Articles

Building Smart Processes with Analytics (via Decisions)

Author(s):

Gagan Saxena

VP Consulting & Principal Consultant, Decisions Management Solutions

Decisions inject Analytics smartness into Processes, making the processes smarter.

Now that we have automated most routine processing using some programming logic and some basic rules, the next competitive frontier is making these processes adapt dynamically to changing conditions and unforeseen situations – and learning from each such situation. Processes with such sophisticated dynamic behavior are smart processes.

Smart behavior cannot be programmed into the processes without causing unmanageable complexity and catastrophic brittleness. In any case, such ‘programmed’ processes cannot ‘learn’ by themselves. Additional knowledge has to be physically programmed into the process.

So instead of trying to make the process smarter, the focus should be on making the embedded decision smarter – through automation using decision management technologies available today.

Smart Processes are really Smart Decisions

Vision: A Crucial Ingredient of BPM

Author(s):

Amir Ghannad

Author, Speaker, Leadership Enthusiast, The Ghannad Group

BPM Institute defines BPM as “The definition, improvement, and management of end-to-end business processes in order to achieve clarity on strategic direction, alignment of resources, and increased discipline in daily operations.” A crucial ingredient in effective implementation of BPM is a common vision that guides the formation of the strategic direction and keeps the resources aligned beyond the initial planning phase and informs the operational decisions that are made every day.

A (Compressed) Day in the Life of a Business Analyst – Part 2

Author(s):

Karen Tricomi

Consultant, The Process Geek

This is the second of a two-part look at a “Day in the Life” of a Business Analyst (BA). During the first half of our “day”, the BA met with principal stakeholders multiple times to understand the problem, document the As Is and To Be, and perform a gap analysis between the two that will form the basis for the solution. The BA speculates that this will involve a combination of changes to people, process, and tools but the next step is to list and prioritize what the solution must include.

Why Big Data Needs BPM

Author(s):

Viveka Sinha

Consultant, Independent Consultant

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.

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