1. Dr Alexander Samarin www.samarin.biz
ECA 2010, Geneva, Switzerland Creating a synergy between BPM* and electronic archives
* BPM – Business Process Management
Dr Alexander Samarin

2. Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives
About me
An enterprise solutions architect
From a programmer to a systems architect
Experience in scientific, international, governmental and industry environments
Creator of systems which work without me
Practical adviser for design and implementation of enterprise solutions
My main “tool” is an architectural framework for improving enterprise business process management systems
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

3. BPM is a tool for improving enterprise business performance
Part 1 – Context
BPM is a tool for improving enterprise business performance
A multitude of tools “handle” processes
A natural evolution of BPR, Lean, ISO 9001, 6 Sigma
The aim is to have a single description of business processes:
- model in design
- input for project planning and execution
- executable program for coordination of work
- documentation for all staff members
- basis for management decisions
The theory
BPM as a discipline (use processes to manage an enterprise)
The tools
BPM as software:
BPM suite (BPMS)
An enterprise portfolio of the business processes as well as the practices and tools for governing the design, execution and evolution of this portfolio
The practice
Any process-centric enterprise has some BPM, but how can we industrialise this BPM?
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives
Business Process Identification and Modeling

4. Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives
BPM concerns everyone
Co-existence of many people, many roles and many structures
functional
organisational
operational
projects
social
etc.
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

5. Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives
Systems view on BPM
Co-existence of many artefacts
vision, plans, processes, capabilities, services, etc.
Dynamic and interrelated
Not all relationships between artefacts are explicit
Not all relationships between artefacts are interpreted consistently by different staff members and systems
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

6. Business processes are complex relationships between artefacts
Who (roles) is doing What (business objects), When (coordination of activities), Why (business rules), How (business activities) and with Which Results (performance indicators)
Make these relationships explicit and executable What you model is what you execute
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

7. Different enterprise artefacts
Business artefacts
Events
Processes
Activities
Roles
Rules
Data & documents
Audit trails
Performance indicators
Services
Organisational and technical artefacts …
KPIs
Processes
Services
Events
Roles
Data structures
Documents
Rules
Human “workflow”
Audit trails
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

8. Services and processes (1)
Services are considered to be explicitly-defined and operationally-independent units of functionality
Formal description
Operational independence
Invisible implementation
The business world understood a long time ago that processes and services are the backbones of most business systems. At present, many enterprises use the process-centric approach as a critical tool to organise their operations as a set of business processes and practices for their management, including improvement.
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

9. Services and processes (2)
Processes are considered to be an explicitly-defined coordination of services to create a particular outcome
Formal description
Coordination
At a process-centric enterprise one may have many elementary nano-services which are organised into a mega-service, i.e. the whole enterprise
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

10. Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives
Process anatomy (1)
The business is driven by events
For each event there is a process to be executed
Process coordinates execution of activities
The execution is carried out in accordance with business rules
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

11. Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives
Process anatomy (2)
Each business activity operates with some business objects (data or documents)
A group of staff member (business role) is responsible for the execution of each activity
The execution of business processes produces audit trails
Audit trails (which are very detailed) are also used for the calculation of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

12. Be ready to wide spread misunderstanding
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

13. Build RM into business processes: capturing of records (1)
Typical end-to-end business process
But, the “white space” is the place where records are emerging
Let us make it explicit as important intermediate events
Find client
Sign contract
Fullfil contract
Prolongate contract
Find client
Sign contract
Fullfil contract
Prolongate contract
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

14. Build RM into business processes: capturing of records (2)
What to capture?
Business objects used
Data
Documents
Metadata
Business rules applied (and their results)
Business events occurred
Business roles involved (and actual participants worked)
Audit trails generated (performance information)
If an artefact is versionable then recording of its ID is sufficient
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

15. Build RM into business processes: access control (1)
Align access rights with the work to be done
Do something
Grant necessary rights to a person who will carry out this activity to access involved business objects
Revoke previously granted rights
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

16. Build RM into business processes: access control (2)
Align security with the work progress (preparation of an organisational document)
Personal version
Group drafting
Committee review
Management approval
Private
Confidential
Secret
Top-secret
Public
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

17. Build RM into business processes: managing of versions (1)
Single version Multiple versions
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

18. Build RM into business processes: managing of versions (2)
What to do with intermediate versions?
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

19. Build RM into business processes: managing of versions (3)
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

20. Build RM into business processes: producing good documents
PDF
Archive
Image
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

21. Build RM into business processes: Business follow-up
Execute at the end of a business process some checks that all documents (from this business process instance) have been properly classified
Can be a mixute of automated and human tasks (process pattern M&M)
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

22. An electronic enterprise archive as a BPM system (1)
Events
New record received
Retention period of a dossier expired
Access to records requested
...
Business objects
Records
Dossiers
Documents
Calendars
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

23. An electronic enterprise archive as a BPM system (2)
Rules
Retention calendar
Classifications
Naming conventions
Filing plan
...
KPIs (consider service level agreements)
Yearly acquicition transfer from current to semi-current archive < 2 weeks
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

24. An electronic enterprise archive as a BPM system (3)
Processes
One per each event
Explicit and executable
Perfect audit trails
Be a good service provider
Reliable (as a nuclear waste storage)
Convenient (do not block users)
Always available
Fully transparent
Well architected
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

25. Main advantages of the architectural framework for BPM
Helps to reduce complexity and to increase flexibility
Based on a BPM reference model
Addresses the needs of the most difficult aspect – people
Use of explicit and executable models
Business process modelling in BPMN
Rules for finding services and quick prototyping
Guidelines for usage of different technologies
Link with enterprise architecture
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives

26. Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives
Thank you!
Contact information:
Alexander Samarin
Creating a synergy between BPM and electronic archives