Business Process Management News

Business process management (BPM) is an emerging technology for improving the efficiency of business concerns. It includes the elements of workflow, document management, business rules, and enterprise application integration. The latest news in business process management is the diverse software packages available for this process. Many call centers are currently using business process management software to reduce abandon call rates and improve overall customer service.

According to analysts, business process management has become today's hotly contested software category. Almost all companies that design these software packages claim that these are highly beneficial for the business as well as the customers. However, business process management software packages can be quite expensive. A recent survey has revealed that a majority of companies dealing with the BPM projects have spend between $100,000 and $500,000. If this is the case, then by 2008 expenses with regard to business process management software is estimated to cross over one billion dollars.

BPM tools are designed to let company executives and end users take a process-centric approach to business projects and analyze the effectiveness of those company processes. An enterprise using BPM can follow strategic initiatives including mergers, consolidation, acquisitions etc., with full confidence. As more and more companies try to use business process management, the processes to streamline data capture and the underwriting process becomes easier.

Latest trends in business process management can be obtained through periodicals, journals, and websites. Business books are another fruitful source. You have many options to get updated business process management news through the various websites devoted to this. As business process management news usually highlights the views of many people, you will get detailed information about the pros and cons of the process. You also get awareness about the various approaches used by different persons while implementing BPM in their organizations.

Business Process Improvement - Drawing the Process Map

Drawing and documenting a business process helps you understand how it works; what activities constitute the majority of the work; and where handoffs occur between departments, suppliers, and customers.

The map you draw will provide the information required to allow you to estimate how long a process takes from start to finish and how much it costs. This data will help you apply improvement techniques, and it assists you in setting improvement targets. The map provides everyone involved in the work with a better understanding of how the business process works from beginning to end.

So how do you start? Drawing a process map is not difficult, even though it may seem so when you look at one that another person created. The symbols used are simple to learn and there is software available, like Microsoft Visio, to help you draw the map. The hardest part in many projects is identifying where to begin, and drawing the map is no different. How do you know where to start? What do you write inside the first activity box you draw on the map?

Creating a foundation, or blueprint, an important step in improvement work, will help you get started with this step because the blueprint includes the boundaries, or rather where the process starts and ends. Whatever you identified as the start in the blueprint is what you write inside the first box on the map. From that point on, you will find drawing the rest of the map easy. Just remember to include the output of each activity box and make sure that what you write on the output line leads to the input for the next activity.

In most cases, unless you own the process and work alone, you need other colleagues to help you draw the map because you probably do not know every step and every handoff involved. At the bare minimum, you should have resources available that can answer your questions as they arise.

Drawing the map is the third step to improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and adaptability of your business.

Copyright 2009 Susan Page

Microsoft Visio is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation