The Process Executive

At the recent Australian BPM Round table session I did a quick survey of participants to see, amongst other things, what BPM Frameworks are being used in Australian organisations?

I was not surprised by the result, however it is interesting that out of 20 organisations there was not 1 recognised BPM Framework that had been adopted; and comments were even made that they are not necessary. I think this last comment related to the terminology being used.

I have recently added a new page to the Executive Guide to BPM explaining what a BPM Framework is and why they are needed. See the Process of Process Management. For me, implementing BPM is implementing a Business Process and therefore you need a guide on how you are doing it!

What BPM Frameworks are there?

The challenge is finding and evaluating a Framework. There are three main sources;

1. Books
2. Training
3. Vendors

I was introduced to my first Framework by Roger Burlton of the Process Renewal Group. The Process Renewal Group Framework is based on Roger’s book, Business Process Management: Profiting From Process; however the best understanding of the Framework and the techniques to implement it came from attending Roger’s training course and being mentored by the Group.

There are other Frameworks that come from similar sources, and consequently I have not had the opportunity to review any of them, I just know that they exist from web research. Frameworks from BPMInstitute.org and Management By Process are examples of training / consultant led offerings.

Another option is to adopt the processes recommended by your BPMS vendor. The advantage of this option is that the framework is tailored to the tools you have available. This can also be a disadvantage if you do not already use the tool as the training seems to be inherently linked, even if the framework is generically good. An example of this may be the framework promoted by Appian.

There may be some more generic options, such as the Association of Business Process Management Professionals (ABPMP) Common Body of Knowledge. As I am not a member I have not reviewed this framework; however there is a good summary presentation available, see Guide to BPM CBOK.

The Round Table also attempted to develop a common methodology which was called The Process of Process Improvement (TPPI). The output of the exercise can be found on the BPM-Collaboration TPPI Wiki (registration is required).

At the moment I am evaluating the BPTrends methodology that is based on the book Business Process Change by Paul Harmon. This methodology is supported in Australian by Leonardo Consulting who have written an excellent summary of the methodology and the certification program that they offer; see Achieving Process-Based Management.

I am sure there are many BPM Framework offerings that I have not covered here. If you know of one or you have a framework or methodology to offer – please leave a comment to let me know. I am also keen to collect or create reviews of the Frameworks that are available.

What Framework are you using or considering?

Jamie, the administrator of BPM Collaboration is revamping the website ahead of this week’s BPM Roundtable gathering in Melbourne. Jamie is updating the front page of the site to better highlight the content and encourage more members of the community to contribute.

The new front page will feature profiles of the BPM practitioners who use the site: I volunteered to go first. You can check out My Profile, however you will have to join the site first if you are not already a member.

In the next couple of days I will also post an idea / request to undertake research into the understanding of BPM at different levels of organisations. I will post more details on The Process Executive when it is up.

Well done Jamie, and the rest of you – check it out.

We Australians are making a strong contribution to the Business Process Management body of knowledge, however I could be biased being an Aussie and in the field!

If you would like to learn more about the Australian BPM community, here is a summary of what is on offer. (I am sure that I will not cover everything here, please let me know if there are other items that can be added).

BPTrends Forums

A great place to start is your local BPTrends Forum. These user groups are a coming together of BPM practitioners, consultants and vendors to hear about and discuss BPM topics of interest. Generally each forum will meet bi-monthly and will include a presentation of a case study, research or concept, discussion on the topic and will usually round-off with refreshments and networking.

There are BPTrends forums in most capital cities (Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane), to find out about your local forum, contact the national coordinator, Imre Hegedus, or check out the events page on Imre’s website.

Other Forums

There are other forums that cover Business Process Management, such as the Australian Business Analysts Association (ABAA). I am not a member, and have not been to a meeting (although I hope to rectify this), so I will update you when I know a little more. (If you have your own review, send it to me and I will post it).

QUT and BPM Roundtable

A key contributor to the development of BPM in Australia is the Business Process Management group at QUT. There is a significant amount of research being done in the group and they collaborate well across the spectrum of the BPM community and a really good part of this is the BPM Roundtable for which they facilitate.

The BPM Roundtable has been bringing the leading BPM practitioners and thought leaders in Australia together on a quarterly basis for nearly 4 years. Through it’s invited membership, it maintains a high quality of interaction, sharing and collaboration on BPM. I personally have found it a very rewarding group to work with and it has opened the door to a higher level of knowledge about the practical application of BPM in Australian organisations.

BPM-Collaboration.com

To tie it all together, the bpm-collaboration.com website has been created. The objective of this site is to bring together the members of the Australian BPM Community to share knowledge and collaborate on BPM areas of interest. The “collaboration” aspect is the key component and members are expected to contribute to the development of content on BPM topics, as well as use the site as a reference and networking tool.

Accordingly bpm-collaboration.com contains a interactive knowledge base, areas to post questions and comments, video snapshots and information about presentations, articles and events. The initial work of the BPM Roundtable (a process framework called “The Process of Process Management”) has been moved to BPM collaborations for further development.

To access the site you need to be registered and you will need to be invited by a member of the community (send me an e-mail if you need an invitation).

BPM Networks

Finally, it will be great to meet up at the BPM forums or related conferences and maintain your relationships afterwards by keeping in contact and contributing to the groups and blogs available on-line. Besides my site, LinkedIn has a number of well connected BPM groups and the Question and Answer section is great for researching particular topics. Feel free to connect to me on LinkedIn to check out my groups and questions.
Let me know if this has been useful, I would like to hear about your experiences.