Business Process Trends :: Home ::
NOT A BPTRENDS MEMBER
MEMBERSHIP IS FREE
SIGN UP TODAY
 
SELECTED SUMMER READING

Letter from the Founders:

August is the month when many of you choose to vacation and it is also the month we suspend our normal schedule and take the time to review the past year and consider our goals and plans for the next 12 months. We asked our Managing Editor, Carolyn Potts, to assemble some selections for your vacation reading and her picks are included below. We will resume our regular publishing schedule in September. Thanks for your continued support. Happy Vacation and Happy Reading.

Paul Harmon and Celia Wolf

NOTE FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR

As Managing Editor, I have the great privilege of managing and reviewing all of the scheduled content for bptrends.com. In reviewing our publications over the last 12 months, I noticed a number of recurring themes. Not surprisingly, I noted that strategies and survival tactics for organizations in a depressed economy was a constant theme. ROI was frequently a sub-text as was avoiding failed BPM initiatives. There are others, but I’ll let you discover the “value message” - hidden or otherwise - in the selected Articles and Columns below. And, of course, as a result of the diversity of perspectives among our authors, the analyses and viewpoints presented vary widely. I hope you enjoy reading the selections from this thematically arranged UPDATE and the variations on those themes.

Carolyn Potts

MONEY - HOW BEST TO SAVE AND SPEND ON BPM INITIATIVES

A Practitioner’s Perspective: Process Architecture on a Budget, Part 1—Alec Sharp
Identifying the 100 or so processes in an enterprise can be time consuming and expensive. In his Column this month, Alec looks at a project he is currently working on that involves completing enterprise process identification on a limited budget and within a short time frame. Read what he has to say about the process and some lessons learned on achieving that all-important executive buy-in.

A Practitioner’s Perspective: Process Architecture on a Budget—Part 2—Alec Sharp
In Part 2 of Process Architecture on a Budget, Alec Sharp continues his discussion of a project he is currently working on that involves completing enterprise process identification on a limited budget and within a short time frame. This month, he focuses on issues relating to the use (or not) of process reference models, the use of available resources and artifacts, and “enabling” and “governance and external relations” processes. As in Part 1, he shares lessons learned from each step in the process.

Show me the Money—Christine Dicken and Carla Howard
In this engaging Article, Christine Dicken and Carla Howard, performance consultants at Arizona Public Service, share their experience in convincing the sponsors of the Center for Process Excellence that, despite economic hard times, investment in continuous process improvement was worthwhile. How did they do it? Literally, by demonstrating the dollar value of performance improvement by developing a financial analysis tool that would speak the language their “executives speak.” Read their fascinating account of their journey to success in showing the money.

THE FUTURE OF BPM

BPM: A Global View: Social Networking and BPM of the Future—Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan believes that social networking has become one of the most dynamic phenomena in technology in recent years and that in the near future we will see a new generation of BPM solutions that are built on top of social networking platforms. Read Rashid’s predictions regarding the unique characteristics these solutions will deliver.

The Year Ahead—Paul Harmon
We’ve been writing about developments in business and computing for almost three decades and we’ve been focused on developments in the BPM world since 2003. In this Advisor we will look forward to some of the developments we think are likely to occur in 2010.

AVOIDING FAILED BPM INITIATIVES

Project Management for Business Process Improvement—Gina Abudi
Many Business Process Improvement initiatives are undertaken without considering the impact their implementation will have on other processes within the organization. The resulting snafus are frequently time-consuming and costly. In this Article, Gina Abudi argues that by applying a Project Management approach managers of these initiatives can avoid negatively affecting other processes, and she presents a case study to illustrate her point.

Business Process Transformation Framework—Rick Burris and Robert Howard
Given the number of well-publicized failed Enterprise Resource Planning system implementations, most will agree that there is a strong case for the need to improve process implementation. In this, the first of three Articles, Rick Burris and Robert Howard introduce an emerging process improvement technology called Business Process Transformation Framework (BPTF). The authors suggest that BPTF addresses many root causes of ERP system failures and ensures a balance among the key drivers of business transformation success throughout the design process.

BPM and SOA: Avoiding Common Failure Modes with BPM and SOA Projects—Mike Rosen
Although the idea of BPM and SOA working together has been around for several years, there still seems to be a limited understanding of what that concept means from an implementation perspective. This month, Mike Rosen reviews the key concepts of BPM and SOA and cites some of the common failure modes he’s witnessed over the years. Most important, he provides practical suggestions for avoiding them in your organization.

CLOUD COMPUTING

Extreme Competition: Cloud Computing, It’s about Management Innovation—Peter Fingar
Peter Fingar describes the power of process driven Cloud Computing and suggests that organizations taking a wait and see attitude are travelling at their own risk. In fact, he posits that the best way to undermine your competitors is to tell them that Cloud Computing is just a bunch of hype. Read his Column for complete instructions.

Deploying BPM in the Cloud Has a Silver Lining—Austin Rosenfeld
Vendors beware. Austin Rosenfeld believes that the Cloud, or more specifically, the Software as a Service (SaaS) model that the Cloud enables, eliminates the need for many companies to buy servers and pay for the associated maintenance in order to use specific applications. Read Austin’s Article for reasons why deploying in the Cloud could be a significant money-saving strategy for your organization.

BPM: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

BPM in India: Spreading their Wings - Home-Grown Indian BPM Products—Jyoti Bhat and Jude Fernandez
While much has been written about the global BPM players and their efforts to increase their market share in the rapidly expanding Indian BPM market, Jyoti Bhat and Jude Fernandez thought it would be interesting to look at the Indian BPM players, how they grew, the unique challenges they faced and, finally, the possible trends for the future. Read their Column for their insights and analysis of “Home-Grown” Indian BPM products.

BPM: A Global View - What BPM Can Learn from Robotics—Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan analyzes the step-by-step development of the robotics industry and concludes that the Japanese learned from the practical implementation of robotics and achieved global leadership in robotics. In contrast, BPM players have continually pursued a grand vision without facing the challenges of real world deployments. Read Rashid’s Column for insights into the state of BPM today and why BPM remains “up for grabs.”

ERP

The State of ERP Software: BPMS Integration—Tom Bellinson
Acknowledging the importance of BPM, ERP vendors are adopting a variety of approaches to incorporating BPMS capabilities in their software. In this well-researched and insightful Article, Tom Bellinson reviews and analyzes the components of these approaches and provides a partial list of ERP vendors and the components they have implemented in their software solutions.

ERP Systems: Unlock the Hidden Value—Tom Sonde
If you believe that your ERP system hasn’t lived up to expectations, don’t despair. Tom Sonde has some practical advice to help you unlock the hidden value, “marry process with technology, and apply best practices.” Easier said than done, you say. Read Tom’s Article for the details.

CHANGING ROLE OF THE BUSINESS ANALYST

Process Centricity and the Business Analyst’s New Role—Pradeep Henry
Pradeep Henry believes that the Business Analyst’s role and skill set should be extended beyond traditional boundaries. In this Article, he not only defines the specifics of the new role, but he provides evidence of the success of this approach. Business Analyst readers, do you agree?

BPM and Business Analysts—Paul Harmon
Who should be doing business process work at your organization? Is a business process professional just another term for a business analyst? Does it include the managers responsible for value chains and lines of business, or Black Belts, or human performance analysts? Here are some thoughts on possible process practitioner roles and how they line up with existing jobs in today’s organizations.

CORPORATE AGILITY

Process Innovation and Corporate Agility: Balancing Efficiency and Adaptability in a Knowledge-Centric World—Derek Miers
In this Article, Derek Miers presents a comprehensive exploration of issues associated with finding the right balance between standardization and evolution. Read this thoroughly researched analysis for Derek’s conclusions on how best to find the right balance.

Down Under: Business Agility Requires Business Processes as its Basis—John Jeston and Johan Nelis
Confronted by the need for continuous change, many organizations are looking closely at options to increase their agility. In this environment, IT has suggested that an organization can have agility if it adopts an Agile IT development methodology. IT’s argument goes something like this, “It is better to be a business analyst than a process analyst, as we first determine what the business needs, then build a system, and then do the business processes.” John Jeston and Johan Nelis could not disagree more. Read their rebuttal in this month’s Column.

DEFINING BPM

Once More: What is BPM?—Paul Harmon
Given lots of recent discussion about what BPM is, or ought to be, we have decided to take another crack at it. It’s important, after all, to establish a context and a boundary for our BPM discussions.

Processes in Practice: What Organizations Need is a BPM Road Map—Rob Davis
After reading the June 15th BPTrends Advisor, Once More, What is BPM?, Rob Davis asked himself another question, “Why is it so difficult to get organizations to care about business process?” Rob believes that the ongoing confusion regarding the meaning of BPM causes roadblocks to process initiatives. As a solution, he proposes a BPM Roadmap that creates a long term vision of BPM for the organization and puts a plan in place to achieve it, but at the same time, initiates Process Transformation projects that deliver more immediate benefits. Read his Column for the details.

Calendar of Events/Education and Training
Conferences
Training
The BPTrends Associates (BPTA) BPM Certificate Programs are scheduled for delivery as follows:

BPM Professional Certificate Program BPM Enterprise Certificate Program View Complete Calendar

business process forum
business process forum
butrain
linkedin
© 2010 Business Process Trends
Home | Policies | Contact Us