Agora podemos contar com a cooperação da ESGTS – Instituto Politécnico de Santarém, de modo a conseguirmos ajudar os alunos na compreensão da linguagem BPMN através de uma ferramenta real a operar no mercado e na elaboração de processos adaptados às necessidades das empresas.
Conheça esta universidade:
A consultora brasileira de tecnologia e negócio TI.BIZ, passa assim a trabalhar com o iFlowBPM na expansão desta ferramenta no mercado brasileiro.
Saiba mais sobre esta empresa:
Author: Scott Cleveland – Taking on a BPM project in 3 steps
Company: Impac Systems Engineering
BPM [business process management] is about managing your business processes. Software is not required to manage business processes. Companies have been defining and managing their processes without software for years.
Identify the Business Need
You are looking at BPM because you have a problem. Maybe a process takes too long or it costs too much. Maybe the problem is just a daily annoyance that you would like to get rid of. No matter the reason, its always about money.
The Discovery Phase
Start the discovery phase with a project manager and a ‘cross functional’ team.
Define the problem process. Identify the steps that take place. At each step, who performs what activities? What do they need in order to perform those activities [information, materials, etc.]? What are the dependencies? Are there business rules that must be followed? What are the customer ‘touch points’? Where has this process been failing?
Document your findings. Document the process. Confirm with your ‘cross functional’ team that you have accurately documented the process. Put in place some metrics to measure this process – you will need these numbers to determine costs and success.
Decision Analysis
You now have some ideas of the cost. What would you have to spend [opportunity cost] to make the needed improvements? If the spend is less than the cost, you can move forward. What is the cost of a BPM software implementation? When you implement BPM software, you still have to manually make the needed improvements and then implement them in the software. So, you add the 2 costs together. If the spend is less than the costs, you can make the case to move forward.
BPM Software provides control and visibility. It is not automatic, you have to define the controls and you configure what you want to see from the software.
There are some great benefits to be had managing your business processes either manually or with software. I recommend that you look into it…
Author: Michal Rykiert – We have BPM and we still use paper? Really?
We have BPM and we still use paper? Really?
According to recent AIIM Report – ‘Winning the Paper Wars’, 74% of companies have business improvement campaigns that would benefit from paperless initiatives, but only 24% of those have a specific policy to ‘drive paper out of business’. In the era of BPM, BPMS, iBPMS, ERP, ECM (and dozens of other acronyms), I’m asking: how is it possible we still use paper? Isn’t (paper) document processing a part of business that would benefit from being optimized?
In the same report we read: ‘Nearly half (47%) of organizations made only 5% progress towards processes that could be paper free. 18% haven’t even started yet’. So basically 2 out of 3 companies are still in 1990s when it comes to paper documents. But wait… it gets better:
‘On average, respondents feel that driving paper out of the business would improve speed of response to customers, citizens or staff by 29,7%, rising to 35,4% for those with more experience [with paperless processes]’. In plain words: those 65% of companies that made none or little progress towards eliminating paper are missing a chance to rise up productivity by more than 30%. OK, but what about ROI then?
‘Two-thirds of those adopting paper free processes report a payback within 18 months. 50% see payback in a single 12-month budgeting period’. ‘Why don’t we have it implemented yet?’ – a stunned CEO might ask…
Let’s identify the three biggest obstacles:
1. Building a business case. Even with the most appealing arguments and ROI numbers, convincing top management to spend money may be hard. No budget, not enough resources, lack of will to take responsibility for a project – you name it. There are always plenty of reasons not to spend money… unless an organization absolutely has to.
2. Integration and maintenance costs. In some cases an integration DMS capabilities with existing IT systems is too complicated and too expensive. Requires an external service, creation of custom solutions, hiring additional staff for maintenance etc. Additionally when something goes wrong, there’s yet another vendor to call and deal with, which make resolving problems more complicated.
3. The power of habit. Change is foundation of every improvement process. However the reality shows that transition from paper to electronic documents is one of the hardest to introduce. It is especially a difficult case when it comes to veterans who are very reluctant to increase the impact of technology they are not familiar with.
Handling paper documents within BPMS
In my opinion, for a long term strategy, using paper documents is not an option. Of course it is not possible to go 100% paperless but organizations should gradually minimize the role of paper in their businesses.
Two technologies are particularly helpful in that matter:
• barcodes – to optimize document scanning, filing and archiving
• OCR – for digitalization, automatic registration, full text search and archiving
But using them as a standalones doesn’t make much sense. Integration with company’s BPMS or ERP is better, but as I mentioned, it could be expensive and potentially problematic. At the end organization could end-up using only some of the potential in that solution.
From my perspective, the best course of action in order to maximize productivity and ROI, is to invest in BPM suite that would also have capabilities of DMS (Document Management System) with fully integrated OCR and barcodes modules. It allows to handle all business processes end to end (along with these processes that start with paper hard copies) within only one platform. Therefore end-users have only one interface to deal with, and IT department only one vendor to contact when necessary.
When it comes to functionality, besides usual BPMS capabilities, it allows for:
• precise document routing (executed by BPMS)
• full text search (OCR)
• mass document scanning (barcodes)
• easy and transparent filing (barcodes)
• automatic document registration and workflow initialization (OCR)
Full scope of process optimization
We often discuss what’s the best way to optimize certain processes and at the same time we tend to ignore other ones that have significant impact on organization(s). I’m constantly surprised by the fact that most of the top BPM suites noted in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant are still missing some of the aforementioned DMS functionalities. Isn’t it a major overlook? Aren’t BPMS supposed to be truly comprehensive when it comes to process optimization?
What’s your take on the subject? Is dealing with document hardcopies worth time and effort? Is ‘one to rule them [business processes] all’ approach appealing?
Business process management (BPM) has an unfair reputation as one of the least sexy areas of IT.
But look at BPM the right way, and it has the potential to transform businesses, says Theo Priestley, newly-appointed chief technology evangelist at Software AG.
The problem, says Priestley, who has built-up a reputation as an influential blogger on BPM technology, is that most organisations regard BPM as an overhead rather than a technology that can drive business growth.
“I think BPM is still seen as relatively unsexy, a sort of necessary evil,” says Priestley. “We must do something to streamline our processes. And unfortunately its always driven from a project or process perspective.”
Used in the right way, BPM can help companies become more agile and more profitable, but it needs a change in mindset from IT leaders.
“For a CIO, it’s about getting away from project mentality, from cost-efficiency mentality and to actually start thinking of BPM as a way to enable your business to be more reactive, proactive or adaptive to the changing conditions that are out there,” he says.
That means treating BPM as a continuous process rather than the one-off project – the way it is viewed by most organisations.
“You perform a process every day and you have to think about how you can change it and improve it continuously, as the world is changing every day,” he says.
Mobile technology is helping to broaden the scope of BPM by enabling, for example, applications that allow customers to order food, clothes or insurance from their mobile phones.
But building mobile processes requires dedicated mobile apps or web interfaces specifically built for mobile, says Priestley.
“You can’t really work the same way on a mobile as you can on a webpage on a desktop. The user experience and user interface has to be built in to the process according to the form factor,” he says.
However cloud has been slower to take off in BPM than it has in other areas of IT, such as customer relationship management (CRM), says Priestley.
“SalesForce, for example, has made cloud software its mantra, almost, and that has really propelled CRM into the limelight. BPM not so much,” he says.
One reason may be that a CRM implementation, by its nature, is simpler and more defined than a BPM project, making CRM a more obvious candidate for the cloud.
And BPM systems tend to handle more data that typical CRM implementations and that means more compliance issues – the second reason why BPM may not be so popular as an off-premise technology.
“If you look at the German market, for example, it is extremely stringent on data privacy,” Priestley says. “So much so that you can’t have your data leave the country.”
Financial services industries have been particular cautious about adopting BPM in the cloud. “They are a lot more regulated. They don’t really want to be in the limelight or in the press around a data breach,” he says.
Meanwhile, the incorporation of social media into BPM is making it easier for organisations to map their business processes.
“If you are working on a particular step, you are not confined just to speaking to the supervisor, you can actually ask a network of people to feed in and impart their knowledge,” says Priestley.
Nevertheless, suppliers and industry analysts will need to work harder to educate businesses about the benefits of BPM.
The technology still means different things to different people, and there is still much confusion out there, Priestley suggests.
“Some CIOs see it as a means to document processes. Others want to improve compliance and transparency of process, streamlining and cost efficiencies,” he says.
One thing is certain, however; if businesses want to stay ahead of the game, they cannot afford to ignore BPM, Priestley claims.
“If you don’t understand your business, the way BPM can understand your business, how can you change your business to beat a competitor and get ahead in the market?” he says.
Author: Scott Cleveland – Why does BPM Matter?
The Business Process Management Professionals Group posed this question:
Why does BPM matter? Why should we practice BPM?
Brian Vinson’s response…
“Either you’re in control of your business processes or they are in control of you. You manage your suppliers, revenue, cash flows, inventory, distribution and personnel. Why would you not manage the processes that make sure all these things work together effectively?”
My Thoughts…
I keep thinking about his first sentence – either you’re in control of your business processes or they are in control of you.
I think that this is true, but I question whether having your process control you is a bad thing. If the process is working and no one is complaining, is that a bad thing? [If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did it make a sound?]
I do think that it is important to monitor processes to make sure they are working properly. If you are not aware that customers don’t like your process, you have a problem and it could be a big problem.
Compare this to the squeaky wheel getting the oil. If the process isn’t functioning properly or it is annoying the people in the process, then it needs attention. The bigger the problem, the easier it is to sell the problem to management.
Your Thoughts…
How do you see it?
Author: Scott Cleveland – 2 Key Benefits of BPM…
BPM Software provides 2 key benefits – Control and Visibility.
Control prevents people from taking short cuts. Let’s use onboarding for an example.
I am sure hiring processes vary, but you may want certain people to interview the candidate. You will need to schedule the interviews to fit everyone’s schedule. You may want to set up a second view with another person. Next items may be a background check, a reference checked and an offer letter prepared. Assuming they accept the offer, you now have to set up their phone, Email, computer, office or cubical. You may want to provide some initial training or other training.
BPM software can make sure that all of these steps take place. It can make sure that they happen in the right order. It can make sure people are notified of the schedule.
Control is what you need to prove in an audit.
Visibility allows people with the right access to see the progress of any process. Instead of hiring a program manager to keep track of what is going on, BPM software can provide that information in the form of a report. These reports can be ad-hoc or generated each morning and sent to you via Email. You can make it work for you.
Control provides you with efficiencies that will save you time [money]. Visibility provides you with real-time information as to what is going on in your company. You will not have to pay someone to gather and update the status of a process.
Companies that have successfully implemented a BPM solution will generally go on to manage more and more processes to gain control and visibility.
A partir de agora, o website iFlowBPM apresenta-se também em espanhol.
Com o objectivo de alcançar os países de língua oficial espanhola, a equipa iFlowBPM
trabalhou com a Mediterranean Consulting de modo a fornecer a todos os utilizadores, informação de qualidade,
permitindo a obtenção de novas oportunidades junto destes países.
Agradecemos a cooperação da comunidade open source na tradução do website, nomeadamente à Mediterranean Consulting.
As empresas Infosistema e Mediterranean Consulting são agora parceiras. Esta parceria vem permitir que seja disponibilizado no mercado um vasto leque de produtos e serviços altamente competitivos.
A Infosistema afirma esta parceria com o seu produto iFlowBPM, uma plataforma de Gestão de Processos de Negócio que permite às empresas a optimização e automatização dos seus processos. Este produto coloca à disposição dos seus utilizadores um modelador gráfico de fluxos, um motor de execução de processos e uma ferramenta de elaboração rápida de formulários. Permite ainda um controlo dos níveis de serviço.
A Mediterranean Consulting é uma empresa de consultoria fundada por consultores especializados em estratégia, tecnologia e qualidade. A sua estratégia prende-se com a ajuda das empresas no seu processo de organização, orientação para a gestão e sua transformação empresarial. Os valores chave da Mediterranean Consulting baseiam-se na ética profissional (integridade), na orientação para o cliente, no interesse pelas pessoas (empatia), na flexibilidade, na sustentabilidade, na inovação, na confiança, na credibilidade e no compromisso para com os resultados.
A Mediterranean Consulting iniciou a sua actividade em 2003, após uma vasta experiência em assessoria de empresas de referência tanto do sector privado como do sector público. Contam como seus clientes empresas como: Lacoste, Intermon, LIDL, Progress, Armand Basi, Aviotel, entre outras.
Segundo Francesc Xavier Berjano, director e fundador da Mediterranean Consulting: “Esta aliança estratégica permitirá aos nossos clientes beneficiarem de um conjunto de serviços de consultoria e tecnologia open source, orientada para a melhoria empresarial, que dá resposta às diferentes necessidades dos clientes no seu processo de reorganização interna, no redesign dos processos e na implementação de novos serviços, etc.”
Por sua vez, Gonçalo Caeiro, sócio e fundador da Infosistema, afirma: “Esta parceria vem demonstrar o valor acrescentado de uma plataforma totalmente em open-source onde os clientes podem direccionar o seu investimento para a implementação de processos obtendo o retorno do seu investimento em tempo record”
+ informação:
Sobre o iFlowBPM – www.iflowbpm.com
Sobre a Infosistema – www.infosistema.com
Sobre a Mediterranean Consulting – www.mediterranean-consulting.com
Use o Forum iFlowBPM para expôr as suas dúvidas e fazer qualquer sugestão acerca da plataforma.
A nossa equipa vai estar disponível para dar resposta a todas as suas questões e ajudá-lo a utilizar a plataforma iFlowBPM.
Com o Forum iFlowBPM torna-se muito mais rápido e facilitado o contavto com a equipa iFlowBPM.
Basta efectuar o seu registo.
Teremos todo o gosto em ajudá-lo.
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