Mobile BPM...so what's the BIG deal?

We have only just got used to the latest TLA [three letter acronym] BPM, when someone comes along a puts an M in front of it – Mobile BPM.

I heard it said only recently that the best thing you could possible say about this, is at least it is no longer a TLA! But is that really the best thing to be said about MBPM?

In a seminar series I ran in the autumn of 2010 a number of attendees expressed disbelief in the notion that there was any need for or indeed any value in, delivering business process management solutions on mobile devices.

Six to nine months down the line the growth in mobile devices is showing no signs of slowing and in fact, recent surveys suggest they are infact growing rapidly.

The IBM 2011 Global CIO study canvassed more than 3,000 chief information officers globally.  This survey revealed that mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones and notebooks come second on the survey’s must have technology shopping list 74 per cent of CIOs saying mobility solutions were the next best way to boosting competitiveness.  

We are now entering detailed discussions with these same organisations about potential BPM projects, where there is a high mobile requirement, and in one case the requirement is entirely conceived as a mobile solution for remote staff.

Whichever way you look at it, so many of us spend so much more time ‘on the road’ travelling, working outside normal offices hours, not being tied to our desks, and in the possession of mobile devices and technology, that up until now, we have been unable to fully exploit.

The case for Mobile BPM is made in a white paper we [Professional Advantage] have recently published. I suggest you take a read...and discover how we can you and your organisation can fully utilise the mobile devices, that until now have been executive ‘toys’ rather than effective business tools.

Download Whitepaper at http://www.profad.co.uk/invite/bpm-whitepaper.htm

Don't children ask the best questions...? AND Push you for a real answer!

In my last post I recalled a conversation with my wife about what I do for a living, and specifically what does all the jargon we use, actually mean.

Now it has come down to me being interrogated by my ever inquisitive children; "What do you actually do dad?"

This got me thinking about summing up what I do, comprehensively but succinctly, and I turned first to the summary I have on my LinkedIn page which of course will give my children the answer they seek...won't it?

"I work with organisations to help them define business requirements, simplify the complexities and deliver end-to-end process solutions with measurable business returns and critically build long-lasting relationships based upon tangible benefits derived by all parties in the relationship." 

...I guess not, after reading this I am not sure I understand what I actually do.

One of the distinct advantages of working for an Australian company is that my antependium colleagues often have a very useful knack of cutting through all the ‘BS’ and get to the point very quickly.

Upon speaking to my colleagues we came up with the following summary:

I [we] deliver innovation solutions to very painful [process] problems.

Is it that simple? I guess so…

I am off to re-write my LinkedIn page and update our website.

PEOPLE, processes and products...

When it comes to BPM I hear a lot about SOA, XML, Web 2.0, EAI, BPMN, ECM...and after a while I am sure all one hears is blah, blah, blah, because this is only technology [apologies to the technologists amongst you]. 

Process may be well conceived, designed and built and the technology may well be great, but the one factor I hear very little mention of in all the BPM ‘chatter’, is the word PEOPLE. I would strongly suggest that the absolute key to a BPM project's success is understanding, appreciating and considering the very people involved in the process.  

It is all well and good to say consider the people...but how?

I would suggest there are a number of practical ways to achieve this:

• Understand how each person in the process operates e.g. how does he or she measure their own success as a part of the process and measure the success of the entire process if that is appropriate to them.

• Involve each a person with a direct [and indirect?] interest, involvement, or investment in the process that will therefore be affected by the process change.

• Ensure that the interface for each user or group of users, is appropriate to their circumstances and requirements; MS Outlook, browser, mobile etc. as well as how the process success is to be measured for or by them; reporting and analytics.

As a vendor of BPM and P2P solutions, we have had an application in our portfolio [for many years now] called 3P, which delivers additional workflow capabilities beyond standard industry P2P requirements. 

Why 3P I hear you ask...? 3P stands for People, Processes, Products.

The reason PEOPLE comes first in the list, is that it is people beyond everything else that we consider as being critical to any and all BPM projects. In addition when we say PEOPLE, we not only include employees, management, directors and shareholders; but also suppliers, partners, advisors and clients.

We [the team at Professional Advantage] believe that a lot of BPM projects fall short of delivering on their promises, because the implementation project fails to correctly predict the impact of PEOPLE issues...and this is not a mistake we make.

A portion of Humble Pie for the gentleman in the corner...

I recently commented on an Adam Deane Blog Post focused upon  the topic: BPM Centre of Excellence.

I have subsequently pondered the topic further, discussed it with colleagues and in hindsight I have come to the conclusion that my response was flippant and definitely ill-informed; hence the portion of humble pie I am now consuming.

I carried out an in-depth analysis of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) created by one of my organisations large multi-national clients. The conclusion I have come to is that for this client at least, the CoE gave all stakeholders a platform for discussion and information sharing, which in turn allowed for a greater degree of project ‘buy-in’ from the different groups involved in the project and the CofE. The client is convinced, and having listened to their experiences I too am convinced, that the CoE played a major part in the success of the original project. The CofE continues to deliver value as the client rolls out subsequent project phases.

How may you ask did this CofE contribute so successfully to the project; the internal project manager at the client explained that the CofE acted as the focal point for collaboration of people, teams and technologies, which were therefore focused upon the critical business and project objectives. In addition the client felt that education and training was also enhanced.

I will now put down my knife and fork and move on...

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

Apparently these were the words written on a sign that had hung on Albert Einstein's office wall. Now I am no Albert Einstein and that is self evident from reading my blog posts, but it occurred to me that Albert was on to something.

 Put another way [and I do not know who said this];

 You cannot manage what you cannot Measure!

Five to ten years ago all one could hear and read about was Business Intelligence, Analytics etc. and for some reason that I have been unable to fathom, ‘it’ seemed to have fallen off most people’s radar.

A number of surveys over the last few months however have highlighted the fact that the single highest priority item for senior executives is ANALYTICS; in all its forms and in all areas of the ‘business’.

In an earlier post I made the case for BPM providing the critical link between an organisations goals and objectives [its reason for existing] with the daily activities the organisation undertakes to achieve their specific goals and objectives.

In addition many organisations invest significant effort in measuring the transactions flowing through those processes; spend on X, costs of Y, profit on Z etc. It amazes me however that so many organisations [the largest majority] continue to look in the wrong place for the answers about Analytics.

So where am I going with this? Excellent question!

In numerous conversations with executives and senior management it occurs to me that they significantly under-estimate the importance of process and the view seems to be, that Analytics and Process exist in totally separate worlds; whereas I would argue they are intimately connected.

How can one ever know if a process is working without smart metrics? Or put another way, how can one know if the mechanisms one has put in place to achieve the business goals and objectives are moving us in the right direction, as effectively and efficiently as possible?

I would also ask what the point of a metric is if it does not measure the performance of some aspect of a process, and provide me with intelligence about how to improve it?

I would strongly suggest that an organisation would be well advised to start with a view of the ‘end-to-end’ operational business process and then define the right metrics by asking the right questions. These ‘right’ questions I would suggest would include: 'How would we know if we were being successful? What would be the critical indicator that warns us if we are going off track?’

So simply put I strongly believe and hence advise clients to always connect Analytics to Business Processes; failure to do so I would suggest leaves organisations ‘blind’ when they go ‘off-track’.


AND REMEMBER: Always keep count and always make sure you count what is worth counting!