Thursday Review 31st December 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here are some of the links posted over on the Process Cafe Posterous this week¹

Things are a little light because traditionally the week between Christmas and new Year is a week of relaxation. As we ramp up into the New Year I expect things to improve a little.

Combining Business Process Management, Services Oriented Architectures and Lean Six Sigma to accelerate results « BPM BlueWorks Community Blog - A detailed article from IBM about integrating the disciplines and capabilities of BPM, SOA and Lean Six Sigma. I know this won't please those who frown on LSS as being outdated, but a lot of the other items make sense.

Using The Cloud For Business - What the cloud means to business process. - The man who built Cordys talks about 'the cloud' and what it means for business processes

Two BPMN Self-Tests « BPMS Watch - Bruce Silver compares and contrasts a BPMN self-test from academia with one he has created himself. Both are basically marketing options, but which one do you prefer?

Are the Power Vendors Making a Move in BPM? - Jim Sinur from Gartner notes a number of observations designed to indicate that Power Vendors are making a move into BPM. What are your thoughts on this?

Forrester Targets Business Process Professionals in 2010 - InSights - Looks like Forrester are starting to focus on business process professionals in the coming year. Well, I'm right here. Come talk to me.

Business processs success? Whose job? - CIOL Opinion- Vivek Kumar Sharma argues that dashboards are an ideal way to heal the divide between IT ownership and Business ownership of the business process. Personally I'm not convinced that  this is the right problem to be addressing. Business Process ownership is a business issue not IT. What do you think?

AIIM - BPM/Workflow with SharePoint and K2- Someone obviously likes working with K2 and Sharepoint. Interesting article from a US based guy who has done extensive work on implementing K2 pilots. Worth a read.  

¹ The Process Cafe Posterous is a place for linking to process related articles written by other people that don't merit a full post on the Process Cafe but are still worth your time reading.

---

Reminder: 'The Perfect Process Project Second Edition' is now available. Don't miss the chance to get this valuable insight into how to make business processes work for you.

Click this link and follow the instructions to get this book.

---

All information is Copyright (C) G Comerford

See related info below

The Unseen Face of Process projects - A summary of the series

This is the final post  in a series focused on process work. Particularly process work being carried out in projects. It links in closely to my eBook ‘The Perfect Process Project’, version 2 of which has been released. If, after reading these posts, you want to purchase a copy of the book please feel free to click over to the appropriate page and do the business.

Friday Review 25th December 2009

Merry Christmas to all my readers. Happy Holidays and Compliments of the season

Here are some of the links posted over on the Process Cafe Posterous this week¹ 
(Please note the next Friday Review will not appear on New Year's day, but it will be published on New Year's Eve instead.)

OMG Members Adopt Business Process Modeling Notation 2.0: BPMN Advances - A confirmation that the OMG BPMN 2.0 notation has been officially adopted. What does this mean to you and your daily work?

The 80/20 Rule for Business Processes : Razorleaf.com - I'm not sure I'm there with this concept. The Pareto rule makes sense for a lot of things, but is it appropriate for processes? Surely decision management and business rules should go a long way towards solving the 20% issue? Your thoughts?

Application Platform Strategies Blog: Bring another BPM platform into the shower? - An interesting article analysing the BPM/Lombardi purchase from the point of view of all the tools IBM has recently purchased in this space. Did you know, for example, that since 2002 IBM has purchased 7 former players in the BPM space, some competing on collaboration platforms? Is there a real strategy here?

BPM Conference – Vendors Showcase BPM and EA Capabilities « (BPM) – InSights - A report back from the BPM CON II conference showing four vendors different approaches to BPM.

BPM 2009: Top Ten Impacts - Gartner - Jim Sinur from the Gartner Blog network lists his top ten impacts of BPM in 2009. At first blush these appear to be a little 'motherhood and apple pie' to me. Does anyone have empirical or anecdotal evidence for any of these? (e.g. 'BPM is taking on larger scoped projects delivering bigger benefits than before'?)

I would be interested in your thoughts on this list

Adoption of BPM - Some analysis from AIIM Report - InSights - Some very interesting statistics and analysis here.

Business Process Professionals Crave Business/IT Partnership, Process Frameworks, Skills Development And Peer to Peer Networking - Forrester's focus for BPM in 2010. An interesting article worth 10 minutes of your time to read.
¹ The Process Cafe Posterous is a place for linking to process related articles written by other people that don't merit a full post on the Process Cafe but are still worth your time reading.

---

Reminder: 'The Perfect Process Project Second Edition' is now available. Don't miss the chance to get this valuable insight into how to make business processes work for you.

Click this link and follow the instructions to get this book.

---

All information is Copyright (C) G Comerford

See related info below

The Unseen Side of Process Projects - Part Six : Doing the wrong things

This is the next in a series of posts focused on process work - particularly process work being carried out in projects. It links in closely to my eBook ‘The Perfect Process Project’, version 2 of which has been released. If, after reading these posts, you want to purchase a copy of the book please feel free to click over to the appropriate page and do the business.

The Unseen side of Process Projects - Part Five : User involvement

This is the next in a series of posts focused on process work. Particularly process work being carried out in projects. It links in closely to my eBook ‘The Perfect Process Project’, version 2 of which has been released. If, after reading these posts, you want to purchase a copy of the book please feel free to click over to the appropriate page and do the business.

Friday Review 18th December 2009

Here are some of the links posted over on the Process Cafe Posterous this week¹

10 lessons we could take away from 2009 – and probably won’t – taraneon international blog - An extremely good article from Thomas Olbrich identifying 10 lessons we should learn.. but won't. Process focused and well written (and he gives The Process Cafe a mention as well!)

Announcing the December ‘09 Blueprint Update- Lombardi Blog - An update on the Lombardi Blueprint toolset that I reviewed back in March

Dynamic Business ProcessManagement (BPM) - White Paper - Computer Weekly - A white paper from IBM on Dynamic Business Process Management and how it can help companies improve their business

SharePoint 2010 Helps With Nagging Process Headaches - The Forrester Blog For Business Process & Applications Professionals - A few thoughts from Forrester on Sharepoint 2010 and how it will help/hinder business process work

Do Your Processes Give Your Customers Away? (The Process Ninja) - Craig, The Process Ninja, dishing out some juice on why companies loose customers through bad processes (or worse, bad employees).

IBM Buying Lombardi Software - peHUB - So IBM has shelled out an undisclosed sum of money to buy up Lombardi and it's blueprint/teamworks software? Wonder what that will do to the market? I'm sure we'll hear more about this over the coming months.

Oracle to buy Metastorm? - Mark McGregor's Process Performance Blog - Following the IBM purchase of Lombardi yesterday Mark McGregor has done some crystal ball gazing about where the next big consolidation move might come from in the industry, and his answer might surprise a few people.

Integrating Process and Rules – Part 1 « BPMS Watch - Bruce Silver gives us some truths about linking business process and business rules together in the first of a two part series.

¹ The Process Cafe Posterous is a place for linking to process related articles written by other people that don't merit a full post on the Process Cafe but are still worth your time reading.

---

Reminder: 'The Perfect Process Project Second Edition' is now available. Don't miss the chance to get this valuable insight into how to make business processes work for you.

Click this link and follow the instructions to get this book.

---

All information is Copyright (C) G Comerford

See related info below

The Unseen side of Process Projects - Part Four : Measures

This is the next in a series of posts focused on process work. Particularly process work being carried out in projects. It links in closely to my eBook ‘The Perfect Process Project’, version 2 of which has been released. If, after reading these posts, you want to purchase a copy of the book please feel free to click over to the appropriate page and do the business.

The Unseen Face of Process Projects - Part Three: Process Ownership

This is the next in a series of posts focused on process work. Particularly process work being carried out in projects. It links in closely to my eBook ‘The Perfect Process Project’, version 2 of which has been released. If, after reading these posts, you want to purchase a copy of the book please feel free to click over to the appropriate page and do the business.

If you are already a subscriber to The Process Cafe you will receive these update automatically in your RSS reader or inbox. If you don’t already subscribe you might wish to do so by clicking the RSS icon on the right of this post.

Friday Review 11th December 2009

Here are some of the links posted over on the Process Cafe Posterous this week¹

AIIM BPM Industry Watch 2009 Report – Released - The 2009 AIIM BPM industry watch report is now released. Register and download your copy from their website now. I'll be making reference to some of the figures in this in an article I'm writing for the new year. Stay tuned for more.

A history of manufacturing & ERP software - Timeline - This came across my desk recently and - whilst it isn't strictly a process related matter,  I wanted to send it out to you all to see if we can 'crowdsource' a more complete and definitive answer

Process Mash-up's - Love 'em or loath 'em - Why - when demonstrating a process 'application' - whether a mash-up or a BPMS developed application, is it always a document approval that is modeled?

Extending ARIS Business Simulator- A video on Simulation in the ARIS BPM toolset, produced by the company that wrote the original ARIS simulator software

Business Process Outsourcing Mistakes /  IT Outsourcing Magazine - 10 mistakes that companies doing BPO make. Some of these are excellent ('New process and old process co-exist together') but all are worth reading.

Survey Highlights Why Johnny Can't Manage a Business Process | Blogs | ITBusinessEdge.com - Focusing on the needs of the customer is the easiest way to manage your business process effectively.

The Evolution of Organizational Process - IT Management - An interesting piece on process management and the challenge of managing these organisationally (A topic I will be covering in my series 'The Unseen Side of Process Projects')

Questetra BPM Suite, Workflow for Google Apps - A multi-part walk though focused on how to define and map your business processe. It's a little "Process 101" but well written and accurate. Not too sure about the quality of the graphics and layout though. You decide.

¹ The Process Cafe Posterous is a place for linking to process related articles written by other people that don't merit a full post on the Process Cafe

---

Continuing Monday :

A  series of posts on The Unseen Side of the Process Project. Don't miss out on this new set of articles identifying key process project failures and how to deal with them. Make sure you are subscribed either through RSS or email. Click the appropriate icon on the right of the screen to subscribe.

---

All information is Copyright (C) G Comerford

The Unseen Face of Process Projects - Part Two: Managing project change

This is the next in a series of posts focused on process work. Particularly process work being carried out in projects. It links in closely to my eBook ‘The Perfect Process Project’, version 2 of which has been released. If, after reading these posts, you want to purchase a copy of the book please feel free to click over to the appropriate page and do the business.

The Unseen Face of Process Projects - Part One: An Introduction

Background :
This is the first in a series of posts focused on process work, particularly process work being carried out in projects. It links in closely to my eBook ‘The Perfect Process Project’, version 2 of which has been released. If, after reading these posts, you want to purchase a copy of the book please feel free to click over to the appropriate page and do the business.

Over the next four weeks I am going to be publishing posts which relate to each of the five entries listed below. I’ll be discussing the type of problems that occur along with how to solve them or what to do to address these issues. If you are already a subscriber to The Process Cafe you will receive these update automatically in your RSS reader or inbox. If you don’t already subscribe you might wish to do so by clicking the RSS icon on the right of this post.

Hot topics this month at The Process Cafe (November)

After checking my visitor logs recently I wanted to let you know what were the 5 most visited pages over the last 30 days (i.e during November) here on the Process Cafe

1. Review:  Lombardi's Blueprint software
2. Your criteria for choosing a BPM tool
3. What's the difference between ERP and BPM?
4. Pay me now, Pay me more later
5. Why are the 5 'Hot' questions hot?

Be sure also to check out the categories listed on the left and see posts related to my thoughts on BPM, case studies, business rules and the marketplace

---

Starting Monday :

A new series of posts on The Unseen Side of the Process Project. Don't miss out on this new set of articles identifying key process project failures and how to deal with them. Make sure you are subscribed either through RSS or email. Click the appropriate icon on the right of the screen to subscribe.

---

All information is Copyright (C) G Comerford

See related info below

Friday review 4th December 2009

Here are some of the links posted over on the Process Cafe Posterous this week

Who Needs Processes - Watch the Ninja on BNet (The Process Ninja) - Watch Craig Reid - 'The Process Ninja' - discussing processes in the small business as well as 'Outside-In' thinking.


Process Management Brings Significant Savings to Small Businesses- Short article on eVision Services' attempt to automate small business processes using Metastorm's Provision tools

Case Management isn’t BPM « Andrew One Degree’s Blog - Andrew Smith at his One Degree Blog discussing why some companies are disappointed with their BPM tool because what they've actually been sold is a Case Management tool. Is there a difference? If so, what? Be sure to read the comments as well.

Process POV: Who Has the Truth?- A short but interesting discussion on the concept of 'Process Point of View': How you perceive the process depends on your point of view.

Should You Double Your Bet on BPM? - Jim Sinur at Gartner talks about the state of BPM and whether investing in a BPM solution or project is the right way to spend your money in 2010

The New Gartner EMEA Analyst - Gartner Blog Network- Gartner's new EMEA BPM Analyst. Anyone working in this space in Europe, the Middle East and Africa will probably come across John and his writings at some point from Feb 1st 2010

Approaches to Business Process Management (BPM) - Some interesting thoughts about the different types of BPM that have been identified. Worth a read to see the thinking behind the classification.

BPM: don’t be the last one without it - A quick post from the Metastorm Because Process Matters blog on the business ROI of BPM projects. As far as I am concerned, anything that can encourage the uptake of BPM is a good thing

---

Starting Monday :

A new series of posts on The Unseen Side of the Process Project. Don't miss out on this new set of articles identifying key process project failures and how to deal with them. Make sure you are subscribed either through RSS or email. Click the appropriate icon on the right of the screen to subscribe.

---

All information is Copyright (C) G Comerford

See related info below

The Perfect Process Project v2: Just released

I am pleased to announce the release of "The Perfect Process Project v2". This is an update to my process eBook released last year.

Anybody who has purchased the original 'Perfect Process Project' eBook and registered for updates will have automatically received the latest version of this book last week. For anyone who hasn't got a version of this book feel free to head over to the eBook page and get yourself a copy.


What are the changes?
The changes are quite minor. There have been a few grammar and typographical updates. But there is a new section on 'What the movie 'Office Space' can teach us about following process' as well as some interesting observations about the role of change management in making process projects successful.

This eBook will take you through the main problems with process type projects and help you understand real solutions to the key problems.

For those of you who bought V1, thank you for purchasing the book. If you wish to purchase a further copy of this book please do so by clicking this link to go to 'The Perfect Process Project' purchase page. Better still pass this link onto a friend or colleague who might benefit from it.

---

All information is Copyright (C) G Comerford