Practical BPM: Why Business Process Modeling & Analysis

	Bookmark This Page Email This Page Format for Printing Submit an Article Read More Articles
	Related Tools & Articles The Importance of Assessing Readiness to Implement Strategy Turning Managers into Business Process Owners Technical Concerns with BPM
	Discussion Forum "...Do all BPM systems allow users to measure the time and and cost of each step in a business process?" Contribute to this Discussion

By Rashid N. Khan

This is part one of a three-part series discussing business process modeling and analysis.

The lifecycle of a business process begins when it is conceived and sketched, models and scenarios are created, and its behavior is analyzed to optimize its performance. These three steps are collectively referred to as business process modeling and analysis (BPMA) and should take place before incurring the cost of developing and deploying a given solution. This activity develops a clear definition and understanding of the process, often leading to improvements and optimization.

The best way to understand the importance of BPMA is by analogy. Building a new aircraft is an expensive proposition. If a newly designed aircraft is built for the first time and fails its flight tests, the consequences are bad and the cost of fixing the problem and rebuilding can be prohibitive. To avoid these consequences, aircraft manufacturers first generate requirements, and then develop a design on paper. Once this design has been finalized, they build a small-scale model at a fraction of the cost of the real thing, and test it in a wind tunnel to verify its performance. If the model fails in the wind tunnel, the aircraft is redesigned and another model is built and tested. This iterative process, which may be called "aircraft modeling and analysis," continues until the design is perfected and the performance optimized. Only then does the aircraft manufacturer commit to producing a full-scale version. Furthermore, the team involved in designing and modeling in the wind tunnel is different from the one that builds the full-scale version. Other large-scale projects, such as building new cars, skyscrapers, ships and bridges, also use this methodology of gathering requirements, designing on paper, and building models to verify performance before full scale construction.

Business processes also have the same initial lifecycle requirements for design, modeling and analysis for a number of reasons:

1. Business processes are often complex. It is important to fully understand and document user requirements before development. Failure to do so is often the reason why BPM initiatives are not successful.
2. Developing and testing a BPM application is an expensive undertaking for mission-critical or high value-add processes. Companies cannot afford the economic and political cost of failure caused by deploying poorly designed or un-optimized business processes. The effective use of BPMA minimizes the risk of failure and enables flaws to be detected and corrected before an automated process is developed and deployed.

Business processes are owned by business managers who are generally not IT savvy and do not own the IT infrastructure. On the other hand, automated business processes are developed and deployed by IT people who have the expertise for the development and control of the IT infrastructure that is used for hosting and enabling automated business processes. BPMA tools bridge the gap between the business process owner and IT. They do this by enabling the former to design, document and optimize processes, and the latter to take the process design and convert it into deployable IT solutions. Without BPMA, the interaction between business owners and IT can be much more challenging and complex, resulting in a costly mismatch of expectations.

BPMA and Six Sigma

Six Sigma process improvement initiatives are becoming popular in corporations seeking to reduce business costs and improve customer satisfaction. As companies explore opportunities for improvement they discover that somewhere in the range of 60 to 70 percent of their projects are transactional business processes as opposed to design or manufacturing activities. During Six Sigma projects the role of the Six Sigma expert, the Black Belt, is to map the process, determine root causes of process problems and determine breakthroughs in performance. Black Belts use the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) methodology as their roadmap for improvement.

Table 1 shows the relationship of Six Sigma DMAIC and BPMA activities as they apply to business process modeling and optimization.

Table 1: Relationships Between Six Sigma DMAIC and BPMA
Six Sigma	Activity	BPMA
Define	• High level process map • Detailed process map	• Design process map
Measure	• Gather empirical process data • Determine process capability	• Model the process
Analyze	• Analysis of data • Determine root cause	• Analysis of data • Identify improvements
Improve	• Determine "should be process" • Eliminate, simplify, automate • Determine risks • Pilot and validate improvements	• Improve the process • Automate workflow • Model all improvements • Validate improvements
Control	• Determine controls • Complete documentation • Compute benefits	• Document processes • Determine savings

As the table shows, BPMA is a natural extension of Six Sigma, particularly when the project is heavily weighted toward transactional activities.

Because modern BPMA software tools are simple to learn and use and provide an organized method for process mapping and analysis, they are ideal additions to the Six Sigma toolkit. In fact, the core competency for Black Belts and Master Black Belts includes the ability to use BPMA tools for process mapping, modeling, analysis and improvement and as the front-end for complete process automation.

BPMA and ISO 9000

The essence of ISO 9000 quality initiatives is "Say what you do, and do what you say." ISO 9000 requires organizations to understand and document their processes, then train their employees to ensure that the processes are properly executed as documented. The goal is to improve the quality of the organization by ensuring that the processes are repeated consistently. Performance improvements can be implemented only after a process can be measured and repeated consistently.

BPMA provides a methodology to understand and document business processes. Therefore, it provides a mechanism for organizations to codify their processes to benefit from quality improvement initiatives such as ISO 9000. Conversely, if organizations have achieved ISO 9000 certification and documented their processes, they can leverage this effort to use these documented processes as the first step to business process management.

Business Process Design

The first stage in business process management is the creation of a business model, or map, of the process to be automated, and the discovery and documentation of its key requirements. Modeling means building the conceptual design of the process from a business perspective and defining its various steps. This stage should be clearly differentiated from the technical development and implementation of the process. During this phase key decisions are made about many aspects of the business process:

1. What events trigger the initiation of new incidents?
2. What are the tasks that must be performed during the course of the process from beginning to end? What is the sequence and granularity of these tasks?
3. Who will perform tasks at each step?
4. What are the important pieces of information that must be provided at each step? What are the actions that individuals or applications performing these tasks must take? What are the outputs or results that have to be obtained from each step?
5. What are the rules that govern the activation of each step?
6. What are the special conditions or exceptions that must be handled by the process?
7. What are the expected completion times for each task and the overall process, and the actions that must be taken if these expectations are not met?
8. What interfaces have to be provided with external systems for receiving or submitting information that is used or produced by the process?
9. How are special conditions and exceptions to be handled? For example, what must happen if a user of a particular task returns the step for lack of information? What happens if new information is received about the case while it is already in progress?

Business process owners responsible for managing the delivery of information, goods or services are in the best position to provide answers to these questions. Business process owners must match the overall strategy of the company, the resources available to them, and the requirements of the customers served by the business process. They decide on the sequence of activities that must be performed, and are also aware of the exceptions or special conditions that must be handled in specific ways. However, business process owners are generally not skilled IT professionals, and neither should they be involved in detailed development and implementation of automated solutions. Their role is the definition of the model and the business rules that govern its execution, and not the conversion of the process model into deployable solutions. For these reasons, the software tools used for modeling should be simple so that non-technical process owners can be comfortable in their use. In many ways, BPMA software serves as electronic paper. Instead of using paper and pencil, business owners use the software to electronically sketch out the process and take notes about key requirement, exceptions and special conditions.

A process designer is a software tool for BPMA that can be used by non-technical business process owners to model business processes. A key component of the process designer is the map designer that allows the user to graphically layout the sequence of steps involved in a business process from initiation to completion. A process designer must be able to provide this flexibility. The following are some basic requirements:

1. A process designer must allow the graphical insertion of various types of steps into a map.
2. A process designer must link steps in the sequence they must be executed.
3. A process designer must allow the insertion of labels to annotate the map with useful and descriptive information.
4. A process designer must be able to add anchors in the map, so as to route links as straight lines or to bypass other objects in the map.

After a process map has been developed, the BPMA tool enables the user to add properties to the map and each step of the process. These properties include descriptions of activities, recipients and special events and conditions that impact the process. It is important to note that in the design and definition stage the primary focus is on the description of the process and its components, and not the actual implementation.

After a business process has been designed and the key requirements, exceptions and special conditions documented, it is often necessary to render the design into an electronic document that can be reviewed and shared with others. The purpose of this documentation is two-fold. First, it is the means of educating other participants or beneficiaries about the purpose and requirements of the process. Second, it is the means for transferring the requirements and knowledge of the business process owners to the IT team responsible for developing and deploying the solution. Modern BPMA tools also provide the capability to take the process map and produce an electronic document that describes the process, its components and requirements.

Business process modeling and analysis is an important part of BPM that enables organizations to understand, document and optimize their business processes. It can add value and improve organizational productivity even if the business processes are not automated.

Useful Links

This article is an excerpt from Rashid Khan's Business Process Management: A Practical Guide. Order your copy here:
http://www.bpmenterprise.com/yDQ

About the Author:

Rashid N. Khan is the founder and Chief Technical and Strategy Officer of Ultimus Inc., a pioneer in business process management and workflow automation. Prior to establishing Ultimus, founded Sintech Inc., a leader in advanced software for mechanical testing. Rashid sold Sintech to MTS Systems in 1989, where he worked for a five years as a vice president and general manager. During this period he took the company through ISO 9000 certification. This experience made him aware of the need for business process management and workflow automation. Rashid obtained two undergraduate degrees from MIT in computer science and political science. Khan is the author of Business Process Management: A Practical Guide, has published numerous articles and spoken at a number of events. Contact Rashid N. Khan at info (at) ultimus.com or visit http://www.ultimus.com.

Rate This Article:  Current Rating: 3.00   Poor    Excellent                1    2    3     4    5   View all top-rated articles

Copyright © 2003-2008 – BPMEnterprise.com, CTQ Media LLC. All Rights Reserved
Reproduction Without Permission Is Strictly Prohibited – Request Permission

---

Publish an Article: Do you have a process management tip, learning or case study?
Share it with the largest community of Business Process Management professionals, and be recognized by your peers.
It's a great way to promote your expertise and/or build your resume. Read more about submitting an article.