1. Develop a Business Process Management Strategy
Treat BPM as a repeatable process, not as a technology.
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2. Introduction
Organizations avoid BPM when they don't understand how BPM manages the lifecycle of a process, with technology supporting that lifecycle ONLY where it makes sense.
This Research Is Designed For:
This Research Will Help You:
IT managers, CIOs, and decision makers involved in BPM strategy-setting.
Small and mid-sized organizations looking to adopt more process-oriented approaches to running their business.
Large enterprises wanting more visibility into, and control of, their processes.
Any size organization looking to understand more about technology options for BPM.
Organizations wanting to understand more about how to fit BPM initiatives into larger initiatives.
Understand the costs, benefits, and time investment required for a successful BPM strategy.
Understand the challenges commonly faced during BPM strategy-setting and how to avoid them.

3. Executive Summary Understand the Costs and Benefits of BPM
Organizations with BPM meet targets more often, have increased compliance, and better communication.
Keep IT involved in BPM to maintain control over the technology aspects of strategy and implementation.
75% of organizations who have delved into BPM say it can be successfully done on a budget.
Involve the right stakeholders and get them to drive the BPM initiative. Business buy-in is critical from the C-level down to the end user. Involving the business in strategy development will keep them engaged.
Take an iterative approach to BPM. Big-bang approaches have failed us in the past. Take an iterative approach to BPM starting small in scope, effort, and complexity, building towards enterprise breadth.
What gets measured, gets done. Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can be applied to processes within the BPM strategy implementation. Focusing on quantitative KPIs such as cycle time and compliance will yield qualitative results.
Info-Tech Insight
Assess Readiness and Appropriateness of BPM
BPM isn’t right for everyone. Organizations often jump head-first into BPM without considering the background work required. Don’t fall into this trap. Assess people, process, and technology to ensure BPM is a good fit.
Focus on iteratively selecting organizational levels for BPM over time to ensure significant and timely ROI.
Set the BPM Strategy
Align your BPM strategy with business goals and objectives for short - and long-term business value, but be flexible enough to accommodate change.
Don’t take the business out of BPM: engage key business stakeholders or risk delivering just another IT strategy.
Develop a roadmap to implement the BPM strategic initiatives over time and plan for the benefits.

4. Follow the Info-Tech Business Process Management Roadmap for additional BPM guidance and advice
Develop a BPM Strategy
Business Process Management (BPM) is a nebulous term with vague descriptions, blurry technology definitions, but very REAL benefits. BPM manages the entire lifecycle of a process, with technology merely supporting that lifecycle and ONLY where it makes sense.
This solution set will help you understand what BPM is, what it’s not, and build a BPM strategy. Discover the BPM activities that deliver the biggest benefits. Learn how to get BPM benefits regardless of technology investment.
Customer Service Strategy
Vendor Landscape: The Right eforms Solution
This solution set will help you determine which eforms vendor fits best with your needs and budget.
Vendor Landscape Plus: BPM Suites
Help you determine what type of BPM software your organization requires.
Evaluate BPM vendors on price, features, and products.
Help organizations understand the benefits and challenges of each product for selection and use.
BPM Strategy
Implement Business Process Management
This solution set will help you understand how to implement a BPM initiative regardless of the level of technology that will be used to support the initiative. It will provide insight and guidance on technology solutions available to assist with the initiative, but it is a set about approaching BPM as an organizational discipline.

5. Understand BPM
Most organizations are confused about BPM: What is it, how much does it cost, and is it a good fit?
Over 80% of organizations from a wide variety of demographics saw clear benefits as a result of BPM.
There are three BPM paths based on cost, complexity, and effort.
Understand BPM
Assess Appropriateness and Readiness
Identify Your BPM Path
Build Your BPM Strategy

6. Most organizations don’t understand BPM: What is it, how much does it cost, and is it a good fit?
Organizations with Business Process Management (BPM) meet targets more often, have increased compliance, and better communication.
You should be considering BPM if your organization can relate to any of the following symptoms:
Lack of knowledge sharing and collaboration among line managers limits process streamlining to individual teams.
Processes that achieve similar aims vary from department to department with no single best practice.
Even when process outputs are specified there isn’t a defined way of achieving objectives.
Consistently missed service delivery targets.
It is impossible to predict when and where process bottlenecks occur.
Unwillingness of staff to comply with standards and processes.
Inability to point auditors to proof of compliance documentation.
IT departments are effectively using BPM to manage their business processes by:
Equipping the business with the technology necessary to effectively test, optimize, and track processes.
Implementing standardized IT processes.
Continually monitoring the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes in order to make changes when required.

7. BPM streamlines processes to eliminate bottlenecks and redundancy
BPM is a collection of methods and tools used to document, improve, and monitor business processes.
What Does BPM Do?
How Do You Do It? A B C 1 2 3 4 5
An undefined, inconsistent, and over-complicated process...
A business process is modeled to document its current state. = D E
The model is simulated in order to identify gaps.
BECOMES
The process is streamlined through re- engineering to fill gaps and eliminate bottlenecks.
A simplified, consistent, and streamlined process. = A B C
Automation is introduced into the process wherever possible.
The process is monitored to ensure it is efficient and effective.
The process still generates the same output, but unnecessary steps and bottlenecks have been eliminated.

8. BPM is the process of implementing and improving processes, often with the use of technology
Process management technology can range from simple forms automation through to complex BPM suites.
Forms Automation
Case Management
Workflow
BPMS Suites
Eforms with automated routing provide cheap automation of human-initiated processes.
For more information on eForms software vendors, please refer to Vendor Landscape: The Right eForms Solution.
Route a package of materials, such as documents, forms, drawings, and images, through a complex series of steps for data collection, analysis, and approval.
Automated workflow allows multiple processes to communicate via a variety of methods, usually through a form of middleware.
Many ERP, CRM, HRM, and industry specific suites have built-in workflow capabilities.
Provides all of the above with advanced capabilities for process modeling, simulation, streamlining, automation, integration, monitoring, and management of enterprise wide processes.
Most organizations benefit from starting small and gradually improving on technology as readiness and maturity increase.

9. Where does BPM fit in relation to everything else?
BPM is a disciplined approach to identify, design, execute, document, monitor, control, and measure both automated (system) and non-automated (human) business processes to achieve targeted results consistent with an organization's strategic goals Source: Association of Business Process Management Professionals (ABPMP)
Process design feeds into BPM and BPM can influence process design.
Process design also has a cyclical relationship with process quality initiatives such as Six Sigma, Lean, ISO, etc.
BPM sits on top of and orchestrates processes in applications and across services in an SOA , typically through integration middleware.
Workflow is a type of BPM that often sits within applications for specific purposes, but can also be external.
Case Management is a type of BPM that manages information across applications related to a subject.
Process data generated across the environment is output and used for compliance proof, and as input back to process design for continuous improvement. 1
Process Design 2 3 6
BPM 4 5
Workflow
SOA
Packaged
and
Legacy Apps
Case Management
(Six Sigma, Lean, ISO, etc.)
Process Quality
Application and Integration
Middleware
(Compliance Proof, Process Analytics)
Process Outputs
Data
Infrastructure
Source: Info-Tech Research Group

10. Keep IT involved in BPM to maintain control over the technology aspects of strategy and implementation
Business Perspective
IT Role
Organizations often approach BPM by looking into the technologies available and not understanding how those technologies fit into their IT environment.
Use IT’s knowledge of the boundaries and constraints of the IT environment to help the business set strategic directions that align with their IT environment.
Historically, BPM technology is oversold to the business without transparency into the implications of that technology on the current IT environment.
Use IT knowledge and due diligence practices to validate vendor product capabilities.
The value of BPM technology increases significantly when it can be integrated with applications and services in the IT environment.
Use IT to help scope out the strategic initiatives to include integration and increase their business value.
Business users have a simplistic view of IT and effort required to implement solutions. Too often shortcuts are taken to make unrealistic deadlines and sub-standard solutions are delivered.
Use IT to bring their systems’ implementation methods into the strategic initiative planning efforts to set appropriate expectations around effort and time lines.
“Planning, vision, implementation, optimization: these are the core things that apply to any process...The vision and planning are the most fundamental. If you don’t solidify [your initiative], then you will suffer. No matter how many times you ask why something failed, it can be tied back to planning.”
- Thomas Uyehara, Director of IT, IndependenceFirst

11. Impact of BPM on processes
BPM has a large impact on compliance, but very little on process cycle time: Choose your goals wisely
Over 80% of organizations from a wide variety of demographics saw clear benefits as a result of BPM; improved compliance leads the pack.
High
Low
Positive Impact
Improvement
Source: Info-Tech Research Group, n = 40
Impact of BPM on processes
The most significant business benefit that resulted from implementing BPM was in improving compliance. This makes BPM an ideal candidate for regulated organizations.
The positive impact score was calculated by taking the percentage of respondents who selected 4, 5 or 6 on the impact scale that went from 1 = Very Negatively Impacted to 6 = Very Positively Impacted.
The improvement score was calculated by taking the percentage of respondents who selected 5 or 6 on a agreement scale that went from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 6 = Strongly Agree.

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