Interest in process automation, and the benefits it provides, is on the rise. I have been hearing from so many business people that for the first time, business process management seems to be hot.
Frankly, I am glad to be here. And you should be too.
Early in my career I worked on several projects that were basically process re-engineering projects under the guise of quality initiatives. In fact, I think it is safe to say that process improvement has hidden behind Quality for several decades. It has also hidden in other initiatives and product promises. Finally, it seems to be coming into it's own.
It's about time.
Software has been shoved down corporate America's throat with the promise that it will do us good. Like castor oil or grape flavored medicine, we grin and take it believing what we are told. In our hearts I think that we believed that something was wrong, but we couldn't put our finger on it. So, we would go through a multi-year or multi-month installation project, while continuing to do our business process tasks like we always had. For most of us, our companies kept running. For a few, things ground to a halt, and the software needed to be revised.
Leaving a bad taste in our mouth, we grew leery of software vendor promises and kept our processes to ourselves. In the wake of global competition, and the drive for efficiency, we are discovering that keeping our process cards close to the chest, and paper based, is hurting the bottom line. Slowly we are trusting in software again.
BPM software vendors still have far to go. But unlike the boom years of PDM and PLM, there is a real buzz around automating business processes and the benefits that can be realized from doing so. Thankfully, the benefits are not limited to a particular group like engineering or manufacturing. Automating business processes touches virtually everyone in the company.
For the most part, companies are still keeping their prize processes close to the chest. But little by little, they are venturing out and finding that the water is just fine.
Actually, this is good news for all of us.
Frankly, I am glad to be here. And you should be too.
Early in my career I worked on several projects that were basically process re-engineering projects under the guise of quality initiatives. In fact, I think it is safe to say that process improvement has hidden behind Quality for several decades. It has also hidden in other initiatives and product promises. Finally, it seems to be coming into it's own.
It's about time.
Software has been shoved down corporate America's throat with the promise that it will do us good. Like castor oil or grape flavored medicine, we grin and take it believing what we are told. In our hearts I think that we believed that something was wrong, but we couldn't put our finger on it. So, we would go through a multi-year or multi-month installation project, while continuing to do our business process tasks like we always had. For most of us, our companies kept running. For a few, things ground to a halt, and the software needed to be revised.
Leaving a bad taste in our mouth, we grew leery of software vendor promises and kept our processes to ourselves. In the wake of global competition, and the drive for efficiency, we are discovering that keeping our process cards close to the chest, and paper based, is hurting the bottom line. Slowly we are trusting in software again.
BPM software vendors still have far to go. But unlike the boom years of PDM and PLM, there is a real buzz around automating business processes and the benefits that can be realized from doing so. Thankfully, the benefits are not limited to a particular group like engineering or manufacturing. Automating business processes touches virtually everyone in the company.
For the most part, companies are still keeping their prize processes close to the chest. But little by little, they are venturing out and finding that the water is just fine.
Actually, this is good news for all of us.
Labels: BPM, business process management, efficiency, process, process optimization, workflow
posted by Ingenuus CEO at 2:27 PM
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