Business processes aren’t just required for a company to function, communicate and make the best use of resources. Business processes are directly tied to competitive advantages and profitability. Business process management (BPM), which is the ability to identify, monitor, analyze, control and improve these processes, helps an organization run as efficiently and effectively as possible.
BPM is about more than managing tasks or following steps from a checklist. It is a continuous discipline that involves executing each step within a process correctly and at the appropriate time with a specific goal in mind. BPM is built around the desired outcome, not the tasks required to deliver that outcome. Steps for completing tasks within a business process are standardized to ensure consistency and efficiency while reducing the risk of errors. BPM also supports continuous evaluation and improvement in order to optimize business processes and deliver better results.
Traditionally, BPM has focused on delivering value by reducing costs and increasing efficiency. In recent years, the focus of BPM has shifted to the customer. How can we change our business processes, enable better collaboration, and support innovation to create a better customer experience? The customer experience has become the top business priority for most organizations, and BPM is no exception.
BPM implementation requires a lot of analysis and mapping of workflows, as well as testing to identify bottlenecks and other obstacles that could potentially hamper a process in any way. BPM has existed for decades as a manual practice, and technology isn’t necessarily a requirement for implementation.
Of course, there are a number of software solutions that allow you to simplify BPM implementation and shift BPM responsibilities from humans to technology. BPM implementation begins with designing a process, determining what conditions must exist for the process to be carried out, and building out those conditions. You then model the process and put a system in place to support the process. Once the process is functioning, you should continuously monitor the process and collect data to find out how well it’s working. Based on this data, you can look for ways to optimize the process.
There are different types of software tools that support BPM. BPM software automates and measures processes to help quantify business value and enable further optimization. BPM tools help those responsible for organizing a certain process or activity to acquire the resources needed to execute a process. These tools are also used to measure the results of a process, offer feedback, and change the process as necessary.
Modeling tools allow managers or business analysts to create a design that shows how the process is expected to function and how the organization plans to use the process. Process diagrams, or models, are then developed and tested using the modeling tool. These models are typically stored in a database so they can be modified or reused on other process models.
In the next post, we’ll discuss the difference between legacy and modern BPM tools and introduce BPM software from BP Logix.
Comments