Is BPM a Dirty Word?

 It has become increasingly popular these days to bash BPM and, in particular, to propose that BPM is dead. Whilst not wishing to sit in my glass house and throw stones after my Lean Six Sigma obituary post I don't think that BPM is dead. It does, however have a major image problem.

Part of the problem is that for want of a better reason we've given it a name - BPM. What do you mean? I hear you cry...well BPM isn't really about BPM is it? It's about what BPM achieves that is the important thing. Managing processes for the sake of managing processes isn't what it's about - it's all about making businesses make more money at the end of the day (unless you are public sector or charity of course). But making money requires looking after customers and looking after costs which is where our old friend BPM comes in.

The problem with a three letter acronym comes with the association that every three letter acronym requires an IT solution and a six figure software package. BPM or whatever we decide to call it next doesn't have to be so complicated that we have to spend millions on software solutions. Don't get me wrong I am not knocking IT completely, just saying that there are simpler and more flexible ways to get started without shelling out your hard earned company dollars. Start simple, prove the concepts, get some quick wins on the table THEN sell the six figure software solution to your company!

So whilst BPM may be starting to become a dirty word to some, it's really an irrelevant discussion as BPM to all extents and purposes is just about doing business and doing it well. The names will change but essentially the overall concepts will remain the same.

So what I'd like to suggest is that while the process academics waste their time arguing over what to call BPM next you should be quietly getting those post-it notes, brown paper and highlighters out. It's time to get back to basics and prove what we're doing can be both simple and effective.

Comments

[Scott]

Good post, and I agree. All this death of BPM stuff sounds crazy to me. What, are business processes going away? is the need to understand them, execute them, and manage them going away? surely not. Some particular technical approach to BPM may come and go, but the business will still need process and management...

[Thomas J. Olbrich]

Craig,
at the very least, BPM has become irrelevant to management. Small wonder, when you get to hear things like 'We're the BPM experts - we do BPEL', or 'Stay on top of your business: automate it'. The messages the BPM(S) industry has put across to customers over the years have done everything except deliver an understanding of what BPM is (or might be).
Lackmus test for any vendor: Ask them to explain how they would manage processes and how their tool ties into customers business strategy: We do BPEL...oh sorry, we'll need to think
about that one again.
Thomas

[Gary C]

I think the challenge that we process practitioners have is to make the business understand the rationale behind what BPM is doing without getting bogged down in the detail of what it is.

At the end of the day it's about understanding what you are doing, how you are doing it and how you can be doing it better. Whether this is with a multi-million dollar software tool or a set of Post-It notes and brown paper.

BPM is a capability that needs to be nourished and encouraged in each and every organisation.

Good post, Craig

[A. Samarin]

Of course, BPM is a dirty word in its current (mis-)use - because BPM is a vendor-driven market - "The most important success factor of a BPM project is a selection of the right BPM tool".

Agreeing with the post and previous comments - BPM should be returned to business and must become a customer-driven market. I think, it may be done in the following sequence:
1. BPM is discipline to use processes to manage the business (a reference BPM model is very important)
2. BPM is a system (hence architecture is very important) to manage the full lifecycle of processes within an enterprise
3. A BPM tool should be selected on the basis of that architecture.

Thanks,
AS

[Chris Taylor]

Very good post and comments. Eyes glaze over at the vocabulary used to describe what should be about outcomes. "Knowledge worker" has to be one of my favorites. I've gone so far to change my approach that I rebranded my blog to take out the term 'BPM' and to cut down on my use of the work 'process'. I'll let you know how it goes :-).

[The Process Ninja]

Thanks Chris - much appreciated. I don't think process is a dirty word yet but it's in danger of becoming so. It's all about outcomes as you say. I still use it a lot but more for SEO purposes!!!