How To Increase Worker Engagement Using Mobile BPM
Note: This article was originally published on my previous blog ProcessRamblings.com.
Mobile devices have become an integral part of our daily lives. They have changed our habits, the way we connect and communicate, and get stuff done. With each passing day more and more organizations are trying to support those habits, by bringing work to mobile devices. Hence the organization-wide initiatives like Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) also known as Bring Your Own Phone (BYOP).
As a result, in order to cater to these changes in the way organizations work, quite a few BPM vendors have launched or are working on their versions of Mobile BPM. Currently, the solutions are a mix of Native Apps and Web Mobile Platforms.
Web Mobile Platform
- Apps are built using standard HTML, and a fine-tuned version of the app can be used on the mobile device e.g. http://mobile.bpmvendor.com. These are device and operating system independent so can be accessed from any device with a web browser.
- The look and feel are similar to a web-based application.
- Since these are not native apps so performance may vary on different devices.
Native Apps
- Apps are built specifically for a mobile operating system (iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry etc.).
- Use native features of the mobile operating system and the look and feel is similar to other apps on the device.
- Since these are native, so performance has been given a lot of thought.
Vendors List
- Appian (iTunes | Google Play)
- Pega (iTunes | Google Play)
- IBM (iTunes | Rest API also available for custom apps)
- Bizagi (iTunes | Google Play | Windows)
- Tibco (API)
- PNMSoft (HTML 5)
- OpenText (HTML 5)
- Aurea BPM: Savvion (HTML 5)
- Savmobify (HTML 5 – Savvion 3rd Party Interface)
- BizFlow BPM (iTunes – iPad only, HTML 5 for other devices)
- Bosch (API)
- Oracle BPM (iTunes)
- Intalio (HTML)
- Bonitasoft (HTML)
Apart from the BPM vendors, there are of course various consulting companies who work with their customers to build process-specific apps.
Disclaimer: This is a work in progress list, and will continuously be updated for additions and changes. Please share the link to any BPMS that might not have been included in the above list.
How To Improve Business Processes Using Internet Of Things (IoT)
Note: This article was originally published on my previous blog ProcessRamblings.com.
In this article, we are going to look at how different industries are leveraging (or can leverage) internet of things (IoT) to improve their business processes. These improvements can increase efficiency, improve data accuracy and resource utilization and most importantly increase customer satisfaction.
Auto Insurance - Additional Discount Process
Recently all major auto insurance companies have started offering their customers additional discounts based on their driving performance. The customers are required to install a tracking device for a specified amount of time, once installed the tracking device starts transmitting data to the insurance company. The insurance company captures and evaluates the data until the trial period ends.
Here is an overview of the additional auto insurance discount business process. This does not include all the steps, only main activities have been included to keep it simple.
- Customer applies for the trial
- Insurance company mails the device
- Customer installs the device
- Device transmit analytics
- Insurance company captures analytics
- Insurance company evaluate captured data
- At the end of trial period, the insurance company applies additional discount (percentage is based on customer’s driving performance)
By leveraging IoT data both the auto insurance companies and customers are reaping multiple benefits such as:
- Insurance companies get more accurate driving data of customers for future analytics.
- Insurance companies utilize the captured data to provide an appropriate percentage of additional discounts to good performing customers, which further increases customer loyalty.
- Rather than waiting for the trial period to end, customers get access to their driving performance and expected discounts information live.
- To get higher discounts, customers can use the violations data (such as rapid acceleration and rapid braking) to improve their driving habits as well.
Waste Management - Garbage Collection Process
Recently cities like Barcelona have moved from the traditional process where a garbage truck would have to make a scheduled route and pick up garbage cans regardless of them being full or empty.
Here is an overview of the new garbage collection business process. This does not include all the steps, only main activities have been included to keep it simple.
- Set Threshold (garbage cans have embedded systems to communicate)
- Garbage Can Transmits Analytics
- Receive Analytics
- Evaluate Data (check if the threshold has exceeded or not?)
- Calculate Smarter Route & Schedule Garbage Pickup
By leveraging IoT data the waste management companies are reaping (can reap) multiple benefits such as:
This process resulted in poor utilization of the garbage trucks, higher fuel costs and of course causing air and noise pollution.
- Improved resource utilization – Using IoT, companies would know which garbage cans have exceeded the thresholds and need to be picked up. This data could be used to calculate smarter routes resulting in a reduced number of routes as compared to sending garbage trucks to all pre-defined routes.
- Lower costs – Smarter routes will also help in lower fuel and maintenance costs of the garbage trucks.
- Lower pollution – Another great advantage would be the reduction in air and noise pollution.
Those were just a few examples of how the internet of things (IoT) is being used to improve business processes. There are numerous other processes that can benefit from the internet of things (IoT). In conclusion, organizations should start thinking about IoT and how it can exponentially improve their efficiency and customer’s experience.
Republished/Cited
- Article republished on BPMLeader.com
What To Look For In A Cloud BPM Platform
Note: This article was originally published on my previous blog ProcessRamblings.com.
As more and more BPM Software (BPMS) vendors offer cloud based solutions, the idea of a Cloud BPMS has started to look like a viable option. In this article, we will not be talking about what a Cloud BPMS is or what the advantages are, as there is a lot of information available about that on the internet. We will focus on requirements of a Cloud BPMS that organizations should look for when they decide to migrate to a cloud and for evaluating different Cloud BPMS.
This is not an exhaustive list in any way and focuses solely on requirements of a Cloud BPMS. These requirements should be considered in addition to the BPMS evaluation criteria. Migrating to the cloud does not change the project lifecycle, however, there are some additional requirements that need to be considered in each phase. So in this article, we list and categorize the requirements by each project phase i.e. what to look for in each phase.
Platform
A Cloud BPMS should provide all the tools necessary for implementing a BPM solution in the cloud. In order to avoid any additional complexity, it should not be a mixture of on-premise and cloud based tools.
Plan
During planning, the most important activity is cost. Cloud based services follow the ‘Pay As You Go’ model which is very different from the existing models used to calculate the cost of a project. Different Cloud BPMS vendors might calculate the cost based on different factors such as:
- Number of users who will be performing the process
- Number of CPUs that will be utilized to run the process
- Number of business processes that will be built and deployed
- Number of products/features that will be used
These factors can be used individually or in a combination by vendors to calculate the cost. Platform usage data must be calculated on a longer term basis, only then can a good cost estimate be attained.
Analysis/Design
Cloud BPMS should provide process analysts and business users with tools that allow them to easily model abstract to detailed level processes (a.k.a Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3). Users should be able to collaborate with others while doing process analysis.
Build
Process developers need an extensive set of tools for implementation, so their representatives must be involved while evaluating a Cloud BPMS.
- An important requirement in order to reduce implementation time is the ability to build on to process models created by the process analysts and business users rather than starting from scratch. This, of course, requires that Cloud BPMS provide links between tools used by process analysts and process developers.
- Basic customizations like branding should not require any code changes and should be a simple setup option. As the processes get complex, zero code starts turning into a myth and customizations are required. So, look for a Cloud BPMS that provides maximum out of the box functionality, keeping in mind that in a cloud scenario there might not be many options to customize, and whatever customizations are done will directly impact the ability to upgrade.
- BPM solutions do not exist in silos, even simple processes integrate with other systems. So another important aspect to look for in a Cloud BPMS is the capability to integrate with other systems. Integrations can be of many different types, so based on an organization’s business and future strategy, look for adapters of following types:
- Internal Integrations: Does the Cloud BPMS provide ways to connect with organization’s existing systems?
- B2B (Business to Business) integrations: If organization works with other organizations then how would the Cloud BPMS be able to integrate with their systems?
- Cloud Integrations: As most services move to cloud, the requirement to integrate with cloud based services will increase as well. Does the Cloud BPMS provide options to integrate with other cloud based services?
- Internet of Things (IoT) Integrations: If an organization receives data from IoT devices in the processes, does the Cloud BPMS provide the capability to communicate with them?
- Reuse/Invoke: Processes that have been created for an organization should also be reusable i.e. they should also act as services so that any of organization’s other processes can invoke them, or if an organization operates in a niche area and provides industry specific processes then others should be able to invoke their processes.
Deploy
As execution servers move to the cloud, the process of deployment and maintenance will change as well. Support teams responsible will lose some control. So Cloud BPMS must provide debugging mechanism and access to logs for support teams so that they can resolve issues.
Monitor
Once deployed, monitoring the performance of a process is an important step in the continuous improvement cycle. So a Cloud BPMS should provide key performance indicators and reports to users. These should be available as an out of the box function as well as custom dashboards that users can create and personalize.
Miscellaneous
In addition to requirements for each phase, there are some general requirements that need to be considered throughout the life cycle. Listed below are a few:
- The majority of the organizations use VPN to securely access their IT systems. Since cloud based solutions are accessible over the internet, Cloud BPMS should provide a similar level of security.
- Another important point to consider is that the Cloud BPMS should be accessible on all the major browsers, tablets and mobiles.
- Cloud BPMS should maintain all artifacts (process models, process data, reports etc.) in a central repository which needs to be controlled by a security policy i.e. user access restrictions based on job responsibility.
- Since the platform is going to be accessible over the internet, the performance needs to be a major consideration. Not all users will be in high bandwidth geographies, but the Cloud BPMS should still be accessible without any performance degradations.
- Scalability should be taken into account both from feature set and computing power perspectives i.e. if the organization needs to use more features of the Cloud BPMS or more users need to be added, would that be a straightforward activity that does not impact the existing infrastructure.
Conclusion
Migration to a cloud is a question of when not if. So, whenever the organization decides to migrate to a Cloud BPMS, consider these requirements for evaluating different vendors.
Republished/Cited
- Article republished on BPTrends.com
Why Organizations Should Continuously Improve Business Processes
Note: This article was originally published on my previous blog ProcessRamblings.com.
Continuous improvement is one of the most talked about phrases in the world of BPM, yet it is the most ignored idea when it comes to implementation. Continuous improvement prefers smaller bangs over a big bang or quick wins over big wins.
Unfortunately in order to make a wider base of users happy, BPM CoE tends to go for the big bang or the big win approach by adding more and more requirements to the scope. A process implementation project that takes more than 4 to 6 months before it is made available to users, should be re-evaluated for scope. Such projects should be split into multiple smaller phases.
Advantages of Continuous Improvement
This phased approach of implementing bigger projects in smaller chunks has quite a few advantages:
- Process Familiarity: Not all users are familiar with the new process, user interface or the BPMS. So, a small set of requirements helps them get acquainted, relatively quicker, with the new process and environment that they will be working with.
- Feedback: During requirement gathering sessions all users are not involved, so the sooner the process gets into production and becomes available, the sooner all intended users will start using it. When users start sending valuable feedback (like missing requirements, difficult user interface, etc.), then those can be incorporated into future phases to improve the process.
- Monitor/Optimize: It is a huge plus to monitor a process that is being used by real users instead of simulations. It provides additional metrics and insight into the process, and helps identify areas of the process that can be further optimized.
- Funding Cuts: Even if funding cuts occur, which are quite common, a significant and tangible piece of the process will be available for users to use. If it has been implemented correctly, then there is a very good chance that the process users will rally for the funding.
Recommended Steps
Here are a few steps that can break a big project into several smaller – manageable – phases:
- Look for higher ROI (Return of Investment): One of the most important success factors is ROI, so choose activities that contribute most to the ROI of the process. This would include activities that reduce cost and cycle time, while increasing resource utilization.
- Prioritize: Properly prioritize activities, and select the ones with the highest impact for a sure win.
- Swivel Chair: Not all activities need to be automated on day 1. The ones that might be too complex, or take a lot of time and effort to implement, and may or may not contribute as much to the process, can be left for later phases. So, leave some swivel chair activities.
Summary
My recommendation would be to implement a process automation project in phases and go for quick win/smaller bang in the first phase. Quicker time to production will help in getting valuable feedback from users who actually do the job, which can then be used to improve the process in future phases along with remaining requirements.
Republished/Cited
- Article republished on BPMLeader.com
How To Improve Business Processes Using Process Monitoring
Note: This article was originally published on my previous blog ProcessRamblings.com.
Process discovery and automation are first steps towards a continuous journey of improvement. Beginning this journey is important for any organization, staying on the right path and knowing what the journey is all about is even more important.
So how do you know you are on the right path? You continuously monitor your processes!
Monitoring Matters!
Why Monitor?
At the time of designing (and probably automation) process might look good and complete without issues. In reality, some new issues, bottlenecks and/or opportunities might arise. You will not be able to resolve them or take advantage of opportunities unless you monitor the process.
Monitoring generates metrics, which are used to evaluate the process on regular basis. These metrics answer questions like:
- Is the process working as per expectations?
- Is it meeting (preferably exceeding) internal and industry standards.
Metrics also become the basis for further redesign and improvement of the process. Which of course results in automation opportunities that can further cut down on cycle times and defects.
Monitoring helps in identifying areas of the process that have improved and areas that still need more attention. Based on this information you can better utilize organization resources by reassigning/reallocating to under performing areas.
What to Monitor?
Process performance indicators are identified during the design phase. There are thousands of performance indicators available that can be monitored for each process. Some of them are relatively similar across industries and then there are industry specific performance indicators. Performance Indicators broadly fall into following categories:
- Financial Performance
- Understand your Customers
- Market and Marketing Efforts
- Operational Performance
- Understand your Employees and their Performance
- Environmental and Social Sustainability Performance
How to Monitor?
If you use a Business Process Management Software (BPMS) to automate your process, then some basic performance indicators would already be built into them. For additional custom performance indicators, you can use a Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) software.
References
- The 75 KPIs Every Manager Needs To Know by Bernard Marr.
- Images courtesy to openclipart.org
Republished/Cited
- Article republished on BPMLeader.com
- Article cited by Scott Cleveland
How To Improve Business Processes Using Process Analysis
Note: This article was originally published on my previous blog ProcessRamblings.com.
In my previous post, I talked about mapping customer journeys i.e. as an organization you should understand all the touch points where your customers interact with you, and the resulting processes.
So you understand all customer touch points, what now?
Most organizations unfortunately have not invested in understanding their as-is processes. Things are working, so there is a general lack of urgency. As a process analyst I get to hear following statements a lot.
Why should we spend time and money to model our processes?
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
My answer is rather simple.
Well, how do you know it ain’t broke?
Just because things are working does not mean they are working correctly or more importantly, working optimally. You cannot tell if it’s broke or not unless you can answer following questions:
- What is their role in the process?
- What is the impact of their activities on the process and how are they adding value?
- And most importantly, how are they doing compared to their competitors?
These are the answers you get from a detailed process analysis effort. In this article we are going to look at a few important reasons why process analysis is so important, and why every organization should invest in that effort.
Current State (AS-IS)
The first step is to model your current end-to-end processes (a.k.a. as-is). Regardless of what techniques you use, so many unknowns will come to light that you did not even know were happening or causing issues.
Process Hand-offs
Most processes run across departments. Within an organization you cannot work in departmental silos, yet each department is only familiar with their part in the process. Gaps, redundancies and incorrect expectations can be identified and eliminated when all stakeholders look at the complete process.
Common Language
Process analysis effort helps in eradicating all the homegrown process models that use notations only understandable to the teams that created them. Their meaning is lost in translation when someone from outside the team tries to understand them. Try searching for process models on the internet, and you will see plethora of notations that absolutely do not make sense.
Process Hierarchy
Creating hierarchies, helps model the process with correct level of details. It also helps communicate the right amount of information to different levels of management while talking about process improvement.
Enterprise Repository
Another advantage of this effort at organizational level is that it results in an enterprise repository that is shared and is accessible to anyone. You always have access to all the versions of a process and comments from users who worked on them. Majority of tools now also provide collaborations i.e. multiple users can work on same process model.
Industry Benchmarks
When processes are modeled and various performance indicators are captured, it helps in bench-marking against organizations internal standards and industry standards.
Enterprise Architecture
Mapping processes and all the systems they interact with creates links for Enterprise Architecture. This information is extremely helpful during change management, just a couple of clicks and you can see exactly what processes would be impacted by a system change and vice versa.
Future State (TO-BE)
Modeling of as-is processes is just the first step. Use the outputs from this activity to identify issues, bottlenecks, redundancies and gaps in the process. Look at opportunities to automate various unnecessary and time consuming manual handovers. This will help you come up with the future state where you would like to be and then continuously keep reevaluating (a.k.a. continuous improvement).
Conclusion
Processes are everywhere. Processes manage an organization’s business. So, it is important for organizations to invest in knowing their processes. An important first step is doing a process analysis to understand how is the business being run currently and what can be improved in future. In an organization's digital transformation journey, understanding of processes also contributes towards prioritizing what improvements need to be made that can improve customer experience.
Republished/Cited
- Article republished on BPMLeader.com
Business Process Management using Open Source Toolset @ Open Source Series Workshop 2008
I have been invited to speak at Open Source Series Workshop 2008 being organized by Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore.
The goal of the workshop is to invite software practitioners from the local industry to share their ideas and experiences related to the state-of-the-art and future-oriented of open-source software & technologies.
Here are details of the workshop and topic of my presentation.
Topic: Business Process Management using Open Source Toolset
Abstract: BPM (Business Process Management) is a methodology used to model operations and procedures carried out by organizations. BPM is becoming really popular in organizations that are concerned with process automation and improvement. Gartner's report estimates the total value of BPM software by 2010 to be $3.5 B. Most of the BPM solutions have been commercial, until recently when two important open-source solutions emerged on BPMS scene.
Workshop: Open Source Series Workshop 2008
Date: March 1, 2008
Venue: Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore
Update
[slideshare id=641696&doc=business-process-management-using-the-opensource-toolset-1223389107536476-9]