What is BPM?

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BPM Defined
• Business Process Management is a
generic term, that encompasses the
techniques, structured methods, and
means to streamline operations and
increase efficiency.
• BPM techniques and methods enable
you to identify and modify existing
processes to align them with a desired
(improved) future state.
Business Process Management is a means to study,
identify, change, and monitor business processes.

BPM is not…
• The automation of manual tasks
• Re-engineering the Enterprise
• Change Management
• Six Sigma
• A management methodology
• Workflow or BPM technology
But the techniques and tools can be used to support any
of these……if you want them to!

Principles of BPM:
• Organise around outcomes not tasks
• Correct and improve processes before
(potentially) automating them
• Establish processes and assign
ownership
• Standardise processes across the
enterprise
• Enable continuous change
• Improve existing processes, rather than
build radically new or ‘perfect’
processes

Typical Business Drivers
• Perceived or Expected Benefits:
– Reduce staff and office overhead numbers
– Process business critical activities faster
– Reduce the number of errors and exceptions
– Reduce overall IT costs
– Reduce duplications
– Increase visibility into operational efficiencies
and bottlenecks
– Reduce business risks
– Improve customer service and retention
http://www.aiim.org/bpm

The Mandate
BPM changes things.
• You need the authority, the will, and the
ability to change things; this means
aligning any project with enterprise goals
And
• You need the support of those whose
daily work and activities you will change,
as well as the support of the
management that owns the overall
process

BPM & Ethics
• BPM changes things.
– Our projects will commonly impact the day to day work
activities of individuals and groups
• Often reducing human involvement in a process
– Our projects will typically utilize confidential and secure data
– Our projects will commonly have an impact on the enterprise
as a whole (increased profit/efficiency)
• As such every BPM project needs to consider and be
aware of the ethical issues that will occur on a daily
basis
• Process consultants often face difficult or conflicting
ethical situations

Business Analysis
• No business process improvement or change activity
can be undertaken without the use of business
analysts and/or business analysis techniques
• You must never attempt to change a business process
without first analyzing the business impact of the
change in detail
• Most people think they understand the techniques of
analysis (e.g., requirements gathering), but few
actually do
• Most projects failures do not stem from technology
– Rather, a lack of insight, stakeholder support or planning -- all
things that are the focus of business analysts!

Methods
• In analysis work - consistency of methods of collection
and delivery are essential
• There are many different types of methods
• The use of any method is typically much more effective
than none - or a loose hybrid
• This presentation introduces you to three potential
approaches for both business and technology process
analysis
– Business Process Analysis
– Structured Analysis
– Object-oriented Analysis

1. Business Process Analysis
• Most common starting point is when something is not right in the
organisation…
– A meta problem: there are duplicative processes and information
across departments
– A business problem: exception rate is too high
– A micro problem: some user interface screens are confusing
• Business Analyst needs to
– evaluate the situation from various angles and identify core issues
– review any documentation, interview workers
– flowchart/document current process
– recommend improvements
• When to use: When you have already clearly identified a specific
process or process for improvements

• Centered around understanding of Objects and Classes
– Class - A class describes the characteristics of a thing (attributes,
behaviors, properties, etc.)
– Object - An instance of a class
• modeling techniques linked to UML (Unified modeling Language)
and software engineering
• Analysis focuses on “use cases”
• Makes use of Sequence Diagrams, Class Models, and Activity
Diagrams
• When to use: When you wish to improve a specific business
applications’ performance and usability
2. Object-Oriented Analysis

3. Structured Analysis
• Views a “System” as a collection of processes
executed according to certain logic (or illogic!)
• Focuses on data flows
• Models Data and Processes separately
• Makes use of Data Flow Diagrams, Relationship
Diagrams, and Flowcharts
• When to use: When you wish to improve your existing
IT investment infrastructure and gain greater process
efficiencies in the enterprise

Flowcharts Defined
What is a flowchart?
• “A graphical representation of the sequence of
activities, steps, and decision points that occur in a
particular, discrete process.”

Flowchart Example

Why Flowchart?
• To explain the sequence of a process graphically
• To improve communication and obtain business-user
validation
• To identify bottlenecks and loops
• To assist with problem analysis
• To provide a blueprint for development
• To identify variations in process activity

Charting vs. Modeling
• Flowcharting creates a graphical representation of the
sequence and key elements of a business process
• Process modeling extends this by
– Mapping dependencies and related flows
– Adding data intelligence to the steps
– Enabling simulation of flows to check for efficiencies and
bottlenecks
– Enabling reuse of mapped chart elements
– Supporting future monitoring of improved processes

Advantages of Modeling
• There are seldom single process flows - processes
tend to have interdependencies
– These are difficult to capture in a regular flowchart
– Multiple processes and systems are the hallmark of most BPM
projects
• The granular level of detail in a model supports
eventual automation analysis
• Cross-dependent processes can be acknowledged and
inter-related
• The needs of different stakeholders can be managed
holistically (from business to technical)
• Models can potentially become managed objects in a
ECM/BPM repository with version and access controls

BPMS
EA
modeling
Drawing
Tools
End User
Focus
Infrastructure
Focus
System to
System focus
Human to
Human focus
Development
Tools
Modeling Tool Options

Model to Execution
• “Execution” means implementing the
model in an ECM or BPM system
• The promise of powerful modeling tools
is to create a process model, then to
automate its execution
• The reality is far more complex – tools
for moving from modeling to execution
are evolving slowly

BPMN
(Business Process
Modeling Notation)
XPDL
(XML Process
Definition Language)
BPEL
(Business Process
Execution Language)
Standards and Protocols

BPMN
(Business Process
Modeling Notation)
BPMN consists of four basic elements:
• Flow Objects
• Event
• Activity
• Gateway
• Connecting Objects
• Sequence Flow
• Message Flow
• Association
• Swimlanes
• Pool
• Lane
• Artifacts
• Data Object
• Group
• Annotation
BPMN

Reality of BPMN
• BPMN has been designed to be understood by
business analysts to technical developers
• BPMN is a good standard - but it does not always
translate to BPEL (execution) - interim work will likely
be required
• All standards are open to interpretation - business
analysts address different issues to technical
developers…

Technology
• Maybe none at all (often)
• In the context of this course:
– BPM
– Workflow
– Smart Process Apps
– ECM (Enterprise Content
Management)
– ERP (Enterprise Resource
Planning) / Business Applications

Contemporary BPMS Architecture
Design &
Simulation
Services
Monitoring
Services
Process
Registry
Orchestration
(Workflow)
Engine
Rules
Engine
Integration
Services
Content / Data
Repositories
Note: Not all tools provide all these services or implement them in the same way…

Design & Simulation
• Tools to capture and design
business process models
• Designed to be used in the first
instance by business analysts
• Good design tools enable primary
flowcharting, and secondary detailed
modeling activities
• Advanced UIs also allow for
processes to be simulated so that
existing and proposed process
enhancements can be tested and
modified in advance of go-live

Analysis and Activity Monitoring
• Sometimes called Business Activity
Monitoring, or “BAM”
• Data is created whilst executing a
business process
• The data can be analyzed and displayed
via dashboards or reports
• Processes need to be monitored!
– Who has what
– Where it is
– When they got it
• Identifies bottlenecks and areas of weak
or no activity
• Provides reporting
• Enables process analysis

Process Registry
• Contains the process models and rules
• Also contains metadata about
processes
• Supports re-use of process
components
• Web Services (SOA) compatible
approach
• Traditional challenges of component re-use apply…
• Granularity and componentisation
• Management complexity
• Governance

Orchestration (Workflow)
Engine
• Core component for BPM
• Sometimes called Process Engine or
Process Server
• Parses and implements rules governing
transitions between tasks
• Updates the state of each process
instance
• Offers or delivers tasks as needed to
workers or applications to do the work
• Provides reporting and alerts on
demand

Integration
• BPM application will seldom access just
one source of information
• Hence the need to link the Orchestration
Engine with other sources of data and
services
• The process definition needs to be
comprehensive enough to understand
and address the application
• Invocation can be either push or pull
• May require variety of integration
techniques:
– EAI
– ESB
– BPM to BPM
– Brute force

Rules engines:
• Driven by defined rules, rather than processes
• Separates business rules from application code
• Evaluate the information provided by the process and control
changes in complex flows
– Business processes often have complex flow controls.
• Allow the separation of rules from business processes
– This composite approach provides more flexibility and is more
adaptable to change
Business rules describe the policies and
practices of an organisation. For example a
business rule might state that no credit
check is to be performed on return
customers
Rules Engine

Content Repository
• ECM repository containing mainly
unstructured data (documents
and files)
• Manages information created in
the business process
• Manages information used by the
business process
• Manages metadata that may drive business processes
– E.g., content of a certain document type prior to a particular date
is processed differently than other document types

Relationship Between
BPM & ECM
Both BPM and ECM:
• Have notions of workflow
– Involve business processes
– Involve use of resources
– Involve tasks
• Work on the basis of “the right information, to the right
person, at the right time”
• Have a reputation for being expensive
ECM almost always involves processes
• But not all BPM deals with ECM (unstructured content)

BPM as a Practice BPM as a Project BPM Master
For more information -
AIIM BPM Certificate Program
99.7% found the
course content to be
excellent, good, or
satisfactory
26% of course
attendees got
promoted, got a higher
salary/bonus, got a
new job, or landed new
customers as a result
of taking the course
http://www.aiim.org/training

BPM Practitioner Course – available as an online, 24/7 self-paced, or 2-day face-to-
face course:
- Get a thorough understanding of different workflow and BPM technologies
- Learn the fundamentals of flowcharting and standard charting symbols and functions
- Learn how to best map, analyze, standardize, and automate business processes
- Learn how to take a finished process model to execution
- Identify and plan enterprise application integration
- Earn the AIIM BPM Practitioner designation after passing the online exam
BPM Specialist Course – available as an online, 24/7 self-paced course:
- Identify business benefits and stakeholders of your BPM program
- Learn requirements gathering and analysis
- Learn best practices for designing new processes
- Learn how to best manage change and continuous improvements
- Earn the AIIM BPM Specialist designation after passing the online exam
BPM Master BPM Master Course – available as a 3-day virtual live, or 4-day face-to-
face course:
- Fast track your education with the best of the BPM Practitioner and Specialist courses
- Meet with, and learn from industry experts and professionals with similar challenges
- Earn the AIIM BPM Master designation after passing the case study exercise
http://www.aiim.org/training

What is BPM?

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