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Dear Frank,
Spring is
in the air, at least in North
Carolina. It seems that our business activity is
surging along with the new season. This would be a great time to plant the
seeds for this year's BPM project.
l try to keep you up-to-date on things going on at Ultimus and
other information about BPM I hope you'll find useful. Please let me know how
we can help you make your BPM initiative flourish at your company.
Your comments, suggestions and stories are always welcome.
PS
I haven't had one war story submitted yet this year. I know that there are
stories to share - Please take some time, send me an email or give me a call.
I can always use a story and I'm sure my readers will appreciate a fresh
voice.
If you find that my efforts here aren't useful - please feel free to opt-
out.
NEW Adaptive Discovery Technology - Learning business
rules on the fly!
One of the
most time consuming aspects of automating business processes is defining your
process. Ultimus professional services consultants spend an average of 60% of
their consulting time identifying & defining a process BEFORE they ever
start to use the Ultimus BPM studio!
A common
implementation problem is that many companies simply don't know all of the
steps or rules of any given process. Rather than spending considerable time
interviewing people to try to discover a process, adaptive discovery
technology allows Ultimus customers to install an incomplete process
definition and have the process learn the steps & rules as it is used.
Ultimus has
patented our 'adaptive discovery technology' and will be included in future
versions of Ultimus. Version 7.0, released in Dec 2004 will includes new event condition/rules structure to support
ADT & v 7.1 scheulded for Q2 05 to include ADT.
The
benefits of Adaptive Discovery include:
Shortens Process Definition and Discovery Efforts
Simplifies Change
Reduces Time-to-Value for BPM Projects
Broadens the Scope of BPM Process Targets
To
learn more about adaptive discovery technology....
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How do you know
when you need a BPM platform?
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Just about every prospect I deal with eventually has to
explain to somebody (CIO, CFO, other management) why they need a BPM
platform. They ALWAYS have to explain why their existing applications are
insufficient to orchestrate their business processes.
Michael
Thompson, Principal Research Analyst for Butler Group, in a recent Ziff
Davis on-line seminar discussed why pure play BPM technologies are better
than other technologies such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or EIA applications that attempt to
incorporate BPM-like features. The most important message he related is
that you have to focus on your business process first. You shouldn't start
by looking at your current applications and figuring out how to jam your
business processes into the applications. Its a recipe for disaster ( and
considerable time & expense)
Business
process management (BPM) is the new defining technology that is helping
businesses across multiple industries achieve unprecedented cost savings
and a quicker ROI. As an enterprise organization, you cannot ignore the
advantages of BPM or you are giving away a tool that can help you compete
successfully in fluid markets where change is inevitable.
To play the recorded presentation.... »
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Making the most
of a BPM platform
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In a recent Transform magazine article, Peggy Lunt Crossman idenitifies the
major success factors for a BPM implementation.
In five seperate articles she describes:
Nine Habits of Highly Effective BPM Projects
What to Look For in BPM Software
If It Ain't Broke, Keep It
Five Steps to BPM Success
Prepare for the Moles to Pop Up
There's a
treasure of information including things you might overlook when you get
started. Corporate sponsorship, putting business people in charge of
defining process needs & goals, creating a process center of excellence
(avoiding process czars) and preparing your organization to manage the
changes that are inevitable with a BPM implementation.
This is a
really nice overview of what to expect when you start your BPM journey. She
even takes time to explain some of the common pitfalls of deployments.
These are solid articles that you should not miss. If you've been involved
in BPM for a while you've probably already encountered many of the issues
she addresses, but I'll bet you'll feel better knowing you're not alone.
Good read - highly recommended.
to read the entire article... »
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Intel shares how
they measure IT enhanced productivity
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I found a white paper that Intel published that shares how they
measure the value of employee productivity that's the result of an IT
project. They describe the metrics they use to quantify the value of any
proposed IT project. While not specifically about BPM, this article
provides a framework that could be used to identify the impact, in dollars
and cents of a proposed automation project.
Intel
identifies how they calculate the value of employee productivity. They
describe what, how, who, when and where they measure employee productivity.
They
provide basic elements that can be used it identify productivity. These
include:
Reducing the time it takes to complete a task
Reduce or remove errors
Reducing the time it takes to become proficient at a task
Removing activities a user has to perform
Restructure a process to eliminate activites.
The
framework and approach that Intel uses can be DIRECTLY translated to BPM
projects. I'm sure it can help you clarify the way you can present the
value of your next BPM project. Another solid read.
to read this article.... »
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Using a 'Value Drive Tree'
to Align IT with Business Goals
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In January's CIO magazine, Eric Hwang and Kathy Rudy describe
what they call a Value Tree. The value tree begins with the assumption that
there are 3 main business drivers:
Revenue growth
Margin improvement
Increased capital efficiency
Linking your IT projects with one or all of the core business drivers is
the basis of a value tree.
Through a
Value Tree exercise, you can demonstrate how IT investments can result in
specific, measurable improvements in your business, and how these
improvements directly impact business goals.
"A
central benefit of a value tree exercise is to, literally, 'connect the dots'
between business issues and IT operations. The methodology allows the CIO
to communicate with executives and business units in business terms, show
the value of IT to the business, and identify ownership and reporting
responsibilities within the organizational hierarchy."
Again,
while not directly speaking to BPM projects this article can help you show
how your BPM project can add value to your shareholders.
To read this article... »
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New BPM
framework from BPMI.org
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BPMG recently created a FREE MS Powerpoint
presentation describing their view of a BPM framework. They call their
framework Omega 8. It was developed after thousands of hours of hands on
experience of BPMI members.
From
their website: "The 8 Omega Framework is a three- dimensional
performance model overlaid with a comprehensive system of preparation,
giving the Framework four (4) primary facets.
1. Preparation - Education, training and skill-building spanning the entire
8 Omega performance model.
2. Alignment - The four dimensions (Strategy, People, Process, Systems) of
organizational alignment that must be addressed to achieve excellence.
3. Method - An eight step (DADVIICI) approach that defines the actions and
deliverables for each step, in each cross-functional area.
4. Roles - The six defined Roles, and the skills and responsibilities
assigned to each of these roles.
When brought all together with the proper preparation at all levels of the
organization, this Framework encompasses strategic alignment, business
process thinking, alignment of processes with strategy, and the approach
necessary to achieve excellence throughout the organization - from the
boardroom to the lunchroom
This
framework will give you insight into all of the dimensions of a BPM implemention. You can use it to become familiar with
all the facets of business process managment. You
can also distribute it to your user community to make them aware of the
breadth of effort needed to support a BPM initiative
You have
to enroll in BPMG.org (its free) to get the powerpoint - It's well worth the few fields you need to
provide to get it. If you can't wait, send me an email & I'll get you a
copy.
To download the BPMG.org Omega 8 framework....
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Ultimus user
conference May 22-25
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While our first scheduled 10th anniversary user conference got
wiped out by hurricane Frances,
we have rescheduled the conference and moved it to an even larger hotel -
the Wyndham Miami Beach Resort.
In
addition to our normal format of case studies and new product
introductions, there will be 3 learning tracks:
Customer Case Studies
Technical Product Informatin
Training
In
addition, there will be a developers, business analyst and adaptive discovery
training sessions. There is a limit of 12 people for these sessions so
please register ASAP if you'd like to participate.
Our users conference is a GREAT way to learn how others have
leveraged our BPM platform to produce significant business results. Our
customers never cease to amaze us in the ways that they put our software to
work. Please mark your calandars and register as
soon as you can. I look forward to seeing you all at the conference.
to learn more about our user conference &
registration.... »
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Check out my BPM
information website
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Since I started this newsletter, I've had a lot of requests
for past articles, white papers, etc. So I created a website (my first) to
store this BPM information.
It's
still a work in progress but I've posted all of the previouse
newsletters, book reviews, links to BPM organizations etc.
Please
stop by from time to time as I'll be adding more information.
Your
thoughts, comments and suggestions are always welcome. Please be kind, I'm
not a webmaster or programmer. The company that provides this service is
1and1.com. It's FREE (for 3 years)! We'll see how it goes.
To get to my new BPM site.... »
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New "BPM
Explainer" - Learn about Ultimus/BPM in 2 minutes!
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We've added a new feature to our home page. Its
called an 'explainer'. The link on the homepage is titled "Ultimus in
2 minutes". You can play the Ultimus 'explainer' from the link below.
I get
asked, "What does Ultimus do?" all of the time. The little 2
minute 'explainer' is a pretty good description.
If someone
in your organization wants to learn (very quickly) about what you're trying
to do w/ BPM. The 'explainer' would be a great way to get them started.
Check it
out!
To play the Ultimus explainer click here....
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Quick Links...
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