Business Process Management

Transcription

1 Business Process Management An Overview Operational Governance White Paper July 2015

2 Defining BPM Depending on who you ask, you may get different opinions about what Business Process Management (BPM) is and what it isn t. For example, the C-Suite may look at BPM as an organization-wide methodology to control, manage and measure the organization s core processes, with a goal of breaking down silos that separate disparate operations. Operations managers may see BPM as a systematic approach to analyze, redesign and improve a specific process that they are responsible for. The IT department may understand BPM as the software technologies designed to manage, measure and analyze business process workflows. They ll often refer to the collective software tools as a Business Process Management Suite. As you might expect, all these perspectives on BPM are valid. AIIM, the Association for Information and Image Management, best captures these related viewpoints by defining BPM as: how we study, identify, change and monitor business processes to ensure they run smoothly and can be improved over time.

3 DATAMARK s BPM Philosophy: Delivering Process Maturity As a provider of outsourced business Why BPM? The top business driver for BPM is the need to save money by reducing costs and/or improving productivity, according to survey results from The State of the BPM Market , published by analyst firm Business Process Trends. Business drivers rounding out the top 5 (listed in order of importance), include: The need to improve customer satisfaction to remain competitive. The need to improve management coordination or organizational responsiveness. The need to improve existing products, create new products or enter new lines of business to remain competitive. The need to improve management of IT resources (enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications). services, DATAMARK transitions clients processes to on-site or off-site locations operated, managed and staffed by DATAMARK employees. Often, these back-office functions (mail intake and distribution, document processing and management, and contact center services, to name a few), when operated by the client, may not have attained a desired level of process maturity. For example, the workflow may not be fully documented, and there may be wasteful steps that incur unnecessary costs and lengthen turnaround time. The end result is a detrimental effect on customer service. Hence, the client s desire to turn the back-office function to a service provider who will re-design and optimize the process. When DATAMARK manages a client s back-office operations, the company aims to raise the maturity level of the process by applying its BPM system, formally known as DATAMARK BPMS. A mature process is identified by a number of characteristics, each delivering tangible benefits: It is supported by documentation including flow charts and detailed Standard Operating Procedures. This documentation improves the process s reliability, repeatability and output quality. It is data-driven. The BPMS team identifies what data to measure and collect. A robust data collection plan serves as the cornerstone for process improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma, Lean and Value Stream Mapping. It provides performance visibility. With the identification of process inputs, outputs and measures of cost, productivity and quality, the BPMS delivers performance dashboards that allow for monitoring, analysis and decision-making.

4 DATAMARK s BPMS: A Nine-Step, Continuous Cycle According to AIIM, BPM consists of four high-level steps: Analyze Re-design and model Implement Monitor These elements are found in DATAMARK s BPMS, which consists of nine steps. It must be pointed out that completion of the steps does not mean the BPMS project is finished. In fact, BPMS is not a one-time event. It is a continuous cycle, meant to drive constant improvement in a process. After implementation and monitoring, the team responsible for BPMS will again analyze the process to identify areas for improvement. Step 1: Create Process Mission Step 9: Identify Improvement Opportunities Step 2: Document Process Steps Step 8: Develop Dashboards Step 7: Monitor Process Performance Business Process Management System Step 3: Document Customer and Process Goals Step 4: Identify Process Measures Step 6: Establish Data Collection Plan Step 5: Create Process Management SOPs

5 BPMS Steps Defined 1. Create Process Mission: A mission statement establishes the reason the process exists, the rationale for implementing a BPMS project, and a high-level overview of the goals to be accomplished. 2. Document Process Steps: Flow charts and other documentation are created to understand the elements that influence and contribute to the process. 3. Document Customer and Process Goals: For all process customers--both internal and external-- requirements such as turnaround time, quality and productivity are identified. 4. Identify Process Measurements: Stakeholders agree upon relevant, effective and consistent metrics for the process. 5. Create Process Management SOPs: Standard Operating Procedures are developed for each step of the process workflow, including change management procedures. 6. Establish Data Collection Plan: The plan identifies what to measure and how to measure it. It ensures the collection method is accurate and consistent, no matter who conducts it. 7. Monitor Process Performance: The process is stabilized and variation is reduced. 8. Develop Dashboards: Analytical tools are developed so managers can monitor the process and identify bottlenecks or defects. 9. Identify Improvement Opportunities: With the process stabilized, managers will apply process improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma, Lean, and Value Stream Mapping.

6 Conclusion: Climbing the Process Maturity Scale In a hyper-competitive global business environment, organizations must move quickly to seize market opportunities. Often, back-office business processes that support companies core functions are developed on the fly. Organizations that build the airplane while in flight may somehow get the job done, but the process produces excessive cost, waste and inefficiencies. Carnegie Mellon University s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) describes these as Level 1 organizations--their business processes are poorly controlled and unpredictable. Process teams are reactive rather than proactive. In a 2014 survey conducted by Business Process Trends, researchers found that most companies are at CMMI Level 2--they have organized processes at the work group or department level, but haven t connected processes across the enterprise, nor have they established robust systems for measurement and continuous improvement. As a BPO service provider, DATAMARK recognizes that it is not sufficient to take over a client s process with a goal of maintaining the status quo process maturity. Our BPM methodology seeks to move processes up the maturity scale, from Level 1 to CMMI Level 5. At Level 5, not only are processes systematically measured and managed, but they are placed in a cycle of BPM that delivers cost reduction, improvements in quality, accuracy and TAT, and continuous improvement.

7 Contact Us to Learn More To learn more how a business process management system can improve your organization s back-office operations, contact us at or info@datamark.net. About DATAMARK Celebrating its 25th year in business in 2015, DATAMARK, Inc. is a leading business process outsourcing company specializing in high-volume digital mailroom management, document processing, process improvement consulting, and bilingual (English/Spanish) contact center services.