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

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.