Business Process Management (BPM) is a set of activities performed by organizations to improve or streamline their business processes. Since software tools are generally used to assist in these activities, these software tools are known as business process management systems.

– Business Process Management Systems

Business Process Management has been around for some time. However, due to the introduction of software tools, there has been a renewed interest in the body of knowledge related to BPM. These software tools make designing and implementing Business Process Management easier, cheaper, and more efficient. There are three categories of business process management activities: design, execution, and monitoring.

1. Design

BPM design involves capturing existing processes in a business environment. These processes must be modeled in such a way that they can be simulated and tested. Modeling these processes generally involves graphical representation methods that document the processes and store this data in repositories.

2. Execution

Traditionally, to implement automation in a business organization, developers would have to be hired to develop applications that automate certain processes. Unfortunately, the scope of these projects was often too narrow. The result is that automation is not well integrated into the business environment, as automation only deals with a particular department or function. BPMS advocates a method that drives the development of applications that span the entire business process. Its goal is to fully automate the business environment and only stop to query the user when human intervention is absolutely necessary.

3. Process monitoring

Process monitoring involves observing and noting the performance of individual processes to make assessment and intervention easier for the business organization. From the information gathered here, the leaders of the business organization can make further decisions about the direction that the business process takes. The data from this activity can be used to generate different types of statistics that are necessary when making critical decisions. Business Process Management is an iterative process.

4. The future

Although BPM strives to automate a company’s mechanical processes, there has been interest in developing BPMs that move into the realm of human judgment. Some of the processes involved in a business environment are not included in automation because some kind of human decision is needed. With the increasing complexity of information systems, especially studies on decision support systems and artificial intelligence, some human decision-making processes can be automated. This is the future goal of BPM, to further automate processes that were previously not automated.

– The ideals of business process management

In 1920, Frederick Taylor outlined three waves of business ideals in process management. These waves represented the ways of thinking that business process engineers had.

Wave 1. Processes etched in stone

They are insured in the commercial policy manuals. The manual is the basis of the process, and the organization has to comply with it.

Wave 2. Processes changed from time to time

Using a one-time activity, changes can be made. This means that the company would have to build its processes around a fixed system, since change can only happen from time to time and at great cost.

Wave 3. Processes on the fly

The primary consideration in such systems is the flexibility to change. Companies that adhere to this goal create business environments that can adapt to their changing needs. This configuration also allows the company to constantly adjust its operations. This wave is not about business process reengineering. It’s about maintaining an environment that is constantly on the alert, ready to adapt to circumstances and maximize your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses.

Change is the only constant, they say. In this modern age, this could not be true. A company’s survival may well depend on its ability to constantly modify its processes according to the whims of change. With the growing body of knowledge on business process management, the path to a sustainable market advantage based on a flexible and streamlined business organization can only become clearer.