Articles

Author(s):

Big data and related topics like the IOT (Internet of Things) are always big topics of interest in large forums. So it was the case in CeBIT 2016, Hannover which I was fortunate enough to attend. There were several talks on Big Data – Digital Disruption was the theme, and there was general consensus that Big data was here to stay and grow phenomenally. People were moving from basic reporting and visualization of data (Data discovery and understanding) to a phase where predictive analytics would rule. This was because of the huge strides made in the fields of Machine Learning and artificial Intelligence. One of the keynote speakers in CeBIT was Professor Nick Bostrom founding Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford. An extremely impressive speaker and futurist, I was blown away with the vision he had for the future. He spoke passionately that the time for Artificial Intelligence has finally arrived and what it means for society at large.

Ten Steps to Clearer Strategy

Author(s):

Jeff Scott

President, Business Innovation Partners

The Strategy Execution Process
The strategy execution process provides a structured approach to clarifying, communicating, implementing, and managing strategy. The goal of this process is to ensure the organization focuses on developing high-value capabilities and making investments that optimize value. Most established and successful business architecture practices are deeply engaged in developing their organization’s strategy execution process though few have it completely implemented. Most are attempting to influence strategy from the bottom up.

Conflict Resolution in Process Management

Author(s):

Renée Gendron

Owner, Vitae Dynamics Inc.

Jocelyne received angry stares from both Keith and Arneil. Jocelyne had wanted to improve their production process to be more nimble and responsive to changing product needs. Both Keith and Arneil were convinced that their operations were fine the way they were. Sales were steady and in a weak economic environment that was an accomplishment. For her part Jocelyne was concerned that they wouldn’t be able to pivot quickly enough to capitalise on changing markets. The discussion went round and round until tempers flared and the business unit’s ability to function as a team crumbled. They were stuck at the analysis phase as some members of the team didn’t recognise that there was a need to improve the process.

Business Architect in a Big Data Era

Author(s):

Ganesh Balasubramaniam

Director - Business Architecture, OptumHealth

Cloud, big data, and analytics are disruptive technologies that are affecting almost every enterprise across multiple industries. Companies are trying their best to leverage these new capabilities to gain advantage in a highly competitive market place. Companies that do not evolve to leverage these capabilities may be left behind and could even become unviable in the near future. Ubiquitous data from consumer smartphone usage can provide valuable insights for companies, but ubiquitous data comes with set of challenges viz., storing, managing, and analyzing the large volumes of data. Cloud and big data technologies are positioned as the panacea to leverage and analyze ubiquitous consumer data.

Managing By Process: What Does It Really Mean?

Author(s):

Faun deHenry

President and CEO, FMT Systems Inc.

Ask senior BPM professionals what “managing by process” means and you will receive a variety of responses.

“It becomes a strait jacket that inhibits improvement and innovation.”

“Most organizations don’t understand managing by process…they approach it in a vacuum, disconnected from the most important goals of a company and other key practices that support a company’s strategy.”

Yet, those same experts voice common threads of agreement.

Managing by process is about:

A (Compressed) Day in the Life of a Business Analyst – Part 1

Author(s):

Karen Tricomi

Consultant, The Process Geek

This is the first of a two-part look at a “Day in the Life” of a Business Analyst (BA). It’s broken into hours as a simple way to illustrate the myriad duties and skills that a BA needs to have, but in real life the process described below would take weeks, months, or possibly years, depending on the size of the effort. And, as every BA knows, there’s no such thing as a typical day – or even a standard job description. We’ll look here at the phases that every effort has, and tools that every BA needs.

An Introduction to Operational Excellence

Author(s):

Marvin Wurtzel

Faculty Member, BPMInstitute.org and Principal Consultant, Marvin M. Wurtzel & Associates, Inc.

Operational Excellence is not easy to define. Some descriptions are too broad. Others are so narrow that the ultimate definition seems too focused in scope. Often, we end up with definitions that seem plausible in an academic sense, such as “Being world class,” “Being the best globally,” or, “Excellence in everything we do,” but these are difficult to translate into specific practices.

To properly define Operational Excellence, there is value in looking at the evolution of the term.

In “The Discipline of Market Leaders – Choose your Customers, Narrow your Focus, Dominate your Market“, Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema described three distinct value propositions or disciplines an organization could choose to compete in their market or industry – Operational Excellence, Product Leadership, and Customer Intimacy.

When Should Change Management Start?

Author(s):

Shelley Sweet

Faculty Member, BPMInstitute.org and President, i4 Process

So often I see organizational change management as a part of the implementation plan for putting the recommendations and new design of a Business Process Improvement project (BPI) into operation in a company. It should be there, but it needs to start sooo much earlier. In fact it needs to start with the first phase of a BPI project- namely in developing the charter and doing Process Discovery and Modeling.

Amplifying BPM with Customer Experience and Design Thinking

Author(s):

Ashok Kumar C S

Industry Principal, Infosys

In the modern Digital world, Customer Experience is a critical factor for success in BPM. Organizations can apply Design Thinking framework to map the right emotional innovation factors and succeed in the BPM transformation.

Amplifying BPM with Customer Experience and Design Thinking

Managing Enterprise Transformation in Government

Author(s):

Ken Mullins

Senior Principal, MITRE Corporation

“Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day.” Frances Hesselbein – President of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute

Effective use of a transformation framework, such as the one illustrated in Figure 1, is a hallmark of successful organizations and an essential means to achieving operational and technology environments that maximize institutional mission performance and outcomes. Among other things, this includes realizing cost savings through consolidation and reuse of shared services and elimination of antiquated and redundant mission operations, enhancing information sharing through data standardization and system integration, and optimizing service delivery through streamlining and normalization of business processes and mission operations.