What is a Business Process?

One of the main advantages of automated business processes is the minimization of manual tasks, which are usually time-consuming and error-prone. With automation, repetitive activities can be performed seamlessly and consistently, freeing up valuable time for employees to focus on more strategic and value-added tasks. This leads to increased productivity and employee satisfaction. said Michael Donaghey, Director of North American Operations at CMW Lab.

Basic Steps of Business Process Implementation

Business Process Examples

In CMW Lab we believe that with the right BPM solution, you can not only streamline your existing processes based on the pre-built frames but also unlock new opportunities for growth and differentiation. It’s all about putting the power of app creation in your hands and enabling you to shape your business operations in a way that drives your success. The right software gives you the unlimited freedom of process creativity. said Michael Donaghey, Director of North American Operations at CMW Lab.

What are Some of the Terms Related to the Business Process?

Business Process Automation Explained

Visual workflow builder for non-coding business process automation

Why Automate Your Business Processes?

• Business Process Automation brings about Increasing Value Per Work – When you automate your business the workload on the employees will decrease and they will be able to channel their strength and creativity to other essential assignments and tasks. This will, in turn, enhance their focus and productivity.
• Business Process Automation leads to Higher Employee Satisfaction – There are some business processes that are extremely complicated and if you leave them for the employees to handle, it may not only put them in the middle of chaos, but also demotivate them. But on the contrary after implementing automated workflows the employees will concentrate on really business-critical tasks.
• Business Process Automation Minimizes Human Error – As long as humans beings are involved in a process, the error is inevitable, and some errors can be colossal at times. Automating your business will help eliminate every form of human error, and thus giving you a more accurate result.

Other Benefits of Business Process Automation Include:

• Streamlined communication
• Cost minimization
• Improved workflows
• Increased flexibility
• Better customer satisfaction
• Consistent maintenance of a work standard
• Increased product/service quality
• Increased administrative control.

6 Amazing Business Processes and Automation Ideas

1. Hiring process

2. Employee analytics

3. Employee help desk support

4. Task or Project Management

5. Social Media Management

6. Auditing

BPM FAQ

Q1: What is the significance of process management and automation for businesses?

A1: Automation and process management are essential for businesses because they increase effectiveness, production, and customer happiness. Organizations may improve workflows, automate monotonous procedures, and streamline operations while lowering errors and more efficiently allocating resources.

Q2: How can businesses identify which processes to automate?

A2: Processes must first be assessed for volume, complexity, and influence on company objectives. Automation is typically an excellent option for repetitive, rule-based, and time-consuming processes. Processes having a high potential for cost savings or mistake reduction should also be taken into account.

Q3: What are the key benefits of process automation?

A3: Process automation offers several benefits, including increased efficiency, improved accuracy, reduced costs, and faster turnaround times. It also enables real-time monitoring and analytics, allowing businesses to identify bottlenecks and make data-driven decisions for process optimization.

Q4: Are there any challenges or risks associated with process automation?

A4: Process automation has a number of advantages, including higher accuracy, quicker turnaround times, lower costs, and increased productivity. Additionally, it offers real-time monitoring and analytics, enabling companies to locate bottlenecks and take data-driven actions to improve processes.

Q5: How can businesses ensure successful process management and automation?

A5: The management and automation of processes must be approached holistically. Prior to automation, it is crucial to perform a complete analysis and optimization of the processes, involving stakeholders and subject matter experts. Success depends on effective communication, change management, and continual oversight. Utilizing the knowledge of automation consultants or specialists can also assist businesses in overcoming obstacles and maximizing the advantages of automation.

Conclusion

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All businesses have processes. These are step-by-step operations involved with a given task or aspect of your business. Managing these processes effectively is vital and you don’t have to do it by hand. There is a ton of high-quality business management software, such as we offer at CMW Lab, that can really streamline your business process management. There are a ton of benefits to this software, which we will discuss below.

What is Business Process Management?

A business process refers to the step-by-step tasks that are part and parcel of completing the said activity. Most often, this process will have underlying documentation to ensure that the process is performed the same way, every time. Business Process Management (BPM) refers to the management of all business processes for a given company.

Basically, a business process refers to the steps, rules, and conditions by which a process is initiated and completed. A solid business process management plan is part and parcel of running a successful business.

You need solid, well-documented plans that will help you towards your ultimate business goals. This is not a process you do once and then never go back to it. This is a process that will be regularly updated and changed as inefficiencies are noticed or changes and improvements are made.

There are numerous types of business processes, but let’s take a look at three of the most common types of BPM. Not all of these categorizations are common, but they will show you the varied ways you can use this software to better understand and manage a process. It can really help you drill down to what exactly your business or a given process may need to be successful and efficient.

Document-Oriented BPM

Some types of BPM are fully automated, but others, due to the nature of the process, cannot be. A document-oriented BPM is one that, as the name implies, is used in processes that are largely or entirely based on paper or digital documentation.

For a large number of businesses, this is the primary mode of BPM, but some have a combination of multiple types. With a document-oriented BPM, the goal is to provide accurate and current documentation to relevant parties.

Automating aspects of this process will reduce the amount of correspondence required to complete an approval process. With workflow management software, you can create a centralized workspace where all the current and relevant documents are stored. This makes it easy for relevant parties to access said data and ensure that everyone is working from the same, up-to-date information.

Human-oriented BPM

Again, as the name implies, this is a type of business process management suited to tasks and processes that are completed largely or entirely by people. Since human input is required, this is an area of BPM that is less suited to automation than the others we describe here.

The bulk of this type of BPM relates to decision-making. While this cannot be automated, notifications and collection of information that plays a role in these processes can be. The idea behind a human-oriented BPM is to make it as user-friendly as possible.

For example, using software that has common features like drag and drop and a visual interface makes it more accessible than code-oriented software. Choosing software like this allows more people in the company to use and benefit from this type of software, without the need for a lot of technical know-how.

These processes directly impact your workforce, how they perceive their jobs, their job satisfaction, and their productivity. Given this, it is easy to see why we should give a lot of effort to creating solid human-oriented BPM.

Integration-oriented BPM

This type of BPM focuses on streamlining the flow of information and data between networks, people, and different software tools. For businesses with more complex operations that have a combination of human- and data-oriented processes, this is highly important.

Using integration and automation tools will reduce the amount of data that must be entered by hand. This not only saves time, but it also reduces the likelihood of human error. This can create a more productive and efficient workforce.

In Closing

Business process management (BPM) is a vital part of a business’s operations. BPM refers to managing the wide range of business processes your organization undertakes. Business processes are detailed plans about how to initiate, approve, and complete a given task. Business process management software tools can help you create better BPM plans, regardless of the type of management you need. Most commonly, businesses will need document-oriented, human-oriented, or integration-oriented BPM plans, or they may need a combination of all three. Software tools can really streamline this process and help you to have a more robust BPM plan.

The post 3 Types of Business Process Management appeared first on CMW Lab Blog.

What is BPM?

Business process management (BPM) is a set of methods that are used to model, measure, analyze, and perhaps, even automate various processes within a given business. In essence, it refers to the methods people use to develop, monitor, and manage different processes.

This can be done in many ways and can be rigidly structured or highly variable. While this doesn’t have to include the implementation of new technologies, it most often does in the form of automation software or machine learning and AI-based software that can help improve efficiency and reduce errors or redundancy.

The basic idea is to have a proper model of a given business process in order to streamline and automate the process so as to relieve employees of repetitive data entry tasks and to maximize the efficiency by which the business operates.

There is a business process lifecycle that includes designing a given process, modeling potential outcomes, executing the implementation of said process, monitoring the success or failure of said process, and optimizing the process when new information is provided that shows where weaknesses may lie.

All BPM is designed to do is to help improve the usefulness and applicability of processes and to ensure that they run smoothly, efficiently, and provide useful metrics and data that can be used to improve processes.

BPMS (BPM software): What’s Inside?

As we noted above, if you utilize automation technologies or other software, you can design a detailed, step-by-step list of every step within a given process. By mapping out the various steps involved in managing and implementing a process, you are likely to see areas where the process can be improved, find areas that need to have a troubleshooting session, and find ways to make the process more efficient.

When using BPM software, there are four steps that you will take and each of these is important. These steps are modeling, automating, managing, and optimizing a process. It will be helpful for us to take a look at each of these steps in turn.

Modeling

This is one of the most important steps in the business practice management field. This is where a process is broken down into individual steps. This will involve making assumptions about the use of time or resources, which can then be tried out and improved if necessary.

Once a process has been fully mapped, you will have a better idea of what type of resources and time will need to be dedicated to a process. Having a detailed breakdown of the process can also show you ways in which you can better streamline the process and can also show you where potential issues might come into play.

Automating

Repetitive tasks are not much fun for employees and they leave too much room open for human error. With the powerful new software (BPA), processes that were managed manually can be automated. This frees up human resources for other projects and tasks that require more sophisticated and complex thinking.

We also know that a human being is more prone to mistakes than a machine and a machine can do rote tasks like repetitive data entry far faster than a human can. There are tons of ways that you can easily implement automation functions into your business processes.

Say, for example, you have a form on your website that is used to collect various pieces of customer data. This process can easily be automated using workflow automation software and can provide advanced metrics in addition to saving employees tons of time that would otherwise be spent on repetitive data entry or data collection.

Management

Once a process is implemented, this doesn’t mean the work is done. There are always factors that escaped notice in modeling. Sometimes issues aren’t found until a process goes live and actual customers or employees are interacting with the new software.

You can gain really important insights and understanding during the management process. The data can be used for strategic planning and setting business goals, it can be used to find ways to better design a process, and it can also help you see what processes are effective and which need work.

It is important to understand that no matter how well your initial model was created, there are going to be factors that weren’t considered or that don’t come up until a process is live and has been implemented. This is just part of the process of developing better and more efficient processes for the future.

This part of BPM is incredibly important as it gives you access to invaluable data that can be used in planning and setting goals. It can also show you how effective or ineffective a given process is and this will give you the opportunity to improve the process and provide a better experience for all parties involved.

Optimization

You get a lot of information and data during the management and monitoring part of BPM and this information is incredibly valuable for shaping future decisions and coming up with ways to better optimize processes that are already in use.

Looking at the data provided through monitoring and management, as well as taking into account any issues or problems that have been found in a given process will give you the tools and information you need to make necessary changes that will improve the efficiency and value of the process.

Sometimes we will find redundancies, errors, or holes in our process that are bogging things down. At this stage in BPM, you can take the information gleaned during the other steps in the process to improve the process and troubleshoot problem areas for improvement as well.

Optimization is an ongoing process that really never ends. Things change, problems come up, we find inefficiencies, and our job during this part of the BPM process is to take all the information we are given and turn that into actionable and useful tips or ideas on how to improve part of all of a given business process.

What are the benefits of BPM software?

Using BPM software, tools, or strategies confers many benefits to a company. These tools can help the company better reach its business goals and create more value in the processes they utilize. The key goal of BPM is to create efficient, useful, and workable processes that provide value for the customer and that make management and optimization a priority.

With BPM, you can focus on the lifecycle of a business process and better see how you can use technology and other strategies to improve the efficiency and value of the process for all parties involved.

These tools allow for flexibility, which is important for a future with unknown technologies and that is ever-changing. Today’s business management strategies must be flexible and nimble, able to be adapted to the changing needs of customers and businesses, as well as the use of new technologies.

Along with the invaluable data and future scaling that is made possible by solid BPM strategies, other benefits include:

• The integration of third-party technologies into the web of already used technologies, creating more options, choices, and different management controls that can be scaled as needed.

• Reduce the amount of money that is spent on redundant data entry and other processes that could be automated at a far less expensive cost. Cost reduction can also help to facilitate growth and make it possible to reach strategic planning goals.

• BPM gives employees in various departments access to and a voice in the development of processes and how to fix any problems that may arise. Having more minds involved means you are more likely to get positive contributions and enhance the business value of the entire process.

• Using solid BPM also allows you to be flexible in the face of changes. Laws, rules, norms, and regulations are always changing and so a business process that is static is one that will quickly become obsolete. With flexible BPM, you can easily update your processes in light of new rules, laws, or regulations, allowing you to stay in compliance without having to completely rewrite all your processes.

BPM Software features above basic

When deciding which BPM software suite of tools will work best for you, you will need to take into account the features that are offered within the software suite. BPM and automation tools come in a lot of shapes and sizes, with different features and levels of functionality. These software suites can be expensive, so you want to make sure you are getting a product that provides you with the tools you need before you expend the money. Let’s take a look at some of the most important features in BPM software that you should look for when choosing the best choice for your business.

One of the biggest benefits of quality BPM software is the ability to use said software without having a background in IT or a detailed understanding of coding and other backend skills. The idea is that people from various departments can utilize these tools and bring their unique knowledge and understanding of the development of processes. Unless you plan on making IT the exclusive party that will manage BPM, having a software suite that can be utilized, even by those without a ton of technical skill, is a great idea.

This is a bit of a continuance of the above principle. The easier a piece of software is to use, the more people can use it and the more effective it is likely to be. Choosing software that has an easy-to-use interface and utilizes tools like drag and drop features simplifies the process and doesn’t create a steep learning curve for the ability to use it.

More and more people work remotely or on the road and for this reason, you may need software that can be easily accessed, regardless of where you are. Cloud-based software solutions can be a great way to implement BPM and allow employees access to the tools, even if they aren’t physically in the building.

Perhaps as important as the ability to automate and streamline processes is the data and metrics you get with many of these suites of software. Enhanced data analytics can make compliance reporting and basic reporting far easier than ever before. The information can also show you where inefficiencies or problems may lie, or what processes are working well, and how you can take what you learned from creating one process and apply it to others.

Most companies are already using a range of software tools for other parts of their business operation. The implementation of BPM software should not mean that all other software is now obsolete. There are a lot of great BPM tools that can easily be integrated into third-party systems, allowing you to essentially add on tools without having to learn or implement an entirely new operating structure.

Some processes will be pretty straightforward and cut and dry whereas others will require flexibility and cannot be rigidly structured. This is where adaptive case management features can be very helpful as they provide enhanced features that give you a range of solutions that can help you better manage unique or non-traditional processes.

Today’s business is inundated with more information and data than ever before and is expected to process, analyze, and manage that data as soon as it arrives. With individual people managing data, this is next to impossible and if you can’t work fast, you are likely to be left behind. This is why this is such an important part of any quality BPM software package.

You need to choose software that can handle a large volume of data and can manage it in an effective and efficient way so that it is accessible when and where it is needed. This data can be an invaluable resource for improving business processes and troubleshooting, but it ceases to be useful if it is in a jumbled and unorganized mess.

Since security is a vital part of any business process, and many people may need access to the software for a variety of reasons, you want to choose software that has good security protocols. A lot of software allows you to provide access based on roles, giving only advanced access to those employees who need it.

This can help ensure we are following data security protocols and will keep unnecessary parties away from private or sensitive data.

Chances are, to get the most out of BPM software, you are going to need parties from a number of different departments to work together to create a solid business process. The ability to collaborate within the software will reduce the problems with communication that are entailed when having to move from platform to platform to perform a task or ask a question.

While much of what you use BPM software for will be more detailed processes, some aspects cannot really be called processes but they are important nonetheless. These smaller projects may still need to be adapted and streamlined and having a suite of software tools that can also help with the management of separate, one-time projects, is also incredibly helpful.

BPM Software evaluation checklist

When choosing the BPM software that will work best for your company and its individual needs, it is helpful to ask yourself a number of questions. These will help you narrow down your options and choose the suite of software that will fit your budget and needs.

• What goals are you trying to achieve by implementing this software?
• How much money are you approved to spend on a suite of software tools?
• Are you looking for on-site or cloud-based BPM solutions?
• Do you want a fully paid version, a free version, software with free trials, or an open-sourced, fully free suite of tools?
• Have you considered all the costs associated with the software such as hosting or monthly fees?
• Are your customers experiencing difficulty with any aspect of your business operation and can these tools solve the said problem?
• How long does it take the software to pay for itself, are there other customers that use the software and have had success?
• What level of technological aptitude do the people who will be tasked with using the software have?
• Can the software be scaled?
• Will you need to train employees on how to use the software and how much effort will this take?
• Have you looked at customer reviews, especially with an eye towards customer support after purchase?

Comindware Tracker difference

Comindware Tracker provides a wide range of tools that will help improve efficiency and allow departments to work more effectively with one another to develop, monitor, and improve a given business process. This software suite provides a variety of tools that will help automate processes, make interconnectedness far more manageable, and improve the efficiency of all processes.

The software allows for:

• setting up workflows without the need for IT help or advanced technological know-how
• easy changes to processes, workflows, and forms
• Outlook-style interface for ease of use
• advanced and unified data and document management solutions
• enhanced analytics for reporting and optimizing workflows and processes
• your choice between on-site or cloud-based deployment solutions

This powerful suite of tools makes it easier than ever before to improve workflow management, automate various processes, and provide for better BPM so as to improve efficiency, provide flexibility, and reduce overhead.

In Conclusion

Business process management (BPM) is an important concept that should be implemented into any company, large or small. BPM refers to the methods or strategies that are used to model, analyze, manage, and adapt a given business process for enhanced efficiency and utility.

Each process a business undertakes involves a series of steps that are required to implement the said process. BPM involves detailing these steps and finding ways to help better streamline these processes, to automate them, and analyze changes to help continue to improve a given process.

In today’s business environment, being efficient and flexible are part and parcel of success. This is why it can be so valuable to implement BPM tools and strategies that will give you better metrics for analysis, improve the efficiency of business processes, and make it easier to comply with ever-changing laws and regulations with far more ease than would otherwise be possible.

BPM software can provide a powerful range of tools that allows a business to optimize, monitor, and adapt a business process based on key metrics and user input. This software comes in many shapes and sizes, with different features, levels of sophistication, and more.

Investing in BPM software is a great way to improve the efficiency of your business and to better prepare you for an increasingly technology-reliant future. It can be helpful to choose software that can be used by the average employee, that features an intuitive interface that has drag and drop features, and other tools that allow those without a ton of IT skill to participate in using the software.

You want to make sure that the software provides high-quality analytics that can provide you with data that will guide actionable changes and allow you to better reach your strategic goals.

More sophisticated software will also have tools that are meant for more flexible, less rigid processes, that cannot be defined in a step-by-step manner, with all elements of the process entailed. This can be really helpful for the future, where flexibility and the ability to alter plans or processes on the fly is so important.

Buying BPM software is an investment, so you want to make sure that you know what it is, what features you are looking for, and what aspects of this technology are most important to you when trying to choose the software that will work best for you. Take a look at your business processes, the people who will be involved in implementing and managing said processes, and this will help guide you towards the right software for the specific needs of your business.

The post Complete Basics of Business Process Management (BPM) Software appeared first on CMW Lab Blog.

We all know how important customization is. We need tools that will fit our company’s individualized needs and that can be changed or updated to our needs whenever necessary. This is highly important, especially since today’s business processes are more complicated than ever before.

With this emphasis on customization and personalization, it isn’t surprising that the custom application market is larger today than it ever has been before.

Web Application Software Pros and Cons

Custom-built applications are a fast-growing marketplace as a solution to the need for personalized applications. Forrester Research found that in 2013, $542 billion was spent on the development of custom software and applications, showing just how large this business sector is.

The benefit of this is evident. The software or application can be built to your specific needs with your business in mind. It is software or an application that is made especially for what you need it for.

But have you ever fully estimated all the costs associated with developing a custom-built application, including a software engineer hiring cost? No doubts you will see: custom application or software development is incredibly expensive, and it doesn’t usually stop at the development of the software. Companies will also need support services that can only be offered by the person who developed your software or application. This greatly adds to the cost of using custom software or applications.

The costs associated with maintaining, optimizing, and providing support for custom applications or software continues to increase at an alarming rate from year to year and there is no expectation of this changing any time soon.

Are BPM Platforms A Better Solution?

Business process management (BPM) or automation software is an alternative to custom software and applications. Offerings such as Comindware’s business process automation software can be used in tandem with other tools as a means to better improve and streamline functions.

But what of customization? Isn’t that why so many people use custom development rather than a sophisticated BPM platform? Well, the answer to this question is a bit complicated. It must be noted that a BPM system will never be as perfectly suited for your business as a custom application, but many BPM platforms provide a range of ways to customize and personalize the system to meet the needs of many businesses and is a much more affordable solution.

Most BPM software is flexible enough that it allows customization within the framework that is suitable for most businesses. As time has gone on, BPM platforms have been improved and become more useful, even in complicated or complex business processes.

Much new BPM software is designed to be flexible and allow you to integrate these services with existing technology and systems. When you purchase a BPM platform, you usually get access to comprehensive customer service that can help you troubleshoot, develop, and learn to best use this software to meet your business’s individualized needs.

With a custom application or software suite, there may be issues with integration with technologies or systems already in use, which can increase the cost of these customized services. Whereas, with BPM software, it is designed to be used in tandem with other technologies and suites of software so integration into your already existing system will not be as difficult with BPM as it is with custom software or applications.

In Closing

There are, of course, certain instances where customized software or applications, regardless of cost, are going to be the best solution for a business need. But the growing reliance on custom technologies in recent years does not represent a sudden need for super-specific types of software, but rather a desire for customization and the ability to adapt software or applications to the needs of the company.

Custom software is not the only way to get this customization and it is often a far more expensive form of technology than is necessary. Modern BPM platforms are complex, comprehensive systems that can easily integrate with already existing software and applications and have the ability to be customized to the needs of most businesses. BPM platforms are not only more affordable, but they are also more flexible and adaptive than custom software is as it is already designed for use with a range of other technologies.

In our judgment, BPM platforms make more sense for most businesses than do custom applications or software suites. BPM provides for customization, while also placing an emphasis on the ability to integrate with other software or applications. It is a more cost-effective tool that has greater versatility and flexibility than custom software or applications.

The post Web Application Development Software vs. BPM Platform appeared first on CMW Lab Blog.

Business process transformation provides businesses with the ability to reformulate important business processes, reducing the amount of time it takes to get a product or service to market. It provides a unique way to look at business functions, technology, and how to better manage workflows.

What is the Purpose of Business Process Transformation?

The purpose of business process transformation is to find new and better ways to provide a product or service through the streamlining of processes and the development of new offerings, new uses of technology, and improving the efficiency of important business processes.

Digitizing and automating more elements of your business is one of the most common ways that a business will use tools to reach business process transformation processes to enhance its overall operations and functioning.

The aim of business process transformation is not only to help find ways to streamline operations and improve efficiency but to stay innovative and enhance your ability to grow and thrive in an ever-changing business world.

Another key element of business process transformation is how it helps keep you up-to-date and compliant with the latest rules and regulations required by the state, federal, or local governments. Since compliance reporting is such an important element of business operations, the ability to stay on top of these changing regulations is incredibly important.

The two main reasons for business process transformation are the implementation of new business innovations or to optimize the processes that are already in use. You can use this transformation to help your strategies stay in line with strategic goals. It can also make it easier to make the switch to a more fully digitized system, which is incredibly important for modern business.

You can use innovation as your key focus for the future and using business transformation, you can help ensure that you are always on the cutting-edge. Innovation, in today’s cutthroat business environment, is more than smart, it is vital to success.

Business processes often go out of data as new technologies are developed to help deal with basic processes or tasks. Failure to adopt solutions that can improve the operational efficiency of your business is a horrible mistake. Business process transformation can help you modernize your processes, which can reduce costs and wasted time.

Implementing Business Process Transformation

To best implement and reap the benefits of business process transformation, you need to have a clear understanding of processes that are in need of change or updating. Are you currently using automation or workflow technologies to help improve operations? If not, this is one of the first places to look to streamline operations.

You will need to set forward clear goals that you wish to reach with your transformation. Are you looking to fully digitize your operations? Automate important functions? If so, make sure these are clearly stated goals.

It is also important that you have a solid way of gathering data and other metrics. This will help you see how well you are progressing towards your goals and can also indicate if there are areas within a given process that need a closer look.

If, for example, part of your transformation process involves the development and implementation of new user services, you will want to test these processes before making them go live. This will help reduce the chance of problems once the system is live and you may be able to find areas that need correction.

Software like Comindware Tracker provides a low-code platform that allows businesses to easily automate and digitize a wide range of operations. For example, this software can be used to manage the order-to-shipment process, Service Desk management, and to create document approval workflows, all of which will streamline operations.

In Closing

Business process transformation allows you to streamline and create new and innovative ways to offer a product or service that improves the efficiency of processes while also keeping up with the changing times. Most often, this transformation is used to help streamline and automate functions of the business as a means to become a more efficient and modern operation. It is also often used as a model for innovation, allowing businesses to enhance and optimize various aspects of their business functioning for a better experience for their customers as well as more efficient backend operations. Software like Comindware’s workflow management platform can be one of the tools that help you reach your transformation goals.

The post All You Need to Know About Business Process Transformation appeared first on CMW Lab Blog.

Not only do you want to find any potential problems with a new process, but you also want to try it out before you make it live on your system. This can lead to a host of different issues and cause untold problems along the way. This is why you want to use business process simulation to test out any potential new processes or changes to an existing process before you make it go live in your system.

Business Process Simulation Explained

With business process simulation, you can test new processes or changes to existing processes in a virtual environment before you make it live in your actual system. This gives you the ability to troubleshoot any potential problems and ensure all kinks are worked out before you make it go live where it could raise issues with other aspects of the system.

The simulation gives you a realistic environment to test out new processes without the risk that it will alter or change facets of your existing system. This means that you can try major changes without the risk of causing tons of unforeseen problems with your live system that is up and running.

Using software like Comindware Tracker allows you to create processes and assign them to yourself. This allows you to simulate how a process or fix might work without the risk of causing problems with live processes. You can use the software to test each step along the way and help troubleshoot any problem while also improving the efficiency of the process. While this isn’t a full-on simulation, it does provide a means for testing ideas without causing issues with live processes.

With a stable virtual environment, you can run potential processes, make changes, and streamline the functionality before it ever goes on your live system. This will give you a ton of information as to how to improve a process and test it again before actually implementing it and can even give you the ability to try some dramatic changes just to see what happens.

Too often, we need or want to make changes in a given process but are concerned that it may cause issues within the already existing system that we hadn’t accounted for. This is another great use for business process simulation.

Patches and Fixes

Business process simulation is also a great way to try out patches or fixes on a process that is too critical to stopping, that way you make sure any and all kinks are worked out before you apply it to the important process. The software will give you metrics and analytics that are very helpful in creating better processes.

There are tons of options out there, some that require coding knowledge, and others that rely on the drag-and-drop interface. What you choose depends on the skill level of the people tasked with using said software. You will want to consider the metrics and information you need to evaluate and figure out what changes or additions you want to make to an existing process or create an entirely new process.

Benefits of Using a Simulation to Test

When you run the simulation, you can see how well the process runs and any potential issues that might arise in the process. If there are issues, you can change or debug them in the virtual environment, then retest them to see if they have been fixed. It is incredibly valuable to be able to fix any bugs or issues in a process before it goes live.

Many people on your team may have ideas on how to improve a given process, but it doesn’t make sense to try these changes in a live environment and so good suggestions may fall by the wayside. With business process simulation software, you can test out suggestions in a safe and secure environment to see what happens. With this flexibility, you can tap into more minds within your team and find innovative solutions that may not have been possible when dealing with a purely live environment.

With this software, designing new processes is not only less likely to result in error and issue when the process goes live, but it also makes the entire process cheaper. Changes to a live system that cause critical issues can result in the system itself going down for a given period of time, which means delays and possibly business loss. It is also far easier to test potential changes or improvements to a process without the fear that it will cause issues within the larger live system as a result.

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Business Process Management Explained

Every task a business undergoes in the process of providing a product or service to its customers is a process that has many different steps involved in its completion. Just think about a typical business and imagine all the different tasks the employees must take part in for the company to operate and function. Each task is broken down into constituent parts and together, these form a business process.

Depending on the size and nature of your company, there could be just a few or countless processes that are involved. To help improve efficiency and find ways to do a certain task better, management creates business process documentation where the steps in each task are laid out, step-by-step, and can be evaluated for efficiency or simply better ways of achieving the same thing.

It is easy to see both how important this part of business operations is as well as how much time it can take. Not to mention, anything that involves human management will be open to human error, which can reduce efficiency and cause a lot of issues.

This is why so many companies, large and small, are moving to automated business process management tools. These are powerful tools that make it easier to document, track, manage, and change any part of the process to streamline operations and make the business run more smoothly.

Key Features to Look For

There are tons of automation tools out there and they aren’t all created equal. When considering automation software for business process management, there are some key features you will want the software to have so you can maximize the benefit it provides to the business. Software suites such as those offered by Comindware will include these important features.

Automation

Though there are tons of software suites designed to help streamline business process management, not all of them automate these functions. Automation will help dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to create and analyze these processes, find places they can be optimized, and then re-evaluate them. Any tool you consider should have an automation feature.

Easy Interface

Drag-and-drop builders use a visual interface for business process modeling. This makes it easier for all parties involved to use, as the learning curve isn’t nearly as steep. It is structured intuitively and is open to use for far more people than just those who are tech-savvy. Most people are familiar with software that utilizes the drag-and-drop function and will be far easier to train new employees on as no technical skill is necessary.

Rules-based Workflow

Business process management entails creating a detailed breakdown of a specific business task into its constituent parts. This will be accompanied by data collection to manage the effectiveness of a process and determine any areas where it can be improved.

With automation software that utilizes rules-based workflows, the software will move through the various steps logically based on rules that will be laid down by the various users. This will help determine how a process should be undertaken and can guide a process.

Workflow Monitoring

Since you are looking at efficiency and ways to improve it, you need some way to track the specific task. You want software that allows you to easily monitor progress on a given process so you can easily see how well you are sticking to deadlines if there are any issues in the defined process and more.

Cloud Technology

By now, most people at least have a basic understanding of the cloud. It is an off-site means of storage that provides remote access from a range of different places and protects it from any potential issues with the business site itself. Meaning, if something happens at your business, say a leak, you don’t have to worry that the machine that has the software installed may be damaged. All information is stored offsite, which increases its security and accessibility.

This is not the entire story. Feel free to check a full list of business process/ workflow management features and trends in this blog.

Conclusion

Business process management is an incredibly important part of business management in general as it helps you understand how the processes involved in the business are undertaken as well as showing you areas that could be improved. Enhanced efficiency is part and parcel of a successful business and with powerful automation software, this aspect of a business is easier to manage than ever before. Information can be logically defined, monitored, and securely protected offsite to ensure the safety of your data and information. Don’t trust, but check your own how workflow automation software can benefit your business.

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The definitions of each step are highly important in developing an automation process. It helps to break down tasks into individual steps. This is a vital first step towards automation. It will entail people along every step of the process to be involved to create an automated process that takes into account everything that is entailed in a particular business process. The process will only be as good as the instructions given to the software.

By documenting and carefully planning each step in a process, users can monitor and track data along the way to ensure that the process is working as desired. These business processes can be shared amongst those who need it in a range of different formats, allowing for increased transparency as well.

Next comes the process of automation. This is where employees can save a ton of valuable time and thus, save the company money. Automation functions can reduce the need for employees to perform basic daily tasks like data entry and starting or stopping processes. This automation can often be utilized with minimal human input with the use of workflow automation software, further reducing the need for people to manage basic daily functions.

Analytics tools provided in the automation software suites are also incredibly valuable. These tools provide invaluable data about the business and various aspects of performance. This allows you to see how well processes are working. You can look at data from the process overall and even drill down to data about specific aspects of the process. This not only helps with transparency but it can help you document historical trends that may be useful at some point in the future.

The metrics and analytics tools are vital to ensuring that automated processes are running smoothly and providing the needed result. Users need the ability to monitor the progress of and usefulness of various KPIs. This is how you determine which aspects have value and which should be revisited or eliminated.

The SMART process

This is a time-honored means of evaluating and measuring business performance and giving users the means to find ways of improvement to aspects of these processes. SMART is an acronym that refers to the following: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Let’s take a look at each of these briefly in turn.

• Specific: This means that any metrics or data points used in a process need to be very specific and detailed and directly related to the main goals or needs of the business.
• Measurable: any goals or metrics that are important to the business process must be measurable. This means that you need to ensure that metrics are kept that are accurate and can provide meaningful information for strategic planning.
• Attainable: goals that are set should be ones that can realistically be attained. Setting goals that are out-of-reach sets one up for failure and don’t help to further the business.
• Relevant: the data and statistics that you capture need to be relevant to the process at hand. What kind of metrics do you need to help ensure the success of the goal at hand?
• Time-bound: Any metrics captured need to be time-sensitive to ensure that the data being provided is useful and can be acted upon promptly.

In summary

There is a lot of value in the use of BPMS, most of which we barely touched on in this brief article. Business process management software, like Comindware Tracker, allows users to easily automate, track, and adjust various business processes. With proper planning, good definitions and process flow, and the use of available metrics, businesses can dramatically improve the efficiency of a wide range of business functions, reducing the need for human data input, thus also reducing incidences of human error, which often cost time and money. Using the SMART process to develop and evaluate processes can help to ensure that you get the most out of this powerful software and see the myriad of benefits it can provide for your business. It is worth a try!

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1. Focus on organizing outcomes and avoid reshuffling tasks.
2. Identify all the processes in a company, define outcomes and priority of processes in order to redesign their urgency.
3. Keep information production and processing in a single workflow.
4. Treat geographically distributed resources as though they were based in a single location.
5. Link parallel workflows instead of integrating outcomes of separate processes.
6. Put the decision point into the workflow and ensure control.
7. Make sure that information is captured once during the business process.

Why try business process reengineering?

• Cost and cycle time reduction – It does this by getting rid of unproductive activities and redundant human labor. When a business reorganizes by teams, it decreases the importance of having management layers. It also accelerates information flows and gets rid of errors and job repetitions.
• Promotes quality – This happens because BPR decreases disintegration of work. Instead, it creates a clearer picture of who does what. This increases accountability among workers. Also, it makes performance appraisal easier by basing it on quick feedback.
• Ensures customer satisfaction – If customers’ needs are fulfilled quickly, they are likely to feel satisfied.

How does business process reengineering work?

• Focusing your company values on customers’ needs once again.
• Designing your core processes again with business process reengineering tools.
• Organize a business into cross-functional teams. This will create continuous accountability for each process.
• Think through your standard personnel and organizational issues once again.
• Enhance business process in the entire organization.

The implementation procedure

1. Transparent and measurable objectives – This is the first step in the process of implementing business process engineering. Goals can be anything, including cost reduction, quality improvement, and enhancing efficiency and so on. The important thing is that they have to align with the business vision and mission.
2. Evaluation of business processes – Now the goals are in place. The next task is to identify and study all processes. This will reveal processes that need an instant If there are processes that clash with your business mission and interfere with its productivity, change them.
3. Analyze clashing processes – These processes are not necessarily bad. If studied thoroughly, chances are that they can be improved. So, find out whether these processes are time-consuming, offers compromised output or are giving the competitor an upper hand.
4. IT and technology capabilities – It is difficult to implement a usable BPR strategy without an efficiently running IT system with a set of key features for BPR. IT system can help you track all factors that might affect the changes you are trying to make.
5. Create a new prototype and test it – A prototype shows you exactly how the final product would look like. Once it is put to the test, the engineers know whether it is worth implementing it fully. Sometimes the project implementation will fail because of ignoring the results of prototype testing. Ensure that the IT system you choose allows to design workflow prototype and roll it out quickly, without IT staff engagement.

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6. Managing the big change created – Towards the end of the implementation process, there will be radical changes. To help employees cope, it’s vital to create updated documentation, governance models, organizational structures and new charts of authority and accountability. This is to eliminate confusion and to boost smooth transitioning into the new value system. To avoid failure business process reengineering methodology has to be great. The procedure is a high-risk one and too expensive to repeat. Having the support of the whole management team and employees is important.

How to avoid failure?

Conclusion

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Understanding BPM

Introducing Low Code Interfaces

Marrying the Two

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