Project Achieved? How can Business Process Management (BPM) optimize business outcomes and performance?

Transcription

1 How is a BPM Project Achieved? How can Business Process Management (BPM) optimize business outcomes and performance? Abstract How is a BPM project achieved? How can Business Process Management (BPM) optimize business outcomes and performance? Last year s leading BPM industry events bring out a dominant scenario after a decade, Process Agility is still a pipe dream for organizations struggling to connect BPM technologies with their real world business processes. Based on information collated from BPM software providers and consultants as well as everyday challenges outlined by CIOs of small and big organizations, the paper will address gaps between Discovery and Business Transformation and highlight a wide range of best practice approaches and pitfalls to avoid for successful business results. The paper will also provide a framework for choosing the right BPM project for organizations, will detail the steps leading up to a successful BPM rollout for optimized business outputs and conclude with details of various risks associated with a BPM project implementation.

2 Introduction The success of a Business Process Management project is measured by its ability to deliver on business performance goals through increased productivity, reduced costs and agile market response. BPM technology is the driver that delivers on this business vision. For project success it is imperative that BPM as a technology support the practice and leadership vision of BPM as a discipline. BPM is in a period of transition. Those organizations that understood the value of BPM as a key driver for business success tested waters by adopting BPM within a few common business areas such as Accounts or HR or by launching time bound projects with a well defined scope to understand the complete extent of BPMS and how they should be used. BPM efforts however have not seen the expected level of adoption process agility for operational excellence is still a distant goal for many Enterprises that are floundering with extensibility issues and lack of road maps. A series of economic events and general market instability have redirected the spotlight to process optimization as the key to a sustainable profit model. The key questions that find relevance in BPM projects today are - 1. What processes should we focus on next? 2. How do we scale the discovery, development, deployment and usage of process applications throughout the company? 3. What are the best practices we should follow to maximize reuse of process artifacts from project to project to achieve economies of scale? The following paper discusses the successful implementation and management of BPM projects within organizations from Discovery to Deployment.

3 Critical challenges in adopting a core BPM approach? can be used to demonstrate measurable BPM value to top management. Will the project demonstrate Return on Investment (ROI) : Lack of thorough discovery on process merits from the point of view of positive, long term ROI is the most common failure organizations face whilst implementing BPM. Investment realization in a BPMS needs to have the shortest possible cycle and should be a key criterion for selecting the BPM pilot. 2. Lack of collaboration Choosing a BPM project for adoption should be based on intensive discovery by all the project stakeholders including IT teams While IT teams are required to bring business optimization technology to the table, without collaborative decision making with process owners, the chosen tool may not match their needs In the opposite scenario, Business units that select BPM products independent of IT inputs will lose out on critical issues of integration with existing IT infrastructure leading to poor ROI Much has been said about starting with a small BPM project before considering Enterprise wide practice adoption. It is understood, that to effectively scale up a BPM initiative a Proof of Concept in the form of a successful BPM project needs to be delivered first. The following Model details Levels of BPM success within organizations: But to convert a BPM initiative into a sustainable business asset, a thorough, mature and evolved discovery model is the key. 1. Selecting the Pilot Check for Relevance: If BPM is new to your organization, it is best to start with a relatively simple, high value, low risk project. Departmental based projects (HR, Accounts etc.) which have A high cost of errors Inordinate turnaround times Represent a compliance risk High volumes of manual data processing 3. Resistance to Change Often, business or process owners may not see the need to reinvent their processes if they are an integral part of the flow. Lack of vision and resistance to organizational change or a change in the way things are done are common BPM challenges. To initiate change, it is important to create a think tank of subject matter experts, process owners and forward thinking individuals to examine gaps between process and departmental goals and draw up new process flows

4 4. Overt IT dependency Minimize initial investment by leveraging existing product interfaces till you can demonstrate definitive project value. Make projects with existing interfaces and zero customization a selection criteria for your BPM pilot Phase out the project to demonstrate short term ROI and drive executive sponsorship for the next phase of the project Leverage existing SOA architecture in order to simplify development for BPM interfaces 5. Defining true BPM value Measure and identify gaps in process performance and expected benefits Take into account ancillary benefits such as recruitment of new revenue streams and business opportunities, Adaptability and product innovation 6. Lack of sponsorship A top down commitment to BPM adoption is essential to drive BPM success. Necessary resources in terms of time, dedicated subject matter experts, think tank comprising members from various departments and disciplines and sanctioned investment in the right BPMS can only happen if there is a buy-in from top management Keep the scope of the early projects narrow both organizationally and in terms of IT impact Choose projects that do not impact cross departmental goals but demonstrate clear BPM value Address an executive sponsor at a sufficiently high level to ensure timely availability of critical resources 7. Poor Reporting Dashboard views of process performance based on pre-defined metrics are the best method to convey BPM project progress to senior management. Process agility can be demonstrated only if there are clearly defined KPIs for each step of the process 8. Define Metrics & KPIs Ensure that key process metrics are clearly defined before the start of any process KPIs need to relate to critical issues such as turnaround times and resource utilization Design executive views of information that senior management actually needs to make decisions rather than drill down reports 9. Lack of Ownership Initiating a BPM project is different from launching any other IT project which has a lifecycle. A successful BPM initiative on the other hand relies on constant monitoring and continuous process change for optimum output. Before considering a BPM project, put in place a BPM team with clear Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) and an allotted time schedule to run the BPM initiative To ensure operational efficiency, ensure that your team of BPM thinkers constantly train, impart process knowledge and break information silos prevalent in most organizations Outsourcing initial implementation of BPM projects to subject matter experts is quick, cost effective and reliable, but still requires in-house BPM teams taking ownership to track monitor and make change in the chosen BPM project

5 Influential factors while choosing a BPM project The following guideline provides a framework for BPM project selection and translates to a high probability of project success. Additionally the guideline is designed to drive business interest in wider BPM adoption as a practice Think Big, Start Small A minor process or part of a large, complex process. A time bound project with relatively low resource and IT investment A small number of limited-scope projects are best to provide concentrated focus on achieving results and to spread the word regarding a high-value payoff. In order to surface smaller candidates, it is important to first create a higher-level contextual business process model to find the best opportunities Initiate Goal Based Process Change Base the process performance improvement on crucial organization goals Link to goals and strategies can occur at various levels of business purpose hierarchy as long as the hierarchy is clearly developed and communicated performance improvement Ensure agreement towards a primary, shared, common performance goal This step in some case can be as intensive as actually modelling the process Senior Management Sponsorship Widespread BPM adoption is driven by top level sponsorship Typically, a staunch sponsor of the BPM project is usually the primary beneficiary of the new, improved level of performance Executive sponsorship helps overcome any obstacles in the way of promoting and scaling up BPM initiatives across the length and breadth of the organization. Business User Engagement The success of a BPM project depends largely on 100% engagement by the project owner Getting a process owner on board typically means offering a fresh perspective on how to look at what they do in their jobs, and making a process view easy to understand and intriguing. Demonstrating the value of remodelling a business process and meaningful measures of performance based on a process owners inputs will help build a sense of ownership Define the Right Metrics Process Analysis is a critical driver to gauge pain areas in the current process A thorough analysis and understanding of the main problem areas in the process will form the basis for an improvement road map Define process measurement metrics based on aspirational process improvement objectives of all stakeholders Collaborate With All Stakeholders All the relevant process stakeholders must work together to agree on desired

6 Beyond the Discovery Phase Look at your internal technical skill set and various platforms in your IT landscape and evaluate BPMS tools from vendors that fit well with your existing IT investment Choose a BPM software vendor to develop an initial proof of concept (POC) Form the process with all the involved stakeholders, Deploy, test and re-test the process Measure the new process for KPIs which are key to your business common measurement indicators are cycle times, cost implication and customer satisfaction Deploy the process and continuously monitor the Business Activity for improved achievement on overall governance aims and better customer offerings Synchronize and Collaborate with teams on potential ideas for competing in the market and use these as BPM opportunities to scale up your BPM initiative Consider integrating your BPM software with your existing ERP system and extend the bandwidth of your process optimization tool Leverage organizational knowledge and market intelligence to constantly update your process with a trial and deploy methodology

7 BPM Project Risks Incorrect Analysis Simply automating an existing process with no improved benefits will leave a cold BPM trail Address the Process improvement needs rather than personal wish lists from stakeholders on adding or modifying process steps Know when to stop. Once there is a majority agreement on process readiness, deploy and test the process before initiating further change Ensure that process metrics are designed to align organization s Key Business Objectives (KBOs) Putting the cart before the horse Expensive Think Tank While no BPM project can gain traction without a steering committee, a common pitfall while launching a BPM pilot is forming of a core group with too many committed resources representing high overheads to senior management and decision makers. A complex team structure with too many stakeholder dependencies can drastically slow down a project A small but effective team is key if a successful, time bound BPM pilot is to be delivered An ideal BPM steering team should consist of a Project Manager, Business user, Subject matter expert from chosen line of business, Process Analyst and an IT specialist Allowing the BPM tool to drive the process The BPMS needs to match your specific human centric process requirement rather than tweaking the workflow to fit in with available technology Missing the business case The biggest risk and in implementing a BPM project is creating a complex application that does not address the exact business need. Merely adding a technology component to a workflow may not address a crucial business need such as alerts and notifications of process exceptions for preemptive action The BPM project team should comprise of end-users to get their input on proposed process change

8 Conclusion A repeatable BPM methodology based on Intensive Discovery by the right focus group is time spent modelling the path to Business improvement. BPM technologies that support a well thought out and measurable BPM roadmap and are selected for their alignment with existing IT landscapes are powerful tools to achieve BPM objectives. The importance of testing reengineered processes through POCs and evaluating shortlisted BPMS vendors based on those POCs cannot be stressed enough. The due diligence and time invested pays off rapidly when it comes to larger adoption of BPM practice. Hence BPM design and architecture need to be necessarily scalable and built to effect continuous change. About Invensys Skelta BPM Invensys Skelta is the recognized industry leader in.net based BPM technology through its product Skelta BPM which offers 100% embeddable, Enterprise class, BPM solutions to help organizations achieve operational agility. Skelta BPM enables easy to deploy, web based process workflows across the business latitude and puts the control directly in the hands of the users. Skelta BPM, through its web based graphical user interface enables business users, analysts, managers and other stakeholders to collaborate with developers in: Process Definition and Design Process Execution Process Monitoring and Optimization Our BPM approach empowers organizations to achieve Operational resilience through process agility. We have consistently helped our customers achieve their BPM objectives and enhance operational efficiency through: Our strong product line Mature solutions framework (Accounts Payable, Leave Management, Document Management System and solutions for any business area) Evolved Professional Services for a seamless post sale experience Evaluate Skelta BPM Request Demo Corporate Address: 5601 Granite Parkway III Suite 1000, Plano TX USA skelta.com sales@skelta.com Copyright 2012 Invensys Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. All other names and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or owners.