On September 26, 2008, Dan Keldsen and I hosted the webinar in which we reviewed the findings from our Market IQ report on BPM. (The report will be published in the first half of October, but you can reserve a copy now.)
In my last blog post, I reviewed and made available the slides we used in our presentation. As is customary, I will answer all of the questions posed that we did not have time to answer during the recorded webinar. (Please refer to the recorded webinar for the questions we did answer.)
Before I start, however, I would once again like to thank our underwriters: EMC2, IBM and Risetime. This is not an endorsement of their respective products. It is simply a sincere thank you as it is through the support of sponsors such as this that AIIM can provide its research at no cost to the general public. From the scores of BPM technology providers in the market, there were the ones that were generous enough to step up and support our cause to educate the market. So again, Thank You.
Now to the questions:
Q: Can you talk about software available to perform Process Analysis?
A: Business Process Analysis (BPA) tools specifically address the ability to model and analyze a process, separate and distinct from automating the process. This is a best practice pre-cursor to process automation. Ideally, these tools operate independent from process automation software, but provide an interface to such software, in order to eliminate the need of redefining the process to the automation tool. They range in functionality from simple drawing tools (e.g. Visio) to robust products that include features such as: automated process documentation; multiple GUIs to the model such as flow charts, UML diagrams and swim lanes; document management level control on the process models; process simulation and optimization testing; support for BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation); support for BPEL (Business Process Execution Language). Providers of BPA functionality include (in no particular order) Oracle, IBM/FileNet, Savvion, EMC2, Ultimus, Mega, Metastorm, Casewise and Sybase.
Q: Can you clarify where the self assessment tool is and what it provides?
A: You can access the self assessment tool at: http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=1035149
This tool, developed by AIIM Market Intelligence is a an easy to take, 14 question survey that provides an immediate assessment of your organization’s readiness and achievements in BPM, and how they compare to that of hundreds of other organizations.
Q: What do you tell an organization that thinks they are a Level 5 BPM organization, when they really are a Level 1 organization?
A: I do not know if I would tell them anything, but I would ask them a few questions. Initially I would ask them if they were familiar with the BPM Maturity Model. Then I would ask them to point to evidence that supports their opinion. If all else fails, I might provide them with case studies that illustrate a level 5 company, and ask them how they think they compare. Then I might ask them what it is they are smoking - JUST KIDDING.
Q: What is the ideal starting point departmentally for Business Process Management.
A: Well, as any consultant will tell you - "It depends." But seriously, it does. OK, maybe there is a good starting point - business process analysis. You should go through this exercise for each of the major (i.e. you need not do this for non-critical, straightforward, simple and working processes), processes in your organization. This should provide you with an objective assessment or insight into the potential ROI associated with each process, as well as the level of re-engineering that will be required (including change management). Weigh these observations along with any preferences the sponsor of teh initiative might have, and a best starting point should emerge.
With that I have answered all of the questions that were unanswered during the webinar.
Comments