One of the continuing issues that must be resolved to deliver an ability to effectively leverage BPM and BPMS-enabled BPM is related to formal governance. Today, BPM is being used for larger and larger projects and BPMS supported BPM is taking on greater challenges. Many projects are beginning to look at work at a complete process level and recognize that most processes involve work in multiple business units.

This recognition is moving solution development beyond the traditional boundaries of IT/client involvement and opening it to a required collaboration between multiple groups. Likewise, the move to consider customer experience in solutions is adding an extra dimension of design and solution construction to many efforts. Then there is the growing need in many industries to deal with compliance. All of which is increasing complexity, involvement, and a need for controlled collaboration.

 

This type of control is fairly new and requires an ability to orchestrate the involvement of the multiple groups that are involved in the creation and deployment of any improvement that includes application support – in other words, almost every solution. This orchestration includes leveraging the functions supported in licensed application products, such as ERPs, integrated insurance packages, or in the case of healthcare, large Health Information Systems. However, it must be remembered that while these packaged products will help save time and cost, they do not provide a competitive advantage and are important mainly because they can reduce common operational tasks in business workflow. 

 

The BPM CoE should thus be positioned in a company to focus on improving competitive capabilities, with revenue enhancement potential/the customer taking center stage in any new design. Once these goals are met in the design, the designs should then be analyzed for cost reduction opportunities. To control this changing design focus and the involvement of people from multiple business areas and differing ideas on how change should be approached, the BPM CoE will itself need to evolve and develop an ability to do things they may not offer today. The BPM CoE will thus need to identify both current and needed capabilities and then evaluate their level of competency in each of these areas. 

 

The CoE’s managers will need the ability to build collaborative groups with membership as needed and then leverage methodologies and standards to control everyone’s involvement. This has a significant impact on the role of BPM and the CoE in the company. It also has a significant impact on the type of solutions that are delivered.

 

However, given that every company is at a different place in this capability evolution and maturity, it is necessary to start any move to expand the types and levels of service offered by defining the vision that management has for the way BPM will be used. This will give you a target to use in determining how the BPM CoE should evolve and increase its value to the company.