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• How BPM can help your organization • How to become more agile • To be more responsive to the needs of your clients • How to turn market opportunities into revenue streams
Brian Underdahl
These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Business Process Management
by Brian Underdahl
These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
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..................... ..... 2 Icons Used in This Book ....................... ...Table of Contents Introduction ...... ............. .................................................................................................. ............................... 5 Understanding How BPM Benefits Your Business ...................... 2 Chapter 4: Improving BPM Automation with Decision Management .. ....... 2 Chapter 5: Checking out BPM Success Stories ...... 20 Transformation: Making changes ............ 21 Understanding Your Options .............. 7 Making better decisions........... 11 Why Existing Tools Just Won't Do ............................... ............... . ............. ........... Inc...................................... and any dissemination... Agile Business Model .. ...... 15 Chapter 2: Getting Started with BPM ................................... 2 Chapter 6: Top Reasons to Choose BPM from IBM ... ......................... ............................. ........... 10 Take advantage of the opportunities . ............................. .............. 23 These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing.............. 13 Traditional application development ............. ........ ...... distribution................. ......... ................. 1 How This Book Is Organized .............. . ......... ....................... 9 It's a tough market out there......... ............ ......... .......... ...... ................. 17 Selecting the Right Project .... ..... .......... .............5 BPM: The New............. . ....... ...... 22 Time to value ... ......... 6 Making faster decisions ..... . 19 Initiation: Starting small and scaling up .......... ... ............. ................................................... ........... 1 Chapter 2: Getting Started with BPM ........... ... .. .............. ........... ........... ....... ..................... .......... ....... 1 Chapter 1: Understanding BPM............. ................................... 11 Buying a packaged application ......... ... ........... .............................17 Evaluating Your Company's Needs. . ............. ......... 8 Why Changing to BPM Now Makes Sense ......................... 8 Making financially sound decisions .................................. ............. ............. .. ...... 12 Extending an existing application... .... ................ ... 9 Waiting won't improve things ................... ..............1 About This Book .. ....... 14 The BPM advantage ...... or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited............. 3 Chapter 1: Understanding BPM .. .. ....... ... ...... ............................... 22 Functionality options . 21 Proving value............ 18 Process analysis...................... 2 Chapter 3: Putting BPM to Work for Your Organization . .......... .............
....................................... .... ........ .......... 39 Business rule management systems ........ .................. 43 Real-world scenarios . .................Table of Contents Additional value-added capabilities ......... .......... ....... 31 Software resources ................................. 44 The role of analytics in decision management .. 42 Automating and Improving Decision-Making ..............27 Planning................ 29 Building a BPM Solution ....................... 40 Understanding business events ...... .................................. ...... ... ..... ............................ Inc................................... . Planning ... 26 v Chapter 3: Putting BPM to Work for Your Organization ... ... ........................ ................................ ... ................................................... .............. 25 Content management................... 23 Understanding the IBM Advantage .............................. .......... and any dissemination.. ...................... ........ ......... 38 Scattered business rules ............ ..................................................... 38 Understanding business rules........................................... 43 Using BRMS and BEP in other industries ..... 37 Driving Process Improvement ......................................... .................. 24 BPM with SOA . 28 Selling BPM to management ....................... 40 Business event processing ... ................................................................... .......................................... 33 Understanding BPM architecture ... ........................... 46 These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing........ ........................... ........... ...... workflow. ....................... ................................. ..... 41 Combining BRMS and BEP ..... 35 Chapter 4: Improving BPM Automation with Decision Management ...................... 33 Documenting processes.. 43 Using BRMS and BEP in the financial services industry ........... 32 Hardware resources ........ . .............. .... 28 Selling BPM to your colleagues ...... ...... ............ Planning......... ......................................... .. 30 BPM project resources ................................... or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited............. 30 A typical BPM project scenario ..... 33 Documenting the changes ................... ........... distribution... 27 Choosing the correct project/process ... 23 Considering the top BPM vendors .................... 32 Documenting Your Process .................... ...................... 25 Blueworks Live ...... ..... 32 People resources.............37 Understanding Decision Management ......... .... and collaboration capabilities .................................. 24 Rapid process implementation ........................... ................... 34 Process simulation ......... ...............
................49 Growing with Mobitel ....................................................................... distribution....................................... or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. .................................................. 61 Role-based User Environment . 63 Business Event Processing ....... .......vi Business Process Management For Dummies........................ ............................... ........... 63 Business Rule Management ........ 57 Going Paperless at Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG ......................................... .......................... 61 Dynamic SOA Capabilities ....................... 49 Reducing Medical Costs for Medizinische Hochschule Hannover ........ ..... 64 These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing....... 63 Documenting and Running Processes in the Cloud ...... 64 Beyond Technology... 62 Scalability and Performance ........ Inc................ Assuring Success with BPM Services ........... IBM Limited Edition Chapter 5: Checking out BPM Success Stories ...... . 52 Getting Airborne with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings . and any dissemination.......................................... 62 Advanced Programming Model ..................61 Ease of Use ................................. ....................... 54 Suiting Up with Mark's Work Wearhouse ................................ . 60 Chapter 6: Top Reasons to Choose BPM from IBM ............. 62 Integrated BAM Capabilities ........ ......................................................
Introduction A re you ready to tackle Business Process Management (BPM) for your enterprise? Do you want to improve efficiency. Inc. How This Book Is Organized This book is divided into six chapters. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. and also be more profitable? If so. so you can skip to whatever chapter that interests you the most. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. . distribution. you've come to the right place. This section contains a brief breakdown of what you find in each chapter. shows you what BPM is and how it can help your organization. and any dissemination. which can be read in any order. You see how the BPM solutions from IBM help you gain many benefits from higher customer satisfaction to greater agility in adapting to changing market conditions. BPM is an approach toward managing how an organization operates so it better meets the needs of clients. BPM is exactly what your organization needs to meet the challenges of the modern business climate. About This Book Business Process Management For Dummies. Chapter 1: Understanding BPM Chapter 1 discusses the new agile business model that's BPM and shows you why changing to BPM now makes sense for your organization. IBM Limited Edition. BPM enables organizations to be more efficient and more capable of change. enhance agility.
one of them may just convince you to switch. such as reducing costs. distribution. improving agility. Each of them offers benefits. I discuss the planning process for putting BPM to work in your company. . you see several success stories that show you how IBM's BPM solutions help companies all around the world to become more agile and successful. Chapter 3: Putting BPM to Work for Your Organization In Chapter 3. IBM Limited Edition Chapter 2: Getting Started with BPM Chapter 2 shows you how to evaluate your company's needs and how to select the correct first project. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. you see the BPM options that are available to you. Inc. and increasing efficiency. Finally. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. In addition. you see how to automate and improve the decision-making process.2 Business Process Management For Dummies. Chapter 4: Improving BPM Automation with Decision Management Chapter 4 discusses decision management and shows you how to drive process improvement. Chapter 6: Top Reasons to Choose BPM from IBM Chapter 6 gives you the top reasons why you should choose a BPM solution from IBM. Check it out. You see how to build a BPM solution and how to make sure that you're correctly documenting everything. and any dissemination. Chapter 5: Checking out BPM Success Stories In Chapter 5.
and any dissemination. you can easily spot the information when you refer to the book later. Sorry. distribution. . The information in paragraphs marked by the Remember icon is important and therefore repeated for emphasis.Introduction 3 Icons Used in This Book This book uses the following icons to call your attention to information you may find helpful in particular ways. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. plus. The Tip icon indicates extra-helpful information. You may discover how to get the most experts in the field or a fascinating way to implement your BPM or save time or money. it can't be helped. Inc. Paragraphs marked with the Warning icon call attention to common pitfalls that you may encounter. This icon marks places where technical matters are discussed. the information is intended to be helpful. This way. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Inc. . distribution. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. IBM Limited Edition These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. and any dissemination.4 Business Process Management For Dummies.
BPM provides that agility by giving you more direct control over your operational processes. Agile Business Model In today's dynamic business environment. BPM is a collaborative effort between business units and the IT world. You also see why now is a good time to implement BPM and why your existing tools just won't do the job. higher revenues. agile business model ▶ Recognizing how BPM benefits your business ▶ Switching to BPM ▶ Going beyond existing tools etter processes produce lower cost. better productivity. you get an introduction to BPM and see how it can benefit your business. motivated employees. BPM helps create value for the enterprise through growth. helping you meet your goals. distribution. and this effort fosters a new paradigm of efficient and logical business processes. In this chapter. You can make better use of technology and your entire enterprise becomes far more responsive. higher staff These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Inc. organizations need to be agile so they're ready to respond to whatever challenges come their way. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. and happier customers.Chapter 1 Understanding BPM In This Chapter ▶ Seeing BPM as the new. B BPM: The New. . Business Process Management (BPM) is an approach that's designed to produce better processes. and any dissemination. improved performance.
Inc. regulatory. and any dissemination. Here. BPM can help your organization become more agile in a number of different ways: ✓ Increased productivity: In today's economy you need to do more with fewer resources. Practices such as Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma as well as the work of quality control experts such as Deming are fully incorporated in BPM methodology. . Six Sigma For Dummies. and corporate governance requirements can be very costly and time-consuming. Understanding How BPM Benefits Your Business The basic operational value proposition of BPM is the ability to process more with less effort and higher quality. ✓ Reaching the global market: BPM can help you streamline your supply chain operations. and better customer service.6 Business Process Management For Dummies. you can keep these costs under control. distribution. so you can take advantage of opportunities no matter where they may exist. Applying BPM principles helps your enterprise increase its productivity. As a These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. All of these improvements result directly from improved processes. effective BPM helps you be one of the leaders. ✓ Speed to market: When a new idea or product comes along. Using BPM. The agile and flexible organization has the ability to meet the needs of the customer and be the winner at the end of the day. For more information on Six Sigma. ✓ Achieving compliance: Keeping up with complex compliance. BPM can help make that possible. ✓ Accelerating innovation: You need a business environment where innovation isn't only encouraged but also where innovation is a normal part of daily operation. not one of the followers who were too late to take advantage of the new market. check out its full retail title. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. BPM actually enables you to leverage these practices to provide even greater benefits to your enterprise. IBM Limited Edition effectiveness. too.
and any dissemination. But the decisions that take place in the process are equally important. such as high-volume manufacturing processes. Business processes are pervasive in any organization. are more unstructured. 7 You may not think of the activities performed within your organization as business processes. By using BPM.Chapter 1: Understanding BPM result. Making faster decisions Speed and agility are very important factors in the success of any business. As you try to improve your operations. and they know that the fast-food restaurant will serve them quickly. you're engaging in a process improvement project. while others. Typically. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. such as medical care that must be tailored to specific patients' needs. People typically have a limited amount of time for lunch. and more efficient outcomes as you work on this improvement project. Customers don't like to wait for products or answers. repeatable. This example is excellent for seeing how managing a business process effectively can greatly improve the speed of an operation. . BPM has become a cornerstone discipline for companies that want to grow revenues quickly while controlling resource costs. Some processes are highly structured. your managers have unimpeded access to data as well as well-defined systems to help them make decisions quickly. Clearly. you want to leverage advanced methodologies and technologies to deliver consistent. Take the fast-food restaurant business as an example. These processes represent all the activities that organizations in all industries undertake. BPM helps you define and manage your business processes so you can reach your desired goals. when organizations thought about process improvement. BPM can help you automate high-volume operational decisions so they can be made more quickly and in a highly These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. They serve many times the number of lunches of the typical sit down restaurant simply because the industry is fast. but that's exactly what they are. Inc. they focused on the orchestration of the various tasks that comprise the end-to-end process. Look at any fast-food restaurant on the corner during lunchtime. distribution.
BPM also enables you to see your processes in action and to see how decisions affect your bottom line. . you can be sure that most decisions are made in a much more consistent manner. This process improvement ultimately means that decisions aren't only made faster. Because your business rules These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Making better decisions Because BPM can help make sure that your managers have complete information. Rather. Making financially sound decisions In addition to fast and better decisions. Virtually every decision made within an organization affects the bottom line. you're able to do more than simply react. but also better decisions are made. your company may absolutely require that any decisions be financially sound. they're able to make better decisions. managers gain the tools they need to more easily make important decisions quickly. you can alter the process to better manage new opportunities or looming threats. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. As a result. In this way. the decisions that are made can help maximize the financial returns by minimizing time spent. IBM Limited Edition repeatable manner. management is no longer in the dark when it comes to making important financial decisions. and any dissemination. and reducing waste to an absolute minimum. BPM helps you automate the decision-making process by using a business rules approach. distribution. maximizing the use of resources. BPM helps you create processes that can be quantified in terms of financial results. Inc. By using BPM. by using BPM. they're likely to be more in line with the goals of your organization. Through the use of BPM. it's able to see the big picture so it can make fiscally responsible decisions for the enterprise. by helping you automate many decision-making processes. BPM gives you the tools to improve the processes and decisions proactively.8 Business Process Management For Dummies. Because these decisions are based on solidly defined rules. In addition. No company can stay afloat for very long if it's throwing away money.
These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. choreographed business services that work together to create substantial business value. but there is also likely to be a certain amount of inertia because people are used to doing things certain ways. you'll soon find that your competitors are taking away all your business.Chapter 1: Understanding BPM are defined based on financially sound foundations. . or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Unfortunately. distribution. Indeed. It's a tough market out there Rarely. BPM takes rigid. If you take this approach. The bottom line is that BPM can help improve your decisionmaking process by making it faster. those automated decisions automatically are based on financially sound foundations also. and any dissemination. 9 Why Changing to BPM Now Makes Sense Every organization has a number of processes in place. In fact. At its core. but without seeing the big picture they don't see the need for change. Not only will the problems not go away. This transformation can help the organization to adapt to an ever faster changing business climate and global economic challenge. burying your head in the sand simply fills your nostrils with a bunch of gritty sand while leaving the most vulnerable parts of your body exposed. more intelligent. people may agree that some improvement may be possible. Organizations that ignore the need for change are doing the equivalent of burying their head in the sand. and by making it return decisions that are financially responsible. most enterprises are facing ever-increasing challenges just trying to hold onto their market share. in most cases companies are dealing with more and more competition every day. companies have an entire market all to themselves. Sure. but the competition will rush ahead and win the business race. You simply can't afford to sit still and hope for the best. Inc. independent processes and transforms them into flexible.
On the surface. There's no better time than when conditions are challenging to make positive improvements in your business processes. this rationale may seem correct but only if you ignore the fact that doing nothing creates a large opportunity for your competition. Of course. If you can't deliver what the customers want tomorrow. Inc. Waiting won't improve things There's no question that people have been living through some tough economic times. the people within your organization are almost certainly aware of the current business conditions. If you can improve your productivity so your product or service costs you less to deliver. ✓ Improve decision-making: Automating the decisionmaking process leads to faster. and they know that you need to remain competitive. and any dissemination. ✓ Improve flexibility: Market demands seem to change almost overnight making flexibility and agility one of the primary keys to success today. it's much easier to compete against lowcost competitors. better. you can bet that your competition is trying to become more productive. One of the best ways to improve profitability is by improving your productivity.10 Business Process Management For Dummies. more flexible. IBM Limited Edition What do you need to do to be competitive in tough markets? Here are a few very important items: ✓ Improve productivity: To compete and win. While you're busy doing nothing. and more fiscally responsible decisions based on business rules. and more profitable. you need to be profitable. After all. you may as well be in the buggy whip business — there isn't a lot of demand. Waiting for improvement to happen on its own is almost a sure path to failure. but you have the market cornered on obsolete products no one wants. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. . Their rationale seems to be that doing nothing costs nothing. automating the decision-making process also has positive effects on productivity. Many people and organizations see a poor economy as a reason to sit on the sidelines and wait for things to improve before making any decisions. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. distribution.
Chapter 1: Understanding BPM 11 Take advantage of the opportunities Difficult times create excellent opportunities for those people and organizations that are willing to invest in the future. While everyone else is sitting around complaining. In this section. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. thus having an even more positive effect on ROI. but also you build and deploy new capabilities and improve your Return on Investment (ROI). These changes position your company to take advantage of new opportunities in ways that simply aren't possible now. by implementing BPM now. Inc. BPM can help. the benefits go beyond what you may expect. Why Existing Tools Just Won't Do If you have been reading the chapter through to this point. But even so. and an organization that's generally easier to do business with. Whether you choose to optimize current operations or develop new processes and applications. by now it may be pretty clear that BPM can offer some very important benefits to your organization. faster response. and any dissemination. With BPM. and you'll be able to better leverage your existing resources. you not only improve your current processes. For example. In fact. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. you may encounter some opposition from people who believe that your existing tools should be more than adequate. By using BPM. you can begin the planning and implement changes that ensure a long and profitable future for your organization. distribution. . your customers are likely to see improved customer service and satisfaction while your partners and suppliers will experience improved communications. you take a look at the alternatives to see why they're not up to the job. at a much lower cost. you'll be able to make the necessary improvements faster.
Unfortunately. then the application won't be used and process efficiency can get worse. IBM Limited Edition Buying a packaged application In many cases. ✓ Risk of adoption: Users often resist having to learn an entirely new application. No time is lost identifying which application capabilities won't be used or need to be customized. Inc. if the application's capabilities don't match users' needs. BPM allows project teams to focus on the specific capabilities needed by participants in the process — and no more. ✓ Responding to change: After the packaged application has been installed. Applications typically aren't designed to accommodate frequent change — they're focused on standardizing actions and processes. organizations are often faced with difficulties keeping the application synchronized with the changing priorities of the business processes. distribution. Furthermore. According to Forrester Research. Worse still. A great amount of time could be spent implementing capabilities that aren't directly relevant to your process problem but are required for the proper execution of the application. packaged applications are rarely a good solution because four issues with buying applications exist: ✓ Time to value: Additionally. you can buy a packaged application that's supposed to be designed to address the needs of a particular process or function. When compared with typical BPM installations. customizing a standard These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. most applications require organizations to start with the application's core data model and base functionality. In fact.5 months — and 36 percent of the projects were delivered late. . many BPM deployments would have three or four versions of a process deployed in that time — each generating significant business value. leading BPM solutions can bring the process into the tools that users are familiar with today — like Microsoft Outlook.12 Business Process Management For Dummies. at one point the industry average for installing new applications was 14. Using familiar tools virtually eliminates training and adoption hurdles. No such start-up costs for working with BPM exist because you're starting with your current processes. and any dissemination. In contrast. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
applications must be extended by using proprietary applicationspecific languages. In contrast. and many consultants have been trained in the core skills and technologies required for deployment. extending a transactional application to support process management capabilities often means that companies have to custom develop capabilities. ✓ Complexity: Extending packaged applications generally makes future upgrades more complex — sometimes significantly more complex or virtually impossible. Contracting with consultants who possess this knowledge can be expensive. you run into problems: ✓ Cost: The cost of purchasing additional modules and the development tools required to customize the existing application can often be extensive — more costly than adopting BPM. the next could be in managing shipment logistics. When taking this path. extending the applications often requires unique. If an existing application is in place. expensive skills. In contrast. Often. Inc. 13 ✓ Expanding scope: Process improvement requirements can come from all parts of the organization. distribution. In addition. and any dissemination. They suggest a "vanilla" implementation (one that isn't customized) in order to make future upgrades possible. Buying specific applications for each of these process problems wouldn't be practical. While the first problem may be in bringing new employees into the process. making use of that existing application gets major consideration. Extending an existing application Most organizations already have existing applications which they use in their business processes.Chapter 1: Understanding BPM application often introduces additional problems and costs. . Most application vendors advise clients not to extend or customize their applications. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. a BPM suite (BPMS) can be used to improve any process. some companies evaluate extending that application to help drive improvement in key process areas. which exposes development These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. such as workflow and reporting. In addition. Obviously. leading BPM solutions are standards based.
. BPM delivers productivity gains in virtually every phase of the project delivery. Traditional application development One option is to develop a completely new application in house. cheaper.14 Business Process Management For Dummies. right? In fact. yet they must also custom develop complex new capabilities specific to process management. The process management capabilities offered by the large application vendors can't presently drive process improvement to the same degree and speed as mature BPMSs. distribution. their offerings are still immature. After all. These same percentages — or worse — can be expected using traditional application development for process improvement. In contrast. How much faster? Based on IBM's research with customers that have existing application development capabilities (for example. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Inc. if you extend a packaged application. it isn't uncommon for these companies to evaluate whether they can use their traditional application development instead of using a BPMS. the application vendor may no longer be willing or able to support the application. you probably have some sort of IT staff. Java-based development). BPM project success rates — over 90 percent — suggest that BPM is a superior technology for getting process improvement requirement right. Forrester Research reported that 57 percent of traditional application development projects were poorly scoped and 30 percent had unattainable requirements. and any dissemination. ✓ Time to market: BPM projects tend to be delivered faster. In addition. Traditional application development is a poor fit for driving process improvement in two different areas: ✓ Requirements: In one study. ✓ Immaturity: While many application providers are adding process to their applications and platforms. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. most companies have the capability to develop applications in house. user interaction. So. and more reliably than most application development projects. IBM Limited Edition teams to the greatest possible risk — they're constrained by the existing application on things like data model.
Chapter 1: Understanding BPM
The BPM advantage
BPM provides you with productivity improvements compared to other solutions for number of reasons: ✓ Built-in functionality: The tools you need to define process improvements and implementation, such as modeling, workflow, simulation, and so on, are typically built into a BPM suite. ✓ Cohesive development environment: Because the tools you need are integrated into the BPM suite, those tools are designed to work together, which simplifies implementation and change management. ✓ Graphical development tools: Leading BPM suites support graphical development of process solutions instead of requiring complex and highly technical coding. This speeds development and reduces the technical skills necessary to deploy BPM. BPM simply lets companies create a platform for process improvement easier and faster. Often, however, you can encounter a challenge in justifying the BPM investment as opposed to following the traditional paths, such as buying or building a custom application. BPM offers a high ROI, rapid development, and the tools to drive process improvement. In addition, BPM can help your organization become more agile and able to face the challenges of the future.
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Business Process Management For Dummies, IBM Limited Edition
These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Chapter 2
Getting Started with BPM
In This Chapter
▶ Understanding your business goals and strategy ▶ Picking a meaningful project ▶ Knowing the BPM umbrella options ▶ Looking at IBM software for BPM
ith all the complexity of a dynamic business environment, getting started with BPM can seem a little challenging. The key to success is to use the right approach — one that starts with a careful analysis that's focused on business value and then expands to leverage successes along the way. In this chapter, you see how to get started with BPM by evaluating your company's needs, picking the right project, and having a look at the BPM marketplace.
Evaluating Your Company's Needs
To get started with BPM, you need to begin by evaluating your company's needs. Any successful process improvement initiative must start with and be driven by business value. You must understand the business goals and strategy that drive the process improvement initiative. Begin by analyzing your current processes to identify those processes whose improvement will deliver the greatest return on investment — the so-called "low-hanging fruit." After you've identified the candidate process projects and prioritized them based on your business needs, you're ready to begin working on an initial project.
These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing, Inc. and any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Inc. but you also need to exercise some caution against over analysis. By starting with a manageable project you can develop your process improvement skills and deliver value to the business quickly. . or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. IBM Limited Edition But how do you evaluate your company's needs? Clearly. and any dissemination. distribution. funding. Selecting the Right Project You're likely to have an awful lot of scrutiny from every level of your enterprise.18 Business Process Management For Dummies. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Therefore. you want to pick a project that's meaningful but can be implemented in a reasonable period of time. and success of subsequent projects that you may want to take on in the future. your evaluation must begin with an understanding of your business. Remember that any process improvement initiative must be able to deliver some quantifiable successes within a reasonable timeframe so stakeholder commitment remains strong and your funding for the initiative remains in place. Ask yourself the following questions: ✓ Where are your bottlenecks? ✓ Which business processes are resulting in customer dissatisfaction? ✓ Which processes have obvious problems? ✓ Where can improved efficiency quite obviously save you money? ✓ Who are the leaders who are most likely to champion a BPM project and help ensure its success? An analysis of your business is an important first step on the road to process improvement. One of the best approaches for an initial project is to select one that not only meets your business needs but also one that can be implemented fairly quickly. Your choice of a proper project can help ensure continued commitment. BPM is a collaborative venture that involves both your business units and your IT staff — make sure that both are on board before you begin to help ensure the ultimate success of your project.
Figure out how to make the process operate most effectively. you can't manage what you can't measure. look for suboptimal and broken processes that cause bottlenecks in your current system. In some instances you may want to rework existing processes while in others you may need to create new processes from scratch. because BPM allows continuous improvement. With BPM you can make continuous improvement instead of attempting to reach the ideal state with one huge jump. BPM maximizes the effectiveness of business processes by following certain steps: 1. Inc. distribution. BPM is a system of managing business activities through a framework of operational processes. you have a baseline against which you can measure progress and improvement. Implement controls to achieve ongoing effectiveness. In this stage of the project. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Although pretty much every process in the company could be optimized. and any dissemination. Determine the best process given the current conditions. you visualize. Essentially. 3. 2. A business process is the set of tasks and activities that accomplish the specific organizational objective.Chapter 2: Getting Started with BPM 19 Success with BPM begins with being able to document the current processes. Process analysis Discovery and design are the first steps in understanding your business processes. Although your IT staff plays a key role in implementing your BPM project. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. during the process analysis. After you understand the current processes. Remember. As a part of your process analysis. document. Both teams must be full contributors to ensure the success of your BPM project. you need to tap the expertise of your business units who already have the knowledge of the current processes. After all. . and model current or new processes. a BPM project follows an iterative approach that allows this continuous improvement. it's extremely important to first locate any current processes that cause big problems. optimization is possible at any time.
in multiple iterations of short time frames. For example. with a small. to start.20 Business Process Management For Dummies. your goal is to win the game. yet important. distribution. and any dissemination. Each of these activities is executed multiple times as the process is followed. However. ABRD provides a framework that project teams may adapt to meet the needs of their specific business rules application project. from discovery to governance by using an agile. Clearly. even these two large processes can and should be broken down even further to concentrate on the specific processes each player needs to perform. ABRD activities fall into several categories. the overall rule set gradually evolves into the final set of rules. project. Initiation: Starting small and scaling up Many BPM experts may suggest getting your feet wet. Inc. in ABRD the application elements are developed incrementally. a catcher. and outfielders. picture for a moment a baseball game and think of that game as being a business. Already we've broken down the game into two large processes. To get a better idea of how you may start small and then scale up. you need to concentrate your efforts on hitting the ball and going around the bases. when the opposing team is up to bat. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. As with any technology that's new to you. infielders. As the iterations progress. your team needs to field a pitcher. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. IBM Limited Edition Agile Business Rules Development (ABRD) The Agile Business Rules Development (ABRD) methodology is used to build the rules-based application. you'll encounter a learning curve. But when your team is up to bat. although the entire set of activities may not be required for each iteration: ✓ Rule discovery ✓ Rule analysis ✓ Rule design ✓ Rule authoring ✓ Rule validation ✓ Rule deployment Like all agile methodologies. iterative approach. But the series of processes contribute to that goal. . Methodology supports the full rule lifecycle.
and applications. for example. departments. you can scale up and start using BPM to tackle additional processes. This reusability can help you leverage the efforts you put into your BPM project. You need end-to-end process monitoring and analysis to capture real-time key performance indicators (KPI's) and other performance metrics to continuously evaluate and monitor process performance. and it also segregates decision logic from applications so that sound decision rules can be easily and quickly changed. You can start into BPM with a small but important process. you'll find that the processes you develop while implementing BPM are reusable in other places. corrective actions can be taken to augment or change processes so that they are even more efficient. Proving value There's no doubt that all eyes within the enterprise will be on you when you take on your first BPM project. Later. . Transformation: Making changes A business process typically stretches across organizations. a business-rules engine helps to automate decisions that were previously made manually. therefore. With BPM. In many cases. distribution.Chapter 2: Getting Started with BPM 21 Suppose. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Inc. making improvements to this specific process could have a major impact in your team's ability to win the games. That's one reason why it's so important for you to develop metrics to measure process performance both before and after your BPM implementation. and any dissemination. You need to be able to show the improvements based on real numbers. systems. but the lesson is the same. which can have a large influence on your business's success." Although this single process is only a part of the game. Your business probably isn't a baseball team. You may define a process called "running around the bases to home plate. Based on the process performance data. you may be able to show that These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. For example. all these components need to be orchestrated and integrated. you've identified a problem area with your base runners not being able to get further than first base.
distribution. the BPM solution must offer the advanced user interface generation functionality so the user productivity can be increased. operational efficiency improves tremendously and costs are concurrently reduced. you have your own measurements to prove the value in BPM.22 Business Process Management For Dummies. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. By ensuring that users have the information they need when they need it. Each of them offers a set of fundamentals. different types of BPM products exist that fall under the BPM umbrella. Functionality options A BPM solution must offer the functionality to help you reduce costs by streamlining and automating processes effectively. Regardless. translate those processes into implementation. you need to be thinking about those metrics as you plan your project. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Further. Understanding Your Options Just as there are different types of businesses. and any dissemination. Inc. In addition. improving agility. this functionality must include the ability to correctly model the business processes. but clear differences exist between them. Along with this functionality is the need to use business rules that govern process operations. and increasing efficiency. IBM Limited Edition ✓ Invoice processing time was reduced by 50 percent ✓ Each claims processor was able to successfully complete 25 percent more items ✓ Departmental costs were reduced by 15 percent ✓ Online orders doubled Obviously. such as reducing costs. A key element of functionality is effective event handling so the relevant information is delivered seamlessly to the endusers. and iteratively improve the process. .
BPM has become a key focus for many of them as they realize that more efficient and effective processes reduce costs and allow them to improve customer service. you want to choose a BPM solution that offers ease-of-use and rapid turnaround. With all eyes in the company on your project. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Inc. Factors that influence time to value include ✓ The skill level demanded of users ✓ How quickly the BPM system can connect with your existing systems and applications ✓ Help and training from your vendor A BPM vendor with wide experience across many different industries is able to offer you solutions based on that experience. and any dissemination. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. especially. Considering the top BPM vendors Many companies are looking for ways to improve their efficiency and profitability. distribution. such as ✓ Process discovery ✓ KPI handling ✓ Continuous process improvement support A BPM solution based on industry standards instead of proprietary ones is far easier to maintain and offers better value. . consider the payback time. Additional value-added capabilities The best BPM vendors offer additional value-added capabilities. As a result.Chapter 2: Getting Started with BPM 23 Time to value When working on your first BPM project.
IBM offers a broad range of BPM solutions that can be precisely tailored to your needs. BPM with SOA In BPM with SOA. business processes. ✓ Software AG: This vendor concentrates on orchestration and workflow needs at the program-to-program level instead of serving human interaction or document-based process needs.24 Business Process Management For Dummies. and any dissemination. process-based solutions that address specific business needs. Inc. Its solutions follow any rules-based approach to BPM that address specific process needs. With over 5. human tasks. providing accelerated time to value with prescriptive and defined services for every stage of your journey. IBM Limited Edition Many vendors offer BPM solutions. and business rules are all examples of service components architected for reuse and flexible integration. The Pegasystems solution generally seems best suited to decision-heavy processes that are often found in the financial services industry. IBM has extensive skills and service expertise. Users then need to customize these solutions and the underlying business rules. SOA improves agility in business integration and reuse of software investment. to meet different needs. . Through these offerings. This integration not only works inside BPM with SOA but also with business systems across the enterprise and with external business systems. IBM can address all forms of process needs across a wide range of business needs. distribution.000 customer engagements. IBM Software for Business Process Management can address the full spectrum of process requirements. Business analysts can use BPM with SOA These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. ✓ IBM: IBM offers the broadest range of BPM solutions. Understanding the IBM Advantage Rather than forcing you to adapt your business processes to a pre-existing rigid framework. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. but three leaders have emerged in this market segment: ✓ Pegasystems: This vendor primarily focuses on delivering package.
. Another important feature is that any design component can be played back instantly from the authoring environment. Rapid process implementation A rapid process implementation with focus on a project team collaboration solution provides a point-and-click development model. Inc. Even complex tasks can be designed and played back in the design tool. workflow. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. These capabilities support active content natively so many document-related processes are immediately available to the process designer. distribution. Content management. thus fostering close collaboration between business units and IT. The model seen in the process diagram during design phase is exactly what's executed on the process engine. Business process analysts work jointly with developers throughout the implementation cycle in a rapid iterative design style. developers in IT have a stronger role in the final product. and collaboration capabilities Content management. workflow.Chapter 2: Getting Started with BPM to model end-to-end business processes that are then implemented as reusable SOA components. or a business rule. workflow. because although business analysts create the basic process models. and maintenance of documents. This playback is possible because each step in the process model has a defined implementation that may be a human task. One key architectural feature is the shared model wherein the models created at design time are the same models used at runtime. and collaboration capabilities between departments and across the enterprise are a strong focus of enterprise content management (ECM) and are good choices for BPM projects relating to the authoring. This interaction breaks down the barriers between design and runtime. assembly. and any dissemination. an automated step. 25 The BPM with SOA style of BPM development is probably closer to the traditional IT style than some of the other BPM solutions. and collaboration capabilities are also very appropriate when retention and records These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Content management. distribution.
and retention-sensitive processes. Blueworks Live makes it easy for any organization to get started with BPM. is easy to use. and reengineer business processes. Blueworks Live IBM's latest BPM solution is Blueworks Live. Some of the features of Blueworks Live include ✓ Automation of simple processes ✓ Integrated BPM community ✓ Built-in dashboards and reporting ✓ Governance ✓ Discovery and documentation of complex processes Blueworks Live is an SaaS (Software as a Service) offering that you can leverage to drive the transformation of your business as you implement new business models. Using BPM with SOA in your BPM solution makes good sense with content lifecycle processes. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. as well as audit support. a new cloudbased offering. . Blueworks Live allows knowledge workers to leverage the benefits of BPM in a cloud environment to capture. case management. document capture workflow. understand. These are vital in litigation and compliance. Blueworks Live has industry-specific templates to help you address challenges and issues quickly.26 Business Process Management For Dummies. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Inc. and any dissemination. IBM Limited Edition management are important parts of the business. increase speed and innovation. and has an elegant and simple interface. and improve everyday processes that drive their businesses. distribution. collaborate on. is competitively priced.
But the key to BPM success is "planning. planning. and you see the importance of making sure that you have fully documented your process. you need to have your management team and colleagues on board. Any organization that begins a BPM project has high hopes for its success. Planning Of course you want your BPM project to be a success." Not every project is successful. Inc. and any dissemination. being prepared makes all the difference in how successful a project will ultimately be. you get an introduction to the basic steps of building your BPM solution. rather. distribution. you don't make the decision to add BPM in a vacuum. you see how to do the planning necessary to get your BPM project off the ground. In addition. and BPM projects are no exception to this. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. In this chapter. Planning. you need to do a certain amount of planning. As with any large change. .Chapter 3 Putting BPM to Work for Your Organization In This Chapter ▶ Getting your BPM project off the ground ▶ Understanding the basics of building a BPM solution ▶ Dotting your I's and crossing your T's: Documenting your process o put BPM to work in your organization. planning. but there are a number of things that can derail a project: These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. You wouldn't waste your time trying to develop the project otherwise. T Planning.
motivated employees. distribution. Don't confuse requirements documents with process analysis. of course. Selling BPM to management Selling BPM to management may be largely a matter of showing the economic value of BPM to the organization. As you're working on your process analysis. As you do your analysis you may discover that you're developing a list of processes that need to be prioritized to determine where to begin. you need to begin by doing process analysis so you can tell which processes benefit the most from the implementation of BPM. and happier These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. but process analysis looks at how things are done. Requirements documents spell out the required outcome. Choosing the correct process within the project is very closely related. IBM Limited Edition ✓ Choosing the wrong project ✓ Choosing the wrong process ✓ Lack of proper communication ✓ Lack of collaboration between the partners ✓ Ineffective coordination ✓ Missing buy-in from a key player Any one of these elements can spell disaster for your BPM project. To reiterate. Remember. Inc.28 Business Process Management For Dummies. one of the key drivers for implementing BPM is to improve the processes. BPM delivers this value because better processes produce lower costs. and any dissemination. or the logical way to do things. . Just because something was always done a certain way doesn't mean that it's the best way. explore different variants to visualize potential ways that you can change the processes. higher revenues. the most efficient way. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Choosing the correct project/ process Chapter 2 discussed the concept of choosing the correct project. Upfront planning needs to take each of these elements into account to ensure success.
Chapter 3: Putting BPM to Work for Your Organization customers. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. this shouldn't be a problem because even a basic investment in BPM can yield significant returns that may result in more solid support as the executives see the results. and reductions in capital investment. show them how they can benefit from BPM. too. Connecticut-based research firm Gartner indicates that companies can still expect to receive significant operational improvements for any given process. companies experience approximately a 20 percent margin improvement as well as corresponding increases in capacity. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. In the beginning. these projects typically deploy quickly (67 percent in less than six months. Gartner claims that by simply "making the currentstate handoffs. . 29 A study showed that with just a one-Sigma shift. reductions in number of employees. Moreover. You also need to sell your BPM project to your colleagues. Without any process redesign. The most dramatic examples of economic value driven by process improvement come from the companies that led the adoption of the Six Sigma or Lean Six Sigma methodologies. GE also made Business Process Management a core part of their corporate culture all the way up to the CEO. distribution." For many processes that is just the start of the efficiency gains. Gartner reported that 78 percent of BPM projects saw an internal rate of return (IRR) of greater than 15 percent. so companies have been able to realize significant value with rapid returns by driving process improvement with BPM. and any dissemination. timing and responsibilities explicit. Inc. To do this. Companies like General Electric have adopted these methodologies and embraced BPM specifically because of these types of economic benefits. productivity improvements of more than 12 percent are normally realized. Even so. you may not be able to assume this type of commitment from the entire executive team. Even a few years ago. Selling BPM to your colleagues Getting management on board is only the first step (see the preceding section). 50 percent in less than four months).
30 Business Process Management For Dummies. For processes that are regulated. A typical BPM project scenario These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Here's a fairly typical scenario: . Your colleagues are also interested in the agility that BPM provides. this level of control and consistency adds another benefit that's the avoidance of fines due to incorrect. for handoffs between departments. some of the largest gains to be realized from BPM are typically in making processes more effective. In most cases. The initial deployment of a BPM solution eliminates these problems and results in real. distribution. Although each BPM project is somewhat different. Often this is driven by new opportunities. or slow execution of the process. which is the ability to process more with less effort and higher quality. Most processes have significant waste because of manual effort. IBM Limited Edition Your colleagues are interested in the basic operational value proposition of BPM. it's pretty easy to create a road map that shows a common project development path. For example. and any dissemination. research disputes more completely. Building a BPM Solution Building your BPM solution typically follows a relatively predictable path. and a general inability to monitor overall progress. In any modern organization. These effectiveness gains are typically expressed in the context of handling exceptions better or making better decisions. inconsistent. Their BPM deployment helps them identify duplicate issues. quantifiable benefits. After efficiency improvements. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. one telecommunication service provider found that by better controlling their billing disputes process they were able to reduce the amount they were paying out by approximately 10 percent. Regardless of the reasons for the changes. Inc. your colleagues appreciate the fact that BPM provides them access to quickly adapt processes as needs arise. you find several fairly quick iterations as the solution is developed and refined. These types of efficiency improvements are important to your colleagues because they're interested in making their departments look good. and enforce more consistent payout policies. but in some cases new regulations require changes in processes. the ability to change quickly is essential.
Chapter 3: Putting BPM to Work for Your Organization 1. the entire development process happens very quickly. Typically these resources include software. 1st Iteration • Application framework development • Initial object model defined • Initial rule set defined • Rule flow created 31 • Basic deployment to development environment • Initial governance plan created 3. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. 3rd Iteration • Integration points refined • Object model refined • Additional rules added • Rule flow updated • User training Depending on the project's needs. But because each iteration occurs on a very short cycle. there could be additional iterations before the project is considered to be essentially complete. Assessment phase • High level design • Project scope and plan 2. and hardware. . 2nd Iteration • Live database connection established • Framework refined • New rules added • Rule flow updated 4. people. distribution. BPM project resources You need to allocate a certain level of resources to your BPM project. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Inc. and any dissemination.
Typically. This process allows you to grow your BPM footprint more slowly. Typically. distribution. these people should include ✓ A project manager ✓ A subject matter expert ✓ One or two business analysts ✓ One or two developers This core project team aligns the Business and IT organizations to ensure project success. but it's unlikely that there will be any surprises in them. The small size of the project team demonstrates the productivity that BPM brings for delivering process improvement. People resources Make sure to plan for staff to handle your BPM project implementation. .32 Business Process Management For Dummies. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. and any dissemination. but instead. IBM Limited Edition Software resources Some vendors license components individually or require additional software to support the BPM deployment. your ongoing hardware needs for BPM project development are essentially comparable to other application deployment needs. the members use their expertise gained from completed projects to help make future BPM projects even more successful. A BPM vendor provides you with minimum hardware requirements. The BPM project team should be dedicated to ongoing BPM projects if you want to drive continuous process improvement. Staffing your BPM team becomes an ongoing investment that grows and pays off as you add new processes. Your team doesn't just work on a single project and then disperse. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Inc. Hardware resources In reality. Most BPM vendors support the ability to buy BPM at the departmental level and grow that license to the enterprise as requirements grow. BPM suites that are based on industry standards (like those from IBM) are more likely to be successfully deployed by using the existing infrastructure components of an organization. you need no more than five or six people on the team.
functioning in your organization helps because this ability enables you to measure improvement directly. and task inboxes ✓ An execution environment where you find the business rules engine. the process engine. there are certain major components that are fairly common. process relationships. documentation plays a very large role. Documenting the changes Before you can begin your BPM project. These include ✓ A workspace that includes user interfaces. business rule definition. BPM leverages programs like Six Sigma to add even more value. Inc. Keep in mind as you establish your baseline measurement system that there may not be a direct correlation between each of the processes that exist before BPM and those that exist after BPM is implemented. management dashboards. In this way. you can gauge your progress as well as measure the improvements. .Chapter 3: Putting BPM to Work for Your Organization 33 Documenting Your Process In any BPM project. This lack of correlation between the processes comes about because BPM helps eliminate certain non-value-added tasks. definition of KPI's. process development. Although different implementations of BPM vary somewhat. and design of user interfaces These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. some baseline measurements can help you see the changes that occur after BPM is in place. such as Six Sigma. Understanding BPM architecture BPM has a particular structure or architecture that greatly assists in process documentation. The documentation process actually begins at the very beginning of the project. Having a program. distribution. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Implement the monitoring and management of selected core and enabling processes. and any dissemination. process monitoring. and analytics engine ✓ The metadata repository that contains process asset descriptions. and process policies ✓ A process design toolbox that enables process modeling.
In a BPM project. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. As a result. Inc. Essentially. The design begins with the collaboration between the business analysts and the development staff. Using one of these modeling notations enables business process definitions to be standardized and therefore shared between different tools. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Business rules are at the heart of a BPM project. IBM Limited Edition ✓ A new services development environment that includes Web service adapters. connections to existing functionality. The first part of the process would trigger when a customer complaint was received. a simplified programming language — to define the process model. and new services creation tools Documenting processes In the BPM environment. you may have a decision point driven by a business rule that routed complaints from very important customers to an elite team of customer service representatives. and any dissemination. a process design looks very much like a flowchart wherein the processes are the boxes in the flowchart.34 Business Process Management For Dummies. In some BPM implementations. At that point. the business rules are managed in a rules engine. which is accessible to business managers. So. you may have a process that handles customer complaints. The business people provide the definitions and then the developers create the model using those definitions. process design and definition occurs within a graphical environment. . Most BPM development tools are a standard modeling notation — essentially. and the business rules define the logic flow through the flowchart. These rules are the policies and procedures that automate the business process. Typically. business analysts may play a larger role in the whole design process. for example. In most cases. The process design is made up of various services and business rules. Other customers would have their complaints sent to the ordinary customer service team. it is much easier for managers to see and to change the business rules as needed. process design tools allow business analysts to use drag-and-drop techniques to build the process definitions. distribution. either Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) or XML Process Definition Language (XPDL) is used.
you obtain valuable documentation. Rather than having to redesign the whole process. In other cases. distribution. Process simulation BPM implementations allow you to test your processes before going live with them. make any necessary changes. This testing process is called simulation. In some cases. In some cases. which analytically break down the data. With process simulation you can see how your model reacts to different conditions. and you can view reports. these business rules create exceptions such as the one that routes customer complaints from VIP customers to the elite customer service team. these rules make decisions automatically. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. For example. . These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. you can use historical data gathered from real-world processes and run that historical data through the simulation so you can compare how your model functions with the way the existing processes work. Inc. The documentation produced can show you all of the resource requirements as well as how smoothly work flows through the entire model. and any dissemination. Typically you discover the importance of analyzing the results of the simulation. and rerun the simulation — possibly several times. a rule may automatically approve an order for customers in good standing if the order is below a defined threshold. Process simulation is one of the iterative steps in the development of an effective BPM system. which shows where you may need to make changes to improve the efficiency or operating function of the model. When you run a process simulation. by adding or changing an existing rule the system can quickly be adapted to changing conditions.Chapter 3: Putting BPM to Work for Your Organization 35 The ability for business managers and other authorized users to change rules in the rules engine is one of the keys to the agility provided by a BPM solution. Business rules govern workflow routing within a BPM process. and you run the processes through what-if scenarios so you can make adjustments and fine-tune your model.
These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. distribution.36 Business Process Management For Dummies. IBM Limited Edition BPM models provide the agility for you to continue to make improvements even after you've gone live with your implementation. and any dissemination. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. You don't need to test endlessly. Inc. It's often better to plan for some continuous tweaking once your BPM system is in place. .
you know that the basic operational value proposition of BPM is the ability to process more with less effort and higher quality. organizations must find ways to intelligently automate high-volume operational decisions. It These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Why? Because without this. you see what decision management is and how you can use it to make your BPM system even more efficient and responsive. In order to achieve the competing goals of growth and productivity. and any dissemination. In this chapter. Decision management is an approach combining software and human expertise to automate and improve decision-making.Chapter 4 Improving BPM Automation with Decision Management In This Chapter ▶ Understanding decision management ▶ Driving process improvement ▶ Automating and improving decision-making A fter you have an initial BPM project in place. . Understanding Decision Management If you read Chapter 1. distribution. Inc. the only way to meet the demands of growth are to hire proportionally in order to handle increased workloads for both the front and back office. you can gain even greater benefits by incorporating decision management technologies to increase process automation and facilitate maintenance of decision logic that guides business systems.
helping support better automated decision-making within and across processes. IBM Limited Edition involves both being able to provide operational business systems with the best possible decision at the current moment based on data and situational context. Inc. Understanding business rules You may have seen the term "business rules" before." In the context of BPM. Business rules are conditional statements that are used to define decisions based on business policies.38 Business Process Management For Dummies. . For example. as well as being able to use data to discover insights that can be used to continually improve decisions over time. distribution. give the customer a 1/4 percent discount on loan rates. business rules are used for a variety purposes ✓ Decisions on process initialization ✓ Routing decisions ✓ Exception alerts and triggers ✓ Process and case prioritizations ✓ Determining business outcomes at specific points in a process Business rules can be used both for providing guidance to people involved in process activities and for fully automated decision responses. a bank may use a business rule that states "if the customer's credit score is above 720. These technologies work in tandem to help make automated decision-making in processes smarter. Decision management is also a primary key to achieving greater business agility in your BPM system. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. but you may not be completely clear about what that term means. These two software technologies are business rule management systems (BRMS) and business event processing (BEP). These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Driving Process Improvement Two software technologies are an important part of the decision management approach. and any dissemination.
share. organizations often find themselves under constant pressure to deal with change and the constant evolution of decisions. You can achieve this by externalizing rule-based decision logic from the systems it utilizes and managing it in a centralized manner that can be accessed by each system that has need of business rules. . This can make the coding of the rules difficult to develop and maintain. business rules are based a number of inter-related conditions and multiple data inputs. maintain. specialized subject matter experts.Chapter 4: Improving BPM Automation with Decision Management 39 Within application code. some are defined in process models. as well as keeping them from being understood outside of the IT functions in the organization. This can result in numerous problems: ✓ Reduced organizational agility due to the time it takes to make and test changes in critical business systems. which are coded in a technical programming or scripting language. such as policy managers. in most organizations the business rules are scattered in many different places. Scattered business rules Unfortunately. to make the most of the organization's accumulated expertise and knowledge. improving process efficiency by making it possible to automate many more of the decisions that are required throughout each process. This type of programming logic determines which piece of the program is executed next based on the value of a variable. some are written in procedural manuals or other documents. By having business rules scattered and embedded in so many different places. This approach makes business rules easier to define. Clearly. business rules are generally expressed using "if-then-else" statements. you need to be able to effectively manage all the relevant business rules required within processes and applications. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Some of the business rules are embedded within applications. distribution. Inc. and govern. ✓ Reduced employee productivity because of excessive manual activities. and many business rules may only be a part of the knowledge possessed by experienced. and any dissemination. ✓ Increased load on the IT functions in the organization in trying to maintain business rules across various systems. In many cases. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing.
One of the clear advantages of a BRMS is that decision logic is separate from the core application code. and customer interactions.40 Business Process Management For Dummies. A BRMS includes both rule management and rule execution capabilities. maintained. This visibility and access leads to reduced time and resources being required to implement changes to decision logic and also improves the precision. distribution. in the context of BPM. it makes sense to have a system in place for managing those business rules. . organizations can more effectively deal with the problems associated with traditional embedded decision logic. This separation means that the decision logic can be clearly and easily understood. and reused throughout the enterprise. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. reducing the amount of time and effort required to update that logic in production systems. IBM Limited Edition Business rule management systems Because business rules are so important to the organization. You gain visibility and access to business rules along with the ability to more easily define and automate them for use in your operational systems. processes. Because a BRMS separates the business rules from application code. These events may be anything from an RFID tag transmission to an online order These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. and maintain decision logic that is used by operational systems. the externalized business rules can more easily be managed as they change. deploy. and any dissemination. quality. monitor. By adopting the BRMS approach. a business event is defined as a change of state in the enterprise which has relevance to the business. Inc. A business rule management system (BRMS) is an integrated application development and execution platform that allows you to precisely define. business experts (as opposed to IT staff) can define and manage the decision logic. As a result. and consistency of automated decisions across your critical business systems. and these rules can be utilized by various operational systems to automate decisions for transactions. Understanding business events Although the term "business event" may bring to mind something on the order of a special occasion related to a company announcement or publicity campaign. while enhancing the organization's ability to respond to changes in the business environment.
These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. BEP enables an organization to detect and respond to patterns of events (including the absence of an expected change). or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. correlate. Business event processing Your business needs to detect and respond to many events which occur hundreds or thousands of times every day. taking place at a specific moment or across a defined period of time. it would be resource prohibitive for organizations to respond to all of these events effectively without the help of BEP. Organizations can easily be overwhelmed by all of these events and as a result. but by incorporating this as part of a decision management approach to process improvement: ✓ BEP can help you predict the future values of key performance indicators (KPIs) based on historical and cyclical trends. the number of business events which occur in most organizations is immense. and may need to be tracked over time. or even data from manufacturing floor sensor outputs. The huge number of business events which are continuously occurring. By using BEP. organizations can leverage market opportunities as well as recognize and prevent problems in an automated fashion. can miss opportunities and threats — many organizations have no real way to make their managers and leaders aware of context provided by this constant flow of event-based information. In many cases. . and any dissemination. distribution. Business event processing (BEP) is a technology which addresses event processing needs throughout your enterprise.Chapter 4: Improving BPM Automation with Decision Management 41 entry. A BEP solution automatically interacts with disparate systems across the enterprise to maximize the value of business interactions. ✓ BEP can help you manage processes across multiple channels and then trigger alerts when predicted values indicate that there's a problem. Obviously. Inc. and make sense of all of these events without the assistance of technology. monitor. make it virtually impossible to identify.
or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. and which. As a result. . Additionally. when they're combined. BEP quickly identifies when patterns occur and BRMS applies complex reasoning algorithms to the data to make the appropriate decision based on the context of the situation. For example: ✓ Business rules: Helps you automate. IBM Limited Edition Just as with BRMS and BPM technologies. and enforce internal policies and external regulations. actions and responses. The typical BEP solution can support a broad set of application requirements: ✓ A high volume of heterogeneous business event types from multiple sources ✓ Business events in complex patterns which occur at random times and orders rather than being predictable in nature ✓ Frequent changes to event processing logic that require rapid implementation Combining BRMS and BEP Individually.42 Business Process Management For Dummies. provide an "always-on" mechanism for data pattern analysis and decision automation. harvest organizational knowledge and best practices. manage. distribution. This user focused design results in a significant reduction in time and effort to define and maintain event-based conditions that can be utilized by business systems. ✓ BRMS and BEP together: Enables the finely-tuned orchestration of business information. enabling intelligent and responsive decision automation. Inc. Users work within a graphical user interface which allows the business users throughout the enterprise to manage event processing logic themselves without requiring the skills and expertise of programmers or other IT staff. a growing number of analysts are making the case that rules and events naturally complement each other. and any dissemination. both BRMS and BEP can provide great value to your organization. employing the two solutions in tandem offers you the greatest potential for optimal agility and positive business outcomes in processes. ✓ Business events: Detects events and event patterns in real time to facilitate situational awareness and response. BEP is designed with the business user in mind. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. and govern decisions.
leaders in the financial services industry must also contend with increased competition and growing pressures to offer more value to customers.Chapter 4: Improving BPM Automation with Decision Management 43 Automating and Improving Decision-Making You want your organization to be efficient and profitable. financial leaders can create solutions that improve operational decisionmaking capabilities throughout the enterprise and enable real-time. Real-world scenarios Sometimes the best way to understand the true power of technology is to see some examples of how they function in the real world. As BEP detects actionable situations. By using a combination of BEP and BRMS. And when people are involved. submit inquiries via e-mail or Web forms. or complete a transaction at an ATM machine. using BEP. For example. and any dissemination. BRMS can process event data passed from BEP against specific customer These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. many of the decisions made daily while running your business can be automated rather than always requiring human intervention. As a part of the BPM-orchestrated process. personalized cross-sell and up-sell opportunities for clients across a multitude of delivery channels. the use of BEP and BRMS provide intelligent. This section includes some real-world examples of the power of combining BRMS and BEP to create tangible business benefits. Inc. bank officials can track the behavior of customers as they browse through offerings on the company's Web site. Using BRMS and BEP in the financial services industry As in other industries. responsive decision guidance to each process participant. ask questions of a call center representative. For example. . Automating and improving operational decision-making within processes is one very high payback method of achieving these goals. distribution. BRMS applies rule-based decision algorithms to the data. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. speak to a loan officer at a local branch.
boosting customer value and company loyalty. IBM Limited Edition information (such as a credit score. including determination of the customer's eligibility for any given offer. feeding information about the customer's recent Web research or call center questions to loan officers or bank tellers to inform their cross-sell or up-sell suggestions when interacting with that customer. it could provide decision guidance.44 Business Process Management For Dummies. ✓ Gain the ability to offer personalized financial advice. Using BRMS and BEP in other industries Other examples requiring the ability to detect event-based patterns and then determine precise decision responses include: ✓ An energy utility monitoring data from smart meters across the grid and then determining which event pattern alerts require follow-up inspection by its field operations personnel. BRMS and BEP can coordinate response actions with other systems. This decision response could be fully automated. between all channels and for all financial products. . Or. and other individualized data) to determine the best cross-sell and up-sell opportunities to offer a client at any given moment. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. automated processes. ✓ Optimize cross-sell and up-sell opportunities to enable "share of wallet" growth while reducing risk through consistent. for example. In many cases. to deliver that offer to the customer using the appropriate channel. offering qualified and interested customers the chance to sign up for overdraft protection when they are making a withdrawal at an ATM. ✓ Maximize opportunities for the best customers and increase growth rates with targeted offers to attract new customers. purchasing history. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. a BPM application needs to be initiated in order to follow a set of actions related to an offer. and any dissemination. Such a system offers financial institutions of all types the ability to realize better business outcomes: ✓ Make better decisions on credit offers and other products at the point of sale and during the account opening process. distribution. Inc.
and any dissemination. decision management solutions utilizing BEP and BRMS enable virtually any company that uses promotions to customize their offers for each customer based on a wide variety of data including: historical purchases and inquiries. ✓ Manufacturing and supply chain optimization: Any company that relies on a manufacturing or supply chain to do business can benefit from the transparency and agility that a robust decision management solution can bring to their organization. . so that it can provide more relevant promotions based on actual consumer behavior. and identity theft. meter or other equipment tampering. money laundering schemes. as well as to initiate remediation activities or processes due to inventory outages or other critical disruptions. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. The need to make good operational decisions is not unique to any industry. mobile device hacking. ✓ A retailer coordinating its interactions with consumers across Web. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. and call center channels. so decision management solutions using BEP with BRMS are applicable for virtually all industries for a wide variety of purposes. ✓ Promotions personalization: From travel and transportation companies. Some frequent uses include ✓ Fraud prevention and detection: Tracking events. to retail organizations and telecommunication firms. correlating event patterns and executing automated risk assessments enable companies to take a proactive approach to identifying and stopping claims fraud. phishing scams. distribution. Inc.Chapter 4: Improving BPM Automation with Decision Management 45 ✓ A healthcare provider tracking patient monitoring devices and test results. store. recent research or inquiries. ✓ An insurer assessing incoming claims at the time of submission for potential fraud. then using this information to detect situations that require proactive assessment and/ or intervention. and automatically re-routing high risk instances for special review. and the customer's loyalty program status (or recent change in status). Using a combination of BEP and BRMS can help companies track supplies and inventory through multiple checkpoints and provide real-time substitution options for delayed or out-of-stock items.
Christer Johnson. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. But how can organizations determine the best definitions for their event and rulebased solutions? In some cases. Check out the link on the Web too: www. IBM Limited Edition BRMS and BEP work together to enable intelligent and responsive decision automation thus offering businesses in virtually every industry the ability to work smarter and achieve better business outcomes. and any dissemination. the definitions are explicitly defined in the organization's objectives. and Christopher Dziekan. Inc.analyticsmagazine.46 Business Process Management For Dummies. In other cases. determining those definitions requires analysis of data from business systems as well as from external sources — this is when the use of analytic technologies is required as part of a decision management solution. and constraints The use of the various analytic technologies depends on the business requirements and the available data. . Brenda Dietrich. requirements. Several different types of analytic technologies can be used.com. The role of analytics in decision management This chapter has focused primarily on the role of technologies for automating operational decisions. To find out more on this topic. read "The Analytics Journey" in Analytics Magazine by Irv Lustig. distribution. business policies or in regulatory requirements. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. but these fall into three main categories: ✓ Descriptive analytics: Using historical and current views of business operations data to provide decision support to people and systems ✓ Predictive analytics: Discovering insights in data that can be used to create models which represent the relationships between data inputs and outputs/ outcomes ✓ Prescriptive analytics: Determining various options for achieving business objectives using mathematical techniques that derive alternatives given a set of objectives.
all are focused on improvement of decision outputs. distribution.Chapter 4: Improving BPM Automation with Decision Management While each type of analytics is suited for solving different problems. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Inc. and any dissemination. 47 These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. . organizations can facilitate continuous improvement in the definition of decision logic in their processes and critical business systems. By integrating BEP and BRMS technologies with analytics.
and any dissemination. Inc. IBM Limited Edition These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing.48 Business Process Management For Dummies. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. distribution. .
As a progressive company. It needed to modernize the billing application that included CRM. you take a look at some real-world BPM success stories and see how IBM's BPM solutions have helped organizations across the world. Growing with Mobitel Mobitel is Slovenia's largest mobile communications company. flexibility. Mobitel is a medium-size company that develops its own innovative mobile solutions in accordance with the needs of both the Slovenian market and the user's demands. and the difficulty of bringing new business requirements to life quickly. In this chapter. provisioning. The existing system was rigid and cumbersome with over 15. you've been introduced to BPM and gotten the flavor of the various components that work together to create a comprehensive BPM solution.000 lines of code.Chapter 5 Checking out BPM Success Stories In This Chapter ▶ Looking at companies with success ▶ Understanding IBM BPM solutions in the real world I f you've been reading the other chapters to this point. and any dissemination. . Mobitel was looking at aggressive growth through partners and innovative services but was hampered by lack of scale. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Inc. distribution. and mobile payments. it keeps the developments in the Slovenian mobile telecommunications market very much in line with those in the most advanced countries worldwide.
distribution. Inc. and service suppliers throughout the industry. increased speed-to-market has meant increased costs.50 Business Process Management For Dummies. video. minimizing development and implementation costs have become increasingly important in the telecom industry due to the shorter lifespans of the products. advertising. instead they're focused on delivering unique. . or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. The infrastructure required to support the fast pace of innovation can be quite complex. systems. customized. and any dissemination. Traditionally. and complex services to customers on shorter lifecycles. the company must integrate them with many established technologies.8m ✓ IT Cost Breakeven occurs during initial build by 5th Composite Business Application (CBA) ✓ Accelerated Time to Value and avoided IT costs drives a 5-year ROI of 161 percent These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. However. local services. Mobitel implemented services that included voice. Mobitel embraced the challenges of managing complex processes. Mobitel did an extensive return on investment (ROI) analysis and projected the benefits: ✓ Accelerates Time to Build by 64 percent ✓ Reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) over a 5-year period by 19 percent or €0. IBM Limited Edition Mobile operators like Mobitel are no longer looking for the killer apps that transform the market. products. They must constantly deliver differentiated products and services faster than their competitors to reduce customer churn and attract new customers. Internet. To deliver all these services. and interfaces by adopting BPM and service oriented architecture (SOA) technology to accelerate its speed-to-market and optimize the business cost involved in creating new products. To deliver this level of service and keep up in a highly competitive industry. television. they need to simplify their IT architectures and management so they can respond quickly and scale as needed. data. applications. and social networks. Communication service providers need to be able to deliver very fast time-to-market innovative services in order to stay competitive.
IBM's approach of BPM together with SOA was a major differentiator that led Mobitel to choose IBM. IBM Software for BPM includes industry accelerators that use a business-defined Telco vocabulary and tasks to enable the assembly of existing and new IT assets into BPM and SOAbased. A project such as this highlights the practical benefits of SOA and a framework approach to reduce complexity and deliver a return on investment (ROI) quickly.Chapter 5: Checking out BPM Success Stories Mobitel saw these actual additional benefits: ✓ Achieved differentiation through customer satisfaction and innovative offerings ✓ Speed time to market of value added services ✓ Lower network operating costs ✓ Able to collaborate well with IT towards common goals ✓ Rapid time to market of new and enhanced services ✓ Real-time business visibility and detail "drill-down" abilities ✓ Rapid escalation and intervention of critical business transactions ✓ Ensuring business and regulatory process compliance ✓ Automating human based tasks and processes ✓ Reducing complexity in managing change 51 Mobitel chose IBM Software for BPM because speed to market capabilities were critical in the industry. and as a result extend the business value of their systems. distribution. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. . and any dissemination. discrete. Inc. the IBM Software for BPM helps CSPs quickly deploy more solutions while increasing business agility along the way. reusable and sharable business functions called "business services. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. This means that solutions deployed can be extended with new capabilities. meeting new and perhaps unanticipated business requirements. Based on an NGOSS approach." The IBM Telecom Operations Content Pack provides prebuilt industry BPM and SOA content based on TeleManagement Forum (TMF) standards.
agile. Inc. However. improve the quality of the treatment services. and better support its special operating conditions. Mobitel is using the flexibility. and open standards to quickly add new operators and expand across geographies. and on service naming and the use of appropriate standards. . provisioning. Reducing Medical Costs for Medizinische Hochschule Hannover Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH) wanted to enhance patient safety. Mobitel realized cost savings as an additional benefit later in the reduction of physical servers needed and lower operating costs. The center has a significant impact on the deployment of new processes and their upgrades. and self-care (self-service) functionality previously ran on JBOSS. It provided the critical ability for the technology to optimize the assets behind the services — which in turn accelerated introduction of new services. which Mobitel replaced with the innovative. on the initial phases of modeling. Its immediate drivers were actually not cost savings but the need for an app foundation that supported the fast introduction of new products and services which WebSphere Application Server ND provides. the school lacked an IT solution to facilitate tracking the patient These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. distribution. optimize its processes.52 Business Process Management For Dummies. IBM Limited Edition Out with the JBOSS in with the WebSphere Mobitel's billing. and reduce patient waiting time. The solution was critical in integrating and managing business services across Mobitel's environment and with its mobile operators. The SOA transformation was key in identifying and creating reusable assets and services. performance-based WebSphere Application Server ND to deliver on business objectives and contain or even reduce cost. and any dissemination. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. CRM. Mobitel set up a BPM and SOA competency center that it uses to write new business services once and then reuse them many times as developers access the services they need. scalability.
were entered into the hospital information system (HIS) once they arrived.Integrated Technology Services to create a comprehensive solution. including details regarding waiting times and patient location. MHH hoped to create a solution that automatically gathered and recorded data about patient treatment. patients arrived. reduced waiting times for patients.Chapter 5: Checking out BPM Success Stories 53 from enrollment through discharge which would ultimately optimize the treatment process. such as helping MHH locate and track medical devices. Inc. Patients were ordered into the treatment area according to the sequence of arrival. reducing the need for investment in new assets and optimizing the maintenance process by locating devices faster. distribution. MHH utilized its existing WLAN infrastructure to track patients during the treatment process. built using state-of-the-art technologies.Global Business Services and IBM Global Technology Services . improved patient security. By implementing the new solution from IBM. the school wanted a scalable solution that could include other enterprise-wide capabilities. The solution. By leveraging its relationship with the IBM teams. The Global These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. The school decided to engage IBM because it felt that the Global Business Services and Integrated Technology Services teams could provide independent consulting while involving the specific partners. to best meet the particular technology requirements. provides the school with a highly scalable and adaptable SOA solution that can become the basis for a fully integrated enterprise-wide solution. MHH wanted to deploy a solution based on state-of-the-art technologies that would optimize the treatment process and integrate with the existing HIS. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. By deploying new technologies. increased patient security and improved its return on investment (ROI) by improving its asset tracking capabilities. In addition. and valuable cost savings. MHH engaged IBM Global Services . MHH wanted the solution to utilize its existing wireless local area network (WLAN). and any dissemination. including Cisco and Ekahau. MHH optimized its treatment process. as well as medical devices — leading to higher patient satisfaction. . To achieve its goals. Typically. and there was no system in place that would track admissions by medical priority. but after that the IT support ended.
and WLAN access points from Cisco. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings is the leading provider of outsourced freighter aircraft and operating solutions to the global air freight industry. Inc. scalable and open software infrastructure that could scale as needed. the IBM team implemented a SOA based on core WebSphere offerings." The Global Business Services team initially built a CEP prototype using JBoss open source software. Atlas needed to become more agile by making its business processes more flexible. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Data is gathered by using the IBM Software for BPM. but replaced this prototype with IBM Software for BPM. To create a highly flexible. Getting Airborne with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Based in Purchase. IBM Limited Edition Business Services team designed and implemented the solution architecture using a service-oriented approach. The Integrated Technology Services team provided guidance and implementation services for the new WLAN-based infrastructure. NY. Inc. The software acts as the integration platform connecting the new solution to MHH's legacy HIS. The solution also included positioning engine technology from Ekahau. as well as fulfill future requirements for an enterprise portal. distribution. resulting in data such as "patient waiting for doctor at room x. delivering the dashboard functionality necessary to present relevant events and data to medical staff in a business-to-employee (B2E) portal. . The newest software versions available were used. Atlas faced the challenge of adapting its operations to the dynamism and variability that are common to the air freight business. and any dissemination. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.54 Business Process Management For Dummies. The new WLAN-based automated tracking solution utilizes a complex event processing (CEP) engine to automatically aggregate location changes and other events into process relevant information. allowing the school to automatically track and record the position of each patient. After a decade of rapid growth. IBM Software for BPM provides a flexible and scalable user interface.
but sometimes not. usually according to plan. . Atlas realized it needed a BPM capability to fundamentally change the way it translated information from across its operations into the best possible business decisions. operators need the capacity to refigure their plans. on-the-spot and on-the-fly. That's why. people. Although this dimension of the business may be the most visible.Chapter 5: Checking out BPM Success Stories 55 Completing the mission The most basic mission of air freight carriers is to ensure that their aircraft and their cargo get to their destination safely and on time. However. distribution. the board on which it is played is each operator's worldwide delivery and support network. such as new customer delivery requests and operational constraints. the real challenge for air freight operators is in choreographing the movement and availability of their most strategic assets — their aircraft and flight crews — as they move within their worldwide networks. If air freight were a game of strategy. That's the standard by which carriers are ultimately judged. The greater the number of destinations each operator covers. to mitigate the impact of unpredictability and to do their best to optimize the overall efficiency of their operational plans. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. the sequences of supporting processes and a physical location of planes. the larger and more complex the required network of providers and potentially disparate systems to interface. Inc. If one of these elements goes out of sync with the others — a plane is delayed or a flight crew isn't in the right place — the ramifications tend to cascade into other parts of the operation. and cargo. in such cases. Atlas saw one of its biggest challenges as achieving "dynamic optimization" by maximizing the efficiency and profitability of its operations in the face of changing inputs. Determined to prevent the growing complexity of its business processes from dragging down its efficiency. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. The other defining characteristic of air freight operations is a high level of interdependency in terms of flight scheduling. which chiefly include the facilities and business services — ranging from maintenance and fueling for aircraft to catering and hotel layovers for crews — that operators rely on to keep cargo moving. What makes this challenge the most complex of all is that these networks are always in motion. such as flight crew rest requirements. below the surface it's guided by a complex operational plan whose components need to be intricately coordinated for the business to succeed. and any dissemination. profitability and growth.
This SOA was built on Atlas's existing IBM System X servers by using IBM Software for BPM and a diverse range of other technologies. . a task beyond the capability of any employee. Atlas can rapidly assemble abstracted services into new business services. Inc. Atlas's increased business agility will also enable it to seize market opportunities rapidly and by significantly reducing its application development costs. Atlas saw the following benefits: ✓ 80 percent reduction from the expected cost of integrating operations with strategic delivery partners ✓ 50 percent reduction from the expected time required to integrate operations with strategic delivery partners ✓ Significant expected reduction in operational costs ✓ Improved time to market with new business services ✓ Stronger decision support through increased transparency into key performance indicators (KPIs) ✓ Decreased application support costs associated with integration ✓ Potential for market differentiation via agility ✓ Expected 30 percent reduction in application development costs These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing.56 Business Process Management For Dummies. On top of this SOA foundation. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. do so more cost effectively. IBM Limited Edition Atlas turned to IBM to help in its transformation. IBM created an architecture that abstracted Atlas's core backend applications into services that can be reused to create entirely new applications via SOA. The team used IBM Software for Business Process Management to create dashboards to track key performance indicators within each process and to create detailed maps of its process flows to identify targets for deeper process improvements. and any dissemination. Atlas created a full BPM solution. From its implementation. distribution. The key role for IBM was to design and deploy a SOA that would provide the foundational capabilities necessary for BPM. helping it to strengthen its margins by achieving significant cost savings. With its BPM architecture in place. Atlas is poised to achieve a much deeper level of process optimization. Once such targets have been found.
Manually create sales orders by completing a form with customer. 2. The company's corporate vision centers on the "Clothes that Work" philosophy. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. 5. and affordable garments that can meet the needs of both customers' business and personal lives. which created a challenge for the store associate promoting this option to customers. Mark's Work Wearhouse had a cumbersome "Shop and Send" process of locating products across stores and shipping them to clients — one that involved phones. faxes. The process also had a few more flaws: These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. 6. delivering quality. Place a call to the store to confirm the product availability. and product information. Arrange delivery. The company operates 400 stores across Canada. Inc. store clerks had to manually check inventory at different stores and use a phone and paper process to place the order. Fax the customer order to the sending store.Chapter 5: Checking out BPM Success Stories 57 Suiting Up with Mark's Work Wearhouse Mark's Work Wearhouse is a Canadian retailer specializing in men's and women's casual and business wear. Bill the customer. innovative. When a customer requested an out-of-stock item. distribution. . completing the order took up to several hours. The company struggled with product sourcing processes and a lack of visibility into inventory — both causing lost sales. Transfer payment information over the telephone. Verify the merchandise on 450 inventory screens. 3. The company's manual process involved these steps: 1. and industrial work wear. Overall. 7. and forms. 4. outdoor apparel. and any dissemination. shipping.
as well as order management. Mark's managed and governed the various services which comprised the Fast Find solution. and any dissemination. Mark's new service-oriented Fast Find solution delivers a number of important benefits: ✓ More efficient search for products enterprise-wide ✓ Effective communication of order information to the fulfillment location ✓ Improved management of the order lifecycle ✓ Improved management of exception alerts ✓ Acceptance of all valid types of tender (credit/debit cards. gift cards. the company has realized $225. Since the new solution was rolled out.000 in savings every month and generated $3.6 million in additional sales revenue in the first ten weeks. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. The IBM team provided the necessary technical leadership and mentoring services for the entire deployment of the company's new Fast Find solution. Inc. Mark's engaged IBM Software for BPM to develop a SOA solution called Fast Find. credit card and gift card. and cash) These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. Mark's first analyzed the existing sourcing process to find bottlenecks and key areas to improve the processes. It modeled and simulated the new processes and ultimately deployed a new automated process that integrated the sourcing processes with real-time inventory visibility across all stores. IBM Limited Edition ✓ Delay contributes to excessive costs ✓ Process only allows two payment options. distribution. further limiting the service offerings ✓ Time lost on product verification and order preparation ✓ Lack of information on order status ✓ Lack of tracking information ✓ Large number of paper forms required to complete the order To improve the process. .58 Business Process Management For Dummies. It has improved efficiency and communication.
or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. the Fast Find solution automatically checks the company's inventory. . The solution seamlessly integrates with back-end systems to provide accurate customer order tracking. Inc. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. the data is shared with applicable areas throughout the company almost instantly. and any dissemination. address. distribution. for availability.1 operating system. and e-mail address are sent to the store shipping the merchandise along with the new order notifications. When the item is selected. and ship product from another store directly to an address specified by the customer. The customer's name. tax charges are calculated and displayed based on a postal code. The receiving store performs a few basic manual tasks to confirm the product's availability. At the core of the Fast Find solution is a BPEL process that controls and coordinates the execution of a variety of back-end services that have enabled Mark's to automate a large part of the process from the initial request for merchandise to merchandise shipment and tracking. After a customer provides her or his name. update the status of the order. the shipping store is notified of the new order and the order is sent to the store closest to the consumers shipping address that has the items in stock. and finally ship the items.1 software to connect and mediate the data exchange between the Fast Find process and the supporting services. Prior to the order being submitted. allocate. prepare the items for shipment. and payment information during the order submission. The Fast Find solution seamlessly integrates with key backend systems to provide customer order tracking capabilities throughout the order management lifecycle. A sales associate logs in to the storefront console to search for the product. Retail store associates use a Webbased interface on the company's Web storefront to locate. and deployed on a logically partitioned IBM System i5 570 server running the IBM i5/OS V6.Chapter 5: Checking out BPM Success Stories 59 Fast Find Business Process Execution Language The Fast Find Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) solution was defined. including in-stock inventory across all retail outlets. Next. The Fast Find solution also uses IBM WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus V6. The sales associate is able to create a list of several products requested by the customer for shipment to the customers shipping address. assembled. street address.
These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. To improve the process. a German financial services company still receives much of its customer correspondence via mail.000. IBM worked with W&W to implement a paperless mail distribution system that leveraged BPM and Business Rules Management software. IBM Limited Edition Going Paperless at Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG (W&W). The new automated system helped to improve employee productivity by giving back-office employees a new interface to easily view. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. distribution. labor-intensive process that was expensive to operate and inefficient at routing mail. a 70 percent reduction in processing time. Many important documents and forms must be routed to the appropriate person within the organization of 11. and manage tasks. Instead of physical delivery. incoming mail is scanned and routed electronically to the recipient. Inc. prioritize. and any dissemination. It often took as long as seven days to route mail through the company to the appropriate person. This system reduced the delivery time to less than two days.60 Business Process Management For Dummies. W&W was struggling with a manual. .
and any dissemination. Inc. . With IBM you can capture business logic with XML/metadata rather than requiring the use of traditional programming languages. This ability allows you to support multiple and greater degrees of abstractions and capabilities so you can be more agile and flexible. so for some changes IT development cost can be zero and for others it can be very minimal. Ease of Use IBM provides superior total cost of ownership compared to other BPM solutions. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Your operational costs are reduced because IBM provides consistent and scalable runtime architecture across capabilities. distribution. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing.Chapter 6 Top Reasons to Choose BPM from IBM In This Chapter ▶ Ten top IBM BPM differentiators ▶ Making IBM your choice provider I n this chapter. Your cost of change is reduced based on architected points of agility. Dynamic SOA Capabilities IBM's Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) enables you to build agile solutions based on dynamic SOA capabilities. This agility extends to service selection. you get the best reasons to make IBM your smart choice in providing a BPM solution for your organization.
IBM Limited Edition rules. Advanced Programming Model With the IBM BPM solutions you have fine-grained control over individual process instance execution through an infrastructure and programming model which leaves your business in a consistent state at all times. Role-based User Environment IBM empowers the business user to manage processes through Web 2.0 Mashup technology. and business services. This technology enables customizable and flexible user interfaces through role-based business spaces. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. real-time predictive analytics and drill-down business activity monitoring with predictive KPIs. business service policies. They provide the ability to put control and change management into the hands of business users. You can manage change with confidence. The IBM BPM operational environment runs in a highly available. Role-based business spaces provide information access that gets the right process information in capabilities to the right people. secure. In addition. IBM provides process transactional integrity combined with advanced programming models and runtime features. they provide pre-defined industry KPIs. distribution. Inc. business events. IBM provides advanced. . or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. and any dissemination. Integrated BAM Capabilities IBM's solutions make measurement and insight into action easier.62 Business Process Management For Dummies. and disaster recovery enabled mode so you can run very complex and mission-critical applications with confidence.
the Blueworks Live platform becomes the central communication platform for collecting. IBM provides best-in-class rule execution capabilities that can run on a wide range of operating systems and platforms. Register today for a free 30-day trial at www. The IBM BPM solutions are built for expansion and growth to handle your future needs. secure. and governance with specific environments for technical and non-technical users who participate in rule management.blueworkslive. and any dissemination. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Its tools include the functionality to support rule definition.com/signup/trial. maintenance. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. campuses. But don't take our word for it. browser-based delivery and wikilike structure allow stakeholders inside and outside your organization as well as across functions. and even oceans to collaboratively participate in process improvement. distribution. Documenting and Running Processes in the Cloud Blueworks Live ease-of-use. In addition. and improving how work gets done in your organization. Blueworks Live takes the practice of process from the hands of the few and spreads it throughout your organization. and scalable environment that supports a wide range of platforms. deployment. ensuring enterprise-wide decision automation. In effect. Inc. sharing. . These solutions include high availability with both vertical and horizontal support.Chapter 6: Top Reasons to Choose BPM from IBM 63 Scalability and Performance IBM BPM solutions provide you a robust. Business Rule Management IBM offers Business Rule Management (BRM) that adds flexibility and performance to your business systems by enabling powerful decision automation across processes and applications.
non-programming user interfaces. small successes that can be easily scaled across the organization. while equipping business users to manage the event definitions. These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. evaluating. allowing IT to manage the business event environment. Assuring Success with BPM Services Being successful at BPM requires more than cool technology. . IBM Limited Edition Business Event Processing IBM supports advanced event processing capabilities for detecting.64 Business Process Management For Dummies. The IBM WebSphere Services for BPM consists of skilled consultants with deep process modeling and technical skills gained from countless of engagements who ensure that you start off your BPM journey on the right track. and responding to patterns of events that can occur over a period of time. distribution. correlating. and IBM consultants bring with them proven methodologies and best practices that guarantee you achieve your objectives. and any dissemination. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. BPM calls for upfront strategic thinking about where the organization is heading and where BPM fits into this journey. Inc. Beyond Technology. These capabilities are exposed through graphical. The name of the game is quick.
Notes These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing. distribution. Inc. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. . and any dissemination.
and any dissemination. Inc. distribution. or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. .Notes These materials are the copyright of Wiley Publishing.
helping you meet your goals. your organization needs to be ready to turn signals from the marketplace into strategic plays. or to shop! ISBN: 978-1-118-01415-8 Part #: WSM14002-USEN-00 Not for resale . BPM creates value through growth. • Increase your productivity — in today's economy you need to do more with less • Apply BPM principles — to help your enterprise increase its productivity • Take advantage of the new market opportunities — with BPM. and better customer service. better productivity.The time is now to use BPM to give your organization the edge it's been looking for In today's dynamic business environment. you can be a market maker and leave your competition behind • Reach the global market — BPM streamlines your supply chain operations to take advantage of opportunities wherever they may exist • Accelerate innovation — let BPM transform your organization into an innovative machine Open the book and find: • Ways to achieve compliance • Tips for controlling your costs • How IBM can help you transform your organization with BPM Making Everything Easier! ™ Go to Dummies.com® for videos. how-to articles. higher staff effectiveness. By unleashing the power of technology as a competitive advantage. improved performance. step-by-step examples. BPM helps you quickly find and execute on missed opportunities trapped inside day-to-day operational processes. your entire enterprise becomes far more agile.
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