcessMaker.

Intalio was originally in the enterprise market for it’s full BPM suite, and opened up it’s community edition in 2006. The community edition is offered for free, and includes their Intalio|Designer and Intalio|Server components, training and support are offered for a price. While this suite is a robust solution for an organization, I would be concerned about recommending it to my small to mid-sized clients. The potential learning curve and the cost to train employees (which runs from 1,350 to 2,500 based on their training offered in Portland – the closest choice to my native Vancouver) may not be palatable to them.

The business model for ProcessMaker is similar though I found their free user community and wiki site more extensive than Intalio and their training was webinar based and less expensive at $995 US.

Additional open source BPM platforms include:

These choices were more oriented towards software development and would likely not be as applicable for my clients.

Of the Open Source options above, I have chosen to further evaluate ProcessMaker, as I feel it offers the most user friendly and accessible on-line training options. As stated in my previous post on documenting processes, Cordys Process Factory and TIBCO Business Studio remain my current favourites for entry level (and beyond) BPM.

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What Can I Use to Document My Processes?

July 22, 2009

I am not surprised that a recurring theme in my posts has been that your existing, critical, processes should be documented. The benefits of Business Process Modeling and Business Process Management are well defined and include:

  • Consistent, visual guide of how employees should execute their activities and how they should transact with customers, suppliers and each other.
  • Baseline for changes or improvements to how activities are completed. It would be difficult to measure the benefits of new technology initiatives or to evaluate organizational changes without understanding your starting point.
  • Processes that are well defined help bridge the gap between IT systems and Business Users, reducing both the time and resource cost of business process improvements and to deployment of technology solutions.

I have used Microsoft Visio extensively in the past, and though I appreciated it’s ease of use and integration with Microsoft Office, as a small business owner, I can also appreciate that users may balk at either the $260 for the Standard or the $560 for the Professional Version. There is however, a 60 day trial to provide the opportunity to understand whether it would work for you. Additionally, an extensive support network and knowledge base exist at the Microsoft Visio Toolbox.

I have previous experience with IDS Scheer ARIS, considered a leader in the BPA market, however, this level of tool is out of reach for most small to mid sized businesses.

There are several free business process modelling options which are much more accessible.

Before you evaluate your options, here is an outline of the standards in place for business process modelling, extracted from IDS Scheer site and from Wikipedia:

The following are modeling software choices which also include Business Process Management or offer upgrades to obtain BPM features:

  • Bizagi Process Modeler is touted for its ease of use and drag and drop process diagram features. It supports BPMN and you can import and export to Visio and XML formats. You can also save diagrams as PDF or Word Documents. To access the BPM features you must purchase the Bizagi Xpress, Standard or Enterprise Editions, compared here. The lowest license fee is for one user on the Xpress version for one year at $40 US and you can try it for free for 30 days. There are several training and support options available, including an upgraded site for paid support subscribers.
  • Questetra BPM Suite is a full BPM suite that is free for up to 10 active processes. It is installed on your server and users can access it through standard browsers. I did not find their help and support options as extensive as TIBCO and BIZAGI. Their expansion key is available for $100 per month for 100 processes.
  • Savvion Process Modeler is not free (though I believe it used to be), but does allow you to evaluate their process modeling product for 30 days. If you are interested in the more extensive capabilities offered by it’s full business suite, it would be a good way to get started with the product. I also had difficulty finding pricing on their site, which may only be available from its resellers.
  • TIBCO Business Studio, Supports BPMN, UML and XPML standards and allows for two versions of the same process to be developed, one for the business units and one for IT. You can also import ARIS, Visio and other models into the tool. The support on the site is extensive with Video tutorials, Forums and User Guides. There is a version for Linux and for Windows and the full datasheet for the product can be found here.

While more about BPM than just modeling, and also only available for free for a trial period, I am adding Cordys Process Factory to the list of products to try. As of May 2009, it can be integrated with the Google Apps Premier Edition, which makes it an ideal choice for organizations (like mine) already on that platform. Their enterprise option is only $50 per user per year, and similar to Google Apps, I feel this makes them an ideal choice for small to mid-sized businesses.

In summary, there are several options to help you get started in documenting your processes. I personally will be experimenting with TIBCO  and Cordys Process Factory and look forward to evaluating each option in future posts.

I will also be building on this post to discuss the options of full Business Process Management for small to mid-sized business, allowing you to take your processes to the next level of automation and efficiency.

Posted by Janice
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Getting the Most Out of Your Software

July 15, 2009

A friend recently related to me how frustrated he was that his veterinary practice wasn’t using their new software to its fullest extent. With a little research, I found this article and sent it over to him.

Though the article addressed issues for packages that have already been selected and implemented, I was reminded of how many similarities there were with  software implementations, whether a new accounting package, small business suite, an e-Commerce solution, a CRM product or medical / veterinary practice management software. In particular, why so many of them fail to live up to their potential.

Large, build or buy, software projects or organization transformation initiatives, can have large teams dedicated to their success and there is still an estimated 50% failure rate for projects to deliver results as measured against original expectations. Experts have found that increasing the success rate means breaking down the project into manageable pieces.

The same concept can be applied to software selection and implementation for small to mid-sized businesses and I have highlighted below the steps that can be followed to increase your chance of a success. If you feel these steps are beyond your organization to complete, engage a consultant before you begin your project to help avoid the frustration that can result from a difficult implementation.

1. Define Your Objectives

Why are you considering this implementation and what are the problems or missed opportunities you wish to address? Answering this question and communicating the answer to key users of the new software will validate your expectations for the solution. At a minimum, their early involvement will help you identify which of the users will be early adopters (your new software champion) and those that may have a more difficult time accepting the new software.

Key Deliverable: Software Replacement Objectives

2. Document Your Requirements

Before you evaluate different software, identify which processes and reports are critical to your operations and document how you use your current software / tools. This will serve as a basis for you to compare new software options and ensure that your critical requirements can be met by your new solution. These critical processes should include an outline of new features you need to solve your existing software shortcomings.

Key Deliverable: Process Documentation and Requirements

3. Evaluate Your Options

The requirements and processes you have previously defined can serve as the basis for you and your key users to evaluate the software packages and web service based options available to you. Software reviews are plentiful on the Internet and in particular, user forums can be reviewed to identify recurring issues with packages or web service options. If you are planning on using a package solution, you may also want to engage a technical consultant at this stage to determine whether your existing environment can properly support its use.

Key Deliverable: Package or Web Service Option Selection

4. Train Your Key Users

When you have selected the software that you feel is the best fit, either the software vendor or other training experts can be brought in to teach your key users the best ways to use the new software. The users should have been introduced to it in the previous steps, and if you have also included them in the selection decision, it will go a long way to their acceptance and enthusiasm for the new product. While they are training they can update the process documentation to reflect either screen shots or software tips, to help define how to use the software in your business context. If engaging the software vendor or trainer is outside of your budget, have your champion work through the existing manual, help forums, blogs or corresponding ‘Dummies‘ or ‘Missing Manuals‘ type books, to support their efforts to generate the documentation. They in turn, can help other users adapt to the new software and processes. Users learn at different rates and having a reference document could make the difference for less adaptive users in accepting the new software.

Key Deliverable: Training Manual and Updated Process Documentation

5. Monitor and Update Your Processes

Once you go live with your software, try weekly update meetings with key users to check on how they are using the software and whether their processes, or the software setup, needs to be adjusted to meet their needs. These updates can be tapered down to monthly as your users become more comfortable with the software and as you begin to see the benefits realized from the new solution.

Key Deliverable: Ongoing Feedback Mechanism and Process Audit

At the end of these steps, key users have assisted you with implementing the right solution for your problems or opportunities. Additionally, your updated documentation should reflect your organization’s specific processes, helping you utilize the software you have selected more effectively.

Posted by Janice
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