One of BPMN’s most important elements is unfortunately also the most misunderstood. It’s called a pool, a rectangular shape that serves as a container for a process. So in that sense a pool is synonymous with a process, and that’s as basic as you can get. The confusion sets in when you understand that a business process diagram (BPD) – the top-level object in BPMN, describing a single end-to-end business process – frequently contains multiple pools.
This weekend I spent an afternoon sitting in a coffee house in my downtown Chicago neighborhood pondering what it means to be agile and how to measure it. The place was busy but I got lucky and snagged the cushy armchair next to the plate glass window in front that looks out on the sidewalk and the apartment building across the street. Watching the other patrons, looking at the people who pass by, and enjoying that burst of mental energy induced by a fine café-au-lait is often a good way to get inspired and be creative.
Problems worthy of innovation range across the map from seemingly simple ones like the design of low-function objects (think tableware) to complex systems so multifunctional it’s hard even to know where to start. For complex problems, as you might expect, we usually insist on some kind of structure to work from; but for the “simple” ones, we almost never feel the need. Somehow it seems right to innovate within structure for a big problem, but its OK to treat lesser problems as one-shot idea generation exercises.
The reasons to replace an existing system may be technical in nature such as upgrading the platform or notice that key software will no longer be supported by the vendor. Or, it may be due to changing business conditions and the need to respond quicker in an increasingly more dynamic market and customer demands. In these cases, the decision to replace the system is often accompanied by a mandate that there be no change to the underlying business process.
In our consulting work at the Performance Design Lab (PDL), we have frequently talked with clients who describe the following scenario: “Our improvement projects usually seem to get stuck between current and future state. We get the ‘is’ process mapped out okay, but we can’t beyond that.”
The question we always ask is, “Why did you start the project in the first place?” What we find out is that processes often get mapped without any clear purpose, other than to map them.
As important as information security is, it seems to be one aspect of SOA that is too often overlooked. Without a well-thought out security plan, a SOA project will introduce critical vulnerabilities to the enterprise, it may require a large amount of time and resources in order to “retrofit” security later, and it may never be deployed at all due to accreditation failure when there are unmet needs related to mandatory security rules and privacy laws.
To the surprise of nearly everyone, OMG’s Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) has emerged as far and away the most important standard in BPM, driven in large part by the BPM Suite vendors who recognize its value as a bridge between business-oriented process modeling and implementation design. Today, for example, BPMSs ranging from Appian, Savvion, and Lombardi to BEA, Oracle, SAP, SoftwareAG, TIBCO, and Vitria layer rely on BPMN-based modeling as the underpinning of their process implementation design.
A 10 Point Checklist is a good place to start when scaling your process documentation initiative.
Download this white paper for items 6-10 and additional “how to” specifics for each item.
Are your software implementation efforts woefully behind? Are your development schedules constantly being compromised by increased demands from other business units?
In theory, computing capacity should be like water, if you need more just leave the tap running a little longer. All manner of virtualization, grid and attached processing technologies are being developed and deployed in an effort the make this theory a reality. Therefore it would be easy to assume that capacity management would not be an issue for SOA. Just deploy the services and SOA infrastructure on your tap water computing power with a few automation policies and capacity management ceases to be an issue.
What a lovely fantasy.
The real world, unfortunately, does not work that way.
Everyone starts here.
You're looking for a way to improve your process improvement skills, but you're not sure where to start.
Earning your Business Process Management Specialist (BPMS) Certificate will give you the competitive advantage you need in today's world. Our courses help you deliver faster and makes projects easier.
Your skills will include building hierarchical process models, using tools to analyze and assess process performance, defining critical process metrics, using best practice principles to redesign processes, developing process improvement project plans, building a center of excellence, and establishing process governance.
The BPMS Certificate is the perfect way to show employers that you are serious about business process management. With in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management, you'll be able to take your business career to the next level.
|
Courses
|
|
|
|
Courses
|
|
|
|
Courses |
|
|
Business Architecture
|
|
|
|
Courses
|
|
|
|
Courses |
Certificate
|
|
Courses |
Certificate
|
