Articles

Deciding on the Right Level of Business Process Documentation

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

One of the most ambiguous terms in business today is “process documentation”. It has become the key phrase looked for whether it’s a prospective employee looking for that process-centric organization, an employer trying to lure talented workers or a CEO providing proof of compliance to corporate auditors or assuring the Board of Directors that the organization has achieved a process maturity level consistent with its key goals and objectives.

Integrating Lean and Six Sigma

Author(s):

Marvin Wurtzel

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

Both the Lean and the Six Sigma methodologies have proven that it is possible to achieve dramatic improvements in cost, quality, and time by focusing on process improvement. Six Sigma is focused on reducing variation and improving process yield by following a problem-solving approach using statistical tools, Lean is primarily concerned with eliminating waste and improving flow by following the Lean principles and a defined approach to implement each of these principles.

Business Architecture: Post Merger/Acquisition

Author(s):

Geoffrey Balmes

Business Architect Executive, Independent Consultant

Any Business Architect can make a case for developing and maintaining business architecture for any business situation; it is the best way to create agility, align IT with the business, and establish the governance that keeps the business focused on the stated strategy. However, there is one situation that benefits from business architecture that is more obvious than any other – merger/acquisition.

BPMS Watch: Organizing Complex BPMN Models

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

When you first begin to model processes with BPMN, it’s hard to look past the challenge of the notation itself – all the event types, flow control patterns, exception handling patterns, and the rules for sequence flows and message flows. With a bit of training and practice, the rules and diagram patterns soon become second nature, and that part of the modeling effort gets easy.

Adapting ERP Solutions, via SOA, to the Business Needs of Government

Author(s):

Ken Mullins

Senior Principal, MITRE Corporation

Government decision makers faced with the need to streamline their business operations have begun to worry that the architectural construct we call services-oriented architecture (SOA) cannot be reconciled with the implementation of bundled, enterprise-wide product suites – a.k.a. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions.

SOA Watch: Most SOA Consultants Need a Lesson in SOA

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

Many people in the planning stages for SOA do not get the proper advice and guidance as to how to proceed, or even what a SOA actually is.

The Real Reason to Build a Business Architecture

Author(s):

Ralph Whittle

Enterprise Business Architect, Independent Consultant

Today many companies are considering whether or not to undertake a Business Architecture (BA) initiative. Many strategic research and service firms have recognized the importance of linking the BA to the strategy and integrating the BA with its supporting IT architectures, in an Enterprise Architecture (EA) framework. These firms have frequently reported on the BA’s increasing value to successful companies and provided sound reasons for undertaking the initiative. But, this does not make it a sure thing for the enterprise. So, why is a Business Architecture initiative an important one?

The Softer Side of BPM

Author(s):

Tammy Adams

Managing Partner, Chaosity, LLC

“The first and most important step toward success is the feeling that we can succeed.” Nelson Boswell, Author

Practical SOA management (end-to-end performance and problem resolution)

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

With IT Operations worried that SOA performance management is teetering on the brink of chaos, can they find anything to love about SOA?

There is a lot to love about the flexible solution design approach that Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) represents. SOA facilitates discoverable and reusable software services, which developers love because they need not recreate existing code. Indeed, all sorts of software services, from browser widgets to serious business assets (IBM’s SOA catalog for example) are now easily downloadable.

The Human Performance System

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

The human performance system (HPS) is a model that describes the variables influencing the behavior of a person in a work system. The HPS has been used by performance analysts and others for some 40 years to diagnose and even predict the likely behavior of human beings in given performance situations. The earliest version of this model was created in the 1960’s by Geary Rummler and Dale Brethower .