BPM Resources

BPM: An Introduction

BPM (Business Process Management) aims to deliver real business benefits by focusing on the desired results of the organisation aligned with the interests of its stakeholders. In this section, we describe and explain key BPM concepts and methodologies and outline how BPM software has evolved and continues to do so in response to BPM needs.

PNMsoft offers full support for Sequence Kinetics^TM BPM Project Lifecycle phases: requirements analysis, design, development, commissioning.

What is BPM? What is a Workflow? The Difference between Functions and Processes Process Modelling BPM and Technology: The Evolution of BPM Software

What is BPM?

BPM refers to the planning, organising and control activities pe formed by an organisation to ensure that the meeting of process objectives is successful and not left to chance.

A process comprises the tasks, resources (including information) and behaviours that produce a result of value to an organisation’s stakeholders.

Process objectives align with a company’s mission or purpose to meet the needs of stakeholders:

Customers want products and services that meet requirements and create satisfaction.
Shareholders/owners want efficient and well managed operations in the interests of cost reduction and profit maximisation
Employees want satisfying work.
Society expects organisations to comply with statutory and regulatory requirements.

All of these needs can be turned into measurable process objectives which need to be managed for success.

The management of business processes covers their design, development, implementation, monitoring, maintenance and improvement.

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) focuses on the analysis and design of processes within an organization.

Business Process Intelligence (BPI) focuses on providing real-time monitoring of business processes and activities as they are executed within computer systems, and in assisting in optimizing these activities and processes by identifying and detecting situations that correspond to interruptions and bottlenecks.

Business Process Improvement (BPI) focuses on the optimisation of processes.

What is a Workflow?

Workflows are at the core of processes.

A workflow is a sequence of tasks where product or information is passed from one participant to another for action, according to a set of procedural rules.

Organisations use workflows to manage the performance of tasks.

The Difference between Functions and Processes

A functional approach to organisational goals focuses on who does what and not around why things are done or the desired results.

A process approach starts with the organisation’s objectives and identifies the activities required to achieve them. Functions are secondary.

Business processes cross functional boundaries; one or more functions or departments may be involved in a result producing process.

Process Modelling

Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is a graphical representation for specifying business processes in a business process model.

Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), short for Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL) is an OASIS[1] standard executable language for specifying actions within business processes with Web Services. Processes in Business Process Execution Language export and import information by using Web Services interface exclusively.

BPM and Technology: The Evolution of BPM Software

In the 1990s BPM technology focused on workflow automation and the exchange of information between heterogeneous systems.

In 2005, Microsoft introduced Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) which enabled the creation of process applications using the.NET framework.

BPM software has evolved from the provision of workflow automation in the domain of programmers and experts to process development in the hands of business users, powerful integration capabilities and major support for process optimisation and control requirements to drive continual improvement.