Business Process Management (BPM) has become the next big thing in 3-letter acronyms since the S-O-A boom. It’s the lure & magic of ‘Managed Processes’ that beckons everyone to go and implement BPM / BPMS. It is suppossed to give you some ‘control’ & ‘view’ of processes that did not exist before. Can it really do that?
It all depends on how you go about doing it. But, at the same time you understand what kind maturity is incorporated into your managed processes when you architect, design & implement BPM Systems (BPMS). Knowing what you want to be able to get out of your processes and then learning what you did not know about what “more” you can get out of your processes.
So, what is BPM?
In simple words, BPM is taking a process, its scope, its touch points and mapping them out such that the flow of that process is manageable and visible.
The manageability & visibility aspects can be at various levels in terms of how mature the capabilities of the underlying BPMS as well as how well the attributes are modeled and realized.
As maturity improves, all possible elements & attributes of that process are “realized & manifested” from the real / physical world into a “virtual” system. This “virtualization” of the process & its attributes is the final level of Business Process Management.
What is the motivation behind such levels of BPM?
- Discovering Hidden Cost centers
- Utilizing & managing Cost associated with Common Services & Major Processes
- More accurate & improved chargeback for Accountability
- Enhanced Compliance
- SOX compliance for governmental & regulations thus preventing legal implications for the C-Levels & Executive Management
Imagine, if Enron had a Business Compliance framework that used Business Service Portfolio management built on top of an SOA. Its quite possible that these things would have caused red flags sooner.
Since, Management, Visibility & Compliance are key we have look at the various types / levels that it can take.
- Strategic
- Process
- Legal
- Business Policy
- Cost
- Spend
- Audits
- Anomalies
- Fraud etc..
