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BPM success requires broad and narrow focuses

Ben Farrell
April 30, 2013

Words like holistic, panacea and turnkey are popular among businesses. The reason is simple - these terms make a solution sound like it solves all of a company's problems. However, moving beyond buzzwords and looking at their real meaning, holistic and turnkey, at least, are realistic terms to use to identify some technologies or management platforms. Panacea, on the other hand, is often hyperbole. What these bits of business jargon emphasize, however, is the value of solutions that can take a broad approach to corporate problems and solve them in a manageable way. Business process management software can be a holistic solution. While this is true, focusing exclusively on the broad implications of BPM is limiting. It is important to understand that holistic strategies, though important for BPM, are not the only component of success. Instead, companies have to seriously consider the both thebroad and precise benefits of BPM investments to maximize the value of their spending.

A recent Knowledge Management World report sums this issue up well by pointing out that BPM solutions have the potential to impact every information system in a business while also being applied to specific projects through specialized BPM applications used for precise functions.

Looking at broad uses for BPM

Approaching BPM investments from a bird's-eye view can show how companies can use the technology to create clarity in the often chaotic environment of contemporary corporate operations. In many organizations, enterprise social, cloud, mobile and traditional work operations are used across organizational and departmental silos. As a result, managers can have a process environment that flows in countless directions between a variety of user types that have to interact with one another. BPM software can provide the connecting fabric that makes these workflows visible, documentable and easier to track.

Pinpointing specific BPM needs

At the same time, individual projects, such as a new technology deployment that disrupts processes, oftenrequire attention from a BPM perspective. Being able to identify these use cases and deploy specific BPM application can play a major role in helping companies streamline operations, maximize the value of projects and help workers deal with changes without too much trouble.

BPM solutions can be applied in a variety of ways. This creates an environment in which organizations create value through both holistic and precise applications of the technology. Finding success in this area often means looking beyond the buzzwords and getting involved with processes from multiple angles. A clear vision of process goals can play an instrumental role in guiding BPM projects.

Ben Farrell

Director of Corporate Communications

Ben Farrell