Workflow and BPM: Today and Tomorrow

By Gerard P. Cannie, VP of Technology, Optical Image Technology, Inc.

(Article originally appeared in the November 2005 issue of DOCUMENT Magazine’s eNotes newsletter.)

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Computers and the Information Age have brought incredible speed and efficiency into our lives. Twenty years ago, the commercial catch phrase was “Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery.” Today, we do a few quick clicks of the mouse, indicate “Standard Delivery (3 to 6 days)” and actually get the package in 2 days. How did this happen? A large part of the answer is “Workflow”.

“Workflow” or “Business Process Management” (BPM) software implementations achieve many benefits by focusing on the coordination and automation of work, efficient presentation of resources, and effective reporting. The fundamental principles of workflow are universally applicable. A workflow system may be designed to fit a particular market niche but the underlying architecture is the same. Get the right resource to the right desk at the right time. Automate as many tasks as possible. Keep management well informed.

Specific Benefits

Introducing BPM systems into a business can be daunting at first because it requires a rather large up front commitment and massive change to the way an organization operates. However, the benefits are great and far reaching once an implementation takes off.

The process of setting up and implementing a BPM system has immediate benefit. The work involved in documenting your business processes alone helps you to identify ways to create a more efficient system.

A working BPM system increases efficiency in the following ways:

• Internal mail is greatly reduced or eliminated. All documentation and tools a person needs to do their job are automatically presented to them at their workstations.
• Individual tasks will no longer get lost. All items and tasks are traceable to their current location and status within the business process.
• Bottlenecks in the business process can be identified and handled quickly.
• Resources and workers are easily reallocated to different assignments as the nature and volume of workloads change.
• Disparate systems can be given effective communication and coordination towards common goals.
• Auditing and reporting utilities give management real time information on the state of their business from both the high and low levels. How many orders are being processed per day? How many work orders has John Doe processed this week? Are we running low on anything?

Finding the Right BPM Solution

Standards come and standards go but production systems last forever. The Y2K furor was an ample demonstration that any system successfully put in place will stay there long after the creator’s envisioned retirement age. Workflow and BPM will prove no different.

Whether you are looking for a “Best of Breed” or “Total Solution”, the Workflow product architecture is what’s important! When a disruptive technology or new set of standards comes along, your “best of breed” workflow system needs to be able to interface with it. Your “total solution” provider needs to be able to adapt accordingly. The workflow architecture is what will allow or prevent this.

Standards (and laws) are constantly refined and added to as our knowledge of business process management improves. Old software and hardware systems will continue to be used indefinitely. New software, hardware and procedures are constantly being developed. It is important that your choice of workflow system be able to handle this.

The four most important questions to ask when selecting the right BPM solution cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”.

• How will the workflow system interact and coordinate with current systems?
• How will the workflow system be adapted to and work within the laws and standards that companies must comply with?
• How have the designers of the workflow system planned for and prepared for integration with new technologies and standards that have yet to come into use?
• How will the system scale up to meet the needs of enterprise growth?

Making Your BPM Implementation a Success

There are 5 absolutely critical elements to a successful BPM implementation: commitment, technical expertise, business expertise, effective project management and authority.

Implementing workflow in a company is not an easy or quick process. A serious commitment of time and resources is required. But it is well worth it in the end.

Experts with knowledge of every involved technical and business system need to be made available for frequent and extensive consultation even if the workflow project is not their primary responsibility.

An expert in project management needs to be put in charge of the project to keep track of the myriad details and coordinate outside resources with the efforts of the project team.

Finally, the workflow project team needs an authority structure that clearly shows the team to whom they can go to for approval of change. Implementing a BPM system means drastic change and will encounter many challenges on both the technical and business fronts. These challenges may not all be answerable within a company’s current standards and procedures. There needs to be a methodology capable of deciding how and when to make change.

The Future of BPM and Workflow Products

There are many Workflow and BPM products out there representing a number of approaches to the problems of BPM. All are converging in terms of functionality and design much like any other category of business software. However, there will always be qualities that set products apart. Two qualities in particular will improve by great leaps in the near future. The first is administration. Business processes can be incredibly complex. Add technology and the pieces that have to be brought together properly can be bewildering. Workflow products will constantly be developing new ways to design and administer business technology systems. This isn’t just about putting together a workflow design or assigning user rights. This is about the simulation and monitoring of enterprise scale systems in real time: keeping track of networks, databases and user workloads so that the system informs you of conditions before they become problems.

Finally, there is flexibility and ease of growth. Workflow development is the ultimate integration project. Workflow software doesn’t actually do “the work”. Workflow coordinates, triggers, tracks and manages tools and people who do “the work”. That means that workflow solutions need to be able to talk to and listen to everything from mainframe databases and terminal emulators to web clients and web services. Future architectures won’t have to be redesigned every time a new technology emerges. The architecture that allows administrators to quickly and easily integrate Workflow with that new tool that isn’t even on the drawing board yet wins!

 

For more information on Workflow and Business Process Management software, or to learn about DocFinity Workflow, visit www.docfinity.com or call 1-800-678-3241.

 

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