Business Process Management (BPM) is more than just a buzz word. In fact, when implemented correctly, it can streamline the internal processes of a company and make all departments more productive. This not only saves the company money, it also ensures that customers can receive the service they demand.
As captured in this Cordys piece, there is an objective to BPM. It is not meant to coincide with all other acronyms and buzz words within the corporate structure; but instead to represent a valid movement in decision making and approach that delivers measurable returns. When integrated, BPM represents the defining of a process by the company that IT then supports and executes. The two work hand-in-hand to ensure this process is successful. To drive this success, process models could benefit from standardized notation, such as that found in the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN).
This concept of BPMN was actually studied by the Fraunhofer (News - Alert) Institute to determine if the opportunities created by the process helped to improve the collaboration between the departments involved. The analysis determined that tools such as the Cordys Business Operations Platform (BOP) with an integrated execution environment, tend to be well suited for the collaboration between business departments and IT.
In this BPM process, a single model is used for the business modeling and technical execution layers. The environment created by Cordys stands out as it includes all four process phases: monitoring, execution, modeling and analysis. In essence, it was determined that Cordys BOP presented the best business modeling function of BPMN with the technical implementation of the executable processes.
The study also determined that the conformity of the BPMN standard for the practicability of processes is actually of secondary importance. Cordys prefers to adhere to standards when they apply and not just for the sake of application. The point is to extract the most value possible from its application to ensure the process runs smooth and the benefits are realized.
At the end of the day, any company seeking to leverage BPM should seek to create a seamless interaction of the individual components and phases. Cordys seeks to provide optimum support for the business aspects of process modeling. This approach helps to ensure that BPM achieves the goals for which is was designed.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Erin Monda