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BPM Technology Taxonomy: A Guided Tour to the Application of BPM

White Paper | March 2009

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Contents

Abstract .......................................................................................3

Introduction ..................................................................................3

Understanding Business Process Management ..........................................6

What Is a Business Process? ....................................................................6

What Is the Lifecycle of a Business Process? ................................................7

What Is a Model?.................................................................................8

What Is Business Process Modeling? ......................................................8

What Is Business Process Management? .................................................... 13

How Are Business Processes Executed with and without BPM? ......................... 16

How Does BPM Change the Function of IT? ................................................ 19

How Is Performance Management Related to BPM? ...................................... 20

How Is a Process Centric Approach Changing the Structure of Modern Companies?. 21

The Business Case for Adopting Business Processes Management................. 23

What Is the Ultimate Vision for a Process-Centric Company?........................... 23

What Is the Business Value of BPM?......................................................... 26

How Does BPM Help Run an Extended Business Network? ............................... 29

How Do Companies Adopt BPM? ............................................................. 29

Applying the Technology of Business Process Management ........................ 33

What Is the Purpose of BPM Technology? .................................................. 33

How Does BPM Technology Expand the Scope of IT? ..................................... 35

What Categories of BPM Technology Exist? ................................................ 39

What Is BPM Technology for Process Description? ........................................ 43

What Is the Value Provided by Descriptive BPM Technology? ........................... 45

What Is BPM Technology for Process Automation?........................................ 46

What Is the Value of BPM Technology for Process Automation? ........................ 50

What Functionality and Components Constitute a Fully Formed BPM Suite? ......... 52

What Enabling Standards and Technology Support BPM Technology?.................. 54

Moving Forward ............................................................................ 55

BPM Technology Taxonomy | March 2009

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Abstract Thispaperprovidesasurveyofthepracticesandtechnologyrelatedtobusinessprocessmanagement(BPM).Basicconceptsareexplained,thetransformationaleffectontheenterpriseisexamined,andthevaluethatBPMcancreateisanalyzed.ThepaperthenpresentsasurveyofthevastarrayoftechnologythatisrelatedtoBPMandsortsouthowandwhensuchtechnologyisused.

Introduction Asthemodernenterprisegrowsincomplexityandscope,managershavestruggledtokeeppace.Thevalue‐creatingprocessesinsidecompaniesaremorecomplex.Moreandmoreactivitieshappenoutsidecompaniesinextendedbusinessnetworks.Demandsforincreasedcomplianceandbetterfinancialreturnsseemonlytoincrease.Thepaceofchangeisfasterthanever.

Businessprocessmanagementincreasinglyisseenasawaytomastertheswellingcomplexityofthemoderncorporationsandcoordinatetheworkofthousandsofpeoplethroughafocusonwell‐definedprocesses.Leadingcompanieshaveshownthatapplyingbusinessprocessmanagement(BPM)intherightwaycanfulfillthepromiseofITtoautomatebusinessprocessesanddirectlysupportstrategy.

WhatisrarelydescribedindiscussionsofBPMistheend‐to‐endpicture.Howexactlydoestheactofusingtheboxes,lines,anddiamondstodescribeprocessesultimatelyleadtothegoalofrunningabetterbusiness?Whatarethestepsfromstarttofinishtoreachthisgoal?Whatvaluedoesanincreasedfocusonbusinessprocessesbring?Howwillanorganizationchangeinthewakeofthisfocus?HowdoesBPMtransformthetraditionalsolution‐developmentlifecycle?Whatroledoestechnologyplay?HowdoesBPMincorporateERPandtheexistingenterpriseapplicationlandscape?Howhasthenextgenerationofsolutions,theso‐calledthird‐generation,beenconstructedusingmodeling,businessrules,andSOAtofulfillthepromiseofBPM?

ThispaperaimstobringreaderstoamorecompleteunderstandingofwhatBPMmeans,howitworksatmanydifferentlevels,andhowtogetstarted.Theauthorsintendtodemonstratethatbusinessprocessmanagementissimplygoodmanagementthatemphasizesthecentralroleofthebusinessprocess.Businessprocessmanagementisthedisciplineofthinkingfirstabouthowtooptimallyrunyourbusinessthroughdefinedprocesses,andthenfindingawaytotakeadvantageofthelatestdevelopmentsintechnologytoextendautomationtoachievemoreeffectivenessandefficiency.

Thethreequestionsexecutivesatalllevelsshouldaskthemselvesare:


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• Arewerunningourbusinesswithaprocess‐centricmanagementviewpoint?• Arewedefiningandautomatingourprocesseswithtoolsbuiltforthat

purpose?• Arewemigratingourapplications,infrastructure,tools,andprogram

managementprocessestocreateathird‐generationbusinessprocessplatformtosupportadoptionofBPM?

Thispaperarguesthatcompanieswillbenefitfromaprocess‐centricapproachthatissupportedbyintelligentuseofbusinessprocessmanagementtechnology.Inmakingthiscase,thepaperwillstartfromscratchandexplainthebasicsofbothbusinessprocessmodeling,businessprocessmanagement,andaprocesscentricapproach.Thepaperwillthenmoveontoadetaileddiscussionofbusinessprocessmanagement‐relatedtechnology.Theargumentwillunfoldinthefollowingsections,eachofwhichanswerskeyquestions:

UnderstandingBusinessProcessManagement.Providesbasicdescriptionsfortermsthatareoftenusedandseldomclearlyexplained.Relatedareastobusinessprocessmanagementsuchasperformancemanagementandorganizationalstructurewillalsobeexplored.Thefollowingquestionsareansweredinthissection:

Whatisabusinessprocess? Whatisthelifecycleofabusinessprocess? Whatisamodel? Whatisbusinessprocessmodeling? Whatisbusinessprocessmanagement? HowarebusinessprocessesexecutedwithoutBPM? HowdoesBPMchangethefunctionofIT? Howisperformancemanagementrelatedtobusinessprocess

management? Howisaprocess‐centricapproachchangingthestructureofmodern

companies?

TheBusinessCaseforAdoptingBusinessProcessManagement.Reviewstheargumentsinfavorofadoptingbusinessprocessmanagement.Thissectionpresentsthelong‐termvisionforbusinessprocessmanagement,themoreimmediatebusinessvalue,andexplorestheeffectonbusinessnetworksandtheITfunction.Thesimultaneoustop‐downandbottom‐uppropagationofbusinessprocessmanagementisalsodescribed.Thefollowingquestionsareanswered:

Whatistheultimatevisionforaprocess‐centriccompany? WhatisthebusinessvalueofBPM?


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HowdoesBPMhelprunanextendedbusinessnetwork? HowdocompaniesadoptBPM? WhatskillsarerequiredtosupportBPM?

ApplyingtheTechnologyofBusinessProcessManagement.Presentsataxonomyofbusinessprocessmodelsthatcanbeusedtoquicklycategorizeandunderstandtheappropriateuseofthegrowingcollectionofbusinessprocessmanagement–relatedtechnology.Theroleofenterpriseapplicationsandservice‐orientedarchitecture(SOA)isexplainedalongwithexamplesofhowtousevariouscategoriesofBPMtechnology.Itanswersthefollowingquestions:

WhatisthepurposeofBPMtechnology? HowdoesBPMtechnologyexpandthescopeofIT? WhatcategoriesofBPMtechnologyexist? WhatisdescriptiveBPMtechnologyandwhatisitsvalue? WhatisBPMtechnologyforprocessautomationandwhatisitsvalue? WhatfunctionalityandcomponentsconstituteafullyformedBPM

suite? WhatenablingstandardsandtechnologysupportBPMtechnology?

Peoplewhoarenewtobusinessprocessmanagementorwhoareseekingtorefreshtheirknowledgeshouldreadthepaperstraightthrough.Cognoscentishouldstartatthesection“ApplyingtheTechnologyofBusinessProcessManagement,”whichbreaksnewgroundandprovidesahelpfulwaytoorganizethinkingwhenselectingtechnology.

Thispaperisintendedtosparkacontinuingdiscussionofbusinessprocessmanagement,whichwillhenceforthbereferredtoasBPMinthepaper.Tojointhisdiscussion,pleasegotooneofthefollowingonlinecommunities:

• JointheSAPBPXCommunityathttps://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/bpx• GetmoreinformationaboutSAPNetWeaverBPMat

http://www.sap.com/platform/netweaver/components/sapnetweaverbpm/index.epx

• GotoAccentureBusinessProcessManagementServicesathttp://www.accenture.com/bpm

• ForinformationonsystemsintegrationandtechnologyfromAccenturegotohttp://www.accenture.com/Global/Technology


http://www.accenture.com/bpm

http://www.accenture.com/Global/Technology


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Understanding Business Process Management Thetermsprocess,businessprocess,modeling,businessprocessmodeling,andbusinessprocessmanagementareseeminglyself‐explanatoryenoughthattheyareusedmostofthetimewithoutanexplicitdefinition.Unfortunately,noteveryonemeansthesamethingwhentheyusetheseterms.InthissectionofthepaperweclearthedecksofthebasicconceptsofBPMaswellasexplainsomelinksbetweenBPMandadjacentareasofconcern.

Thefollowingdefinitionsattempttostayawayfromacademiccomplexityandgettotheheartofthematter.

What Is a Business Process? Aprocesstomostpeopleisadescriptionofawayofdoingthingsorthewaysomethinghappens.Aprocessisatransformationinwhichinputsareconvertedtooutputs.Inbusiness,aprocessisawaytoachieveaspecificobjectivethatisrelatedtocreatingvaluefortheend‐customer,asshowninFigure1.

Figure1.TheBasicStructureofaProcess

Businessprocessesoperateinthecontextofconstraints,regulations,anddefinedrolesandrelationships.Everydayexamplesoftask‐levelbusinessprocessesincluderegisteringtovote,buyingabookfromawebsite,orchangingyouraddress.Activity‐levelprocessesmightincludepreparingyourtaxesorapplyingforamortgage.Process‐levelprocesseshavemanysteps,forexample,buyingahouseor


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selectingandenrollinginauniversity.Thehighestlevelprocessesareongoing,complexactivitiessuchasmarketingasmallbusinessorbuildingashoppingcenter.Sometimesthevaluecreatedbyaprocessiseasytosee.Othertimesaprocessindirectlycreatesvaluebyperformingataskrelatedtoaccounting,administration,andothermanagementfunctions.Therearemanymoreornatedefinitionsofbusinessprocesses,buttheyallcomedowntothissimplelevel.

Thechallengethenbecomestodescribehowtheinputsaretransformedintooutputs.Hereiswherethingsstarttogetmorecomplicated.

What Is the Lifecycle of a Business Process? Businessprocessesemergefromexperience.Asacompanydoesitswork,patternsemerge.Eventually,thestepstodoingsomethingreliably,thecompletesetofinformationneeded,andtheroleseveryoneshouldplaybecomeclear.Whenallofthisisunderstood,itispossibletodescribeanddocumenttheprocessinoneofmanydifferentforms.Then,byexecutingtheprocessandkeepingtrackoftheperformanceandtheresults,itispossibletounderstandwaysofimprovingtheprocess.Thesestepsarecapturedinthefollowingdiagramthatshowsthegenerallifecycleofabusinessprocess.

Figure2.TheBusinessProcessLifecycle


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ThecyclestartswiththeAnalyzestep,inwhichtheneworexistingprocessesarestudiedsothattherequirementsfortheprocessareunderstood.ThenextstepisDesign,inwhichtheprocessisdefinedindetail,followedbyImplement,inwhichtheprocessissupportedorautomatedtothegreatestextentpossible.Inthesesteps,theprocesscomesoffthedrawingboardandcomestolife,firstasabusinessprocessmodelandthenassomeformoftechnologythatassistswithimplementation.Finally,theprocessisrunandmonitoredand,ifthereisroomforimprovement,thecyclestartsalloveragain.ItisnotuncommonforprocesssimulationstobeemployedintheDesignandImplementstepstoimprovetheunderstandingofhowaprocesswillworkinproduction.Thiscyclerepresentsacommon‐senseapproachtoviewingprocessesandyoumaywanttokeepitinmindasweproceedthroughthisdiscussion.

What Is a Model? Amodelisadescriptionofsomething,arepresentationofreality.1Oftenmodelssummarizecomplexactivityinasimplifiedform.Butmodelscanjustaseasilycaptureandrepresentcomplexprocesses.Thepointofmodelsiscommunication—toportraytheessenceofsomething,toconveyanimprovedunderstanding.Modelscanbeexpressedeitherintermsofmetricsandequationsorintermsofstep‐by‐stepinstructions.BothtypesofmodelsarerelevanttoBPM.Forexample,thefinancialreportsofacompanyrepresentamodelofthecompany’sfinancialperformance.Allofthecapitalandotherresourcesaretheinputsandtheincomeproducedisoneofthekeyoutputs.Modelsthatdescribeaprocesscantakemanyforms.MostofthetimeintheworldofBPMavisualrepresentationofaprocessiswhatisreferredtoasthemodel.Itisnotuncommontohavelengthierformsofdescriptionsofeachstepofavisualmodelprovidedinlongerdocumentsthatcontainanarrativedescription.

What Is Business Process Modeling? Businessprocessmodelingistheartofdescribinghowworkgetsdoneinacompanyattheappropriateleveltoachievethedesiredcommunication.Thetypicalgoalsofbusinessprocessmodelingaretocaptureaprocesssothatitcanbebetterunderstoodandimprovedortodescribeaprocessindetailandassociateitwithtechnologysothatitcanbeautomated.

1Inhisbook,HighPerformanceThroughProcessExcellence(Springer2009),MathiasKirchmercomparesbusinessprocessmodelsandthewaytheyrepresentrealitytopopartpaintings,whichrepresentandcapturerealityinadifferentway.


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Abusinessprocessmodelingeneralissimplyadescriptionofabusinessprocess.VisualbusinessmodelsaredescriptionsofthestepsthattakeplaceduringaprocessandarefrequentlyrepresentedinflowchartssuchastheoneshowninFigure3,althoughotherformsofmodelssuchasnumericalequationsorstep‐by‐stepproceduresarealsosometimesused.

Figure3.ABusinessProcess

Mostmodernbusinessprocessmodels,liketheoneabove,areexpressedinbusinessprocessmodelingnotation(BPMN),avisuallanguageusingrectanglesforstepsinaprocess,linesshowingtheflowofactivity,circlesforstartandendpoints,diamondsfordecisionpointsandbranches,andvariousformsofannotations(seeFigure4).


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Sometimestheactivitiesofaprocessareseparatedintocolumnsorrowscalledswimlanesthatgroupstepsthathavesomethingincommon.

Figure4.BPMNElements2

BPMNisdesignedtoallowprocessestobedescribedinasummarized,abstractwaythatcanbeunderstoodbybusinesspeople.BPMNalsoisrichenoughtodescribeprocessesatthelevelofdetailneededtoallowtechnologiststousemodelstoautomateprocesseswithtechnology.Inatypicaluseofbusinessprocessmodeling,high‐levelmodelssummarizebusinessprocessesandthencascadedownwardinincreasinglevelsofdetail.Themostdetailedmodelshaveenoughexpressivepowertodescribeapplications,thatis,tolinkeachprocesssteptoauserinterfaceorwebservicethathelpssupportthestepbyprovidinginformationorthemeanstotakeaction.(“ApplyingtheTechnologyofBusinessProcessManagement”laterinthispapergoesintogreaterdetail.)Becausethesamemodelinglanguageisusedatalllevels,themodelscanstayconnected.Whenproblemsareidentifiedatlowerlevels

2ThisgraphicisadaptedfromTheProcessofBusinessProcessModelingUsingBPMN,AlexanderGrosskoph,GeroDecker,andMathiasWeske(Meghan‐KifferPress,2009)


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ofdetail,theanalysisoftheproblemcanthencascadeupwarduntiltheissueisresolvedattheappropriatelevel.Mostmodelshaveoneoftwopurposes:theycanbedescriptiveorexecutable.Adescriptivemodeliscreatedtodocumentthestructureofsomeexistingprocessorthedesirednewwayofdoingthings.Descriptivemodelscanbeusedfortrainingandeducationandaspartofchangemanagementprogramsandsystemsdesign.Simulationsusedtobetterunderstandtheflowofdataandworkthroughaprocessarealsoprimarilydescriptive,eventhoughtheyallowaprocesstocometolifeinalimitedway.

Executablemodelsaremodelsintendedtobetranslatedintosomeformofautomatedsolutionthathelpscarryoutaprocess.Executablemodelsaredescriptive,buttheyalsoincorporatecomponentssuchasuserinterfaces,services,businessrules,andotheraspectsthatareinvolvedinconnectingaprocesstotheoutsideworld.MuchofBPMtechnologyinvolvesusingexecutablemodelsaswayforbusinesspeopleandITstafftodescribethewaytheywantabusinessprocesstoworksothatasolutiontosupportthatprocesscanbegeneratedfromthemodel.

Process Summary Levels

Onemajorchallengetounderstandingbusinessprocessmodelingisthatitisusedatmanydifferentlevelsofdetailformanydifferentpurposes.Whenlookingatabusinessprocess,firstitisvitaltoaskyourselfwhatlevelofdetailisbeingexpressed.Whilethereisnocanonicaldefinitionofthelevelsofbusinessprocessmodeling,thelevelsusuallyproceedfromhigh‐level(lowgranularity)tospecific(highgranularity).

Forexample,businessprocessmodelingmaybeusedtodescribethehigh‐levelstructureofahugecompany.Theboxesinthiscasemayrepresentwholedepartments,likeR&D,manufacturing,orsupplychain.Suchmodelingisoftenperformedbyenterprisearchitects,peoplewhodesigntheprocessesandtechnologyofacompanyatabroadlevel.Inthispaper,wesaythatsuchmodelshaveenterprisefocusandtheycorrespondtoprocesssummarylevel1,asshowninFigure5.Level1modelingdescribesthehighest‐levelbusinessscenarios.Thesemodelsencompassbroadcollectionsofprocessesthatdescribethemajorfunctionsoftheenterprise,suchasmarketing,demandmanagement,orproductdesign.Thislevelofmodelingisusuallydescriptive.

Businessprocessmodelingmayalsobeusedtodescribethedetailsofabusinessprocess.Thiscanbeatahighlevel,suchasdescribingallofthestepsoftheordertocashprocess,orataverydetailedlevel,suchasdescribingallofthestepsneededto

When looking at a business process, first it is vital to ask yourself what level of detail is being expressed.


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evaluatethecreditofapotentialbuyer.Wesaysuchmodelshaveaprocessfocusandcorrespondtoprocesssummarylevels2and3.Level2istheprocesslevelinwhichthestepstocarryoutsomecomplicatedactivityaredescribed.Aprocesshasarelativelylargescopethatinvolvesmanyactivities.Fulfillingdemand,thatismakingsurethatproductsaretheretobepurchased.isagoodexampleofaprocessatlevel2,whichmaybepartofthedemandmanagementscenario.Thislevelofprocess,andallofthosebelowit,canbedescriptiveorexecutable.

Level3istheactivitylevelinwhichactivitiestocarryoutthestepsoflevel2aredescribedindetail.Anactivityisasetofsingleunitsofworkthathastobedonebymultiplepeople.Managingsupplierrelationshipsmightbeoneactivityinthefulfillingdemandprocess.Modelingmayalsobeusedtodescribetasksatvaryinglevelsofdetailthatmaybeusedtoautomateprocesses.Modelswithataskfocuscanhavemanylevelsofdetail,dependingonthecomplexityofthetask.Level4modelsdescribespecificactionsthatmustbetakentocarryoutatask.Tasksareindependentactivitiesthatcanbedoneasasingleunitofworkbyoneperson.Settingupavendorcontractwouldbeaspecifictaskinthemanagingsupplierrelationshipsactivity.


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Figure5.BusinessProcessSummaryLevelsImprovetheVisualExplanation

Theselevelsaresomewhatarbitrary,andtherearemanygrayareasbetweenthem.Eachlevelmayincludecascadinglevelsofdetail.Buttheselevelsareusefulwhendescribingthemodelingthattakesplacewhilecreatingbusinessprocessmodels.Thewaythatbusinessprocessmodelingseparatesareasofconcernisespeciallyusefulwhenmanaginglarge‐scaleprocessdesignactivitiesbecausetheworkloadcanbecleanlyallocatedacrossagroupofspecificsubjectmatterexperts.

What Is Business Process Management? Withaclearunderstandingofbusinessprocessmodelinginmind,itisstraightforwardtounderstandBPM,whichisessentiallythepracticeofmanagingacompanybyfocusingondefiningbusinessprocesses,describingthemindetail,monitoringthemwithappropriatemetrics,andthenusingtheimprovedunderstandingtooptimizetheperformanceofthebusiness.

Noticethat,intheory,notechnologyisrequired.BPMkeepsthefocusonthebusinessprocessasthecentralconceptaroundwhichallothermanagementthinkingandactivitytakesplace.Inpractice,however,keepingtrackofallofthose


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processdescriptions,automatingprocesseswhereappropriate,instrumentingprocessesandtrackingmetrics,usingmodelstogeneratesolutions,andmakingthemostofexistingenterpriseapplicationsallrequiretechnologyofvarioustypes.

The Evolution of BPM

ThemodernideaofBPMhasitsrootsinthescientificmanagementtheoriesofFredrickWinslowTaylor.Ithasevolved3throughtechniquesforsystematicimprovementofprocessessuchastotalqualitymanagement,leanmanufacturingandsixsigma,andwasmostrecentlypromotedunderthebannerofbusinessprocessre‐engineering.

Whilemostofthesemethodshavebeensuccessfulinthecontextinwhichtheywereapplied,itisworthlookingatbusinessprocessreengineeringinabitmoredepthbecauseitsometimesisreferredtoinanegativeway.Businessprocessreengineering,whichcametoprominenceinthe1990s,was,inessence,anattemptatapplyingBPMinaworldpopulatedwithrigidtechnology.ReengineeringtookholdinanerainwhichtheUnitedStateswasundersiegefromforeigncompetition,especiallyfromJapan,andcompanieswerelookingforwaystoimprovetheirperformance.BusinessprocessreengineeringworkedbrilliantlywhenthechangesdemandedofITweremodestandcouldbeperformedquickly.Mostoftheexamplescitedinbooksonreengineeringareofthisnature.ButwhenmoderateormajorchangestoITwererequired,reengineeringgenerallydidnotproducegreatresults.

ItisimportanttorecognizehowfarIThascomesincetheearly1990s,thebeginningofthesecondgenerationofintegratedenterpriseapplications.ERPandotherenterpriseapplicationshavebeenwidelyimplemented,providingafoundationofstandardizedprocessautomation.EventuallyERPandtherestoftheseapplications(suchasCRM,SCM,HCM,andPLM)wereintegrated,providingthehighestleveloffulfillmentofthesecondgenerationparadigm.

Thestirringsofthethirdgenerationofenterpriseapplicationsbeganintheearly2000s.TheInternethasbeenbuiltoutprovidingubiquitous,standardizedconnectivity.Manydifferenttypesofwebservicesareavailableforreuse,resultinginanexplosioninso‐calledmashupapplications.Enterpriseapplicationsarenowmuchmoremanageableandconfigurable.Theseapplicationsgainflexibilitybyparticipatinginprocessautomationthroughwebservices,whichisnowcalledSOA.Visualprogrammingandapplicationcompositiontoolsusingmodelshavegonethroughseveralgenerationsandarenowstartingtoallowbothbusinesspeopleand

3Chapter2,“TheEvolutionofProcessManagement,”inBusinessProcessManagement:TheSAPRoadmapbyJimHagemannSnabe,AnnRosenberg,CharlesMøller,andMarkScavillo(SAPPress,2009),hasausefulsummaryofthehistoryofBPM.


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ITstafftobuildsolutions.Standardsformodelingofprocesses,theirexecution,andtheirimplementation,havegonethroughseveralgenerationsandarenowmature.Theinfrastructureformonitoringprocessesandmanagingperformanceandcompliancehasbeencreated.Sixsigmaandotherqualitymanagementprocessesarenowwellunderstood.Theparadigmshiftforthethirdgenerationisfromthenotionofanintegratedsetofapplicationstothevisionofaplatformtosupportthecreationandrecombinationofmodularbusinessprocesses.Suchaplatformbringstogethertheabilitytodesign,implement,monitor,analyze,andimprovebusinessprocesseswithoutregardfortheunderlyingtechnicalorapplicationconstraints.

Givenallofthistechnology,thelessonslearned,andtheurgencythatresultsfromincreasingbusinesscomplexityandcompetition,BPMhasachanceofsucceedingwherebusinessprocessreengineeringfailed.

An Example of BPM in Action

AmergeroftwocompanieswithoverlappingproductportfoliosprovidesatypicalexampleofthevalueofBPMtechnology.ImaginethatthetwocompanieshavedifferentITinfrastructurethattheydonotplanonconsolidatingintheshortterm.Butevenso,thecompaniesdecidetheywantacommonfacetotheconsumerthroughwebsites,callcenters,andotherchannelsforordertaking.ThisisaperfectscenarioforapplyingBPMtechnology.Thefirststepistodesigntheidealorder‐to‐cashprocessinwhichalltheactivitiesrequired,fromordertakingtofulfillmentandthroughcollectingmoney,aredescribedinabusinessprocessmodel.Eachstepinthemodelmustincorporatecomponentssuchasuserinterfacestopresentaunifiedproductcatalogorcollectthedataabouttheorder.Existingservicesthatcommunicatewiththeapplicationswillbereusedandmissingserviceswillhavetobedefinedandimplemented.

Thecallcenterandsalesstaffwilluseanapplicationforordertakingandfulfillmentthatwillbegeneratedfromthebusinessmodel.Oneofthestepsinthismodelisabusinessrulescomponentthatlooksattheproductsincludedineachorder.Therulescomponentanalyzestheordertodeterminethecorrectcompanyandspecificfactorytowhichtheordershouldbesentusingallavailabledata,includingproduct,sizeoforder,geographyofcustomer,andsoon.Basedontherecommendationprovidedbythebusinessrules,thespecificpartsoftheorderaresentviamessagestothecompaniesthatmaketheproducts.Anothersetofbusinessrulesisusedtodeterminethecorrectwebservicestousetoobtainstatusinformation.


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Figure6.UnifiedOrdertoCashProcessforTwoDistinctCompanies

Inthisway,BPMtechnologyallowsthebusinessprocesstobethedrivingforceindetermininghowbusinessgetsdone.TheunderlyingcomplexityoftheITinfrastructureisconcealedanddoesnothavetobetheconcernofthoserunningthebusiness.

How Are Business Processes Executed with and without BPM? SometimesitsoundsasifproponentsofBPMaresuggestingthateveryactivityofacorporationshouldbedescribedorautomatedusingformalbusinessprocessmodels.EventhemostenthusiasticproponentsdonotsuggestthatadoptionofBPMgothisfar.Rather,thetargetsforBPMaretheprocessesthataremostimportanttocreatingvalue,thosethatwillyieldtremendousbenefitsifoptimized,thosethatmostneedtorapidlychangeandevolvetokeeppacewithcompetitivemarkets.

ButtotrulyunderstandwhatBPMisgoodfor,

Sometimes it sounds as if proponents of BPM are suggesting that every activity of a corporation should be described or automated using formal business process models. Even the most enthusiastic proponents do not suggest that adoption of BPM go this far.


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itisvitalthatwealsounderstandtheotherwaysthatworkgetsdone,boththoseprocessesarelessstructuredandthosethataremorestructured.Figure7showsthetypesofprocessesandtechnologiesoneithersideofBPM.

Figure7.ProcessandTechnologyTypes

Mostoftheworkdoneinacompanyhappensthroughunstructuredcollaborationandcommunicationbasedonthesimplemechanismsofemail,spreadsheets,documents,presentations,andreal‐timecommunicationthroughphones,IM,andtextmessaging.Doprocessestakeplacewhenweusesuchtools?Mostwouldansweryes.Tasksarebeingperformed,sometimescalledtacitinteractions,thathaveastartingpointandaresult,butworkdoesnotproceedinapredictable,step‐by‐stepmanner.Recruitingisagoodexampleofsuchaprocess.Itstartswithajobdescriptionandendswithahire,butexactlyhowalltheinterviews,evaluations,andmeetingswillgoisnotclearattheoutset.


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BPMdoesnotinvadethisspaceforthemostpart,although,bypayingattentiontothepatternsofcommunicationandcommonformsofdocuments,itispossibletoidentifyprocessesthatcouldbenefitfromsupportwithBPM.

Whatissometimesmisunderstoodindiscussionsabouthowtoautomatebusinessprocessesistheextenttowhichunstructured,manualtechniquesdominatetheactivityinabusiness.InBusinessProcessManagement:TheSAPRoadmap,JimHagemannSnabe,AnnRosenberg,CharlesMøller,andMarkScavillosuggestthatonlyabout20percentofalltheprocessesusedtorunabusinesscanbeautomated.

EnterpriseapplicationssuchasERPprovidestandardizedimplementationsofthecommonprocessesofmodernbusinessesanddomostoftheworkfortheapproximately20percentofprocessesthatcanbeautomated.Atthedawnoftheenterprisesoftwareindustry,itbecameclearthateachcompanyshouldnotinvestincreatingitsowncustomapplicationforaccounting,finance,controlling,budgeting,invoiceprocessing,andsoon.Enterprisesoftwarevendorscreatedsoftwareapplicationsthatimplementedstandardprocessesthroughconfigurableabstractions.Theseapplicationsbecamerapidlyadoptedstartingintheearly1990swiththearrivalofthefirstcomprehensiveERPpackages.Asuccessionofotherapplicationsfollowed,includingCRM,SCM,PLM,andothers.Todaywehaveacomprehensivefoundationfortrackingandautomatingthetransactionalactivitiesinherentinlargecompanies.Enterpriseapplicationshavebecomethesystemsofrecordandmanyofthenon‐automatedactivitiesusedatathatisstoredinthem.Enterpriseapplicationsalsohaveunitsoffunctionality,suchastakingorders,creatinginvoicesandpurchaseorders,makingpayments,andsettingupvendorrelationships,thatmaybetheendresultofanonautomatedprocesssuchasmakingasale.BPMfillsthespacebetweenthewideopen,unstructuredworldofcollaborationandtheprecisetransactionprocessingofenterpriseapplications.Ithasbecomewidelyrealizedthatimportantenterpriseprocessesroutinelycrosstheboundariesofenterpriseapplications.Processeslikeorder‐to‐cashorprocure‐to‐paymayinvolveseveralenterpriseapplicationssuchastakingordersinCRM,ERPcreatinginvoicesandpurchaseorders,andmanagingproductionandfulfillmentinSCM.BPM,especiallyincombinationwithservicesthatcanmovedatainandoutofenterpriseapplicationsandotherinformationsourcesprovidesawaytoexplicitlydefine,manage,andautomateprocessesthatspanenterpriseapplications.BPMalsoallowsprocessesthatbringinpeopleandsystemsfromoutsidethecompanytobedefined.Inthisway,BPMsupportsprocessesthattakeplaceacrossanextendedbusinessnetwork.

ThepersonalityofprocessescurrentlyautomatedbyBPMareasfollows:


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• Theyaremorestructuredthantheloosecollaborationbasedonemailandothersuchmechanisms

• Theyaremoreflexiblethanthetransactionalprocessesinenterpriseapplications

• Theyarewiderinscopethanprocessesinenterpriseapplications,crossingbothapplicationandcompanyboundaries

• Theirflowisexplicitlydefined,managed,andautomatedItisimportanttopointoutthatthescopeoftheprocessescurrentlyautomatablebyBPMislimitedbythegranularityofthewebservicesthatareavailable.Astimepasses,notonlywillhigh‐levelwebservicesbeexposed,butlowerlevelservicesaswell.Anenterpriseapplicationwillbeanerectorsetwithpartsthatcanmakeotherpartsthatcanmakeotherparts.Insuchaworld,BPMcanbeusedformuchmorethanthehigh‐levelorchestrationdescribedearlier,butalsoformorestructuredautomation.Inaddition,itislikelythattheboundariesbetweenunstructuredcollaborativeprocessesandBPMorchestrationwillalsoblur.Inotherwordswhatisnowadivisionbetweenunstructuredprocesses,BPM‐styleprocesses,andhighlystructuredprocesseswillbecomeacontinuumandBPMwillexpandinitsabilitytoexpresstheflowofworkfrombeginningtoend.TherestofthisdocumentprovidesamoredetailedexplanationofhowBPMworksinitscurrentform.

How Does BPM Change the Function of IT? BeforetheadventofBPM,thetaskofIThadtwomissions:providingtoolstosupportunstructuredcollaborationandimplementingandconfiguringstructuredenterpriseapplications.Bothcasesempowerusers.Collaborativetoolsprovidethepowertocommunicate,collaborate,andcreateandsharedocuments,spreadsheets,andpresentations.Enterpriseapplicationsrecordtransactions,analyzethestateoftheenterprise,andparticipateinstructuredandwell‐definedbusinessprocessesthatareimplementedinthoseapplications.BPMprovidesanewsortofempowermentandchangestheroleofITtosomeextent.BPMallowsbusinessusers—thepeoplewhoarethemastersofspreadsheetsandpresentations,whoreallymakethemostuseofthetechnologytheyhave—tostartplayingamajorroleinthediscovery,definition,andautomationofbusinessprocesses.AsweshallseeinmoredetailinthesectionsonBPMtechnology,oneofthekeywaysthatBPMchangesacompanyisbyempoweringbusinessusers.IfBPMtechnologyisprovidedintandemwithanITandapplicationinfrastructuretosupportSOA,itisincreasinglypossibleforbusinessstafftodesigntheirownprocessesandplayamuchmoreactiveandhelpfulroleingeneratingnewsolutionstosupportthem.ItshouldalsobenotedthatITstaffusingBPMtechnologyareable


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toincreasetheirproductivitywhenbuildingsolutions.Regardlessofwhousesthetechnology,businessprocessmodelsarenotonlydescriptionsofhowacompanydoesitsworkbuttheycanbethesourceforcreatingsolutions.Inotherwords,thebusinessprocessmodelsaresemanticmodelsofabusiness.AsProfessorEricvonHippel’sresearchonuser‐driveninnovation4shows,whenpeoplearegiventoolstosolvetheirownproblems,afloodofinnovationusuallyfollows.

InthecaseofBPM,whatusuallyhappensissomethinglikethis:• Businessusersrealizethattheycandefineprocessesandplayamuchmore

activeroleincreatingsolutionstoautomatethemwithBPMtechnology• Theystartrecognizingprocessesthathavebeenexecutedininformalways

anduseBPMtechnologytostarttoautomatethem• Intheautomationprocess,informationisretrievedandstoredinenterprise

applicationsthroughwebservices• Incaseswheretheneededwebservicesdonotexist,ITcreatesthemto

providetheneededinformationandfunctionalitytosupporttheprocess• Astimepasses,moreandmoresupportingBPMinfrastructureisinplace,

businessusersbecomemoreadeptatdesigningprocessesandsomestartbuildingsolutionsforthemselves,andITmakessureeveryonehasthetoolstheyneed.

InacompanythatisatahighlevelofBPMmaturity,therelationshipbetweenbusinessandITchanges.AssumingtherightBPMtechnologyandwebservicesareavailable,businessuserscandomoreforthemselvesandITbecomesinvolvedonanexceptionbasis.InsteadofaskingITtosolvetheirproblemsdirectly,usersbringITintotheprocesswhensomethingismissing.

ThistransformationoftheroleofITdoesnothappenquicklyatmostcompaniesbecausetheadoptionofBPMtechnologyandtheemergenceofafullportfolioofservicestakeplacegradually.Intheshortterm,BPMmeansthatthealignmentbetweenbusinessandITdramaticallyimproves.Inthelongerterm,itshouldalwaysberememberedthatoneoftheresultsofBPMistheempowermentofanevenbroaderrangeofuserstoinnovateandsolvetheirownproblems.

How Is Performance Management Related to BPM? ThemodernpracticeofperformancemanagementworkshandinhandwithBPMbyapplyingmeasurementsatvariouspointsinprocesses.

4EricvonHippelisaProfessorandHeadoftheInnovationandEntrepreneurshipGroupattheMITSloanSchoolofManagement.Hisbooksonuserdriveninnovationcanbedownloadedfromhishomepage:http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/.


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Inthepast,performancemanagementhasfocusedonmeasuringresults,mostlyattheendoftheprocessandusuallyinfinancialterms.WhenperformancemanagementisappliedinanorganizationthatisadoptingBPMseveralthingschange:

• Measurementstakeplaceatkeycontrolpointsatthebeginning,middle,andendoftheprocess

• Operationalmeasuresthatindicatethepaceandqualityofprocessesbecomemoreprominent.Theseoperationalmeasurestracknonfinancialinputsandoutputstoprocesses,allowingmoredetailedanalysis

• Metricsbecomebetteralignedwithbusinessobjectivesbecausetheymeasurequantitiesthatcanbeconnectedtospecificvalue‐creatingprocesses

• Becausetheinputsandoutputsofprocessesarebeingmeasured,itbecomespossibletomakebusinessprocessmodelspredictivetools.Inputssuchaspipelinecoveragemaybeeventuallyrelatedtothenumberofsalesclosed.Thismeansthatadropinpipelinecoveragecouldbeanimportantwarningsign

• Thegranularityofmeasurementincreases,providingnotonlymetricsattheaggregatelevelattheendofaprocess,butalsofiguresthatbreakdownmetricsbyproduct,geography,department,customer,supplier,andsoon

• Whenaprocessistoocomplexandadhoctobedefinedbyabusinessprocessmodel,thenumericalmodeloftheinputsandoutputsprovidesawaytotrackandmonitorperformanceoftheprocess

ByapplyingperformancemanagementtoBPM,itbecomespossibletoidentifyproblemsmuchearlierintheoperationalcyclewhilethereisstilltimetodosomethingaboutit.Inaddition,astherelationshipsbetweentheinputsandoutputsofeachprocessarebetterunderstood,themodelsbecomemorepredictive,makingitpossibletocreatebetterforecastsofbusinessactivity.

How Is a Process-Centric Approach Changing Modern Companies? CompaniesthathaveaggressivelyadoptedBPMhavefoundthattheymustchangetheircorporateorganizationtoaccommodatethefocusonprocessatalllevels.BeforeBPM,mostcompanieswereorganizedaroundfunctionalsilos.AsBPMincreasesthefocusonend‐to‐endprocesses,thesiloedformoforganizationbecomeslessrelevanttocorporateactivityandtheneedfornewsortsofresponsibilitiesarise.Gradually,itbecomesclearerthatthefocusofmanagementaccountabilityandperformanceshouldbeontheend‐to‐endprocess—sotheleadershipchangesfocus.InsteadofestablishingVPsoforganizationalsilos,theVPsarenowinchargeof


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processes.Certainkeysupportingprocessesareusedoverandoverinend‐to‐endprocesses.Theownersofthesesupportingprocessesareinchargeofmakingsurethattheirprocessesoperateproperly.Inthisway,theattentionofexecutivesbecomescompletelyfocusedonprocessoptimizationandturfbattlesareminimized.

AparallelchangehappensinIT.Theinfrastructureisfocusedoncreatingtheservicesandotherelementsthatsupportprocesses.Enterpriseapplicationsarestillsupportedbuttheemphasisbecomesexposingthefunctionalityofthoseapplicationsthroughservices.ServicescanthenbeusedascomponentsbyBPMtechnology.Increasingly,departmentsdesigntheirownprocessesandthenseekoutITtobuildthecomponentsandservicesneededtosupportthoseprocesses.

Asanorganizationgrowsinprocessmaturity,modelingandmanagementofbusinessprocessesbecomemoreprominentinthelifeofbusinessusersandexecutivesonaday‐to‐daybasis.Thereisaneedforspecialistsinprocessmodelingandservicerepositoriesaswellasaneedfortechnologyskillstobuildcomponents.

***

WithamorecompleteunderstandingofthebasicsofBPM,wecandiscusshowBPMcreatesvalue.


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The Business Case for Adopting Business Process Management FewindividualsorcorporationsapproachBPMasacasualactivity.Mostofthetime,executivesadoptBPMasanewwayofmanagingtheircompaniesforoneofthreereasons:theexecutiveteamhasbecomepassionateabouttheidea,adepartmentorbusinessunithasshowntremendousresultsusingBPMinafocusedway,oranemergingcrisisthathasmadeitclearthatthecomplexityofthemanagementtaskscannotbehandledinanyotherway.

AdoptingaprogramofBPMmeansbecomingaprocess‐focusedenterprise,whichisnotsomethingthatcanhappeninamonthorevenayear.Thatsaid,BPMisbothashort‐termandalong‐termendeavor.Short‐termprojectscanbubbleupfromthedepartmentallevel,havehighimpact,andpayforthemselvesquitequickly.ButBPMasanenterprise‐widepracticeisfundamentallyalong‐termculturalchangethatmustbeunderstoodwidelyinacompanyasanewwayofthinking,nomatterwhatmethodsandtoolsareused.Asaprocess‐orientedmindsettakesholdinacompany,thestrategyofthecompanyismorepreciselytranslatedfromthehighestlevelintothedesignofprocessesandthemetricsthattrackthem.Newwaysofdesigningprocessesandbuildingsolutionsarrive.Theorganizationbecomesfocusedonprocessesthatflowthroughthecompanyandthebusinessnetwork.Everyonestartstounderstandhisorherrolenotjustasanisolatedcoginamachine,butaspartofamuchlargerprocessofcreatingvalueforcustomers.Peopleperformingeachrolecanseehowwhattheydoissupportedbywhatcomesbeforethemandaffectswhatcomesafterthem.Successthen,inaprogramofBPM,iscontingentnotonlyonadoptingnewtechnology,newformsoforganization,andnewwaysofthinking,butalso,inalargepart,oncraftingaclearvisionofwhatBPMmeanstoyourcompanyandhowitwillcreatevalue.ThissectionexploreswaystocommunicatethevalueofBPMandsomeofthestrongerargumentsthatpeoplemakeinfavorofaprocess‐centricapproachtomanagement.

What Is the Ultimate Vision for a Process-Centric Company? Expandingthepracticeofbusinessprocessmanagementismostvaluablewhenpursuednotasatacticalmatterbutasaculturalandphilosophicalchange.BPMmakesprocessthecentralfocus—nottheorganizationalunit,nottheindividual,andnottheproductorthemetrics.

Processisnotthefocusforitsownsakeasamatterofstyleorfashion.Processisthefocusbecauseitisthemosteffectivewaytoexpresswhateveryoneinanorganizationshouldbedoinginawaythatconnectsthehighest‐levelstrategytothe


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actionsofeachindividual.Well‐definedprocessesthatarecommunicatedwidelyinanorganizationrequirelessmanagement.Individualdecision‐makingtakesplaceinthecontextofwhatiscomingbeforeandwhatwillhappenafterward.ThepowerofBPMNtodepictprocessesatvaryinglevelsofdetailallowseachlayerofmanagementtomodelandmanageprocessesatanappropriatelevel.

Shedding the Application-Focused Perspective

Inmostcompanies,thestartingpointfortransformationtoBPMisadepartmentallyorganized,application‐focusedperspectiveonmanagingtheenterprise.Sincethearrivalofsuitesofenterpriseapplicationsthatautomatedstandardprocessesinhighlyconfigurableways,thefocusofmanagementhasbeenonusingtheseapplicationseffectively.Inmanyways,theapplicationsreinforcedthesiloedstructureofthecompany.TheCFOandCOOgotERP,theVPofSalesgotCRM,theVPofSupplyChaingotSCM,andtheVPofManufacturinggotPLM.Butshortlyaftertheemergenceoftheseseparateapplications,theneedforend‐to‐endprocessintegrationandoptimizationquicklybecameevident.Figure8summarizesthechangeinmindset.

Figure8.FromApplicationFocusedtoProcessFocusedMindset

BeforetheBPMmindsettakeshold,muchoftheactivityofacompanyisfocusedonmakingupfortheweaknessesintheapplication‐orientedperspectivebyusingsuchtechniquesasbusinessintelligencetoconsolidatedataorperformancemetricsasasortofpoorman’smodelofwhatisgoingonintheenterprise.Unstructuredcollaborationisusedtofillalotoftheholesinwhatenterpriseapplicationsdonotdowell.Inaprocess‐orientedenterprise,processbecomesthefocusand,throughwebservices,applicationsbecomesubordinatetoprocesses.Theroleofapplicationsbecomesprovidinginformationandsupportingfunctionsforend‐to‐endprocessesthataredefinedusingBPM.Afocusonmetricsisreplacedbyamorecomprehensiveapproachtoperformancemanagementthattracksprocessesatamoregranularlevel.


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The Stages of Transformation to Process-Orientation

ThetransitiontoacomprehensiveBPMperspectivehasseveralstages.Ineachstage,newcapabilitiesandtechniquesimproveperformanceandpreparethecompanyforhigherlevelsofperformanceandprocessmaturity.Thistransitionandthestagesofmaturityhavebeendefinedinmanywaysbymanyobserversandanalysts.OneoftheclearestwaystounderstandthetransformationistousethestagesdefinedinFigure9,whicharebasedontheCapabilityMaturityModel,originallydevelopedatCarnegie‐Mellon’sSoftwareEngineeringInstituteforsoftwaredevelopment.CMMIhasfoundwideapplicationinmanyvenues.

Figure9.TransformationtoProcessOrientation

MostcompaniesstarttheirjourneytoBPMatprocessmaturitylevel1.Processesarenotdefinedseparatelyfromthefunctionalityofapplications.Theterm“cultureofheroes”isusedatthisleveltodescribethefactthatpeopleareattemptingtodotheirbest.Atlevel1,mostcompaniesfocusongainingnewapplicationfunctionality.Atprocessmaturitylevel2,processesstarttobedefinedatthedepartmentalorworkgrouplevel.Thegoalistogaincontrolandunderstandingofwhatisbeingdonethroughdocumentedprocesses.ThebenefitsincludereducedITcosts(asunneededfunctionalityisshed)aswellasfastertime‐to‐marketandotherformsof


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acceleration.ItisnotunusualforacompanytodiscoverthebenefitsofBPMwhenoneormoredepartmentsdemonstratethebenefits.Atprocessmaturitylevel3,theprocessdefinitiontakesplaceattheleveloftheenterprise.End‐to‐endprocessesthatspandepartmentsandreachinandoutofkeysuppliersaremappedandanalyzed.Theresultingawarenessusuallyhighlightschangesthatcanimproveefficiency.Furtheroptimizationscanbemademuchfasterstartingfromawell‐definedfoundation.Theabilitytochangeprocessespavesthewaytoamoreresponsivebusinessthatcanbetterkeeppacewithmarketdynamics.

Atprocessmaturitylevel4,performancemanagemententersthepictureandprocessesareinstrumentednotonlytomeasuretheirresults,butalsotomeasuretheinputs.Bytrackingtherelationshipsbetweeninputsandoutputsofvariousprocesses,analysiscanbecomemorepredictive.Theincreaseinreal‐timetransparency,especiallyofinformationthatidentifiesrisksandproblemsearlyon,allowsproblemstobeidentifiedintimetofindsolutions.Strategicgoalscanbeexpressedintheformofdetailedmetricsforprocessesatahighlevelofgranularity.Atprocessmaturitylevel5,acompanycanbuildonthefoundationofthefirstfourlevelstoengageincontinuousimprovementandbusinessoptimization.ITisnowmorefocusedonservicingtheprocessesoftheorganizationratherthanmaintainingapplications.Theincreasedtransparencyandunderstandingofthebigpictureoftheenterpriseimprovesdecisionmaking.Maturitymodelslikethisonecanbeaidstoassessingacompany’scurrentstateandplanningthesortsofactivitiesthatwillbemostbeneficialtoprogress.Payingattentiontostepsthatmoveacompanygraduallyforwardpreventsattemptstomovetoofastandoverreach.

Theend‐stateofBPMisaworldinwhichacompanystartstothinkofeverythingintermsofprocesses.Thisdoesnotmeanthateverythingisautomatedorthateverythingislockeddownandrigid.Itdoesmean,however,thatthestartingpoints,endingpoints,inputs,outputs,andgoalsarealldefinedandscrutinizedsothateachandeverypersonknowstheroleheorsheplaysandtheresultsthatareexpected.

What Is the Business Value of BPM? ThebusinessvalueofBPMflowsdirectlyfromthefactthatthebusinessprocessisfrontandcenterineveryone’sthinkingatalltimes.Focusingonabusinessprocessmodelhelpsovercomethetendencytogetlostinthedetailsoftechnologyimplementation.

BPMdoesnothavetobeandshouldnotbeimplementedineveryprocesstoprovidemaximumvalue.Enterpriseapplicationsdoafinejobofautomatingmanystableprocesses.Collaborativetechnologywillalwaysbeneededtohandlethe


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unexpected.BPMshineswhenitisappliedtoprocessesthathaveastructureandthatarecrucialtocreatingvalue.Ifwelookattheautomatableprocessesinanenterprise(which,asmentionedearlier,compriseabout20percentofallprocesses),theygenerallyfallintotwogroups.About80percentoftheautomatableprocessesarestandardactivitiesthatdonotprovidecompetitiveadvantage.TechnologyvisionaryGeoffreyMooreinhisbookLivingontheFaultLine(CollinsBusiness,2002)callssuchactivitiesexamplesofcontextprocesses5becausetheyarenecessarybutdonotdifferentiateabusiness.Typicallysuchprocesses,whicharecommontomanybusinesses,areimplementedinenterpriseapplications.Theremaining20percentofautomatableactivitiesareuniquetotheoperationsofacompany.Moorecallsthesekindsofprocessescoreactivitiesbecausetheyrepresentthesourceoftheuniquevaluecreatedbyacompany.Frequently,theseuniqueprocessesarekeytowinninginthemarketplace.Itisthroughunderstandingandautomatingthissetofprocessesthatcompaniescanseparatethemselvesfromthecompetition.

ThevisionofBPMisnotworthpursuingforitsownsake.Ateverylevelofadoption,BPMmustearnitskeepbyprovidingtangiblebusinessbenefits.Whilethesebenefitswillvaryinmagnitude,enoughisknownaboutBPMnowthatvariouspatternshaveemergedandwecanconfidentlypredictthatcompanieswillexperiencesomeofthefollowingbenefits.

Increasedtransparency.Managementknowswhateveryoneisdoingandhowtheyshouldbedoingit.Asmoreandmoremetricsareappliedtoprocesses,thereal‐timeoperationsofabusinessbecomeclear.

Increasedtraceability.Itispossibletofindoutwhathappenedandwhatisgoingtohappenwithrespecttooperationalprocesses.Thiscanbeahugehelpinauditingoranalyzingproblemsaswellasmakingitmucheasiertosatisfymanycompliancerequirements.Improvedresponsivenessandflexibility.Inaprocess‐orientedcompany,changecanbeeffectedmorerapidlyandpreciselybecausetheas‐isstateisdocumentedandunderstood.Thedesignoftheto‐bestatestartsfromaclearfoundation.Inaddition,well‐definedbusinessprocessesmakesimulationofcurrentandproposedprocessdesignsmucheasiersothatproblemscanbediscoveredearlier.

5ItisimportanttopointoutthatMoore’scategoriesofcoreandcontextapplytobothautomatedandnon‐automatedprocesses.


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Continuousbusinessoptimization.AsBPMimplementationmaturesatacompany,everythingneededtounderstandperformancefallsintoplace.Whennewchallengesarise,insteadofjustlookingtocutcosts,amoresophisticatedviewofperformanceimprovementispossible.Thekeyvalue‐creatingprocessescanbemoreeasilyidentifiedandoptimizationandinnovationeffortscanbefocusedwheretheyarelikelytohavethemostimpact.

Improvedstrategicalignment.Becausemoreandmoreofacompany’sactivityisdefined,consciouslydesigned,andpreciselymeasured,itispossibletomakeadjustmentstoprovideexplicittargetsforpeopleatalllevels.Processcanberedesignedifneeded,butmorelikely,performancetargetscantranslatestrategyfromhigh‐leveldirectivestoindividualgoals.

ImprovedbusinessandITalignment.BecausebusinessprocessmodelingprovidesalanguagethatcanbeusedtoexpressbusinessprocessesatalllevelsinawaythatisunderstandablebybothbusinessandITstaff,theconnectionbetweenwhatmustbedoneandthetechnologythatwilldoitbecomesstronger.DifficultiesinimplementationbubbleupandaresolvedwiththeappropriateinputfrombothbusinessandITbyharmonizingtheidealbusinessprocessdesignwithwhatispossibletoimplement.Acceleratedidentificationofrisk.Asbusinessprocessmodelsbecomemorepredictiveandkeyrelationshipsbetweeninputsandoutputsareidentified,potentialproblemscanbespottedintimetoaddressthemorplanremediation.

Improvedabilitytoperformacquisitionsordivestbusinesses.ABPMperspectiveprovidesaclearerunderstandingofoperationsandintegrationpointswithnewacquisitionsandaclearapproachandroadmapforintegration.Thesameistruewhendivestingoperations.WithmatureBPM,departmentsanddivisionscanbehivedoutcleanly.Thesortofbusinessprocessoutsourcing(BPO)thatGeoffreyMoorerecommendsforcontextactivitiesbecomeseasiertoachieveandmanage.

Clearviewofcoreandcontextprocesses.OnceBPMhasincreasedunderstandingofhowabusinesscreatesvalue,itiseasiertodivideprocessesintothosethatarecoretoacompany’smissionandthosethatsupportthecontext.Manycompanieschoosetooutsourcecontextualactivitiestoimprovetheirfocusandreturnoncapital.BPMmakesiteasiertofindandoutsourcecontextualprocesses.

Improvedmanagementofoutsourcedrelationships.AmatureapproachtoBPMmakesiteasiertoclearlydefineprocessestooutsource.Theinputs,themeasuresofqualityofaprocess,themetricsusedtomonitortheprocessinprogress,andtheoutputsaredefinedforkeyprocessesasapartofimplementingBPM.Whenitcomestimetooutsourceaprocess,mostoftheknowledgeneededtodefinetheprocess,negotiateSLAs,andhanditoffisalreadyinplace.


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Makethemostofstandardenterprisesoftwareapplications.BPMusesSOAtobringthedataandfunctionalityofstandardenterprisesoftwaretoprocessesthroughouttheenterprise.Thisamplifiesthevalueoftheinvestmentintheseapplications.Ofcourse,allofthesebenefitsdonotappearallatonce.Theymustbediligentlypursued.ButbecauseBPMprovidesapersistentfoundation,gainsarenoteasilylost.

How Does BPM Help Run an Extended Business Network? AsacompanybecomesadeptatmanagingitsownoperationsthroughBPMtechniques,itisalsopossibletoapplythemtoextendedbusinessnetworksandecosystems.CompaniesthatareorchestratorsofecosystemscanenforceBPMmethodsonbusinessnetworksandaskthatprocessesandmetricsbedefinedandusedtomanagerelationships.CompaniesthatareparticipantscanuseBPMtechniquestobeoptimalpartnersandincreasetheirshareofbusiness.Thedisciplineofcreatingaformaldefinitionofkeybusinessprocessesresultsintheabilitytodrawaclearlinebetweenpartsoftheprocessthatshouldbecarriedoutinsideacompanyandthosethatshouldbecarriedoutbypartners.Themodelmakesiteasytoidentifyspecifichandoffpointsandtheinformationthatmustbeconveyedasthecontroloftheprocessistransferredtoapartner.Thepointsofreturnaredefinedjustasclearlyasthestepsintheprocessthatarebeingexecutedremotely.

How Do Companies Adopt BPM? OncethecompletevisionofBPMisunderstood,manypeoplearedauntedbecausetheyincorrectlythinkthatBPMmeanschangingeverythingrightaway.Indeed,changinghowanyorganizationthinksinacomprehensivefashionandthensupportingthatnewculturewithtechnologyandmethodsisnotsomethingthathappensovernight.Buttheonlywaytransformationtoaprocess‐orientedenterprisewillhappenisthroughconsistenteffortfromthetopdownandthebottomup.Toavoidbecomingtoodiscouraged,itisvitaltorecognizethemanysmallervictoriesthatoccurthroughbothkindsofincrementaleffort.

Ontheotherhand,itisalsovitalthatthelongjourneybeunderwayexplicitlyinordertomakeprogressoveraspanofyears.Chartingthiscoursefallsundertherubricofgovernanceandprogrammanagement.ThesecondpartofthissectionsummarizesaprogramofgovernancethatwasspecificallydesignedfortheadoptionofBPM.


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The Top-Down and Bottom-Up Shape of Incremental Progress

Topdownvictoriesoccurwhenmanagementsetsoutanewstandardorencouragesanewtechniqueandthecompanyadoptsandbenefitsfromit.Thevalueofthisapproachisthattheentireorganizationisexposedtoanideaortechnique.Newwaysofthinkingandworkinggetattentionbecauseseniorexecutivespromotethem.Theseideascouldbeassimpleascreatingexplicitprocessmapsforeachdepartment,oridentifyingmetricsthathelpdeterminetheefficiencyofthemostimportantprocesses.Top‐downvictoriesarenotuniformvictories.Usuallysomepartsoftheorganizationadoptsuggestionsmorecompletelythanothers.Thesuggestedstepsarealmostalwaysincrementalandbite‐sized,butincommunicatingaboutsimplesuggestions,managementreinforcesthebroadervisionofthejourneytowardBPMadoption.Eachbite‐sizedportionofprogressmakesfurtherchangeeasier.BottomupvictoriesoccurwhenadepartmentshowsthewaybyimplementingBPM‐relatedtechniques,orwhentheITdepartmentoffersservicesandBPMtechnologyforusebyearlyadopterstoimprovetheirpractice.Bottom‐upprojectsareincrementalandmayoccurasanactivity,suchasimplementinganewfeatureorrollingoutanewversionofaservice‐enabledenterpriseapplicationistransformedintoaBPMproject.Thebenefitsofcreatingapplicationsbasedonwell‐definedprocessescanbringvalueonasmallscaleaswellasonalargeone.Thisisespeciallytrueasroutineupgradestoenterprisesoftwaretendtocomewithneededfunctionality.Bottom‐upvictoriesfrequentlyspringfromtheenthusiasmofITstaffersandbusinessuserswhoseethebenefitsofBPMandseektotakeadvantageofthemrightaway.

BPM Governance and Long Term Adoption

BPMgovernanceprovidestheframeworktoensuretheefficiencyandeffectivenessofallBPM‐relatedactivities.Thisincludesaspectssuchasdefiningcommonterms,establishingprocessesforstrategyformulation,planning,training,andchangemanagement,providingtoolingandinfrastructure,andlearningfromexperiencetoachievecontinuousimprovement.Anylong‐termprogramofBPMendsupbeingaccomplishedthroughaseriesoftop‐downandbottom‐upvictoriesthatprovidesignificantbenefitsasthecultureofacompanygraduallychanges.Butthekeytoachievinghigherandhigherlevelsofperformanceistobringordertotheincrementalprojects.Thesmallervictoriesalongthewaymustadduptoalarger,coordinatedtransformationthateveryoneisawareof.InBusinessProcessManagement:TheSAPRoadmap,theauthorsdefineamethodforBPMgovernancebasedonfourstages.


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ThefirststageofBPMgovernance,Strategy,assuresthatthegoalsofBPMadoptionarealignedwiththecorporation’slargerobjectives.Thebuildingblocksthatprefigureprogressincludeskills,incentivesystems,performancemanagementtechniques,organizationalstructures,andtechnologycomponents.Atthisstage,thegeneralapproachischosenandlikelyproblemsareidentified.

Inthesecondstage,Setup,preparationforimplementationtakesplace.Fundamentaltechniquesforprocessmodelingandmeasuringareselectedalongwithwaysforapplyingthosetechniques.Structuresfordecisionmakingandprogrammanagementaredefined,asaretherolesthatwillbeplayedinprocessexecution.Inthethirdstage,Transition,puttingBPMtoworktosupportandautomateprocessesbegins,guidedbydecisionsfromtheStrategyandSetupstages.TheProcessManagementLifecycleofAnalyze,Design,Implement,andRun/MonitorisperformedoverandoveragainusingBPMtools.Processmodelingtakesplacefromthetoptothebottomofthecompany.Performancemanagementisimplementedtomeasureprocesses.Theorganizationisgraduallytransformedtomakedesigning,automating,running,andoptimizingprocesseseveryone’sfocus.

IntheContinuousImprovementstage,auditing,performancemanagement,incentivesystems,andothermechanismsareusedtoidentifyareasneedingattention.ThemethodsandtechniquesofBPMarethenappliedtoaddressproblemsandincreaseperformance.

Thesestages,showninFigure10,representanorganizedprogramthatensuresthattherightthinkingtakesplaceattherighttime.Ifappliedconsistentlyoveralongperiod,theywillguideincrementalprogressandleadtoaprofoundtransformationtoaprocess‐centricorganization.


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Figure10.TheStagesofBPMGovernance6

What Skills Are Required to Adopt BPM? TheskillsrequiredtoadoptBPMdependonthescopeofwhatisbeingaccomplished.Forsomebottom‐upprojects,itmaybepossibletomakegoodprogresswithalimitedknowledgeofbusinessprocessmodelingandthecomponentsneededforautomation.Foralongerterm,companywideprogramofadoption,awiderangeofskillsareneededinthefollowingareas:

• End‐to‐endprocessdefinition• Industry‐specificprocessknowledge• Processdesignandimplementationusingathird‐generationbusinesssuite• BPMtechnology• BPMmethodology• BPMgovernance• Business‐to‐ITcommunicationskills• Collaborationskills

AplanforacquiringandimprovingsuchskillsispartofthelargerprocessofadoptionandisusuallydevelopedduringtheBPMgovernanceprocess.

6ThisgraphicisadaptedfromBusinessProcessManagement:TheSAPRoadmap,JimHagemannSnabe,AnnRosenberg,CharlesMøller,andMarkScavillo(SAPPress,2008)


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Applying the Technology of Business Process Management WhileaclearunderstandingofthegeneraltheoryofhowBPMhelpsmanagecomplexity,advancesalignmentwithcorporatestrategy,empowersstafftoactinintelligentways,andimprovesefficiencyandflexibilityofoperationsinacompanyisvitaltosuccess,allroadstoBPMmusteventuallyemploytechnology.Oneofthemostdauntingchallengesforexecutives,technologists,andstaffinvolvedinanyprogramofBPMadoptionisunderstandingjustwhatthetechnologypresentedtothemdoes.

WhenfacedwithanewtechnologyintheBPMspace,itcanbedifficulttounderstandwhatitis,howitworks,andhowitisrelatedtotheworkofdescribingandautomatingthemanyfacetsandlevelsofprocesses.Toeffectivelyusetechnology,wemustunderstandthegoalsofthetechnology.Whatisitsscope?HowdoesitfitintothelargerprogramofBPMadoption?Whoistheintendeduser?Howwillithelp?Unfortunately,intheworldofBPM,somanytechnologiesoperateatdifferentlevelsandcombinemanyfunctionsthatitcanbeveryhardtodeterminejustwhatatechnologydoesandwhoitisfor.

ThissectionpresentsanewwayofcategorizingBPMtechnologyaccordingtothepurpose,scope,andlevelofdetailofthebusinessprocessmodelingemployed.Usingthisframework,itispossibletounderstandquicklywhatanyBPM‐relatedtechnologydoes,whichremovesamajorobstacletoprogress.

What Is the Purpose of BPM Technology? ThepurposeofBPMtechnologyistoautomate,manage,andimproveproductivityforthetasksinvolvedinthedescriptionandautomationofbusinessprocesses.ThroughBPMtechnology,companiescanmanagetheirbusinessprocessesexplicitly,usingtoolsbuiltforthetask.

ThemainchallengeofunderstandingBPMtechnologycomesfromthefactthatitcanbeappliedinawidevarietyofwaysatmanydifferentstagesofBPMadoption,duringwhichtheperspectivecanrangefromencompassingtheentireenterprisetoasingletask.ThefirstpurposeofBPMtechnologyistohelpdescribethestructureofbusinessprocesses.AlmostallBPMtechnologystartsbyaskingthepersonusingittocreateabusinessprocessmodel.Sometimesthismodelitselfistheendresult.BPMtechnologyallowsthemodeltobeannotated,collapsedorexpanded,shared,andsoon.BPMtechnologyempowerscollaborationthatcentersonthecreation,discussion,improvement,andevolutionofabusinessprocessmodel.Itisimportanttopointoutthattheprocessesdescribedhavemayhavebeenorwillsoonbe


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analyzed,simulated,orperhapsevenimplementedandmonitoredalreadyviaaBPMsuite(BPMS)orsomesupportingtechnologysothattheyhavethebestchanceofbeingtheoptimaldesign.

ThesecondpurposeofBPMtechnologyistoputabusinessprocessmodeltouseinautomatingorsupportingexecutionofthebusinessprocessdescribed.BPMsuitesareintegratedcollectionsoftechnologyusedtocreateabusinessprocessapplicationusingthebusinessprocessmodelastheprimarydescription(see“WhatisaBusinessProcessApplication?”foradefinition).Sometimesthesoftwareapplicationcreatedinteractswithusersandothertimesitisalong‐running,backendprocess.Eachstepofthemodelcouldbeassociatedwithoneormoreuserinterfacescreensorwebservices.Theflowofcontroloftheapplicationisdefinedbytheflowofthebusinessprocessmodel.Tochangeabusinessprocessapplication,youmustchangesomeaspectofthemodel.

ThethirdpurposeofBPMtechnologyistoprovidesomesupportingfunctionsforthefirsttwopurposes.Awidevarietyofcomponentrycanbeusedwhendescribingorautomatingbusinessprocesses,includingthefollowing:

• Processrepositories.Collectionsofstandardchunksofprocessesthatarereused

• Businessrules.Collectionsofrulesthatprovidesomesortofusefuldecision‐makingorprocessinglogic

• Webservicerepositories.Collectionsofdescriptionsofwebservicesorenterpriseservices,servicesdesignedtosupportabusinessprocess,that

What is a Business Process Application?

One of the purposes of a Business Process Management Suite (BPMS) is to allow a business process model to guide the creation of software that automates or supports execution of the business process described. To do this, steps in the model must be associated with specific technology components so that software can be created automatically. When a business process model is used in this way it is called an executable model. In this paper we call this type of software created from executable models business process applications, to distinguish them from enterprise applications and other software created via traditional methods. Business process applications are systems of processes applied to a business situation with the help of various forms of automation and assisted collaboration.


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maybeinvokedbyapplicationsautomaticallycreatedfrombusinessprocessmodels

• Userinterfacewidgets.Components,thatis,portionsofuserinterfacepages,usedwhencreatinguserinterfacesfrombusinessprocessmodels

• Processandbusinessactivitymonitoring.Infrastructurefortrackingtheperformanceofprocesseshistoricallyandinreal‐time

• Simulations.Theabilitytomakeassumptionsabouttheflowofworkandexaminethebehaviorofprocessesundersuchconditions

BPMtechnologytendstomakethecreationofbusinessprocessapplicationssimplerthanpreviousmethodshavedone.Thissimplicitycanleadtogreaterproductivityonthepartoftechnologistsandbusinesspeopleinvolvedincreatingsoftwareapplications.Simplertoolsalsomeanthatincertainsituationspeoplecancreatesolutionsforthemselves.Changingprocessesonceimplementedalsobecomeseasier.TheultimatepurposeofBPMtechnologyistoallowprocessestobedescribed,automated,monitoredandimprovedasapartofacycleofcontinuousinnovation.

How Does BPM Technology Expand the Scope of IT? BPMtechnologycouldnotworkproperlywithouttheparticipationofpreviousgenerationsofIT.BoththecollaborativefunctionsusedinunstructuredprocessesandtheinformationandfunctionalityusedinsystemsofrecordareemployedbyBPMtechnology.

SOA and Enterprise Applications

SOAisthekeytounderstandinghowenterpriseapplicationsinteractwithBPMtechnology.

SOApositsthatsoftwareshouldbebuiltinadifferentway.Inmostsoftware,auser‐interfaceisthevehiclethroughwhichapersoninteractswithacomputerprogramthatperformssomefunctionandmaystoredatainadatabaseorcommunicatewithotherprogramsoveranetwork.SOAseesprogramsasbeingbuiltusingservicesasbuildingblocks.Servicesareunitsoffunctionalitythatcanbeaccessedoverthenetworktoperformsomeusefulfunctions.GoogleMapsprovidesservicesthatallowyoutoaccessmappingfunctionality.EnterprisesoftwarevendorslikeSAPhaveopeneduptheirenterpriseapplicationssothatyoucanaccessthesystemsofrecordthroughservices,notjustthroughuserinterfaces.TheapplicationofSOAtoenterpriseapplicationsopensupanewworldofpossibilitiesforcompaniesseekingtoextendautomation.Servicesgobeyondthecapabilitiesofauserinterfaceandprovidetwo‐waychannelsofcommunicationbetweenanenterpriseapplicationandtheoutsideworld.Servicesbasedon


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enterpriseapplicationsliftthehoodofthoseapplicationsand,ineffect,providedirectgatewayssothatinformationcanflowbackandforthbetweenotherapplicationsthatusetheservicesandtheenterpriseapplicationsthatprovidetheservices.Inaddition,servicesallowvariousfunctionsoftheenterpriseapplicationstobeinvoked.

SOAovercomesmanyoftherestrictionsthathaveheldbackcompanieswhohavesoughttoextendtheautomationofbusinessprocesses.Servicesprovideaccesstoanydata,onanydevice,inanyformat,fromanylocation,throughanyvisualization,atanytime.Theaccessthatservicesprovideexpandsthescopeofinformationavailableandthepotentialfordevelopingdeeperinsights.Servicesalsoincreaseefficiencybyallowingreuseofstandardsoftwarecomponents,makingintegrationeasierandprovidingasmoothpathtoadvancedfunctionalityastheunderlyingsystemsareupgradedandimproved.Butmostofall,servicesprovideflexibility—itispossibletocreatenewprogramsthatcanautomatethat20percentofdifferentiatingactivitiesorprovideotherbenefitssuchasincreasingtheefficiencyofoperationalprocessesorimprovingintegrationwithpartners.

SOA and BPM

Nowwehavearrivedbackatthetopicofourpaper,BPM.Itispossibletoputservicestoworkinmanyways.YoucanwriteprogramsinlanguageslikeABAP,Java,C#,orRuby.Youcaninvokeservicesfromvariousprogrammingframeworksthatareintendedtobeusedbyexperts.OryoucanuseBPMtechnologytodesignprocessesandthenuseinformationandfunctionalityfromservices.FormostcompaniesentertainingadoptingtheBPMapproach,theprocessesdefinedwilluseservicesthatcomefromenterpriseapplicationstogainaccesstodataandfunctionality,althoughimportantservicesformapping,ecommerce,andlogisticsandotherfunctionswillbeavailabletoalargevarietyofprovidersontheInternet.

BPMtechnologyplaysacrucialroleinmakingthemostofSOA.ThroughBPMtechnology,itispossibletoacceleratecreationofnewsolutions,whichcansupportinnovationindifferentiatingprocesses,extendingexistingapplicationprocesses,orextendingintegrationinthebusinessnetwork.WithoutBPMtechnology,SOAbecomesaprogramofsoftwaredevelopmentthatcanonlybeperformedbyhighlytechnicalstaffwhomusttakedirectionaboutwhattodofrombusinesspeople.Whilethisstructurehasworkedwellinthepast,ithasthreemajorproblems:

• ThecapacityoftechnicalstaffwhoknowhowtowriteprogramsinJava,C#,andABAPbecomesabottlenecktodevelopment

• Theprocessoftranslatingrequirementsforsolutionsfrombusinessstafftotechnologystaffisdifficultanderrorprone

• Theprocessofdevelopingsolutionsinthismannerisslow


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MostBPMtechnologyisdesignedtobeusablenotonlybytechnologistsbutalsobybusinessstaff.BPMtechnologyisusedtocreatesolutionsthroughmodeling,eitherusingmodelsthatareexecutableorthosethatcanbetranslatedsomehowintoworkingsolutions.Ingeneral,modelingiseasierandfasterthancodinginlanguageslikeABAP,Java,andC#,so,nomatterwhousesBPMtechnology,solutioncreationaccelerates.Becausebusinessstaffcannowbeaddedtotechnologystaffandplayamoreactiverole,thepoolofthosewhocancreatesolutionsisexpanded,decreasingthedevelopmentbottleneck.Thecommonlanguageofmodelingincreasesalignment.Overtime,itispossiblethatdirectcreationofsolutionsbybusinessstaffcanreducetheneedtotranslaterequirementsfromthemindsofbusinessstaffintosomedocumentusedbyITtocreatethesolution.Muchofthepopularityoftechniqueslikemashupsflowsfromthissortofdo‐it‐yourselfefficiency.Inotherwords,BPMandSOAaretightlylinked.WhileitispossibletouseSOAwithoutBPM,todosomeansthatyouendupslowingdowndevelopment.UsingBPMwithoutSOAmeansmodelingprocessesandautomatingsolutionsthatarenotconnectedtoeitherexistingtransactionalsystemsofrecordortopowerfulfunctionalitythatcanbeofferedovertheInternet.Figure11showshowhigher‐levelbusinessprocessmodelscascadeintomoredetailedmodelsthatthencanbeassociatedwithtechnologycomponentsderivedfromenterpriseapplicationsandothersources.

Figure11.BusinessProcessModelsandAssociatedTechnologyComponents


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BPM and Collaborative Technology

BPMtechnologyalsotakesadvantageofcollaborativetechnologyinbothdirectandindirectways.ItisnotatalluncommonforalertsaboutvariouseventsoractionsinanapplicationcreatedwithBPMtechnologytobesentviaemail.Thesesortsofnotificationsbringpeoplebacktotheapplicationsothatworkcancontinue.

Butinabroadersense,manystepsinabusinessprocessmodelcannotbeautomated.Theprocesscontinuesuntilthesestepsareencountered(forexample,“determinenewpricing”or“createmarketingcalendar”)andthenthepeopleinvolvedintheprocessmustdotheworkthatthesteprequires.Frequently,theydothatworkbasedoninformationprovidedbytheapplicationautomatingtheprocess,andtheresultsofthatworkarethencapturedtorestarttheflowofautomation.Inbetween,peopleuseallofthetechnologyandtoolstheyhaveattheirdisposal,includingcollaborativetechnology.

The Role of Business Rules

Whenautomatingcomplexbusinessprocesses,processdesignerscomeacrossmoredifficultdecisionsthatmustbemade.Inourpreviousexample,wedescribedacompanythatwassendingorderstooneoftwosubsidiaries.Othersuchproblemscouldincludecomputingacreditscore,evaluatingtherightdistributionmechanism,orchoosingtherighttaxcomputation.Thetechnologyknownasbusinessruleswascreatedtomanagethiscomplexityandincreasetheconfigurabilityofautomationinsuchinstances.Businessrulessystemsallowcomplexrulestobeappliedtovariousinputsandprovidesomesortofoutputorsupportforadecision.Usually,therulescanbemodifiedinasimplemannersothatbusinesspeoplecancontrolthebehaviorofbusinessrulescomponents.InmostBPMsystems,businessrulesenginesplayanimportantroleinhelpingprovidethemostautomationinasimple.appropriate,andconfigurableform.

Analytics and Monitoring Technology

Abusinessprocessmodelclearlydefinesthestepsinvolvedinexecutionofataskoractivity,whichmakesiteasytomonitortheflowofworkinthepastandpresentandtoattempttopredictthefuture.Businessintelligenceandperformancemanagementtechniquesoftenlookbackwardatbusinessprocessactivityandprovideahistoricalviewintheformofreportsanddashboards.Businessactivitymonitoringandcomplexeventprocessingareusedtoanalyzetheworkbeingdoneinabusinessprocessinrealtimesothatpatternscanberevealedandproblemsoropportunitiesbeidentifiedintimetotakeaction.Predictiveanalyticsandsimulationsuseabusinessprocessmodelandhistoricaldatatoattempttopredictfutureoutcomesofabusinessorcomparescenarios.EachofthesesortsoftechnologiesmaybeintegratedintothecomponentsofaBPMS.


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What Categories of BPM Technology Exist? Withthebasiclandscapeexplained,itisnowpossibletocreateasimplecategorizationthatwillmakeiteasytocategorizeandunderstandBPMtechnology.Thegoalofdefiningandexplainingthesecategoriesistoreduceconfusionandspeedunderstanding.Ifwearesuccessful,then,byusingthecategoriesasaguide,anyonewillbeabletoaskafewquestionsandgetanswersthatwillmakeclearthepurposeofanyBPMtechnologybeingevaluated.Formanyformsoftechnology,thisisasimpletask.IntheworldofBPM,boththepurposeandfunctionalityoftechnologyofferingsoverlapinvexingways.

MostBPMtechnologystartsbyallowingthepersonusingittodescribeabusinessprocessmodel.Asweknowfromourpreviousanalysis,thisbusinessprocessmodelmaydescribehowthedepartmentsofacompanyinteractoritcoulddescribehowateamcreatesapurchaseorder.Itisnotuncommonfordifferenttechnologytobeusedfordifferentscopesofmodeling.

Oncethatbusinessmodelhasbeencreated,itcanbeusedfortheautomaticassemblyorcreationofapplicationsthatcanhelpexecutebusinessprocesses.

ItisthedistinctionbetweenthesetwowaysofusingBPMtechnologythatdefinethetwomaincategories:

• Technologyforbusinessprocessdescriptionisusedtoexpressthestructureofbusinessprocesses

• Technologyforbusinessprocessautomationallowsbusinessprocessapplicationstobegeneratedbasedonadescriptionoftheprocess

WhileseparatingBPMtechnologyintothesetwocategoriesisagoodstart,therearefourotherdimensionscanhelpclarifythepurposeofaparticulartechnology.

Models: The Key to Understanding

Theresearchperformedforthispaperrevealedthatbyfocusingonthepurpose,levelofdetail,andtypeoforchestrationofamodelusesinaBPMtechnology,wecaneasilycategorizewhatthattechnologyisusedfor.ThisapproachstillworkswhenaBPMtechnologysolutioncontainsacomplexcollectionoftechnologythatisintendedtomeetavarietyofneeds.

Herearethedefinitionsofthetermsthatarefundamentaltothetechnology.Thefirsttwodimensionswerecoveredearlierin“WhatisBusinessProcessModeling?”Purpose.Bypurposeofamodel,wemeanthetypeofknowledgebeingcapturedandthewaythemodelisintendedtobeused.Twocategoriesdescribethepurposeofmostmodels:


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• Descriptivemodels,whichareusedtodescribethepurposeandnatureofprocessesasawayofcommunicatingideasbetweenpeople

• Executablemodels,whichareusedtodescribeprocessesandtoautomaticallyassemblesolutions

Descriptivemodelsarenotnecessarilyexecutable.Allexecutablemodelsaredescriptive,althoughsomeformsofexecutablemodelsarefocusedmoreoncapturingdetailratherthanonsimplifyingcommunication.Leveloffocus.Theleveloffocusofamodel,explainedearlier,indicateswhatkindofactivityandobjectsaredescribedinthemodel.ThefocusofmodelingvarieswidelyinBPM‐relatedtechnologyandfallsintothefollowingcategories:

• Modelswithenterprisefocusareusedbyenterprisearchitectstomodelacompany’shigh‐levelstructure.Theentitiesinanenterprisemodelmayincludelarge‐scaleconceptssuchaspayrollprocessing,financing,recruiting,ormoredetailedstructuressuchastheorganizationalchartforadepartment

• Modelswithprocessfocusarefocusedonthetasksorprocessstepsthatmustbecarriedouttoperformsomebusinessactivity

• Modelswithtaskfocusarethosethatarefocusedondescribingthestructure,logicalflow,andalgorithmsandarerelatedtospecifictasks

Orchestration.Thethirddimensionconcernsthetypeoforchestrationdescribedbythemodelinquestion.Businessprocessmodels,especiallywhentheyareexecutable,tendtodescribetheorchestrationofavarietyofcomponentsatvariouslevelsofabusinessprocessapplication.Itispossiblethataparticulartechnologymayperformorchestrationatmorethanonelevel.Bykeepingtheselevelsinmind,itispossibletoavoidconfusionaboutwhataparticulartechnologydoes.Figure12showsthetypesoforchestrationthatmostBPMtechnologyeffects.

• Presentationflowsinvolveinteractionbetweentheuserandthevarioususer‐interfacecomponentsandtherestoftheapplicationcomponent.

• Orchestrationofservicesinthemiddlewarelayerofanapplicationinvolvesthesortofcoordinationthattakesplacewhenaprocesscoordinatestheactivityofacollectionofwebservices.ManyBPMtechnologysolutionsfallintothislayer

• Humanworkflowsinvolvethesortoforchestrationofaprocessyouseeinsideawebserviceorinsideanenterpriseapplication.Sometimesthissortoforchestrationisreferredtoasworkflow

• Dataflowsinvolvethesortoforchestrationthattakesplaceinthedatabaselayerthroughmechanismssuchasdatabasetriggers.IttypicallyhasnotbeenthefocusofBPMtechnology


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Thesethreedimensions—purpose,leveloffocus,andorchestration—createasparsematrixthatcanbeusedtodescribeandquicklycomparealmostanyBPMtechnologyinausefulmanner.Thematrixissparsebecausecertaincombinationseitherdon’tmakesense(descriptivemodelswithtechnologyscopeatlevel4orhigher)orhavenotyetbeenthefocusofdeveloper’sattention.

WhenfacedwithanewBPMtechnology,ifyouaskthefollowingquestionsaboutthemodelsandfocus,itwillbepossibletoavoidconfusionandquicklyunderstandwhatthetechnologyisintendedtodo:

• Isthistechnologyusedforprocessdescriptionorforprocessautomation?• Whatistheleveloffocusofthemodels:theenterprise,theprocess,orthe

task?• Whatlayeroforchestrationcanbeperformedbythistechnology?

Notethatthequestionaboutleveloffocuscanbeaskedaboutbothprocessdescriptionandprocessautomationtechnology.Thequestionaboutorchestrationisonlyrelevantforprocessautomationtechnology.


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Figure12.TypesofOrchestration


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Withthesedimensionsinhand,itwillbepossibletoexplainthedifferenttypesofBPMtechnologythatareavailablewithahigherdegreeofprecisionandclarity.Table1showshowthespecifictechnologieswewilldescribefitintothedimensionsusedtodescribebusinessmodels.

Table 1. How BPM Technologies Are Categorized by Their Use of Models

What Is BPM Technology for Process Description? BPMtechnologyforprocessdescriptionallowsbusinessprocessestobedescribedandannotated,typicallyvisually.Businessprocessmodelingenvironmentsusuallyallowtheusertodraganddropvariousshapesonacanvasofsomesortandthentoconnectshapesinavarietyofways.Shapesdescribetheflowoftheprocessfromsteptostepaswellasdecisionpoints.

Descriptivetechnologyvariesinfunctionbasedonthemeaningoftheshapesontheprocessdiagram.Hereiswheredimensionshelpusdistinguishthetypesofdescriptivetechnology.

Enterprise Architecture

OnecategoryofdescriptiveBPMtechnologyisusedforenterprisearchitecture,thatis,themappingofhigh‐levelprocessesandsystemsthatdescribethebusinessscenariosandsupportingtechnologyofacompany.

TherearenumerousenterprisearchitectureframeworkssuchasTheOpenGroupArchitectureFramework(TOGAF)andZachman.Eachtendstocreateanewsetofmodelingprimitivesthatprovidetheshapesusedtorepresentthedifferentpartsoftheenterpriseandtheprocessesandsystemsbeingdescribed.Table2showssomeofthemoreprominenttypesoftechnologyinthiscategory.


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Table 2. Enterprise Architecture Technology

Becausethesediagramscanbecomelargeandcomplex,itisnotuncommonforthissortofmodelingtechnologytodrilldownintogreaterlevelsofdetailfromahigherlevelenterprisearchitecturediagram.

Business Process Design and Analysis

DescriptiveBPMtechnologythatfocusesonprocessesinsteadofontheenterpriseisoneofthemostactiveareasfornewproductsandnewfeatures.BusinessanalystsuseBPMtechnologythatfocusesonprocessestodescribealllevelsofprocessdetail,fromthemostspecifictaskstothebroadestbusinessscenarios.Whileavarietyofnotationsforbusinessprocessmodelinghadbeeninuseforprocess‐focuseddescriptivetechnology,BusinessProcessModelingNotation(BPMN)hasemergedastheprimarystandardforsuchmodeling.BPMNdescribesasetofstandardizedvisualconstructsusedformodeling.

Table3showsproductsthatprovidethistypeofmodeling.Table 3. Business Process Design and Analysis Technology

Technology Infrastructure Design and Analysis

WhilemodelingtechnologyinfrastructureisnotthecentralpurposeofBPMtechnology,manyproductsthatareusedfordescriptivebusinessprocessmodelingcanalsobeusedtomodeltechnologyinfrastructureusingstandardssuchasunifiedmodelinglanguage(UML)orcomponentsofenterprisearchitectureframeworkssuitedtothatpurpose.


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OthermodelingenvironmentsarespecificallydesignedformodelingtechnologyandusestandardslikeUMLorothertechniquesusedforITinfrastructuresuchasnetworksanddatacenters.

Software Design and Analysis

Anothertypeofdescriptivemodelingenvironmentusestoolsthatmayalsobeusedforbusinessprocessmodelingtechnology.Thisisthemodelingofsoftwaredesignandanalysis.UsingstandardssuchasUMLandotherformsofmodeling,itispossibletomodelthestructureofsoftwareandthenautomaticallygeneratesubstantialportionsofasoftwareapplication.Thesametechniquesusedtoautomaticallygenerateanapplicationfromanabstractvisuallyexpressedmodelarealsousedtogenerateanapplicationfromabusinessprocessmodel.

Simulations

Simulationsofprocesses,thoughfundamentallydescriptive,areanactiveanddynamicformofdescription.Asimulationusesabusinessprocessmodelasastartingpointandthensimulatestheflowofworkthrougheachstepusingassumptionsforhowlongeachsteptakesandthetypeofinputsthatarecomingin.Theflowofworkcanthenbeanalyzedtodeterminetheoptimaldesignforaprocess.

What Is the Value Provided by Descriptive BPM Technology? DescriptiveBPMtechnologycanprovidemanyformsofhelpinBPMadoptionandprocessexecution,bothintop‐downandbottom‐upprojects.Hereisarepresentativesampleofthesortofassistancethatcanbeprovided.

Enterprisearchitecture.DescriptiveBPMtechnologycanbeusedtomapoutthearchitectureofthestructure,theprocesses,andthesystemsofanorganizationasabasisfordeeperunderstanding,planning,andoptimization.

Processdiscoveryanddesign.DescriptiveBPMtechnologycanbeusedtomapthecurrentstateofprocessesandtobrainstormaboutvariousimprovementsthatcanthenbetestedthroughsimulationsorprototypes.

Metricsdevelopment.DescriptiveBPMtechnologycanmapoutthestructureofprocessesatanylevelofdetailsothatmetricscanbedefinedtoprovidekeyinformationabouttheperformanceoftheprocess.

Strategicalignmentandoptimization.DescriptiveBPMtechnologycanhelpprovideamapofhigh‐levelprocessesandhelpdeterminewhichprocessesaremostimportanttostrategy.Thecrucialprocessescanthenbecomethefocusof


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optimizationeffort.Wherenewprocessesneedtobedeveloped,descriptiveBPMtechnologycanassistwithdesign.Processsimulations.Designsfornewprocessesandunderlyingassumptionsabouttheflowofworkcanbetestedusingprocesssimulations.Simulationscanbeusedtofinddesigncontradictions,unreasonableassumptions,andpotentialbottlenecksinbusinessprocesses.

What Is BPM Technology for Process Automation? BPMtechnologyforprocessautomationhelpscreatesoftwaresystemsthatplayakeyroleinautomatingtheexecutionofbusinessprocesses.Unlikepreviousgenerationsofbusinesstechnology,inwhichprocesseswereembeddedinflowsofdocumentsoremailsordatabaserecords,BPMtechnologyforprocessautomationstartswithanexplicitdefinitionofthebusinessprocessmodelandthenconstructsthesupportingmechanismsstartingfromthere.Thebusinessprocessdefinitioniscentral,notanafterthoughtorsomethinglurkinginthebackground.BPMtechnologyforprocessautomationreliesonarichsetofcomponentsthatcomefromenterpriseapplicationsthroughSOA,fromcollaborativetechnology,andfrommanyothersources.Thesecomponentsaredescribedinalatersection.BPMtechnologyforprocessautomationallowscreationofsoftwareforprocessexecutionthatcanprovidefunctionalityatavarietyoflevelsofmodelingdetailandorchestration.IntermsofthedimensionsofBPMtechnologydescribedinanearliersection,BPMtechnologyforprocessautomationfitsinasfollows:

• Themodelsareexecutable• Themodelsusedhaveaprocessortaskfocus• Thelevelofdetailisusuallylevel3orbelow,althoughBPMtechnologyfor

performancemanagementmaygeneratesystemsatlevel1or2• Themodelsaremostoftenusedfororchestrationatthemiddlewarelayer,

lessfrequentlyforthepresentationandhumanworkflowlayers,andalmostneveratthedataflowlayer

HerearethemostcommoncategoriesofBPMtechnologyforprocessautomation.

Processdrivenassembly.EnvironmentsthatstartwithadefinitionofabusinessprocessmodelandthenallowanapplicationtobecreatedtoexecutethatprocessarethemostcommonlydiscussedandanalyzedformofBPMtechnology.Intheseenvironments,aprocessmodelingenvironmentdefinesthestepsintheprocess.Eachstepcanbeassociatedwithauserinterface,awebservice,asetofbusinessrules,oraninvocationofsomeotherbusinessprocess.Oncetheprocesshasbeendefinedandconnectedtoallofthecomponents,anapplicationforprocessexecutioniscreated.


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Theprimarybenefitofsuchanapplicationisthattheprocessisincharge.Ifchangestotheprocessarediscovered,thebusinessprocessmodelcanbechangedandtheapplicationcanberecreatedtosupportthenewprocess.Inmanycases,theseenvironmentsaresimpleenoughsothatbusinessuserscandefineandimprovebusinessprocessmodels.WhenthissortofBPMtechnologyisappliedtobusinessprocessesthatarecentraltovalue‐creation,thebarrierstoinnovationandchangebecomelower,increasingtheagilityofthecompanyanditsabilitytorespondtochangingmarketconditions.

Table4showsspecifictechnologythatfallsintothiscategory.Table 4. Process-Driven Assembly Technology

Presentationmashupsandwidgetbasedtechnology.Basedonsimpleuserinterfacecomponentsdesignedtobeassembledandpresentedtogether,presentationmashupsandotherwidgetassemblyenvironmentsallowsimpleapplicationstobecreated.Simpleformsoforchestrationatthepresentationlevelarepossibleintheseenvironmentsaswidgetsposteventsthatotherwidgetscanreactto.Usuallyeachwidgetgathersinformationfromotherapplicationsandsystemsusingwebservices.Inthemostadvancedoftheseenvironments,itispossibletodescribeasimpleorchestrationofaprocessthatflowsbetweenseveralscreens.ItisthissortoffunctionalitythatbringsthetechnologyintotherealmofBPM.Otherwise,itisprimarilyawayforuserstoassemblejusttheinformationtheyneedbyselectingfromaportfolioofwidgets.Workflowconfiguration.Avarietyofdifferentenvironmentsthatappearindocumentmanagementsystems,enterpriseapplications,andothertechnologyallowsabusinessprocessmodelcalledaworkflowtobedefined.Theseworkflowmodelsmayoperateatthemiddlewareorchestrationlayer,butmoreoftenarepartofthebackendlayer.Usually,theseenvironmentsallowaseriesofstepstobeexpressed.Specificdocumentsoruserinterfacesareassociatedwitheachstep,andthentheuserisguidedthroughthesteps,whicharesometimesvisualizedfortheuserastheprocessistakingplace.Workflowconfigurationisaprecursortomore


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modernformsofBPMtechnologyforprocessautomation.Toolsfordefiningworkflowsaresometimesusedbyprogrammerssothattheflowofcontrolofanapplicationcanbecontrolledbyamoreabstractandeasier‐to‐changemechanismthanaprogramminglanguage.Specifictechnologythatfallsintothiscategoryincludes:

• Workflowconfigurationindocumentmanagementsystems• Workflowconfigurationinenterpriseapplications• SAPBusinessWorkflow

Enterpriseapplicationprocessconfiguration.Enterpriseapplicationshavealwaysautomatedbusinessprocesses.Inearlygenerations,thoseprocesseswerehardcodedintoapplications.Asunderstandingofbusinessprocessesmatured,variousothermechanismswereintroducedtoallowprocessestobedefinedandconfigured.Metadata,thatis,settingsthatcontrolthebehaviorofanapplication,wasonemechanism.Workflowofthesortjustmentionedwasanother.ThemodernstateoftheartforthissortofprocessconfigurationisrepresentedbysystemsthatallowtheflowofprocessesthatcrosstheboundariesofapplicationssuchasERPandCRMtobedefinedinaprocess‐configurationenvironment.Theseenvironmentsallownotonlyfortheprocesstobedefinedasmuchaspossible,butalsofortheactivityflowingthroughtheprocesstobemonitored.Inthisway,suchconfigurationandapplicationmanagementtoolsoverlapbusinessprocessmodeling,performancemanagement,andbusinessactivitymonitoring.Thesetoolsoperateatthemiddlewareandbackendlayersoforchestrationandthemoregranularlevelofprocessdetail.Theabilityofthesesystemstoconfigurethebehaviorofaprocessisdeterminedbysettingstheapplicationdesignerscreated.Usingtheseconfigurationmechanisms,itispossibletodefinetheflowofandtrackanend‐to‐endprocessthatcrossesapplicationboundaries.WhilethisapproachisnotasflexibleastheBPMtechnologiesusedforapplicationassembly,quitealotcanbeaccomplished.

Table5showstechnologythatfallsintothiscategory.Table 5. Enterprise Application Process Configuration Technology

Processintegration.Someformsofbusinessprocessmodelingcontroltheflowofprocessesthattakeplacewithoutuserinteraction.Thesebusinessprocessesare


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frequentlyusedforintegrationbetweentwosystems,fortheexecutionoflong‐runningtransactions,fortheprocessofevent‐drivenprocesses,orforacombinationofallofthese.SuchenvironmentsfrequentlydatebacktotheeraofEnterpriseApplicationIntegrationandwerecreatedtocontroltheflowofXMLmessages.Nowthatwebservicesandevent‐drivenarchitectureshavebecomemoreprominent,theyhavebeenincorporated.BackendprocessintegrationenvironmentsfrequentlyusetheBPELstandardtocontroltheflowofprocessexecution.

Table6showsspecifictechnologythefallsintothiscategory.Table 6. Process Integration Technology

Businessrulesautomation.Environmentsforcreatingbusinessruleshavebecomesopowerfulthattheycanbeusedtoeffectivelycontroltheflowofabusinessprocesswhenincorporatedintoanapplicationinavarietyofways.Businessrulessystemsallowmanyrulestobeappliedtospecificinputstodeterminethecorrectoutput.Abusinessrulecouldbeassimpleasdeterminingtherightprocessingcentertowhichtorouteapurchaseorderorascomplexascomputingacreditscorebasedonhundredsofinputs.Becauseabusinessruleissogenerallypowerful,itcouldbeusedasawaytocontrolthebehaviorofanapplicationandassuchitisaformofBPM.Businessrulescomponentscanbeinvokedthroughapplicationcodebyprogramminglanguages,byBPMtechnologyforapplicationassembly,fromawidgetenvironment,fromawebservice,orbyothermeans.Businessrulesareusedtoallowthecomplexbehaviorofanapplicationtobeexpressedinamoreabstractformthatissimplertochange.

Table7showsspecifictechnologythatfallsintothiscategory.


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Table 7. Business Rules Automation Technology

What Is the Value of BPM Technology for Process Automation? LookingbackonthecategoriesofBPMtechnologyforprocessautomationremindsusthatthedesireforprocessconfigurabilityislong‐standing.NotuntiltheeraofmodernBPMtoolscombinedwithSOAwasthebusinessprocesstrulyseparablefromtheapplicationandabletobeexpressedandmanipulatedonitsown.Inpractice,becauselayersoftechnologyexistatmostcompanies,itmakessensetousewhatevermechanismsareconvenient.BPMtechnologyforprocessautomationcreatesvalueinavarietyofwaysthatfitintothebothtop‐downandbottom‐upsortsofprojectsandatallstagesintheBPMadoptionprocess.WhileBPMtechnologycanbebroadlyapplied,ingeneral,thefirsttargetsaretheprocessesthataremostcrucialtovaluecreationandthatmustbecarefullymeasuredandrapidlyoptimized.

Supportingendtoendprocesses.BecausetheprocessesofBPMprocessautomationtechnologyareindependentofanysingleenterpriseapplication,butthroughSOAcanretrievedataandinvokefunctionalityfromanyenterpriseapplication,itispossibletoorchestrateandautomateprocessesthatflowfromoneendoftheenterprisetotheother.Suchprocessesareoftenthemostimportanttoefficiencyandvaluecreation.Lookingatthemasanintegratedsequenceofstepscanincreasetheopportunitiesforunderstanding,improvemonitoring,andaccelerateinnovation.

Expandingprocessautomationbeyondenterpriseboundaries.ThewebservicesofSOAandweb‐baseduserinterfacescanexpandthereachofend‐to‐endprocessautomationbeyondtheboundariesoftheenterprise.BPMtechnologyforprocessautomationcanpresentuserinterfacestosuppliersandpartnersandalso


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invokeservicesthatexchangeinformationandinvokefunctionalityinexternalsystems.Acceleratingdevelopment.BPMprocessautomationtechnologyleveragesthepowerofvisualmodelingandautomatedapplicationgenerationtechniquestospeedassemblyofawidevarietyofcomponentsandwebservices.WhetherinthehandsofanITprofessionaloranexpertbusinessuser,muchmoreworkcanbedonewithamodel‐drivenapproachthanwithtraditionalprogramminglanguagesoncethepropercomponentsandwebservicesareinplace.

Promotinginnovationandagility.BPMprocessautomationtechnologyincreasesthespeedandlowersthecostofchangecomparedwithtraditionaldevelopmentmethods.Inaddition,bybringingmorepeopleintotheprocess,especiallybusinessuserswhoareexpertinthedetailsofaprocess,developmentandinnovationcyclesmovefaster.

Userempowerment.BPMprocessautomationtechnologyisfarsimplertousethantraditionaldevelopmenttechniquesthatemployprogramminglanguages.Insomecasesthismeansthatbusinessuserswillbeabletodesignandimplementprocessesontheirown.AnewrolecalledthebusinessprocessexperthasstartedtoemergetohelpacceleratethetrainingofusersandtoenablemorerapidcommunicationwithIT.ThisnewrolealsohelpsITbetterunderstandtheneedsofbusiness.InthecontextofBPM,thistakesplaceusingbusinessmodels,whichmakestheprocessmuchmorestraightforward.Ofcourse,ifnewprocessesrequirenewcomponentsorservices,ITstaffusuallymustcreatethem.Also,asapracticalmatter,evenwhenabusinessuserorbusinessprocessexpertdevelopsanewapplicationusingBPMtechnology,ITstaffareinvolvedascoachestoensurecompliancewithITpoliciesandforqualitycontrol.Expandingthereachofenterpriseapplicationstomeetrolebasedneeds.Sometimesitseemsasifinformationgoesintoenterpriseapplicationsandremainstrappedthere.BPMtechnologycanrepresentanescapehatchthatpresentsjusttheinformationandfunctionalityneededbyapersonplayingaroleinaprocess.Thecombinationofwebservices(SOA)andBPMtechnologymakescreatingsuchrole‐basedinterfaceseasy.Table8showsthatthesparsematrixmentionedearliercannowbefilled,depictingwhichtechnologiesareoperativeateachleveloforchestration.


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Table 8. Levels of Orchestration Related to BPM Technologies

What Functionality and Components Constitute a Fully Formed BPM Suite? TheentirecollectionoftechnologyforimplementingBPMissometimesreferredtoasaBPMSuiteorBPMS.WhenchoosingtechnologyasapartofBPMadoption,sometimesthesecomponentscomeseparatelyandsometimesalltogetherasanintegratedenvironment.Ineithercase,itisworthunderstandingthedifferentcategoriesofcomponentsandfunctionality.BPMtechnologyforprocessautomationhelpsassemblecomponentsintoanapplicationbasedontheflowdefinedbyabusinessprocessmodel.Functionalitymustexisttocreateandmanagethebusinessprocessmodel.Controllingasetofcomponentsusingamodelissometimescalledorchestration.

Theassemblyofabusinessprocessapplicationcannottakeplaceunlesscomponentsofvariouskindssuchasuserinterfaces,webservices,andbusinessruleshavebeencreatedthatsupporttheapplicationbeingassembled.Inaddition,oncecreatedthecomponentsmustbestoredandmanagedinrepositoriesbuiltforthatpurpose.Attimes,thesecomponentsmustbeintegratedtogetherinwaysthatarenotcontrolledbytheBPMS.

Oncetheapplicationhasbeencreated,theactivitybeingperformedmayneedtobetrackedandmonitored.

Hereisalistofthemostcommoncomponentsandmanagementmechanismsthatareinvolvedinapplicationassembly.

Webservices.BPMneedsSOA.Theactofcreatingexecutablebusinessprocessmodelsisthestartofcreatingnewapplicationstohelpautomateandsupportbusinessprocesses.Toalloweachbusinessprocesssteptointeractwiththeworld,webservicesareneededtocreateatwo‐waycommunicationwithenterprise


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applicationsandtoreachouttoothersourcesofinformationandfunctionalityontheWeb.Businessrules.Processstepscaninvolvetheapplicationofsetsofbusinessrulesthatdeterminesomesortofresult,basedontheinputspassedinandtherulesineffect.Rulescouldbeusedtodeterminetheroutingofadocument,thecreditscoreofanindividual,orasuggestionforaproducttoupsell.

Userinterfaces.Whenprocessstepsneedtointeractwithpeopletocollectinformationortodefineataskthatmustbeperformedmanually,auserinterfaceisneeded.Inthisway,auserinterfaceisacomponentthatisincludedinthesetofpartsthatareassembledintoaworkingapplicationbytheBPMprocessautomationtechnology.Userinterfacecomponentscanbegeneratedautomatically,basedoninteractionsimpliedbywebservices,businessrules,ordatarequiredbyprocesssteps.Userinterfacecomponentscanalsobecreatedbyusersanddevelopersusingavarietyoftools.

Modelingandorchestrationtools.ModelingandorchestrationtoolsareusedatmanydifferentlevelsofaBPMS.ThecenterofaBPMSisusuallyanenvironmentformodelingusedtodefinebusinessprocessmodelsortheorchestrationofservices.Modelingcanbeusedtocreateservicesanduserinterfaces.Modelingalsocanbeusedtodefinetheintegrationandmappingofdatafromonesourcetoanother.

Simulationtools.Inordertounderstandtheflowofworkthroughaproposedbusinessprocess,simulationtoolsmaybeemployed.Assumptionsaremadeabouttheamountofinputstoeachprocessandtheamountoftimeittakestoperformeachprocessstep.Inthiswaybottlenecksorkeyareasforoptimizationcanbefound.Thesekeyareascanbecloselymonitoredtofindproblemsearlyoninimplementationsortoconfirmthevalidityofassumptions.Modelandprocessrepositories.Whenmodelsarecreated,theymustbestoredinrepositories,whichallowthemtobeaccessedandsharedbylargegroupsofpeople.InanylargeprogramofBPMadoption,someprocessesareusedoverandover.Theseprocesscomponentsmustbestoredinacentrallocationandreusedinotherbusinessprocessmodels.

Webservicesrepositories.Tolinkbusinessprocessstepsanduserinterfacestotheinvocationofservices,itisimportanttobeabletofindservices,understandwhattheydo,andidentifythedatasentandretrievedthroughthem.Webservicesrepositoriescontaininformationabouttheinterfacesandfunctionalityoftheservicesandtheunderlyingapplicationstheservicesareconnectedtoatruntime.

Integrationtools.Itisnotuncommonforabusinessprocesstorequiretwosystemstoworktogetherinspecificways.PerhapsapurchaseordermustbetransferredfromtheCRMapplicationtoERP.Frequently,theBPMSdoesnot


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containthecapabilitytoperformsuchintegrationandsootherintegrationtoolsmustbeusedtocreatetheneededfunctionality.TheBPMtoolstheninvokeaservicethatperformstheintegrationdefinedbytheintegrationtools.Inthisway,specificintegrationsbecomecomponentsusedbyBPMtechnology.Centralizedtaskmanagement.Oneofthemostimportanttransitionsinabusinessprocessmodeloccurswhenasoftwareapplicationasksapersontoperformatask.Itisvitalthatthetasktobeperformedbeadequatelydescribedandthattheresultsofperformingthetaskberecorded.Asingleusermaybegettingrequeststoperformtasksfrommanydifferentbusinessprocessapplications.Centralizedtaskmanagementcomponentscreateasingleinboxintowhichallrequestsfrombusinessprocessapplicationsaresent,whichstreamlinesmonitoringandexecutingthosetasks.Processandactivitymonitoringtools.OnceanapplicationhasbeencreatedusingaBPMS,itisimportanttomonitorthebusinessprocessmodelduringexecution.Bymonitoringtheactivityofspecificsteps,itispossibletomonitornotonlythetechnologicalactivityofthesystemsuchasdatabasereadsandwritesornetworktraffic,butalsotheprogressofthebusinessprocess,thatis,numberofpurchaseorderscreatedorcustomerservicerequestshandled.Systemscreatedbasedonbusinessprocessmodelstakealargesteptowardachievingthepromiseofthefieldofbusinessactivitymonitoring,complexeventprocessing,predictiveanalytics,andsimulations.

What Enabling Standards and Technology Support BPM Technology? WhenevaluatingandadoptingBPMtechnology,twostandardsarereferencedoverandover:BPMNandBPEL.TofullyunderstandwhatBPMtechnologydoes,itisimportanttounderstandtheroleoftheseandotherstandards,whichprovideacommoninfrastructureforprocessmodelingandautomation.BusinessprocessmodelingnotationorBPMNisastandardforthevisualdefinitionofbusinessprocesses.MostofthemoderntoolsforbusinessprocessmodelingsupportBPMNorarebasedonit.BPMNdefinestheprimitiveconstructsthatareusedtorepresentbusinessprocesses,suchasstartingpoints,endpoints,processsteps,decisionpoints,andsoon.

BusinessprocessexecutionlanguageorBPELisastandardforexpressingthestepsrequiredtoexecuteabusinessprocessbyinvokingaseriesofwebservices.BPELismorelikeaprogramminglanguageforcarryingoutabusinessprocessthanamodelingsystemfordescribingtheprocessflow.


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WebservicestechnologystandardsarevitaltoBPMbecausetheyenablewebservicestocommunicatewithenterpriseapplicationsandothersystemsusingappropriatemechanismsforsecurity,self‐discovery,versioning,andotherimportantmatters.Industrystandardsforwebservicesdefinespecificsetsofservicesthatareusedtoautomatecommunicationbetweentwocompaniesinaparticularindustry.BPMtechnologyfrequentlymakesuseofsuchwebserviceswhencreatingsystemsthatcrosscompanyboundariesandincorporatepartnercompaniesintoaprocess.

Moving Forward Thedevelopmentandwidespreadimplementationofenterpriseapplications,theimprovementsinITbasedonthetransformationaleffectoftheInternet,andseveralgenerationsoflearningabouthowtosimplifysoftwaredevelopmentthroughexecutablemodelshavesetthestageforthepromiseofbusinessprocessmanagementtobefulfilled.Thisisnolongeramatteroftheory,butapointthathasbeenprovenrepeatedlybyearlyadopterswhohaveappliedbusinessprocessmanagementatscale.Wenowunderstandthatbusinessprocessmanagementisnotjustageneralphilosophyorasetoftechnologyoranapproachtotransformingstrategyintoinitiativesandthenspecificgoalsforeachdepartmentandindividualinacompany.Businessprocessmanagementisallofthosethings.Betterperformancemeansmovingforwardinallofthesedimensions.Theauthorshopethatthispaperhasbeenhelpfulindeterminingavarietyofspecificwaysthatcompaniescanmoveforward.

ToparticipateinacontinuingdiscussionofBPM,pleasegotooneofthefollowingonlinecommunities:

• JointheSAPBPXCommunityathttps://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/bpx• GetmoreinformationaboutSAPNetWeaverBPMat


• GotoAccentureBusinessProcessManagementServicesathttp://www.accenture.com/bpm

• ForinformationonsystemsintegrationandtechnologyfromAccenturegotohttp://www.accenture.com/Global/Technology

http://www.accenture.com/Global/Technology

http://www.accenture.com/bpm


Documents

BPM Technology Taxonomy - Evolved Media Technology Taxonomy: A Guided Tour to the Application of BPM ... Get more information about SAP NetWeaver BPM at