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

THE FIVE COSTLY MISTAKES OF BPM: Observations in the field...from Jonathan Marcer the head of the PA XMPro BPM Team

My colleagues and I have been witness to a large number of discussions around why BPM projects fail, mistakes of BPM etc.  As with a large number of discussions in and around the BPM space they are just a little too theoretical.

My colleague Jonathan Marcer, the head of XMPro BPM Team in Sydney, Australia, has published a blog post where he has put together his thoughts on the '5 Mistakes of BPM' based upon real life experience 'in the field'.

I recommend you read the post at http://linkd.in/maLKUD

When delivering mobile BPM solutions; what are your experiences of the preferred and or most prevalent mobile devices in use?

Based upon a number of current live Mobile BPM deployments and feedback from a series of MBPM webinars we have run this year, the picture seems to be that the mobile device market place still remains somewhat fragmented.

Our experience is that no one player has become or is becoming dominant.

The most prevalent devices are not surprisingly: the Blackberry, the iPhone/iPad, Windows Mobile Devices and Android devices, but most organisations either have not set or even started to consider setting, a corporate preference or standard for which devices their users will have.

I would be interested in hearing your point oif view on this?  Thank you.

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.

I’m lovin’ it…or am I?

My wife has, for almost all of my 16 years in the industry, questioned me about the TLA’s [three letter acronyms] my colleagues and I use. Earlier this week she gave in to her curiosity and asked me what BPM is and then asked me to give her an example of a business process.

Before I could think of an appropriate answer, a perfect opportunity arose, which did the job of answering her question and providing her with a perfect example of both a business process and how processes can ‘go wrong’.

Whilst in the car with the family, I pulled out of a retail park when the cry came from my two children, “Can we have a milkshake from…” I pulled up to the ‘first window’ to place my order and pay for the two shakes. What I had not done, was go through the drive through channel properly and place my order via the speaker and screen at the remote order station.

The staff member was not expecting me to arrive at her window unannounced. She was shocked to see me pull up: ‘How did I get there without ordering at the proper point in the process? What was she to do now? I saw panic written all over her face because her daily routine [i.e. the order/payment/sale process] had broken down. She turned to her colleague, “What do I do now?” Her supervisor also seemed flustered at this occurrence and they both referred to their computer screen, as if that was going to provide them with the answer to this problem.

The process did not allow for this ‘exception’ or perhaps, the staff members were not trained to process the order in a different way’, I am not sure which. But what I do know is that the answer came back; “You will need to drive round the building and place your order via the drive through channel, we cannot take your order here”

Had the process designer not foreseen a customer being able to drive up to a payment window without going through the drive through channel? The process was a standard organisational process, had it not been adapted for this particular site with a different layout? Had the process designer seen the exception, and judged it to be so rare an occurrence, that it was not cost effective to implement a one off process for this site?

I am not sure how this happened, but suffice to say, the staff was embarrassed at having to provide such a ridiculous solution and we, as customers, simply drove away to another vendor just 50 yards away.

In this very brief incident we witnessed a business process in action, and witnessed how business process issues [untested assumptions, and/or poor design, and/or poor staff training, and/or lack of adaptability and/or a poor cost benefit analysis], lead to a loss of revenue.

Now I accept that a the loss of a £4 drinks order hardly constitutes a disaster…but as we drove away another vehicle, a people carrier this time, pulled up to the window, without going via the drive-through channel – PANIC!

This is hardly an empirical test, but it seems as though ‘the exception’ to the standard process is not so rare, and the potential loss of income is significant when driving to a competitor is easier than driving round the building, placing the order to a disembodied voice via a speaker to then proceed, through the channel’.

Mobile Technology...is it a case of VHS vs Betamax?

In one corner we have Apple with their IPhone/iPad combination, in the second corner we have the real heavweight Microsoft, with Windows Mobile, in the third corner we have Android and in the fourth corner sits Blackberry. "Seconds OUT, let battle commence or should I say escalate!?!"

Without Nokia having recently dropped its own Symbian technology, in favour of Windows Mobile, my boxing ring analogy would be looking pretty weak.

Conversations (and event polls) we have with clients and prospects alike, would indicate that many organisations are yet to even consider a corporate standard for mobile devices, let alone decide on which mobile technology to adopt. 

In addition it is clear that for many organisations the mobile devices used by their employees are, beyond calls, e-mails, calendars and of course games and social networking totally under utilised. They are in short corporate gadgets and 'play things', and organisations do not fully exploit the opportunities available to them by adopting a mobile element to their business systems strategy. 

I recently read somewhere that BPM and particularly mobile BPM, is a technology waiting for a problem to solve. 

The truth is that those of us deploying this technology are getting on with the job of helping our clients to address their critical process issues, concerns and pains; rather than waiting for the perfect storm (mobile technology, bpm technology and market awareness) which is some way off, and if some commentators are to be believed, may never actually happen! 

The key is helping organisations see how Business Process Management principles, solutions and mobile solutions, can solve the problems they face now, rather than trying to convince them that some BPM nirvana is just around the corner!

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.