Posts Tagged ‘Business Process Management’

I enjoyed Adam Deane’s recent post on “BPM: Priorities.” He points out how limited typical BPM systems are in dealing with the complexities of how work actually gets done based on the often chaotic nature of how business and task priorities constantly change. In my opinion, this is where Social BPM capabilities become so critical.

The problem is, most BPM software vendors (and frankly, many industry pundits) have a limited view of what Social BPM really is. They relegate it to collaborative process design – making it easier for a handful of pre-designated people to work together in developing a process diagram. This is, at best, a single. The grand-slam homerun happens when Social BPM is applied to real-time collaborations across all employees (and customers) while business processes are being executed.

peop1 Social BPM and the Real world Complexity of Changing Priorities

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There’s nothing like an initial public offering (IPO) to get people to sit up and notice a company.  IPOs are only possible when companies are delivering novel solutions that offer great value and facilitate strong revenue growth.  That’s the case with Guidewire, a software company that’s built enterprise applications to support the core systems of property & casualty (P&C) insurers.

But a closer inspection of Guidewire, made possible through their IPO regulatory filings, shows their solutions are novel only in comparison to the ancient IT systems and paper-based processes used extensively by P&C insurers today.  Guidewire is a big advance over those, but only a few steps in the BPM direction.

guidewire a good step in the bpm direction Guidewire – A Good Step in the BPM Direction
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It’s no secret that the business of insurance is getting more and more competitive.  Thanks to numerous comparison sites on the internet, it’s easier than ever to quickly find just what you need.  As consumers, we’re all benefiting from more options, easier selection, and lower prices.  But for insurance companies, all of this transparency is another matter.

insurance companies dont need to outrun the bear With BPM, Insurance Companies Don’t Need to Outrun the Bear

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Global IT industry analyst firm Ovum has published its annual “Decision Matrix: Selecting a Business Process Management Vendor” report, a comparative evaluation of the top BPM software vendors. Appian has been named the #1 vendor on Ovum’s prestigious “Shortlist.” This is based on unmatched scores across Technology criteria (including a call-out of our innovation around Mobile BPM, Cloud BPM and Social BPM) and User Sentiment (i.e., making sure customers are happy and successful with our software).

The report places the top vendors in the “Shortlist” category, with others placed in “Explore” or “Consider” categories. We’ll have the report available as a download on our site shortly, but in the meantime, here are some stand-out quotes:

ovum logo Analyst Firm Ovum Names Appian the Top BPM Software Vendor in 2011 BPM Decision Matrix Report

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Discussions around customer service strategies have shifted from “customer management” to “customer engagement.” A recent piece in InformationWeek on  “Seven Ways IT Can Improve Customer Service” highlights this shift. The article, by Forrester Research senior analyst Kate Leggett, pays a lot of attention to process improvement and process consistency. Kate is a leading expert on customer service strategies, and a member of Forrester’s Business Process team, so this comes as no surprise. What is a little surprising is that she didn’t call out Mobile BPM and Social BPM more directly in her analysis. These components of Appian’s BPM software are playing a huge roll in the strategies our customers are rolling out to engage with their customers.

71191 Employ Mobile and Social BPM in Customer Service Strategies to Increase Engagement

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Ellen Carney, lead insurance industry analyst at Forrester Research, has just published an insightful report on the changing tide for insurance companies. You can read an excerpt here. “Tech Opportunities in the North American Insurance Industry” details the transition from “business-as-usual” to what Ellen calls a “business-as-unusual” model where the customer experience takes precedence over the products and services an insurer provides. BPM software, particularly Mobile BPM and Social BPM, are key technology enablers for this transition.

EllenCarney1 Forrester Says Insurance Industry Must Focus on Customer Experience. BPM Software Holds the Key

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To kick off Appian World 2012, we’re offering optional tours of two popular Washington DC attractions on Sunday, April 15 in conjunction with USA Hosts. The spots are going fast, so sign up today for either a tour of America’s Main Street and Newseum, or the National Air & Space Museum’s Udvar Hazy Center.

End your conference experience with free training workshops on getting the most from your Appian BPM Software. Seating is limited, so register for the training you need today!

Capture 300x74 Appian World 2012: Start with a Washington DC Tour, End with Free BPM Software Training

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Forrester’s Ted Schadler recently blogged about “The Mobile Goat Rodeo.” In case you’re unfamiliar (as I was), goat rodeo is a term “used by aviation people (and others in higher risk situations) to describe a scenario that requires about 100 things to go right at once if you intend to walk away from it.” Ted’s right that the path to enterprise mobility has a lot of moving parts, but using a Mobile BPM platform for code-free mobile app development removes a lot of the complexity.

iPad Tempo 300x230 Mobile BPM and the Enterprise Goat Rodeo

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I couldn’t end this series on the primary themes discussed at the recent National Contract Management Association’s (NCMA) Government Contract Management Conference without including budget concerns. Budget cutbacks and their effects on the acquisition community were an inescapable topic throughout the event.

Appian’s BPM software platform and Acquisition Business Management (ABM) solution can’t increase a contracting organization’s budget or magically produce more 1102s. It can, however, help make existing resources more effective while allowing an organization to start small and incrementally tackle their acquisition system issues.

Capture3 300x89 Government Contract Management Conference: Key Issues in Federal Acquisition (Part 3)

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In continuing my review of the hot topics at the recent National Contract Management Association’s (NCMA) Government Contract Management Conference, next up is the issue of Data Quality & Standardization.

This has become a key initiative inside the DoD acquisition community.  It was very interesting to hear Nancy Gunderson’s (HHS) comments regarding the subject from the civilian agency side.  One of her comments was that we’re only as credible as our data, and that the demand for data and transparency will only increase.

Capture2 300x89 Government Contract Management Conference: Key Issues in Federal Acquisition (Part 2)

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