Enabling Enterprise Business Process Management

Transcription

1 Enabling Enterprise Business Process Management Issues and Challenges for Coordinating and Managing BPM Initiatives Robert Shields, Telelogic Version 1 April 2008

2 Table of Contents Abstract 1 Conditions Driving BPM 2 A Complex Process World Requires Simplicity 4 Enabling an Enterprise-Wide BPM Platform 6 Multiple Users in Enterprise Process Modeling 6 Deep Process Analysis 7 Process and Workflow Implementation 9 Standards and Reference Models 10 Summary and Conclusions 11 About the Author 12 References 12 About Telelogic 14

3 Abstract Business Process Management (BPM) garners much attention in the technology market. Several organizations, research firms, publications and bloggers provide frequent updates on trends and developments. The media forecasts enormous growth for BPM and its supporting technologies. Most of the coverage focuses on tactical issues related to specific components of BPM and on commentators musings on technological nuances and specifications. Industry analysts support the media s reports of BPM technology growth. A 2007 Gartner, Inc. research report stated that revenue from the sale of Business Process Analysis tools has grown at an average of 15% per annum over the past several years, to the point where it now stands at $400 million in new license and maintenance fees annually. The report predicts that the BP modeling tools market will continue to achieve a compounded annual growth rate of 10% through Furthermore, IDC predicts that the BPMS market as a whole will grow to $5.5 billion by 2011, which translates a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 44%. 2 The focus of the media and others may be on the related technologies, but BPM is not and should not be thought of as solely a technology. It is a practice that uses technologies to achieve its ends, but the technologies are not the ends in themselves. Taking the perspective of BPM as a practice, versus a technology, shifts the discussions and perceptions back to where they belong: addressing the issues and themes that are critical for business success. In practical terms, what does this perspective reveal? First, BPM is about business operations supported by technology. Second, BPM entails a fundamental shift in an organization s mindset; functional boundaries, static processes and technology-driven business processes must all yield to this shift in mindset. Third, the end goal of BPM is simple but critical: the optimization of business processes. The premise of this paper is that enterprise process modeling, analysis, architecture and implementation are at the core of business process management and optimization. Topics covered include process modeling collaboration considerations, process architectures versus enterprise architectures and the requirements for linkages between the two and process implementation issues. The premise and concepts presented by the author are not conjecture. Rather, they are based on extensive secondary market research, customer surveys, interviews and discussions and input from technology and consulting experts within Telelogic. 1

4 Conditions Driving BPM The desire for efficiency and agility, along with the requirements for regulatory and contractual compliance, drive the need for business process management. However, organizations require consistent, repeatable and actionable results to ensure that process optimization yields measurable improvements. Furthermore, care must be taken to ensure that process change does not resolve one issue only to worsen others to a greater extent. Specifically, optimization should alleviate rather than augment overhead. In the context of this paper, BPM and business process optimization are synonymous. They are both concerned with process improvement first and process technology second. They both involve the creation of process models, the fine-tuning and analysis of these models and then the implementation of new or updated processes. Wikipedia provides a basic definition of BPM: Business process management (BPM) is a field of knowledge at the intersection between management and information technology, encompassing methods, techniques and tools to design, enact, control, and analyze operational business processes involving humans, organizations, applications, documents and other sources of information. 3 The foregoing provides a basic definition, but, as in the case of many discussions related to business process optimization and BPM, it lacks clarity. The following offers a simpler context for BPM as it applies to activities undertaken by all staff: 1. Improve current processes 2. Develop better processes 3. Going forward, think about business processes when planning and organizing With this definition out of the way, let s reflect on what drives today s strong focus on process optimization. 1. The Internet enables worldwide markets and trading communities. Since the late 1990 s, markets have become much more accessible to innovators. Taking advantage of significantly lower barriers to entry into their chosen industries, these innovators became powerful new competitors that entrenched companies had to counter. As a result, customer choice and, hence, customers purchasing flexibility grew exponentially. This placed enormous competitive and, consequently, responsiveness demands on businesses. 2. Regulators scrutinize business operations more carefully than ever before. From the debris of Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco and others emerged the legislative quagmire of US and international operating guidelines, restrictions and requirements. In addition, concerns over data privacy and security drove forceful de- 2

5 mands, often obligatory, for an extremely cautious approach to the handling and processing of financial and consumer data. 3. Despite ebbs and flows over the course of economic cycles, the overarching trend is one of business consolidations and mergers continues to accelerate, which forces the integration of an increasing number of disparate processes and organizations. Without attention to process optimization, these business combinations threaten to increase the complexity and, therefore, the costs of the resulting organization s merged activities. 4. Many organizations are moving or considering moving business functionality to a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). SOA delivers discrete functions as reusable services callable from any application, including browser-based Web applications. With this focus on process reusability, organizations are more focused on optimization as any inefficiencies will be replicated whenever the service is called. The scope of organizational change and the ensuing challenges dwarfs the challenges that businesses faced as little as 10 or 20 years ago. To be successful, companies cannot rely on just outfoxing the competition or creating a novel distribution channel. Vision and execution must go hand-inhand and the organization must be able to react and adjust at a moment s notice. Thus, the scope of excellence within an organization must be very broad and deep. The need for organizational excellence drove the formation of BPM as a practice. This need for organizational excellence drove the formation of BPM as a practice. Process optimization, as achieved through BPM, requires transparent operations that allow organizations to fully comprehend all process inputs, outputs, workflows and constraints. To understand how operations function, organizations have to model the who, what and how of their business processes. With the above as a backdrop, organizations tend to develop a laser-sharp focus on BPM and business process optimization. The impetus may be a grassroots effort in response to management demands for operational excellence or it may be a top-down strategy created by a management team that recognizes the need to adjust the company s practices and operations, but the result is the same: business process optimization rises to the top of the enterprise s agenda. 3

6 A Complex Process World Requires Simplicity The BPM market s solution set has become segmented primarily into two categories: Business Process Management Suites (BPMS) and Business Process Analysis (BPA) solutions. The distinction between the two is not always clear. For example, a 2006 Gartner, Inc. report states, A BPMS enables the direct control and management of operational processes in near-real time by business managers and process owners to better meet today's business cycle time needs and enable more-agile processes. The report goes on to describe BPMS as integrating, among other capabilities, at least some elements of BPA technology, which is also available as a separate product. 4 Both BPM product categories, BPMS and BPA, include numerous examples of excellent products that provide many valuable features and functions for organizations operating in a variety of environments. However, in the context of enterprise-wide business process management and optimization, these solutions have notable limitations that generally revolve around several simple, but restrictive assumptions: 1. The BPMS or BPA will provide a single user interface. 2. Process analysis does not require the detailed resource analysis provided by Enterprise Architecture. The process analysis provided by most BPMS suites emphasizes process simulation, with the assumption that architectural impact is apparent. This is an extremely dangerous assumption as the impacts on a host of technology issues such as, data security and access, server loads, server availability and bandwidth limitations, are often far from obvious. 3. The BPMS or BPA will support single-threaded workflows (i.e., the automation of all enterprise processes via one workflow engine). The problem with this assumption is that vendors have tuned workflow engines for specific tasks. Thus, it is highly unlikely that any single workflow engine will support the diverse needs of an entire organization. In fact, many organizations have already implemented multiple workflow engines. In addition, Model Driven Development (MDD), which supports complex process development and management, is emerging as an important development methodology that also requires linkages to BPM. 4. Support for multiple modeling notations and interoperability is not a priority. 4

7 These assumptions may not thwart initial BPM initiatives within an organization, but as organizations ramp their BPM efforts, the assumptions don t stand up. Many organizations soon realize the there is no silver bullet technology for BPM and simply purchasing a BPMS does not provide the technology foundation for enterprise-wide BPM. In fact, as noted above, most organization will have multiple BPMS solutions. The independence and incompleteness of these diverse solutions mean that they typically do not address key challenges: Common modeling tool: A common modeling framework, typically lacking when using multiple BPMS products, is important as it allows different BPM teams to share and reuse models and link models for complex process development. Process architectural analysis: This component of process analysis is typically not supported by BPMS tools, yet it is critical that the architectural analysis be done so as to understand process dependencies and risk as they related to the current IT infrastructure. Complex process development: When process management encounters complex processes coordination that spans multiple systems and locations, Model Driven Development, which, as the name suggests, is driven by business modeling, provides the control and discipline needed to ensure reliability and predictability. For process management efforts to truly support enterprise-wide initiatives, organizations should, to the greatest extent possible, embrace new assumptions on how to coordinate and manage BPM initiatives. Doing so requires a platform that provides: 1. Modeling user-interfaces tuned to user abilities and capabilities with a standardized modeling methodology. 2. Multiple implementation pathways to BPMS workflow engines as well as to ERP, CRM and custom applications via MDD. 3. Strong, seamless integration between enterprise architecture and model-driven development products. 4. Process architectural analysis tools and procedures that allow for the review of risks and limitations of the current IT architecture as related to specific processes. 4. Broad support for modeling notations and interoperability. The next section of this white paper dives deeper into the details related to these five characteristics. 5

8 Enabling an Enterprise-Wide BPM Platform When pursuing enterprise BPM or business process optimization, several considerations and challenges arise. As inferred in the previous section, many organizations will require multiple BPM suites. Furthermore, as stated in a Gartner, Inc. research note, To deliver software-driven process improvements, organizations must understand the sea of related technologies, the specific machinations of BPM's core technologies, and how they fit into a larger architectural puzzle. 5 In addition, the legacy systems, such as ERP, CRM and custom applications encompass the bulk of the business processes and must all be considered in the process optimization exercise. This implies a broad set of users, requirements and necessary integrations. Related questions to consider include: Figure 1. Different users different skill levels BPM must support them all. 1. Who needs to participate in business process modeling and analysis? 2. How can an organization best analyze the impact of new processes, as well as changes to current processes? 3. How does the process model connect to activity workflow and to missioncritical new and legacy applications? 4. Will the resulting process model be transportable and interoperable? Multiple Users in Enterprise Process Modeling A key challenge for business process optimization relates to participation and collaboration. Business processes have many touch points within an organization and typically involve nuances or vague complexities. Process experts can be managers, subject matter experts, business analysts, IT personnel or long-tenured staff. Thus, modeling a process accurately requires the participation of a broad set of people within an organization. Those participants inevitably possess varying levels of process modeling experience and technical ability. BPM will likely continue to expand to accommodate interactions between more individuals in companies. As Sandy Kemsley wrote in Intelligent Enterprise, By providing business users and analysts with new collaboration technologies and the ability to per- 6

9 form some level of process modeling, they'll have more control over the effectiveness of their business processes, and new applications of the tools will emerge. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2010, more than 50 percent of collaboration and user productivity interactions will be integrated with process technologies such as BPM. 6 Additionally, the modeling exercise itself has many stages, which typically include creation, review and approval. This suggests that modeling requires team and/or work group reviews. Finally, many organizations model using Microsoft Visio as its general purpose nature has led to over 7 million users worldwide. This widely accessible and broadly familiar tool allows the organization to tap into enterprise knowledge and repurpose it to facilitate structured process modeling for BPM. Overcoming the above challenges of business process optimization requires a modeling solution that provides multiple user interfaces that can accommodate varying user abilities and all of the tasks they will have to perform. Some of the other requirements of such a solution include: 1. A modeling portal that can be used for group review and the publishing of business models. 2. Visio modeling support, based on a standard, such as Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), that can be communicated and understood by all stakeholders to allow subject matter experts, functional managers and others to model using a familiar tool. 3. Web-based modeling capabilities to support business analysts and architects and to provide a platform that is easy to use and requires little training. Browser-based access over the Web becomes particularly important as a means to support workforces in the increasing number of corporations that have spread their operations around the globe. 4. Windows client modeling capabilities with comprehensive linkages to architecture, analysis and implementation products. Deep Process Analysis For process analysis to be comprehensive, organizations must pay special attention to not only the process logic, but also to its implications for existing infrastructure. Process analysis should highlight potential problems in process change and implementation by answering the following questions: 1. Is the process model reasonable? Does the process simulation reveal any flaws? Does the process exist in some form in other processes in the organization and can process elements from existing sources be utilized for new or modified processes? 2. What systems and applications are required by a particular process and what resource dependencies will that process have? Are there risks with the process ar- 7

10 chitecture or limitations regarding scaling? Are there data models that should be considered related to this process? 3. If resource allocations must be altered to implement a new or changed process, what are the impacts on other processes? Will the change exhaust particular resources? 4. Will the new or changed processes increase the organization s business continuity or information security risks? Typically, process analysis involves a flow analysis that determines the efficiency, constraints and redundancies within a process. A process model documents the flow and enables detailed examination of the process. The model can be used for simulations that reveal fundamental performance characteristics. These simulations allow analysts to predict resource utilization, anticipate bottlenecks, analyze costs and identify redundancies within the constraints of the process. But by adding process architectural analysis, the analysis also reveals impacts on systems, data and associated applications that must be taken into account before implementing or changing a process. Optimization can also be used to test various process options as a means to find the optimal way to achieve a desired outcome. By allowing organizations to streamline processes, the analysis of process flow provides great value. However, the impact of new processes or process changes on systems, data and associated applications must be determined prior to the implementation of a new or changed process. The actions described above allow organizations to fully analyze their business processes and to gain a deep understanding of the linkages between those processes and the underlying systems, applications and data. The addition of architecture analysis ensures that process additions do not create tertiary or downstream problems. Therefore, to achieve its objectives, an enterprise process modeling and analysis solution should facilitate the following: 1. (By definition) Modeling of the process 2. Analysis of basic processes (e.g., an evaluation of efficiency, cost, etc.) 3. Simulation of processes as appropriate 4. Optimization of processes 5. Analysis of the process architecture (via Enterprise Architecture), including the analysis of: a. Applications b. Systems 8

11 c. Data Process and Workflow Implementation An organization s operations may utilize thousands of processes. They can range from simple, informal processes that are based on intuitive knowledge through to highly regulated production or design procedures. Organizations typically prioritize key processes as the first step of business process management and optimization. Process teams then focus on processes that have the greatest impact on the organization s operations and/or its ability to serve customers. When some of a business processes involve extensive paperwork the organization usually adopts a document-centric BPMS solution. However, a document-centric product might not adequately address the requirements of the other relatively paper-free processes such as those related to e-store and e-catalog services. Under these circumstances, how can the organizational analysis and process model generated by the documentcentric BPMS product be used to implement the e-store and e-catalog processes? The preceding question is obviously rhetorical. A document-centric product will not serve such applications well. Another approach is required in these cases, yet the document-centric BPMS will certainly have other processes to tackle. Thus, the expectation that one BPMS can serve all of a complex enterprise s needs is clearly misguided. The point illustrated by this example is that the subsequent implementation or modeling of other processes can vary greatly based on what process an organization chooses to model first. This applies regardless of whether the processes operate under the control of an ERP, a CRM, a vertical application or custom code. Because of the great variety of processes that they perform, medium- to large-scale organizations will almost certainly require multiple implementation paths to the automation of workflows and processes. The probability that a single workflow engine, typically based on business process execution language (BPEL) or a proprietary approach, is very low. Most organizations will, therefore, require the ability to render workflow or process automation via multiple paths. Therefore, for enterprise-wide BPM, several implementation paths can exist: 1. BPEL: Many BPMS vendors use some form of BPEL; transportability does not exist as each BPEL is tuned to the specific workflow engine. Interoperability must be independently verified until more comprehensive BPMN and BPEL standards emerge. 2. UML : The Unified Modeling Language supports Model Driven Development, a growing methodology for structured software development. UML can yield C++, C# and Java. 9

12 3. Custom Integration: Many applications use proprietary XML formats and require specific connectors to facilitate the translation of BPMN process models to their XML or other specific workflow specification. So it is imperative to support the implementation path that best suits the particular requirements of simple or complex processes. This would require business modeling and analysis technology to support the following: 1. Standards-based modeling, BPMN or others. 2. Transformation of process models to standard BPEL or to BPEL customized to a specific BPMS platform. 3. Alternatively, transformation of process models to UML to generate custom code (C++, Java, etc.) and/or to support Model Driven Development (MDD) of complex processes. 4. In addition, the process models should be able to seamlessly link web services for the support of SOA initiatives. Standards and Reference Models The need for multiple paths makes the use of standard modeling notations, such as BPMN, idef and UML, essential to ensure model transportability and interoperability. Standard model notations also provide for the exchange of industry reference models that provide generic business process templates. Reference models range from government to various industry verticals. In the government sector, frameworks include DO- DAF and MODAF. In the commercial sector, TOGAF and Zachman are well known frameworks and industry reference models include NGOSS for telecommunications, SCOR for supply-chain processes and the AKMA data frame for financial services. Organizations can quickly adopt industry best practices by tailoring one of the available templates to their particular need. Compared to zero-based modeling, these templates can greatly accelerate the modeling of processes. Several modeling notation standards exist, including BPMN, idef and UML. Their use is important as the use of a proprietary notation may create libraries of process models without transportability and limit the ability of the tool to employ industry reference models. In addition, they serve as models need to be quickly understood by and communicated to multiple stakeholders of differing technical expertise. 10

13 Summary and Conclusions Most organizations have initiated BPM to some degree. The first step is usually a focused initiative that tackles specific processes. Alternatively, the initial effort might address a subset of the enterprise architecture for which critical processes have been mapped to the architecture. After having taken those first steps, many organizations go further to institutionalize BPM as an enterprise-wide initiative. As revealed in this paper, enterprise-wide BPM requires careful consideration of user interfaces and collaboration issues, a thorough analysis of the processes within the enterprise architecture and a multi-path implementation that fulfills the requirement of the BPMS, CRM, ERP and other applications. With many IT departments moving to Service Oriented Architectures (SOA), a question arises as to how SOA fits with BPM. The answer is, very well. Combined, BPM and SOA can optimize business-driven processes using IT-driven functionality provided by reusable services. These reusable services can significantly improve overall business agility while reducing costs related to new process development or existing process enhancement. Some industry analysts see a tight coupling between SOA and BPM. For example, in an interview with IT Business Edge, columnist and consultant Joe McKendrick stated, BPM can be done without SOA, but having standards and integrated systems made possible through SOA will make BPM a whole lot easier. An analogy I ve heard is that trying to do BPM without SOA is like juggling with one hand tied behind your back. 7 In addition, supporting best practices in IT development, organizations can link BPM and Model Driven Development, creating an end-to-end abstract model of business processes that is equally accessible to both business and technical audiences. Finally, as organizations deploy BPM to multiple BPMS platforms and integrate BPM practices into ERP, CRM and custom applications, process monitoring will morph beyond current business activity monitoring (BAM). Consolidated dashboards consisting of BPMS BAMs that seamlessly link to architecture and process Figure 1. BPM Hub: Centralized monitoring of business activity. models will not only facilitate broad monitoring of processes, but will also ease diagnostic efforts when employees detect process anomalies or inefficiencies. 11

14 The functionality described here is a superset of what is commonly accepted as BPA functionality. For simplicity, we propose the use of the term BPA Hub to identify a solution that offers support for SOA and Model Driven Development while providing centralized process modeling, analysis, architecture and implementation capabilities. In addition, the prescribed solution allows for multiple user interfaces and supports a standardized process for modeling. About the Author Robert Shields, Director of Product Marketing for Telelogic s System Architect, has over 20 years of product management and strategy experience. He has lead marketing and product strategy for several software companies spanning business process reengineering, ERP, security and computer forensics solutions. He has written numerous white papers on technology, compliance and information security and led the authoring and development of the COBIT process audit for enterprise incident response and management, DS References 1 Michael J. Blechar (2007). Magic Quadrant for Business Process Analysis Tools, 2H07-1H08. Gartner, Inc., pg Antone Gonsalves, Analyst Firm Predicts Rapid Growth In BPM Software Market, Intelligent Enterprise (September 7, 2007), CMP Media LLP Janelle B. Hill & Jim Sinur (2006). Magic Quadrant for Business Process Management Suites, Gartner, Inc., pg

15 5 David W. McCoy, Jim Sinur, Bill Rosser, Janelle B. Hill, Marc Kerremans, Michael James Melenovsky (2007). Key Issues for Business Process Management, Gartner, Inc., pg Sandy Kemsley, BPM Focus Turns to People in the Process, Intelligent Enterprise (September 7, 2007), CMP Media LLP. ml?articleid= &cid=rssfeed_ie_news 7 BPM Evolves, Thanks to SOA, IT Business Edge (November 20, 2007), NarrowCast Group, Inc. 13

16 About Telelogic Telelogic is a leading global provider of solutions for automating and supporting best practices across the enterprise from the powerful modeling of business processes and enterprise architectures to the requirements-driven development of advanced systems and software. Telelogic s solutions enable organizations to align products, systems, and software development lifecycles with business objectives and customer needs to dramatically improve quality and predictability, while significantly reducing time-to-market and overall costs. To better enable our customers drive towards an automated lifecycle process, Telelogic supports an open architecture and the use of standardized languages. As an industry leader and technology visionary, Telelogic is actively involved in shaping the future of enterprise architecture, application lifecycle management, and customer needs management by participating in industry organizations such as INCOSE, OMG, The Open Group, Eclipse, ETSI, ITU-T, the TeleManagement Forum and AUTOSAR. Headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, with U.S. headquarters in Irvine, California, Telelogic has operations in 20 countries worldwide. Customers include Airbus, Alcatel, BAE SYSTEMS, BMW, Boeing, DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank, Ericsson, General Electric, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Motorola, NEC, Philips, Samsung, Siemens, Sprint, Thales and Vodafone. For more information, please visit: Global Headquarters P.O. Box 4128, SE Malmö, Sweden P: F: Americas Headquarters 9401 Jeronimo Road Irvine, CA USA P: F: Offices across Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Distributors worldwide. info@telelogic.com Telelogic AB. Telelogic DOORS, Telelogic Rhapsody, Telelogic System Architect, and Telelogic Tau are registered trademarks of Telelogic. Telelogic Synergy, Telelogic Change, Telelogic Dashboard, Telelogic Logiscope, and Telelogic Focal Point are trademarks of Telelogic. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.