Articles

Business Architecture: Driving the Services Portfolio

Author(s):

Geoffrey Balmes

Business Architect Executive, Independent Consultant

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) looks and sounds very technical. “Architecture” most certainly sounds very specialized. Anything “-Oriented” ranks right up there with “framework” as being steeped in mystery. And what’s a “Service?” It took the business community long enough to figure out what a process was. Now we’re supposed to know what a service is! No wonder SOA has been and still is an IT-driven initiative.

But should it be? IT is certainly involved; someone has to establish the infrastructure. However, should IT decide what services to develop and when?

Expanding SOA Throughout the Enterprise

Author(s):

Tom Dwyer

Editorial Director and current Faculty Member, BPMInstitute.org

How are the business and IT environments changing to meet the challenges of today’s fast-paced global business landscape? They are both striving to become more agile. IT is being focused more on increasing profits, revenues and efficiency than just reducing costs. The business is examining ways to improve customer satisfaction and competitive advantage by collaborating throughout the value chain to deliver more innovative and competitive products and services.

BPMS Watch: Step Up Your Modeling Game With Subprocesses

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

One of the most powerful features of BPMN is the least appreciated… by modelers and tool vendors alike. I’m talking about subprocesses. Most of the process models I have seen would be much improved if they were used more liberally, and more effectively.

In BPMN, a process is viewed as a flow of activities, and an activity – a rectangle in the diagram – can signify only one of two things: a task, meaning it has no subparts of interest to the model, or a subprocess, meaning the activity has subparts of significance to the model.

Defining the Nature and Role of the BPM Professional

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

As I attend and present at industry BPM conferences, I often survey the participants, asking them to raise their hands if they are from IT departments. Generally, about 30 to 45 percent of the hands go up. I then ask people to raise their hands if they are from the...

Business Process Management – If You Have a Hammer

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

As a trainer and advocate of standard process languages and standards for metrics I frequently talk to companies that don’t do classic manufacturing; services providers like banks, insurance companies, software companies, etc. Their observation is that they like the value of the standard reference models (SCOR¹, CCOR and DCOR) but they are too manufacturing oriented: “We buy and sell DIY hardware and tools, we don’t make them” and “we provide banking services, we don’t make or ship money”.

When Thinking Service Design…

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

Within the world of SOA, services are the building blocks, and at the lowest level of the stack. SOA is an architectural style supporting loosely coupled services that enable the construction of many systems that are technology-agnostic. Services become the base of an SOA, and while some are abstract existing “legacy services,” others are new and built for specific purposes.

The Big Six Sigma Myths

Author(s):

Marvin Wurtzel

Faculty Member, BPMInstitute.org and Principal Consultant, Marvin M. Wurtzel & Associates, Inc.

Six Sigma has an attractive value proposition. Increase profits and improve customer satisfaction through more effective and efficient business processes. What company could say no to this idea? But, the Six Sigma methodology often is associated with daunting myths that prevent companies from taking advantage of its potential. For example, it’s assumed that Six Sigma is strictly for manufacturing processes, doesn’t work with Business Process Management (BPM).

Innovation? It’s the Customer, Stupid!

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

“It’s the economy, stupid,” was a phrase in American politics widely used during Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush. It was coined by Democratic Party strategist James Carville in order to keep the campaign on message. Today, just substitute “the customer” for economy, to keep your business innovation strategy on message. Since 2000, innovation has become all the rage in business, and for good reason now that we are competing in a high-change global economy.

BPM/SOA Market Consolidates

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

This article originally appeared in the members-only quarterly BPM Strategies Magazine. Join today to receive your own copy.

The convergence of the BPM and SOA markets continues to make news this year and the pace of consolidation has increased in recent months.

BPMS Watch: BPMN Training Revisited

Author(s):

BPMInstitute.org

Business Relationship Manager - Product Lifecycle Management, Chevron Corporation

When I launched my course “Process Modeling with BPMN”, I discussed in this column why so many people beginning to “do” BPM were looking for training in modeling, and why that was especially needed for BPMN. Now, having delivered the training for five months, I have a better appreciation of BPMN’s strengths and limitations, a better understanding of what students really want, and what they really need to know about BPMN modeling.