Incorporating BPM and HR

When I was trolling through some BPM Forums I came across this white paper. Posted on BPMEnterprise.com it discusses the "integration" between HR and BPM. The paper was written by Wipro Technologies and covers the process that their team of employees went through. As the paper states:

"This white paper attempts to cover Wipro’s strategies and it’s use of HR self-service, collaboration and community solutions for the employees, branded as Channel [W]."

Check it out, and write us any thought that you have on the subject!

BPM Webinar: BPM Principles and Practices: An Introduction

Coming up in the second week of November is the 2008 Evolve IT & Business Alignment Forum. As a pre-event treat, check out this archived webinar online: BPM Principles and Practices: An Introduction. The webinar discusses the basic foundation for a BPM program. It provides an overview and discussion of the wide variety of perspectives on BPM, as well the basic principles and techniques of a BPM program. It focuses on a discussion of many of the process-centric tools, techniques and methodologies available today, including Lean, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, Value Added Analysis, Business Activity Monitoring, process automation technologies and Innovation, and describes how they all fit together under the BPM umbrella in a collaborative way.

It presents many lessons learned based on the industry leadership of two of the foremost BPM thought leaders: market analyst and author, Paul Harmon and leading practitioner, Roger Burlton.

To see the webinar click here or go to this web address: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/593373790

New Release From IBM

In latest news, IBM has reported their latest release, a new Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Solution. This new service meets more needs, since it is more "flexible" and customizable based on organizational needs. Ken Bisconti, vice president, products and strategy, IBM Enterprise Content Management, explained the benefits of this new venture:

"Organizations need information to innovate and optimize their businesses, but many struggle with how to manage all the information that they have. IBM's focus on agility with ECM software helps clients address many important challenges, such as how to globally integrate solutions with immense volumes of information and optimize their processes while managing regulatory requirements."

Lombardi Now Offers On-Demand Process Mapping Training Program

BPM Architect reports that Lombardi, which offers business process management software, has released Process Mapping 101, which is an online, on-demand training course for participants who are looking to immediately get started with process mapping using Lombardi Blueprint. The course has been built by Lombardi and Bruce Silver who is the found of BPMessentials.com.

Bruce Silver, founder of BPMessentials.com and co-developer of the course mentions:

"In this training we've tried to provide a cookbook approach to getting started in BPM: organizing the project team, facilitating the mapping sessions, and capturing that information in a process diagram. Blueprint is a perfect tool for that, and we plan to use it in future course development as well."

New Release of Oracle Business Process Management 10g Release 3

According to this article in SOA World Oracle has unveiled Oracle Business Process Management 10g Release 3, which will allow business and IT users to collaboratively automate and optimize business processes enabling improved efficiency and agility.

Here are some of the new features the release will offer: new user interface, new modeling capabilities, new business rules and the ability to import models from third-party tools. This release is part of a series that integrates technology from Oracle and BEA systems.

Shocking Numbers for Business Process Management Adoption

This post on eBizQ discusses that according to a new AIIM study that was recently released, the enterprise is not doing all it can to take maximum advantage of business process management concepts.

It’s shocking to hear that only 3% of companies felt that they had achieved "process excellence." AIIM Vice President and report co-author, Carl Frappaolo states:

“This is disappointing and shocking. Despite decades of market attention on process excellence—from the manufacturing industry, into the world of “knowledge workers”, and across all industries—it’s been a long, slow journey, and many have yet to embark on the journey. The damage lies in the fact that processes are the core of any functioning organization.”

Is your company taking advantage of business process management concepts?

Enabling Enterprise Business Process Management

Researching the web I came across the white paper “Enabling Enterprise Business Process Management” written by Robert Shields, who is the director of product marketing at Telelogic.

Here’s a brief description of this 16-page white paper:

The premise of this paper is that enterprise process modeling, analysis, architecture and implementation are at the core of business process management and optimization. Topics covered include process modeling collaboration considerations, process architectures versus enterprise architectures and the requirements for linkages between the two and process implementation issues.

Take some time to read it as Robert goes over several Issues and Challenges for Coordinating and Managing BPM Initiatives. View the white paper here.

Metastorm Partners with Align

I came across this post on BPM Architect in which they discuss that Metastorm, a leading provider of BPM solutions, and EA software has formed a strategic partnership with Align in order for it to become an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partner and has integrate Metastorm BPM into its Asset Point software platform.

With this new partnership, companies can now develop plans and make them more efficient, reduce cycle times by enforcing rules, ensure compliance, and expose IT assets and make them available for re-use.

Janet Halma, senior vice president of Business Development at Metastorm mentions:

"Our partnership with Align clearly demonstrates that Metastorm is the
platform of choice for companies seeking to quickly extend and enhance
their solutions with value-producing, process management capabilities. We are excited about our OEM relationship with Align and Asset Point and our ability to continue to provide customers with industry leading tools that deliver significant results."

The Difference between BPO and BPM

I came across this post on BPM in Action in which Dennis Byron reminds us not to confuse BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) with BPM (Business Process Management).

Business processes that do not provide any particular competitive advantage are good candidates for BPO. Here are some processes that Dennis mentions are good candidates for BPO: payroll processing, benefits administration in highly regulated jurisdictions, purchasing office supplies, shipping small packages, demand deposit accounting in banks, anything that follows an ACORD form in insurance/assurance, and scheduling worker hours in any kind of retail operation. Any processes that do provide competitive advantage is a good candidate for in-house responsibility.

So according to Dennis, BPM is the best way to automate business processes whether it be outsourced or retained within the enterprise.

BPM Principles and Practices: An Introduction

We invite you to watch our latest web seminar in BPM. "BPM Principles and Practices: An Introduction" was presented by Paul Harmon, Co-founder, Executive Editor and Market Analyst at BP Trends and Roger Burlton, Founder, Process Renewal Group and parter at BP Trends Associates.

This seminar will review the basic foundation for a BPM program It will provide an overview and discussion of the wide variety of perspectives on BPM, as well the basic principles and techniques of a BPM program.. We will focus on a discussion of many of the process-centric tools, techniques and methodologies available today, including Lean, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, Value Added Analysis, Business Activity Monitoring, process automation technologies and Innovation, and will describe how they all fit together under the BPM umbrella in a collaborative way.

Watch the web seminar here:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/593373790

REW Npower adopts BPM

In a recent article at CIO, they talk about how RWE Npower has successfully improved its processes thanks to the adoption of BPM. In April of 2007, they began implementing BPM with IDS Scheer ARIS software. Their goal was to identify and track current processes and set standards. This has been successful so far and their next goals are to improve performance management and to improve how enterprise architecture is set up for business processes.

What came first?

In a recent article at Computer Weekly, they ask a very good question: Has increasing technology helped evolve business processes or have evolving processes driven the pace of technology change? The author points out that we now find business processes that will agree with with the IT systems we have in place, and we should not buy technology just for technology's sake, but find something that will work with the business systems we already have in place.

For the author, the most exciting progression was this:
For me, however, the most exciting development in business process management from a technology perspective has to be Web 2.0 which offers a vast potential for change, delivering entirely new ways to find, use and share information. We are no longer tied to searching through regimented file structures mimicking a physical filing cabinet but have now been freed to organize our information by keyword, topic, or even by the specific expertise of the author.

So which process do you think is behind the progression of technology and process?

BPM in for significant growth

A recent report claims that there is significant growth in store for BPM systems. New marketing strategies, such as XML and Web, which are included in these new programs will account for the growth in adaption. These systems will allow businesses to do automated processes more efficiently, therefore driving the business the business markets forward. For more information, read here.

Overview of BPM

For a great overview of the BPM field check out this slideshare presentation that was featured on slideshare. Titled simply "Business Process Management" it provides basic background, and also provides great references for more sources of information.

In related news, according to this article, a recent report from Report Buyer titled 'Business Process Management (BPM) Market: Opportunities, Strategies, and Forecasts, 2008 to 2014', suggests that the BPM industry is in a growth stage. This makes the slideshare presentation more important since it imperative for business to familiarize themselves with BPM to remain competitive.

Business Process Managment

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: process bpm)

MarketWatch: Salient Business Solutions Establishes U.S. Division

According to this article,

Salient Business Solutions, a leading provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) services, announced the creation of its U.S.--based division, Salient Business Solutions USA, Inc., headquartered in New York. The creation of the U.S. division enables Salient to establish a solid U.S. presence and provide customers with a domestic origination and delivery team, as well as local accountability.

I find it interesting that this organization based in India is seeking to establish their business in New York. This comes at a very volatile time for the US fiscal system making it nearly possible for a big international corporation to succeed.

What do think of this move?

Should You Outsource BPM?

According to Michele Cantara, research VP for Gartner, “BPM is intended to empower business stakeholders to work collaboratively with IT to change the solutions supporting business processes. Most ESPs do not possess the governance, modeling and change management skills to effectively foster this collaboration.”The point being made, as this article remarks, is that many organizations lack the skill set needed to create an effective BPM. The article further lists 11 steps that companies can use to determine whether or not to outsource BPM skills.

Step 1: Establish a Holistic View of the Five Dimensions of Multisourcing
Step 2: Understand the Pros and Cons of Different Sourcing Options
Step 3:Establish a Big-Picture View of the Three Competencies Needed for BPM
Step 4: Identify the Roles Needed for a Typical BPM Project
Step 5: Target Candidate Business Processes and Agree on Nomenclature
Step 6: Identify Who Implements Process Change and Frequency of Process Change
Step 7: Determine the Magnitude of Process Change
Step 8: Decide Whether You Can Manage Change at Three Levels
Step 9: Identify Your BPM Buying Scenario
Step 10: Conduct a Skill Gap Analysis
Step 11: Determine Which Sourcing Options Are Appropriate for BPM Skills

For further information on each step check out the article. Do you think that your organization falls into the category of those who should outsource BPM skills?

AB Value Coming to the US

TriPoint Interactive has been selected by AB Value to help them enter into the U.S. market space. Already the leading SaaS provider for the European market, they are very excited to be entering into this new territory. This released statement, as provided in this news article, outlines the benefits that U.S. companies will see with AB Value

“The AB Value™ Solution offers a digital process library combined with process simulation and a remote monitoring service that can assist with process management of operations located anywhere in the world” says Jim Thompson, senior vice president of TriPoint Interactive. “This capability is of real benefit to companies concerned about determining the cost to serve customers when product is produced outside of major markets, with long and complex supply chains.”

Pegasystems Launches an Industry-First BPM Platform-as-a-Service

BPM Architect reports that that Pegasystems, a leader in business process management software, has released PaaS, which will give enterprises the benefits of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), but without the risks and limitations that come along with traditional Saas technology.

Unlike SaaS, corporate organizations can now take advantage of the same technologies while still maintaining the same shared infrastructure. Daryl Plummer, Managing VP at Gartner mentions:

“We believe that there are more immediate and practical uses of cloud-enabled technologies than hosted SaaS, and using them to encourage BPM adoption and re-use within an extended enterprise makes sense. Large organizations host many different communities that need their own specialized processes to evolve, and they are not likely to entrust change-sensitive mission critical functions to a commoditized SaaS offering more appropriate for the SMB market.”

More information about the PaaS offering can be found on the Pegasystems PaaS page.

IT & Business Alignment Resource Page

We’ve gathered some valuable content across different sectors of the IT & Business Alignment Forum (BPM, EAC, and Enterprise Web Portals) and added it to this resource page. From the BPM pool this week you will find the whitepaper “How Much Language is Enough?” from Michael zur Muehlen who will be speaking at this year’s BPM event on November 10-13, 2008 at the Red Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Also check out the his latest clip “Michael zur Muehlen on the Future of Work”. Make sure to check back as we will be adding new content to the resource page regularly.

Savvion Releases New Order Management Solution

According to this article in MarketWatch today, Savvion, a business process management solution provider has released Savvion Communications Order Management Solution, which is a BPM system for communications industry service provisioning and customer order fulfillment.

Sanjay Kumar, Vice President of Communications and Media Solutions at Savvion mentions:

"Companies providing cable, telecom, cellular, content or other communication services must deliver seamless service to customers while keeping costs down. With our new Savvion COMS 7.0, we are the first in the industry with a solution that helps them meet those goals immediately."

The solution will help both managers and workers better manage order management activities that are needed in order to fulfill customers’ service requests. COMS 7.0 integrates easily with existing CRM systems and order entry systems.