Columns and Articles are short opinion pieces written by BPTrends Contributors, presenting a particular point of view or perspective on some aspect of business process change. All Columns and Articles are listed in the order in which they were initially posted to this site, beginning with the most recent posting.

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• Processes in Practice: Process in the Digital Revolution
  Rob Davis - May 07, 2013
  Rob Davis exhorts process practitioners to embrace the digital revolution and the cultural changes it has brought about. He opines that media-driven social collaboration is becoming a key part of business. In this Column, Rob examines four main technology forces that are already having an impact on process and will have a major effect in the future—Social—Cloud—Mobile—Big Data. How’s your social collaboration I.Q.?
  

• Business Architecture: Business Architecture Scenarios
  Mike Rosen - May 07, 2013
  When do you select business architecture as the approach to your process problems? Mike Rosen cites a list of some common scenarios where business architecture is a proven approach and provides two examples from his experience. In his solution narrative, he uses a Business Architecture Framework to illustrate the process. Do you have some process problems where implementing such an approach would be useful?
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Four Very Useful Constructs for Concept Models—Developing a Structured Business Vocabulary
  Ron Ross - May 07, 2013
  Ron Ross asks, “Got functional silos across your business processes?” In this Column, Ron proposes the concept model as the remedy for the Tower of Babel environment this creates. He presents four prefabricated elements of structure—ones that will enable you to build a complete and robust business vocabulary in your organization.
  

• Are You Prepared for Adaptive Case Management and Better Customer Engagement?
  Dermot McCauley - May 07, 2013
  With the increasing number of new technology devices and many channels of communication, organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to find and retain customers. To effectively respond to this new model of customer engagement, Dermot McCauley asserts that organizations must master the unpredictable as well as the routine in customer transactions. He argues that adopting an adaptive case management platform will help to achieve that goal.
  

• Why Introduce a BPMS with Analytic Functionality?
  Enrique Medina - May 07, 2013
  In this Article, Enrique Medina examines the benefits of implementing a BPMS with analytic functionality in your Continuous Improvement program. He focuses on how to think about the data you can use to measure how the processes are working, giving you the ability to determine when additional improvements are required.
  

• Extreme Competition: Integrity—the Core Core Competency in the Age of Digital Transparency
  Peter Fingar - April 02, 2013
  This month, Peter Fingar urges managers to adopt the self-discipline of the Samurai. The purpose of the exercise is to build and maintain integrity, which in turn will build trust—a key component in compelling employees to “opt-in” and voluntarily make a commitment to the communities they work in. Peter aptly summarizes the principles of Samurai leadership as presented in Samurai Business: The Way of the Warrior for Professionals in the Digital Century by Joris Merks, a Research Manager for Google who also happens to be a jiu-jitsu champion
  

• Practitioner’s Perspective: What’s in, what’s out?—Thoughts on Scoping Models
  Alec Sharp - April 02, 2013
  Alec Sharp presents a model for process scoping which separates initial process scoping from subsequent process analysis. He provides a detailed description of the model and how it helps to avoid an organization’s undertaking a process improvement project on what is actually a “process fragment.” Alec urges practitioners to overcome their skepticism and give it a try. It’s worked well for him and others at a wide range of global enterprises.
  

• Process Solutions: Social Media Marketing Process Automation
  Tom Bellinson - April 02, 2013
  In case you haven’t noticed, the marketing landscape has changed dramatically in the past decade, and strategies for accommodating the changes include the use of social media to reach customers and prospects. Tom Bellinson provides an insightful examination of the components of the new landscape and some of the tools available to optimize opportunities in the era of internet marketing.
  

• Practical Process: 90/10
  Roger Tregear - April 02, 2013
  Roger Tregear exhorts organizations and their teams with interest in process-based management to put aside their tools. Business Process Management is a mind game, not “tool time.” Roger believes that the achievement of effective, sustained process-based management is 90% mindset and 10% toolset and maintains that high levels of BPM maturity can only be achieved and maintained if the correct conceptual framework is in play. Read his well-articulated argument and let him know what you think.
  

• How Managers Can Make a Success of Business Process Management
  Bruno Vanhecke - April 02, 2013
  Of course all BPM projects need buy-in from management, but once they’ve bought in, managers need to make a major commitment to continuous engagement in the process. In this Article, Bruno Vanhecke provides what could reasonably be described as a manual for managers responsible for initiating and overseeing process projects.
  

• Inside Successful Enterprises: A System for Management
  Joseph Francis - April 02, 2013
  Inside Successful Enterprises: A System for Management Joe Francis, Executive Director of the Supply Chain Council (SCC), often encounters organizations that focus on standardization of their supply chain processes, but what about standardization of their management processes? In this Article, Joe provides a look at a type of management process that SCC will be rolling out over the coming year. It specifically addresses a way to link all the components of business planning, strategy, network, process, and resources together in a comprehensive system
  

• Performance Improvement: Seeing a Process—the Power of Visual Analysis
  Chris Ramias - March 05, 2013
  This month Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins have invited Chris Ramias, a colleague at Performance Design Labs to describe a technique he calls “visual analysis.” This technique goes beyond simply identifying the problem in a process to actually determining its root cause. Chris identifies a list of issues you may encounter when reviewing a process model and provides visual diagrams to analyze each one.
  

• An Approach to Managing Landscape Architecture
  Sameer Paradkar - March 05, 2013
  Transformations in organizations resulting from mergers, acquisitions or the overhaul of processes often bring a radical change to the entire business landscape and, by association, the entire IT landscape. In this Article, Sameer Paradkar and Jay Kulkami, propose an application classification that enables pinpointing areas where there is need for corrective action or potential for optimization. Read their Article to learn how you can use their approach to develop and appraise solutions that will lead to a successful transformation.
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education—the BPMVE Wunderkammer
  Jan Recker - March 05, 2013
  In this Column, Jan Recker and a team of colleagues and students at Queensland University of Technology offer insight into what can only be described as a thrilling area of BPM research, BPM in Virtual Environments, BPMVE. It’s a work-in-progress that you don’t want to miss.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Big-P Process is Dead—Long Live Configuration Agility!
  Ron Ross - March 05, 2013
  Consumer demand for product/service customization along with an accelerating rate of change mean that business activity no longer occurs in an orderly fashion. Exceptions are now the rule. Thus, Ron Ross claims the procedural paradigm does not scale any longer. He proposes, instead, an approach more suitable for today’s business architecture, which he calls “configuration agility.” Ron clearly and concisely defines this approach in his Column. What do you think of his approach?
  

• Human Processes: Celtic Collaboration
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - March 05, 2013
  Keith Harrison-Broninski focuses on the challenges faced by organizations attempting to coordinate long-term complex activities of workers from multiple locations. Such work can’t be successfully done using case or process management tools. Instead, Keith suggests that this work is most effectively carried out by “virtual teams,” and he presents a method for doing so. You’ll have to read his Column to learn just how Celtic Collaboration relates to this topic
  

• Maximizing the Value of Enterprise Process Modeling
  Craig Hoggett - March 05, 2013
  Craig Hoggett and Purav Shah address a question frequently discussed on BPTrends - why do so many BPM change initiatives fail to deliver on their promises. The authors believe that there are some key components that contribute to a successful process governance approach, which, if understood in advance, can help businesses extract maximum value from BPM initiatives. They describe these key components in detail in their Article.
  

• Business Architecture: Are Capabilities Architecture?
  Mike Rosen - February 05, 2013
  In his Column this month, Mike Rosen examines various perspectives on what is a business architecture and what are capabilities to determine if those two elements can be aligned. Read his Column to see if you agree with his conclusion, and join the discussion on the BPTrends Linked-in site.
  

• How can we agree on Service Level Agreements?
  Kirk Gould - February 05, 2013
  We all recognize Gold, Silver and Bronze as Olympic Medal designations, but they also represent types of Service Level Agreements. An organization’s Service Level Agreement determines the percentage of Service uptime and Service recovery time in the event of an interruption. The path to arriving at the gold, silver, or bronze level can be complicated, and in this Article, Kirk Gould attempts to demystify the process.
  

• Process Solutions: The Role of the Intranet Portal in Process Management
  Tom Bellinson - February 05, 2013
  A good intranet portal provides tools for managing process related tasks that fall through the cracks in an ERP system. It can also support the management of other types of tasks. Read Tom Bellinson’s Column for an examination of the tools and resources necessary to develop an intranet portal that will prove beneficial to your organization
  

• Extreme Competition: A 21st Century Business Lexicon
  Peter Fingar - February 05, 2013
  You may think you know the language of business, but, do you really? Since we are still using vocabulary that emerged out of the industrial revolution, Peter Fingar thinks it’s high time for an update. Here he provides a lexicon for the 21st century, from Affective Computing through Workforce Mobility. He hopes readers will have some terms to add and urges you to weigh in on the BPTrends Linkedin site.
  

• Business Architecture: A Key to Leading the Development of Business Capabilities
  Brent Sabean - February 05, 2013
  Brent Sabean believes that to become more agile, an enterprise needs to establish or improve its business capability. To do so, an enterprise requires a way to describe its capabilities, a way to describe how the capabilities are enabled, and a management process that ensures effective dialogue among the organization’s leaders and managers.in making decisions that affect business capability. Brent proposes that business architecture is the language that fulfills all three requirements.
  

• Performance Architecture: The Hidden Value of Service Recovery
  Roger Addison - February 05, 2013
  In their years of experience as Performance Architects, Roger Addison and Carol Haig know that without a solid service recovery process in place, organizations stand to lose customers, employees, reputation, and market share. How they respond to mistakes is what separates service leaders from other organizations. In their Column this month, they provide a useful list of components necessary for designing a responsive service recovery process.
  

• Maturity Assessment for Enterprise Architecture
  Gopala Krishna Behara - January 08, 2013
  Many organizations know that they need to improve their Business and IT alignment in order to successfully manage change, but don’t know how. Such organizations typically either spend very little on process improvement or spend a lot on a number of parallel and unfocused efforts. The first step in aligning Business and IT is to complete a BPM Maturity Assessment. In this Article, Gopala Krishna Behara and Prasad Palli, members of the Enterprise Architecture Division of Wipro, describe the steps towards assessing the Maturity of an Enterprise.
  

• Processes in Practice: Process for the People or Just the Experts
  Rob Davis - January 08, 2013
  Rob Davis believes, as most BPM practitioners do, that an organization’s processes should be a valuable business asset. And, to become a valuable asset, Rob asserts that processes need to be designed as a collaborative system that is developed by business process professionals and engages all those involved in the process. In this Column he describes the components of a such a collaborative system.
  

• Human Processes: Productivity Frustration
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - January 08, 2013
  According to recent research, between 28 and 53 percent of employees feel their work conditions prevent them from being as productive as they could be, and another 20% consider themselves “frustrated.” In this Column, Keith Harrison-Broninski takes a brief look at what it means to be “frustrated” about productivity and proposes a simple way to overcome the problem - a way that is available to any organization.
  

• Down Under: What do BPM and Lego have in Common?
  John Jeston - January 08, 2013
  Responding to the need for increased organizational agility, some BPMS vendors have incorporated new functionality into their work management systems that enable knowledge workers to create their own unique systems by assembling a series of “lego blocks’ (mini processes). John Jeston provides a closer look at the benefits this approach to work management delivers.
  

• ) Practical Process: Insignificant and Exceptional
  Roger Tregear - January 08, 2013
  Roger Tregear urges readers not to be satisfied with mundane and incremental process improvements. Taking a lesson from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success, he suggests we examine instances of extraordinary performance and use them to create a new norm. To do so, Roger proposes applying the concept of Positive Deviance to process improvement projects and provides an outline for doing so.
  

• Supercharge Project Performance: Improve Project Capabilities, Processes and Culture using Metrics
  Russ Cheesman - January 08, 2013
  Russ Cheesman and Martin Klubeck advise against investment in expensive and complicated metric software. Instead, they propose a new concept called Trend Sculpting, which, they say, successfully uses measurement and trending project indicators to make immediate corrections as well corrections for potentially undesirable outcomes in the future. Read their Article for details.
  

• BPM and Lean, Part 3—Do, Check and Act
  Cheryl Walker - December 04, 2012
  When we left Pete’s Pizza Palace, Pete Jr. and his staff had identified the problems in the preparation and delivery processes and had agreed on the plan to solve them. Now, Pete Jr. and the staff need to implement the plan making certain that the solutions do not create negative impacts downstream. In this Article, Christine Dicken and Cheryl Walker take us through the final episode in this successful Lean implementation.
  

• Process Management—10 Questions that can Change Everything
  Andrew Spanyi - December 04, 2012
  Vincent Pierce and Andrew Spanyi contend that there are common themes that underpin most high performing companies. They have organized those common themes into an integrated Process Management Framework that provides the foundation for answering the 10 questions outlined in the Article.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Business Rules, Procedural Languages, and Enterprise Architecture—Basic Principles
  Ron Ross - December 04, 2012
  In his Column this month, Ron Ross explains the insights offered by the Business Rules Manifesto relating to procedural languages and enterprise architecture. He concludes his Column by stating that IT professionals should not be the ones responsible for determining whether the business logic “works.” Read his Column to understand the rationale behind his conclusion.
  

• Performance Architecture: Care and Feeding of a High Performance Team
  Roger Addison - December 04, 2012
  Observing a high-performing team in action led Roger Addison and Carol Haig to an investigation of how such teams are created and sustained. They observed that high-performing teams thrive under the conditions established to nurture their creativity and initiative. In their Column this month, they provide a road map for team leaders to achieve success in selecting, motivating, and sustaining a successful team.
  

• Extreme Competition: Agent-Oriented BPM (aoBPM) and a Confession
  Peter Fingar - December 04, 2012
  Peter Fingar contends that intelligent agents are poised to transform the way we model the enterprise and build information systems. In the first part of this two-part Column, he explores the what and why of this advanced technology and the business and technical benefits and implications. In part two, he explores how to apply the paradigm to business and explains the relationship with BPM technology. His confession offers a surprise ending to this visionary Column.
  

• Performance Improvement: Who Does What?—Role Responsibility Charting in Improvement Efforts
  Alan Ramias - December 04, 2012
  Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins have been using the role-responsibility matrix (RRM) for decades in their work as consultants for Performance Design Labs. Over the years, they’ve developed a number of refinements to the standard tool and its use, which they describe and illustrate in their Column. They have included a simple chart for analysis and design work which they have found makes improvement work more thorough and effective.
  

• Business Architecture: Processes, Value Streams and Capabilities
  Mike Rosen - December 04, 2012
  Aware that there is often much confusion about the differences between processes, value streams and capabilities, Mike Rosen sets about to eliminate the confusion. To graphically illustrate his perspective on the differences, he provides a comparison chart describing distinctive characteristics of these elements in terms of their purpose, focus and use in business operations. See if you agree.
  

• Process Solutions: Goin’ Mobile
  Tom Bellinson - November 06, 2012
  In an environment where business people are increasingly mobile and are relying on smartphones and tablets as their computing engines, it is up to the decision makers to ensure that the tools used in the field are not just warmed over versions of the desktop tools used back at the office. This increased mobility should be a major factor in the decision to purchase a BPMS system. Tom Bellinson examines some of the “apps” currently available and discusses some potential security issues and the challenges of distraction in this mobile environment.
  

• Human Processes: On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - November 06, 2012
  Using Peter Steiner’s famous cartoon as a context for his argument, Keith Harrison-Broninski turns his attention to Identity Management (IM), which remains - for many organizations – as bewildering as ever. In this Column, Keith discusses one limitation of all current approaches to IM. He argues that typical IM implementations do not do enough to support the primary occupation of most knowledge workers - collaboration with colleagues—and he explains why this is an important problem. Read Keith’s Column to learn how to supplement any IM system to provide support for the knowledge workers.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective: What’s so special about Your Process?
  Alec Sharp - November 06, 2012
  In his third Column in a series on corporate culture, Alec Sharp looks at a framework for assessing the “Strategic Discipline” or “Differentiator” of an enterprise. Alec asks, is it “good” to be consistent and efficient, or is it “good” to be innovative with your products and services? The answer to this question is critical to the success of your organization, and Alec offers a means of determining the best answer in the context of your corporate culture
  

• BPM and Lean, Part 2—More Planning and Change Management
  Cheryl Walker - November 06, 2012
  In the second Article in a series of three on BPM and Lean, Christine Dicken and Cheryl Walker continue their saga of Pete Jr. and his struggles to eliminate the many problems in his pizza business. In Part 1, with the help of a team of Lean experts, he identified the source of the problems. In this installment, the team works with Pete to analyze possible solutions and to select the best plan for implementation.
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education—Modelling Processes and the Question of Impact
  Jan Recker - November 06, 2012
  In this Column, Jan Recker has teamed up with a colleague, Eike Bernhard, a doctoral student at Queensland University of Technology, who is studying the impact of process modelling on organizational practices. In this Column, they hope to shed light on an age-old question of Business Process Management - What is the value proposition of process modelling? Their findings are based on discussions within several organizations where they conducted research on how process modelling impacted their work. We want to know if their findings support your experiences with process modelling and hope you will share your responses
  

• A Comparison of Requirement Analysis Methods
  Mark Nelson - November 06, 2012
  
  

• Practical Process: Measuring Processes
  Roger Tregear - November 06, 2012
  Frequently, in these pages, our authors have confronted the fact that too many BPM initiatives do not deliver on promises made, and even if the promises are delivered, there is often no solid evidence that they have. Now, Roger Tregear confronts the issue and proposes a solution. He argues that the discovery and use of effective process performance measures can be designed, implemented and maintained to deliver significant benefits for strategic and operational management. His argument is convincing and is based on his long experience as a BPM consultant. Read his Column and let us know your reaction.
  

• Performance Architecture: Are you Agile?
  Roger Addison - October 02, 2012
  As performance architects, Roger Addison and Carol Haig’s perspective on the Agile organization is characterized by 10 adaptive practices. These practices are seen at three levels of the organization—the worker level, the work level, and the organization level. In this Column, they define those 10 practices and provide a Quiz for evaluating your organization’s agility.
  

• Building Mobile Enabled Enterprises
  Sameer Paradkar - October 02, 2012
  In this Article, Sameer Paradkar, Shyam Dixit, Imran Arfi and Prashant Singh, a team of consultants from the Enterprise Architecture Practice of Wipro Consulting Services, provide an overview of mobile computing and describe the methodology for building mobile enabling enterprises and the benefits to those organizations that adopt the technology.
  

• BPM and Lean: Part 1—The Plan
  Cheryl Walker - October 02, 2012
  This is the first in a series of three Articles in which the authors, Christine Dicken and Cheryl Walker, will explain how your enterprise can enhance standard BPM methodology with the addition of Lean thinking, to make your organization more agile and flexible. Throughout these Articles, they follow Pete’s Pizza Palace, as Pete Jr. attempts to solve business problems through Lean thinking. Read the first installment of his journey.
  

• Extreme Competition: Back to the Future of BPM—2012-A Very Special Year
  Peter Fingar - October 02, 2012
  In this month’s Column, Peter Fingar provides a summary of the literature that influenced the BPM movement. He begins with the First Wave in the 1920’s and proceeds to the Second and Third Waves in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. We have entered the Fourth Wave which Peter has dubbed, “Thriving in the Digital Pangea and Global Innovation Economy.” Read his Column to learn Peter’s insights into how organizations will need to adapt to survive in the Fourth Wave.
  

• Down Under: Business Architecture: A Down Under Perspective
  John Jeston - October 02, 2012
  Motivated by Mike Rosen’s recent Columns on Business Architecture, John Jeston decided to weigh in on the definition of Business Architecture from his perspective. Make no mistake - John believes that Business Architecture belongs exclusively in the domain of business, not IT. Read his Column, and let us know if you agree or disagree.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Business Rules, Business Processes and Business Agility—Basic Principles
  Ron Ross - October 02, 2012
  How do business rules relate to business processes? How do business rules support business agility and migration to new business platforms? What does re-use of business rules really mean? Ron Ross’ Column explains the insights provided in the Business Rules Manifesto on these important these questions.
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education—BPM Technology Research—the Case of Apromore
  Jan Recker - September 04, 2012
  This month, Jan Recker turns his attention to the technological side of BPM research and education. He engaged in a collaboration with two colleagues at Queensland University, Dr Marcello La Rosa and Eike Bernhard in an initiative on the development of an advanced BPM technology - an Advanced Process Model Repository called Apromore, In this Column, they use the example of Apromore to showcase how BPM technologies are conceived, designed, developed and applied.
  

• Process Solutions: Relationship Management—the Ultimate Unstructured Process
  Tom Bellinson - September 04, 2012
  Years of experience in mapping processes have taught Tom Bellinson that it is imperative to begin with sales and marketing. This same experience also suggests that these two key processes require more focus and attention than most other processes. In his Column this month, Tom explores both the process and technology sides of these two activities and provides advice on how to select the tools best suited for mapping your organization’s sales and marketing processes?.
  

• Human Processes: Working together on the Web
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - September 04, 2012
  This month, Keith Harrison-Broninski takes up the issue of the dedicated virtual enterprise that requires the collaborative efforts of people from multiple organizations, with multiple roles, in multiple locations. What management structures are required to ensure that a virtual enterprise achieves its desired goals? Using a UK healthcare advisory organization’s experience in dealing with a virtual enterprise, Keith provides his solution to the question.
  

• Developing Connections among the Elements in Management Systems: An Approach to Sustaining Results
  Maria Moreira - September 04, 2012
  Maria Moreira and Alessandro Micelli contend that establishing and maintaining connections among the elements in an organization’s management system is essential to sustaining the ongoing effectiveness of the system. In this Article, the authors provide a detailed approach for examining the connections among an organization’s management elements and demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach by including the results of a study conducted at 5 companies applying their technique.
  

• Drawing Tools and Process Modeling: The Benefits and the Limitations
  Kristen Hicks - September 04, 2012
  Once you’ve made the decision to model your processes, the obvious next step is to select from among the many tools, from simple to complex, that best suit your organization’s needs. In this Article, Kristen Hicks provides four questions and answers , which will guide you to the most appropriate tool for your modeling project.
  

• Performance Improvement: Uses of the 3-Dimensional Enterprise Mode
  Alan Ramias - September 04, 2012
  In their position as consultants to organizations seeking assistance in undertaking process improvement projects, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins developed the 3 Dimensional Enterprise Model to help them position work system processes in the context of the larger enterprise. They had observed that managers often focus most of their attention on the resource and infrastructure dimension, which is more tangible, visible, and quantifiable and their model explained the need for a balance between the two dimensions. More recently they discovered that some clients are applying their model to explain the importance of analysis and design as a means to addressing performance issues. Read more about this simple but powerful tool.
  

• Business Architecture: Business Architecture and IT
  Mike Rosen - September 04, 2012
  In his last Column, Mike Rosen presented his thoughts on Business Architecture and its foundational domains and practices. His discussion generated feedback from readers, some of whom took issue with his, “taking an IT perspective to business architecture”. Clearly, business architecture and how it is and will be defined is a touchy subject. In this Column, Mike addresses the issues raised by the comments and clarifies his position on Business Architecture. We urge you to read the Column and to participate in the discussion.
  

• Code Red and the Mess Hall—or the Difference between Tacit and Explicit BPM
  Frits Bussemaker - September 04, 2012
  While reading “IT-Enabled Leadership,” a report prepared jointly by INEAD, The European Institute of Business Administration and CIONET, CIO Network, Frits Bussemaker was reminded of the scene in A Few Good Men in which Tom Cruise asks Kevin Bacon where the description of Code Red is located in the Marine Manual. Bacon responded that It isn’t, but neither is a description of how to get to the mess hall and, somehow, the marines manage to find the mess hall. You’ll have to read the Article to discover how all of this relates to BPM and why the difference between tacit and explicit BPM is important.
  

• Performance Architecture: A Walk on The Human Performance Side—Part IV
  Roger Addison - July 03, 2012
  In their three previous Columns in this series, the authors explored the work of Performance Architects as relates to The Worker/Individual/Team, Work/Process, and Workplace/Organization. Roger Addison and Carol Haig have added a fourth level--World/Society, in which they explore what employers are doing to assess the impact of their products and services on the world-wide environmental community.
  

• BPM in the Cloud
  Peter Whibley - July 03, 2012
  In this Article, Peter Whibley discusses the business benefits of choosing a Cloud enabled BPM platform and where BPM fits into the overall Cloud architecture. Further, Peter predicts that the deployment of BPM in the Cloud as the first step in a journey that will eventually transform where and how business processes are delivered. Do you agree?
  

• Processes in Practice: If You Are Not Modeling Data, How Do You Know Your Processes Work?
  Rob Davis - July 03, 2012
  The rise of the services industry and the impact of IT on all businesses have resulted in a process environment where most processes focus on how people and systems manipulate data, rather than on physical tasks in a manufacturing process. In this Column, Rob Davis argues that, in this challenging environment, modeling data is absolutely essential to ensuring that processes are operating at optimal performance levels. Rob offers some interesting examples of how to do this.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: How Business Processes, Strategy, and Business Policies Relate
  Ron Ross - July 03, 2012
  Ron Ross states that while business process models provide management blueprints for coordinating repetitive work, they, by themselves, are not sufficient for creating an optimal business solution to a business challenge. In his Column this month, Ron focuses on some of the blind spots in the models and describes what you can do to successfully address them.
  

• Performance Programs: Are Your Perfomance Programs Prescribing Success?
  Ed Gibson - July 03, 2012
  Ed Gibson, co-founder of MetaPower, identifies a prevalent problem in business process improvement projects - how do we work on improving individual processes so that they work together to improve the overall performance of the enterprise. We have operated on the principle that improving the parts will improve the whole, however, this has proven not to be true. Ed proposes a solution to this dilemma and cites examples of successful implementations that have achieved this important objective.
  

• Practical Processes: There’s a Why in BPM
  Roger Tregear - July 03, 2012
  How can process evangelists communicate their point of view to senior managers with decision making responsibility who are unconvinced of the value of BPM. In other words, how can we convincingly present the benefits of a process-based management system? What pain points should we address and what objections do we need to overcome? Read Roger’s Column for his take on the best approach to dealing with these questions.
  

• Process Solutions: Process Software
  Tom Bellinson - June 05, 2012
  In his initial Column for BPTrends, Tom Bellinson presents his perspective on how to think about process automation and offers some guidance in how to break down the available options and for choosing the right tools.
  

• Extreme Competition: Innovation Process
  Peter Fingar - June 05, 2012
  In these days of extreme competition, Peter Fingar urges BPM practitioners to think beyond the usual processes and to include innovation in the play book as well. In his Column this month, Peter provides a detailed discussion of how to execute and implement a sustainable innovation program in your organization.
  

• The World is not enough
  Joachim van den Bergh - June 05, 2012
  Joachim Van den Bergh, Sara Thijs, Öykü Isik, Stijn Viaene, all affiliated with the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, assembled a nine-member panel of experts to discover how BPM could fit into and contribute to the customer-centric concept. They publish the results of their study in this Article.
  

• Class Notes: From Product Innovation to Organization Innovation
  Jan Recker - June 05, 2012
  In his Column, this month, Jan Recker analyzes some of the challenges organizations confront when they begin to view innovation from an organization-centric rather than a product-centric perspective. To be “innovation-ready,” Jan argues that we need to make an effort to extend our toolbox beyond Lean, Six Sigma and BPR. Read his Column for his take on what this extended toolbox might contain.
  

• Human Processes: Lego vs. Cooking
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - June 05, 2012
  What, you may ask, do assembling a Lego structure and cooking have to do with process. Keith Harrison-Broninski attributes the struggle many organizations experience when attempting to improve their processes, to a poor understanding of the different types of business processes. In this Column, he explains the problem and proposes a solution by using building a Lego structure and cooking as analogies for different types of processes.
  

• BPM in a Data Driven Eco System
  Austin Rosenfeld - June 05, 2012
  Austin Rosenfeld states that BPM systems are for managing processes, not data. But processes need data, and while major BPM suites support a "Write to ERP" node, surfacing that data is a difficult challenge. Austin suggests that the solution to the “data dilemma” is for BPM suites to evolve and he calls on BPM tool providers to meet the challenge.
  

• BPM & SOA: A Solution for the Enterprise
  Adrian Rossi - June 05, 2012
  Although many organizations turn to Enterprise Architecture to solve their process problems, Adrian Rossi contends that EA is not a technique for addressing or solving project-level problems or implementation level problems. He proposes combining BPM and SOA to solve both problems. Read his Article for details.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Business Processes - Better with Business Rules
  Ronald Ross - May 01, 2012
  Ron Ross contends that to create a viable business solution, you need both a business process model and business rules. The trick is not to get them entangled, but to remain clear about which is which. Ron believes that by separating them you can simplify your business process models dramatically. He explains how in this Column.
  

• Practical Process: Are You Being Served?
  Roger Tregear - May 01, 2012
  Recently, Roger Tregear has been engaged in several discussions involving the term “service,” all of which add up to a wide range of views on what a service might be and what we should do about it. Does a service architecture replace a process architecture or is it the same thing? Roger argues that, from his perspective as a process advocate, “service” is another term for the concept of “value” that is delivered by a process. We hope you’ll weigh in on the issue.
  

• Down Under: How to Motivate Employees
  John Jeston - May 01, 2012
  In his two previous Columns, John Jeston focused on the need for organizations to strike a reasonable balance between adopting a customer focus and an employee focus. In this month’s Column, John combines aspects of Frederick Herzberg’s Motivational Theory and Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory to create a model for organizations to establish a meaningful system of motivation and reward.
  

• MDA Journal: Radical Simplification - In-Memory Databases Challenge Assumptions in Enterprise IT
  David Frankel - May 01, 2012
  In light of the new in-memory database technology, David Frankel considers its potential impact on current practices in data-warehousing, business processes, the design of operational applications and multi-tiered systems. IT professionals will want to read David’s astute observations and words of wisdom when approaching this new technology and its possibilities for use in their organizations.
  

• Reaching New Heights in Business Performance Metrics: Getting the Right Answers for the Most Important Questions
  Martin Klubeck - May 01, 2012
  In this Article, Martin Klubeck and Russ Cheesman present a tool, called the Answer Key, which offers a comprehensive starting point for developing meaningful metrics. The authors provide a detailed description of how to apply the Key to evaluate your current metrics program or, alternatively, how to create metrics from scratch.
  

• Is Your Organizational Culture Fit for Business Process Managment?
  Jan vom Brocke - May 01, 2012
  Theresa Schmiedel and Jan vom Brocke of the University of Leichtenstein’s and Jan Recker of Queensland University of Technology introduce the BPM-Culture-Model, which they developed to structure the different notions of culture in a BPM context. Based on their model, they examine the cultural compatibility of an organization with a BPM approach. Your feedback is invaluable to the authors, and we hope you will share it with them and other readers on our Linkedin site.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective - Disabled by Enablers: Punished by Rewards
  May 01, 2012
  This month, Alec Sharp continues his focus on what he referred to in his previous Column as that “squishy stuff” - organizational culture. The point of this series is to illustrate that there are techniques and frameworks that enable practitioners to take a more rigorous approach to these issues. In this Column, Alec discusses the “Six Enablers” framework he applies to force consideration of these factors in designing a new process.
  

• Don’t Just Manage—Execute!
  Tom Bellinson - May 01, 2012
  Don’t Just Manage—Execute!
  

• Performance Architecture: Are you Certified?
  Roger Addison - April 03, 2012
  Roger Addison and Carol Haig suggest that Profesional Certfication can often be just what you need to further your career. In their Column this month, they provide a useful list of references to Professional Certification Programs and the organizations that grant them.
  

• Extreme Competition: An Architecture for Innovation
  Peter Fingar - April 03, 2012
  Peter Fingar asks, “How do you make innovation a repeatable and sustainable Process?” To achieve that end, he proposes that you develop an Innovation Architecture or operating environment just as you develop an Enterprise Architecture. He offers a high level illustration of an Innovation Architecture with guidelines to help you develop it.
  

• BPM and the Discipline of Execution
  Yuri Blyke - April 03, 2012
  Why do so many business process improvement initiatives fail? In this Article, Yuri Blyke, Senior Management Consultant in BPM at IBM Global Services, proposes a framework for analysis inspired by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan’s book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. Bossidy and Charan identified three core processes of execution-strategy, people, and operation. Yuri presents a list of probing questions in each category that may challenge the status quo in your organization.
  

• Towards BPM 2.0
  Hans Wierenga - April 03, 2012
  In this thought-provoking Article Hans Wierenga, maintains that in order to achieve a BPM model that deserves the 2.0 designation, we need to radically revise our idea of process. Some readers may find the Article more provoking than thought-provoking, and, as always, we encourage your comments.
  

• A Process Reference for Product Innovation and Lifecycle Management (PLCOR)
  Albrecht Ricken - April 03, 2012
  In this Article, Albrecht Ricken and Thorsten Meinberg introduce PLCOR, (Product Lifecycle Operations Reference) a SCOR-like reference model for marketing and innovation management. The model spans all activities along the lifecycle from concept to mass adoption, to product discontinuation and defines 5 distinct processes Plan, Create, Go-to-Market, Deploy, and Revise.
  

• Human Processes: Harrison-Broninski’s Second Law
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - April 03, 2012
  What, you may wonder is Harrison-Broninski”s Second Law. Put simply, it evolves from the premise that we are in the “6th distinct period of computing”—one in which social media make it possible to create your own digital, virtual identity. The ramifications, Keith asserts, will have a profound impact on Information Communication Technology and will require that people apply the principles of Human Interaction Management if they are to gain optimal value from the digital world we live in. Read his Column for further details and to discover Harrison-Broninski’s First Law.
  

• Best Practices for Socializing Business Process Improvement Initiatives
  Gina Abudi - April 03, 2012
  To ensure buy-in at all levels of the organization, Gina Abudi advocates socializing Business Process Improvement Initiatives prior to the actual start of a project. In this Article, she provides steps to take to develop an organization-wide communication plan and techniques for socializing the initiative, including strategies to turn resisters into champions. Read how to reduce the risk factor in Business Process Improvement projects by following her tools and techniques for socializing the initiative.
  

• Where are We with BPM Education: A Call for Action
  Jurgen Moorman - March 06, 2012
  Along with Jan Recker, Jürgen Moormann and Wasana Bandara discuss the importance of appropriate BPM education. As a start toward moving BPM education forward, they propose building a Community of Practice for BPM educators and invite all individuals interested in BPM education to come together to form a global Community of Practice. In this Article, they issue a call for papers and provide links to enable interested readers to contribute.
  

• Performance Improvement: Reference Models—The Long, Long Shortcut
  Alan Ramias - March 06, 2012
  Drawing on their extensive experience as consultants at the Performance Design Lab, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins describe the many difficulties their clients have encountered when attempting to use reference models. They identify five “traps” they have repeatedly observed and illustrate them with actual examples from their work within organizations. Not wishing to completely discourage you, the authors also offer three sound principles to consider when using reference models and end their discussion with an example of a company where reference models were effectively used as a result of applying these principles.
  

• Processes in Practice: Managing your Risks by Managing your Processes
  Rob Davis - March 06, 2012
  Financial crises over the past decade, including Worldcom, Enron, Lehman Brothers, and now, the Euro, have lead to increasingly stringent financial regulations world wide. Organizations are more and more aware that they must guard against the risk of failing to comply with these regulations. Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Systems offer a viable solution to complex compliance requirements. Rob Davis provides a thorough analysis of GRC platforms and the benefits they deliver to organizations that adopt them.
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education—How was School Today?
  Jan Recker - March 06, 2012
  Having explored the research side of BPM in his previous Columns, Jan Recker turns his attention to the education side in his first Column in 2012. Now that BPM has gained worldwide attention, an increasing number of organizations are interested in adopting or expanding BPM initiatives, which creates a demand for people with specialized as well as general BPM skills. But where are the training grounds for such people? To answer the question, Jan looks closely at five institutions offering a variety of degree and certificate programs in BPM. Read his Column for a glimpse at the developing world of BPM education.
  

• Business Architecture
  Mike Rosen - March 06, 2012
  Our readers know Mike Rosen as BPTrends’ longtime Columnist on BPM and SOA. Feeling that, at this point, SOA is mainstream, Mike turns his attention to another important aspect of BPM - Business Architecture .In this, his initial Column on the topic, he explores the fundamentals of a Business Architecture and provides his perspective on what should be its focus and what should not.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Seeing the Elephant
  Ron Ross - March 06, 2012
  To succeed in the fast-changing, highly-regulated, and knowledge-intensive world organizations must have the right thinking tools to structure the analysis of business complexity. Ron Ross says doing more of the same ,faster, won’t work. He contends that existing IT techniques have maxed out. To solve the problem, you must first recognize the elephant in the room. Ron’s Column helps you to see the elephant, and, once you do, to solve the problems created by it.
  

• Process Improvements, Measures and Metrics—the Products of Lean Six Sigma
  Rex Reagan - March 06, 2012
  In this Article, Rex Reagan, a former Navy Commander and a Senior Managing Consultant for IBM Global Services, focuses on the significance of Lean Six Sigma, its methodologies, its impact on processes, and the value derived from accumulating the resulting measures and metrics. .He offers a five-step model which, he claims, will uncover process waste, reduce non-value add activity, and increase productivity.
  

• Examining Capabilities
  Ralph Whittle - March 06, 2012
  After reading the numerous discussions on capabilities on the BPTrends Linkedin site, Ralph Whittle decided to research the available literature on the subject. In this Article, he provides a synthesis of that literature and draws his own conclusions on the suitability of capabilities as a structural element for the Business Architecture. See if you agree with his conclusions.
  

• Performance Improvement: Seeing a Process—the Power of Visual Analysis
  Chris Ramias - March 05, 2012
  This month Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins have invited Chris Ramias, a colleague at Performance Design Labs to describe a technique he calls “visual analysis.” This technique goes beyond simply identifying the problem in a process to actually determining its root cause. Chris identifies a list of issues you may encounter when reviewing a process model and provides visual diagrams to analyze each one.
  

• Extreme Competition: Call Your Broker - The Rise of Cloud Service Brokerages
  Peter Fingar - February 07, 2012
  Peter Fingar predicts that over the next few years, we will see some key trends developing that will change the IT services industry as a result of the emergence of cloud computing. Peter believes that companies will reach outside their internal IT departments and call in outside IT services companies that offer top-tier technology talent in cloud computing. Read Peter’s Column for his valuable insights into what the future holds for the IT services industry.
  

• Human Processes: Virtual Teams
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - February 07, 2012
  Keith Harrison-Broninski posits that knowledge workers lose nearly one third of their time coordinating their work with others, time that is essentially wasted and that adds up to a significant financial loss to the organization. To solve this problem, Keith proposes a Human Interaction Management technique that enables virtual teams to create dynamic plans that will streamline interactions among colleagues. To illustrate the use of the HIM technique, he takes the reader through a common sales process - the sales proposal.
  

• Down Under: How do you Motivate Employees to Provide a High Level of Customer Service and Satisfaction?
  John Jeston - February 07, 2012
  Although many organizations claim that “our people are our greatest asset,” they often don’t take time to develop and care for their greatest asset. To remedy this problem, John Jeston suggests a model developed by Frederick Herzberg in 1959. Herzberg called his model the Motivation-Hygiene Theory of job satisfaction. John concludes that it still has great relevance today and demonstrates how the model can benefit an organization striving to motivate employees to a higher level of performance. (LINK)
  

• BPM and Organization Personnel: Part 3—Governing BPM for Maturity and Value
  Jim Boots - February 07, 2012
  In this third in a series of Articles on BPM capability development, Jim Boots discusses the role of a BPM Governance Body in supporting a BPM initiative. The Governance Body both oversees the development of BPM capabilities and, once BPM projects are underway, ensures developed capabilities are delivering value as expected. Read Jim’s Article for details on who should be members of the Governance Body and how their respective roles should be defined.
  

• Reunifying Knowledge and Business Process Management
  Chris Taylor - February 07, 2012
  Chris Taylor observes that a great deal of time and effort is wasted as IT and business struggle to understand each other’s vocabulary and needs - a circumstance that often leads to distrust and lack of cooperation. Chris warns that organizations that manage knowledge and process separately will ultimately lose to competitors that empower their employees by unifying knowledge management and BPM. He suggests a number of existing applications that can bring these two elements together.
  

• Performance Architecture: A Walk on the Performance Side, Part III
  Roger Addison - February 07, 2012
  As they did in the two previous parts of this three-part series, in this month’s Column Roger Addison and Carol Haig provide tools that can help process experts with the human performance side of work - in this case, at the Workplace/Performance level. Success at performance improvement at this level requires developing a map of the organization showing how it operates and how it aligns with the business environment. The authors suggest using The Business Logic Model for best results in creating the map and provide a graphic tool to assist in developing the model.
  

• A Lightweight Approach for Designing Enterprise Architectures Using BPMN
  Oscar Barros - February 07, 2012
  In this Article, Oscar Barros, Ricardo Seguel and Alejandro Quezada present an integrated and lightweight design approach for Enterprise Architecture using a generic architecture and patterns expressed in BPMN. The approach facilitates the modeling between the four different levels involved in EA - process architecture, business design, process logic, and IT process support. This approach has been applied in hospitals where it has successfully reduced the complexity of the modeling process and the time required for implementation.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Basic Principles for Business Rules
  Ron Ross - January 03, 2012
  Ron Ross believes that business rules are a powerful tool for business process professionals and business analysts seeking to simplify processes, enabling them to come to grips with real-life complexity, and to improve communication within the organization. In his Column this month, Ron explains the basic principles and techniques of business rules in a straight forward and succinct style, and in a format that enables easy reference.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective: That Squishy Culture Stuff
  Alec Sharp - January 03, 2012
  What is the relationship between business process change and organizational culture? With this Column, Alec Sharp sets the stage for a series of Columns to address this question. Basing his analysis on his experiences in working with a broad spectrum of organizations, he kicks off the series with a quick overview of what organizational culture is, focusing on definitions and the most widely-used frameworks.
  

• Practical Process: Exchanging Value
  Roger Tregear - January 03, 2012
  Roger Tregear posits that delivering value is only one part of what actually happens in an organization’s value chain. Organizations must deliver value and receive value in return in order to be sustainable. Read his advice on how to maintain a balance between the Customer Value Proposition and the Process Value Proposition.
  

• BPM Organization and Personnel—Part 2
  Jim Boots - January 03, 2012
  In Part 1 in a series of Articles on BPM capability development featured in our December publication, Jim Boots addressed the mission and formation of the BPM Support Group. In this second Article, Jim defines the eight essential roles for developing and providing BPM capabilities that will position the enterprise for BPM success.
  

• How Many Processes Does Your Organization Use to Run its Business?
  Carl Lehmann - January 03, 2012
  In his previous Article that appeared in our November publication, Carl Lehmann advocated a portfolio management approach to Business Process Management. In this Article, he proposes conducting a business process inventory as a first step in a BPM initiative, a step that will assess how well a process is performing qualitatively, not merely quantitatively.
  

• A Complete Model of the Super Market Business
  Frank Steeneken - January 03, 2012
  Frank Steeneken and Dave Ackley present a supermarket model that introduces a comprehensive framework for managing the complexity of a supermarket, and a blueprint for visualizing how a supermarket organization actually operates.The model was developed to provide a tool for efficient process definition, design and improvement.
  

• Performance Improvement: In from Left Field
  Alan Ramias - January 03, 2012
  In the first three Columns of their series on the Process Centered Organization, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins presented examples that started in the “core of the business” and that were initiated and driven by line of business executives. In this, the final Column of the series, they discuss an example of a PCO journey driven by IT. As in the three previous Columns, they evaluate the pros and cons of the IT driven approach and conclude the Column by ranking the four journeys in terms of their potential for success.
  

• Processes in Practice: It’s the Customer Journey that Counts
  Rob Davis - December 06, 2011
  Rob Davis examines six characteristics of a good customer experience. What is common to all of them is that they are all determined by the efficiency and effectiveness of business processes. To measure how your organization’s processes perform Rob proposes that you test the customer experience. And, he provides two useful tools to help you do so—the Customer Journey Model and the Cycle of Service Diagram.
  

• Extreme Competition: Consider Big Data the Most Important Thing for Business since the Internet
  Peter Fingar - December 06, 2011
  No stranger to reporting on innovative ideas in business, this month Peter Fingar explores the meaning of and the implications for business of Big Data. He believes that Big Data is all about delivering new insights to decision makers. Historically, data analytics software has relied on representative samplings to render results. That approach is changing with the emergence of new Big Data analytics engines. Interested? Read the whole story in his Column.
  

• Bridges over Troubled Waters: Process Fitness
  Grzegorz Gruchman - December 06, 2011
  In this Article, Grzegorz Gruchman considers various options available to organizations that have begun an enterprise wide modeling initiative. To provide a context for his discussion, he explores some current schools of thought prevalent in business schools and among theorists on the topic of BPM. His conclusions on the applicability and success of a full-scale BPM approach at the enterprise level will likely challenge your own opinion on the subject. Read his Article and decide if you agree or disagree.
  

• Process Governance, Part II
  Rafael Paim - December 06, 2011
  In Part I of this Article, Rafael Paim and Raquel Flexa examined four model governance frameworks and offered their analysis of what is useful and what is missing in each one. Based on their experience working with a wide range of organizations in the private and public sectors, they developed a governance framework using the elements they consider most important in defining an effective Process Governance Model.. In this Article, they discuss the components of their framework.
  

• BPM Organization and Personnel: Building a BPM Support Group that Creates Value
  Jim Boots - December 06, 2011
  In Part I of a series of Articles on BPM capability development, Jim Boots focuses on available options for corporations in establishing an efficient and effective BPM support group – the group responsible for developing and managing the standards, methods and technologies used by others across the enterprise. He calls on his thirty years of experience at Chevron Corporation to provide useful examples of how to achieve success in this effort.
  

• Human Processes: Plan like the Professionals
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - December 06, 2011
  In today’s rapidly changing business environment all organizations must collaborate, both internally and externally, and must face the challenge of developing new collaboration strategies. Keith Harrison-Broninski argues that old management techniques and tools cannot effectively meet this challenge. Read Keith’s advice on how to sort through all of the emerging new methods and technologies to identify the right combination of tools to support your collaboration strategy.
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education—X—Aware Business Process Management
  Jan Recker - December 06, 2011
  In his final Column for 2011, Jan Recker discusses some current efforts in BPM research and education that try to move BPM thinking forward into new areas of application. He has chosen x-aware BPM as the general heading for these efforts.These initiatives have, in common, the goal of improving classical BPM to fit new problem domains and emerging challenges. Read Jan’s perception, based on first-hand observation, of what’s in the future of BPM.
  

• Business Process Management: Where to Start
  Carl Lehmann - November 01, 2011
  Carl Lehmann believes that the best way to start a business process management initiative is to take stock of business processes as strategic assets and manage them using proven portfolio management techniques. In this Article, he describes what a business process portfolio looks like and how to create one for your organization.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective: Capabilities, Agile and Process Blindness
  Alec Sharp - November 01, 2011
  In his Column this month, Alec Sharp adds his voice to the growing number of BPM practitioners weighing in on the capabilities issue—is it just business process by any other name? Alec’s recent experience suggests that the emergence of such terms as “business capabilities,” “capability maps,” and “capability models,” have left many architects more confused than enlightened. All of you who have been following the increasingly lively capability discussion on our LinkedIn site will want to read what Alec has to say on the subject.
  

• Process Governance: Definitions and Framework
  November 01, 2011
  In this Article, Rafael Paim and Raquel Flexa examine four model governance frameworks and offer their analysis of what is useful and what is missing in each one. Based on their experience in working with a wide range of organizations in both the private and public sectors, they have developed a governance framework using the elements they consider most important in defining an effective Process Governance Model that can meet organizational needs.
  

• MDA Journal: UML Profiling Comes of Age
  David Frankel - November 01, 2011
  For the past ten years, David Frankel has witnessed and participated in the effort to develop frameworks that allow enterprise architects to create domain-specific graphical modeling languages and tools with less effort than has been required in the past. In this Column, David reports that, to a significant extent, that goal has been achieved. Read his informative perspective on the new developments in this effort.
  

• Practical Process: Becoming Process Centric
  Roger Tregear - November 01, 2011
  Roger Tregear believes that the road to higher level BPM maturity can be predictable and achievable. In his Column this month, he lays out, in a straight forward manner, his vision of the steps necessary for an organization to become truly process-centric. He encourages readers to participate by rendering their perspectives on process centricity and how to achieve it.
  

• Down Under: Should we Really be Customer Centric?
  John Jeston - November 01, 2011
  John Jeston dares to ask if the current emphasis on customer centricity really provides the greatest service to the organization adhering to that mandate. He warns of the perils of strict adherence to the principles of customer centricity to the neglect of employee centricity. Do you agree with his analysis?
  

• Enterprise Business Architecture—A Phased Methodology for Developing a Business Information Repository
  Eswar Ganesan - November 01, 2011
  In this Article, Eswar Ganesan, a Business Architecture Consultant with Infosys Labs in India, offers a comprehensive survey of EBA literature and proposes a four phase approach for effective implementation of whatever framework the enterprise adopts.
  

• Human Processes: Selling Services
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - October 04, 2011
  Keith Harrison-Broninski observes that services suppliers often operate in very ineffective and inefficient ways because they employ standard techniques for continuous improvement. Keith argues that these techniques, such as Lean and Six Sigma, which were developed and refined in the manufacturing industry, are not suitable for managing the supply of services. He cites several reasons to support his premise and proposes an alternative business-oriented approach based on the principles of Human Interaction Management (HIM). Read the details of Keith’s proposal in his Column.
  

• Extreme Competition: The Audacity of Innovation
  Peter Fingar - October 04, 2011
  Peter Fingar asserts that today’s reality is “innovate or die.” In his Column this month, he offers 21 perspectives and key variables to be included in the work of business innovation and challenges you to use the checklist to test your knowledge of what he describes as the new taxonomy for business innovation. If you are involved in any way in your organization’s ability to innovate, we urge you to accept Peter’s challenge.
  

• BPM Critical Success Factors: Lessons Learned from Successful BPM Organizations
  Roger Burlton - October 04, 2011
  In his experience as a BPM consultant and practitioner, Roger Burlton has seen many alternative approaches to BPM and observed the practices and principles that mark the difference between failure and success. In this Article, he has synthesized these observations into a set of principles he believes constitute an approach to BPM that will assure sustainable management of an organization’s process assets. Here, he highlights ten principles that successful organizations follow in their BPM practices.
  

• Performance Architecture: A Walk on the Performance Side—Part 2
  Roger Addison - October 04, 2011
  In Part 1of a three-part series, Roger Addison and Carol Haig investigated the work of the Performance Architect at the Worker/Individual/Team level and provided a visual and diagnostic model designed to focus clients on performance issues and alternate solutions to the almost automatic request for training. In this Column, the authors explore the work of the Performance Architect at the Work/Process/Practice level and provide a Time and Motion Workflow Chart to assist in an analysis of how the work being done produces or does not produce the desired results.
  

• Project Managing Business Process Improvement Initiatives
  Gina Abudi - October 04, 2011
  In her experience as a project manager, Gina Abudi has often been assigned the task of carrying out a business process improvement initiative - an assignment that many project managers dread. Here, she lays out the six steps involved in a business process improvement initiative and provides guidelines and checklists for successfully completing each step.
  

• Ongoing Confusion of Process and Function
  Charles Betz - October 04, 2011
  Charles Betz notes that IT management is strongly influenced by the major process frameworks such as ITIL®, COBIT®, and CMMI®. He argues, however, that these frameworks are inconsistent with significant tenets of Business Process Management thinking. In this Article, he demonstrates the inconsistencies, discusses the implications and consequences of employing these frameworks and offers an alternate approach.
  

• BPM and SOA: Data Information and SOA
  Mike Rosen - October 04, 2011
  In his words, Mike Rosen has “a nit to pick” with a common Enterprise Architecture categorization of the enterprise into business, data, application and technology. That nit concerns differentiating data and information, a distinction Mike asserts is key to avoiding impediments to successful implementation and operation of SOA. In this Column he provides a way to understand and use “data in context,” i.e. information.
  

• MDA Journal: Semantic Interoperability for SOA
  David Frankel - September 06, 2011
  In his June MDA Journal Column, David Frankel discussed how a new organization named BIAN (Banking Industry Architecture Network) (www.bian.org) is defining standards for service-oriented architecture in the banking industry and is using techniques to promote semantic interoperability. In this month’s Column, Dave explains how BIAN is using these techniques, which were designed for data modeling, and is extrapolating them in order to apply them to service modeling.
  

• Down Under: From Cool Toys to Effective Tools
  John Jeston - September 06, 2011
  In his Column this month, John Jeston focuses on the usefulness of mobile technology devices in the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) market place and how they have the potential to make a significant difference in your business. Read John’s Column to learn how an SME, confronted by a significant issue involving one of its critical business processes, overcame the challenge by deploying a mobile based browser interface to the Sales Director’s iPhone.
  

• BPM: Structured vs. Unstructured
  Austin Rosenfeld - September 06, 2011
  Austin Rosenfeld asserts that real-world processes present varying degrees of structure, and while BPM and BPMN excel at the more structured aspects, we need a toolkit that supports the nature of the process to accommodate varying structures. Austin argues that BPM suites support design patterns that solve this problem well. Read his Article for the details.
  

• BPM: Chess vs. Checkers
  Jonathon Struthers - September 06, 2011
  In this Article, Jonathon Struthers draws a comparison between traditional software development approaches (checkers) and the new approaches (chess) needed to realize the benefits of the new technology. If we continue to apply the old, familiar approaches to craft BPMS based solutions we will not realize the potential that the technology offers.Read Jonathon’s exploration of the pitfalls process initiatives can confront by not changing the game.
  

• Performance Improvement: The Process Centered Organization—oh, for a Crisis
  Alan Ramias - September 06, 2011
  In their May Column Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins discussed process-centered organizations (PCO) that take a slow, gradual approach. In this Column they focus on organizations that become process-centered because they are in deep trouble. They explore the critical elements that need to be in place in order for a stricken organization to move ahead to recovery, describing two different organizations that took a process centered approach in response to an initial crisis.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Decision Analysis—the Basic Operational Analysis of Business Decisions
  Ronald Ross - September 06, 2011
  In this Column, Ron Ross discusses the basic elements of operational business decisions and offers guidelines for the all-important issue of how to name decisions. He also discusses how decision analysis fits with modeling business processes. The goal is simple or thin decision tasks, which in turn produce both thin processes and decision logic that is accessible, adaptable, and re-usable.
  

• Practical Process: What is the Process Modeling ROI?
  Roger Tregear - September 06, 2011
  At the July Process Days Conference in Sydney, Australia, Roger Tregear had a fascinating session probing the practical realities of business process modeling. He wondered what a group of commentators and delegates thought were the elements of the return on the sometimes massive investment in process modeling. He created a case study to highlight the issues and frame the discussion. In this Column, Roger presents the case study and urges you to participate in the discussion on BPTrends LinkedIn site.
  

• The Consumer has the Technology—The Market has the Process
  Chris Potts - September 06, 2011
  Chris Potts contends that the rapid “consumerization” (the customer controls the process) of the IT market requires that specialists in Business Process Management (BPM) and Enterprise Architecture (EA) collaborate like never before. Where executives' decisions are based on 'legacy thinking', BPM and EA must influence them to think differently. This Article explores the implications for EA and BPM together, as the “consumerization” of IT continues.
  

• MDA Journal: Business Applications in the Cloud-Mobility Era
  David Frankel - August 02, 2011
  Considering Cloud Computing from a different perspective, David Frankel discusses the potential business benefits made possible by the new technology, as well as the complexity it introduces in dealing with scalability. He believes model-driven approaches to enterprise software, although not a cure-all, can play an important role in exploiting the new technology in a manageable and measured manner.
  

• Business Performance Modeling for ERP Projects—Part 1
  Joseph DeFee - August 02, 2011
  In this Article, Joseph DeFee provides detailed information and examples of how business process modeling and simulation is used to support enterprise resource planning (ERP) with commercial off the shelf (COTS) projects. He posits that understanding how the COTS/ERP business applications and rules will perform and how well they will integrate with external business processes in your organization is critical to avoiding a potentially significant implementation failure.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective: Models not Modules—Keeping Your Process Models “Human-readable”
  Alec Sharp - August 02, 2011
  In this Column, Alec Sharp asks how we can ensure that our models communicate with the people involved in process change before we transition to models that support process automation. To answer the question, he first identifies the three most common modeling practices that interfere with understanding process models and follows with three tips to avoid these problems.
  

• A Comparison of Common Business Modeling Approaches and GODS Generic Business Architecture
  Adrian Grigoriu - August 02, 2011
  In this Article, Adrian Grigoriu provides a comparison of some of the most commonly used business modeling approaches and the proposed GODS (Governance, Operations, Development and Support) single page generic Business Architecture (gBA). In his Article, Adrian not only provides a comparison of common modeling approaches and GODS, but also a comparison among the modeling approaches themselves.
  

• BPM and SOA: SOA and the Cloud
  Mike Rosen - August 02, 2011
  Not wishing to be left out of the seemingly omnipresent discussions of the Cloud, Mike Rosen devotes this Column to a discussion of the relationship between SOA and the Cloud. Since the Cloud is about making IT resources available as services and SOA is about creating solutions with service building blocks, the relationship may seem obvious. Mike takes a more critical look and provides three diagrams that succinctly illustrate the connection between the two technologies.
  

• BPM and SOA—Business Processes Start with Capabilities
  Mike Rosen - August 02, 2011
  In this Column, Mike Rosen takes up the topic of business capability which he defines as what an enterprise does, not how it does it. Capability models are relevant to the business, and they provide the all-important link between the business and IT architectures. Read Mike’s succinct, insightful analysis of capability models and mapping which, he believes, represent current best practices in the area of business architecture.
  

• MDA Journal: New Dimensions in Business Applications
  David Frankel - August 02, 2011
  In the September 2010 installment of the MDA Journal, David Frankel discussed some new dimensions of cloud computing and mobile devices that present opportunities and challenges for enterprise-class business applications. In this Column, he explores additional new dimensions that impact business applications, providing added value but also creating increased complexity. Read David’s compelling take on the new wave of enterprise software.
  

• Processes in Practice: Putting the “E” back into Enterprise Architecture
  Rob Davis - August 02, 2011
  Rob Davis argues that companies need to develop an approach to enterprise modelling and design that accommodates their business infrastructure, considering all the important aspects that are crucial to ensure the business operates efficiently and effectively. He believes that Enterprise Architecture must be developed in support of an Enterprise BPM Architecture and he offers practical advice on how to accomplish this goal.
  

• What’s in a Name? It’s Just Window Dressing, Isn’t It?
  Ian Gotts - August 02, 2011
  Ian Gotts suggests that companies looking to transform their business through BPM or process mapping need to sell the project to their staff to ensure success. He describes an actual scenario based on his work with a client involving 800+ retail stores to illustrate his point. Read his engaging Article to learn how to develop a “coherent plan entertainingly communicated.”
  

• Down Under: the Sell, Definition and Frustration
  John Jeston - August 02, 2011
  Spurred by comments on the BPTrends Linkedin Discussion Group, John Jeston and Johan Nelis attempt to address the ongoing question of how to sell BPM in your organization. The authors organize the various questions and comments into two major categories—intangible sales approaches and tangible sales approaches. Read their analysis and join the discussion on the BPTrends Linkedin Discussion.Group.
  

• BPM—Quo Vadis?
  Joachim van den Bergh - August 02, 2011
  The authors of this Article, Stijn Viaene, Joachim van den Bergh, Friedrike Schroeder-Pander and Willem Mertens, conducted six years of intensive research to determine the strategic positioning and future challenges of BPM. Read their Article and find out for yourself what their research has revealed about the issues and challenges that face those trying to put BPM into practice.
  

• Business Performance Modeling for ERP Projects, Part 2
  Joseph DeFee - August 02, 2011
  In Part 2 of this two-part series, Joseph DeFee provides additional detail on how business process modeling and simulation is used to support enterprise resource planning (ERP) in commercial off the shelf (COTS) projects. The author argues that the use of simulation models is key to gaining buy-in from the functional users and that the techniques described in his Article will remove significant risk in all aspects and phases of ERP projects.
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education—Of Ivory Towers and Boundary Spanners
  Jan Recker - August 02, 2011
  In his debut Column, Jan Recker lays the groundwork for future Columns by analyzing the results of the Delphi Study undertaken by his research group at Queensland University in 2010. The research was conducted among three groups—BPM academics, vendors of BPM software and consultancy services, and end user organizations involved in BPM. Each group prioritized its top ten process modeling challenges. The results differed significantly from group to group. Jan proposes two ways to deal with the contrasts among these groups. Read this compelling analysis for a thought-provoking perspective on BPM.
  

• Performance Improvement: The Process-Centered Organization—Do You Know Where You’re Going?
  Alan Ramias - August 02, 2011
  In the first of a four-part series on the (PCO) Process-Centered Organization, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins define the characteristics they believe must be in place for an organization to be “process-centered.” These characteristics are derived from their experience working with organizations to help them develop and improve their BPM programs. Acknowledging that some readers may wonder if any organization has ever reached their ideal PCO, the authors describe an actual case in which a wealth management bank successfully achieves that ideal.
  

• Extreme Competition: Process on Demand and Cloud Services
  Peter Fingar - August 02, 2011
  In this Column Peter Fingar argues that without BPM, the Cloud remains a passive environment that can save an organization money and eliminate some operational headaches. But, adding a process layer to the Cloud can revolutionize the way business services are created and consumed and can provide an organization with a significant competitive advantage.
  

• Practical Process: Occasionally, It has to be Remarkable
  Roger Tregear - August 02, 2011
  Roger Tregear was alarmed when he read recently that fewer than 40% of major improvement projects succeed in reaching their stated goals—obviously not a statistic to quote in garnering support for a process improvement project. How can practitioners improve on that statistic? He asserts that process improvement is not about making lists of the obvious. Rather, it’s about knowing what problem we are trying to solve and pushing the envelope to find all the possible change ideas and selecting the best among them. Read this Column for Roger’s 4Dimensions solution.
  

• BPM and Compliance Management, Part 2
  Neeli Basanth Kumar - July 05, 2011
  In Part 2 of his Article on BPM and compliance management, Neeli Basanth Kumar compares business rules vis-à-vis compliance controls and ways in which compliance controls can be evolved into business rules. Read his Article for practical advice on how that end can be successfully achieved.
  

• Supply Chain Management—A Practical Solution Approach
  Sameer Paradkar - July 05, 2011
  
  

• Extreme Competition: Business Innovation Dogfight in the Cloud
  Peter Fingar - July 05, 2011
  John R. Boyd, a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot trainer known as the “Father of the F-16,” was Peter Fingar’s inspiration for this Column. Boyd successfully trained his pilots to outmaneuver enemy pilots flying significantly superior aircraft. Peter suggests that by applying Boyd’s techniques, companies could outmaneuver competitors that are bigger, better, stronger and faster. Details inside.
  

• Performance Architecture: A Walk on the Human Side, Part 1
  Roger Addison - July 05, 2011
  Using their “license to snoop,” Performance Architects uncover the nuances of how work gets done in an organization. With this Column, Roger Addison and Carol Haig begin a three part series to explore models and tools to help process experts with the human performance side of work. Each Column will focus on human performance issues at a different organizational level. In Part 1, they examine the worker/individual/team level and provide a useful “Performance Map” to help identify the performance improvement needs of individuals or teams of employees.
  

• Processes in Practice: Putting the “E” back into Enterprise Architecture
  Rob Davis - July 05, 2011
  Rob Davis argues that companies need to develop an approach to enterprise modelling and design that accommodates their business infrastructure, considering all the important aspects that are crucial to ensure the business operates efficiently and effectively. He believes that Enterprise Architecture must be developed in support of an Enterprise Business Process Management and he offers practical advice on how to accomplish this goal.
  

• Human Processes: Effective Conversations
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - July 05, 2011
  Resource allocation problems are common across all organizational functions. Keith Harrison-Broninski proposes a Human Interaction Management solution to this dilemma. The secret, he says, is to recognize the common pattern underlying the resource allocations at every level within the organization. Read Keith’s Column to learn the details of the secret.
  

• ThyssenKrupp Steel USA Case Study
  Richard Davis - July 05, 2011
  ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (TKS) is a global steel producer that built a new steel mill in Mobile County, Alabama in 2009. At the outset, TKS made the decision to create a process-centric organization. Their goal was to align every part of the enterprise in a way that put business strategy first and human behavior and transactions as an outcome. This, they believed, would give them a competitive edge in the U.S. as well as in emerging markets. Read this Case Study for an inside view on how the complex process challenges were successfully met.
  

• Supply Chain Management—A Practical Solution Approach
  Sameer Paradkar - July 05, 2011
  To accommodate the disparate functions that comprise an organization’s value chain, Sameer Paradkar proposes a foundation architecture on which more specific solutions can be built. His architecture is based on the Supply Chain Managmenat (SCM) value chain domains and the Supply Chain Operations Refrence-manual (SCOR) process methodology. Sameer claims his foundation architecture will work with all of the SCM applications currently available.
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education—Green, Greener BPM?
  Jan Recker - July 05, 2011
  The eco-aware movement has put “sustainability” on the list of the top ten business buzz words. In his Column this month, Jan Recker explores some ideas on how BPM can contribute to the “sustainability fashion parade” and introduces some of the works scholars have produced recently in their efforts to identify solutions.
  

• Business Rules Solutions: Introducing Question Charts for Analyzing Operational Business Decisions
  Ron Ross - July 05, 2011
  In his Column this month, Ron Ross introduces Q-ChartsTM, a simple diagramming technique for capturing the inherent structure of decisions and their dependencies. This innovative new tool assists in communicating with business people, capturing business rules, developing business-friendly decision tables, and creating smarter processes.
  

• How to Reduce Waste with Process Mining
  Anne Rozinat - July 05, 2011
  “Hidden process steps” go undetected in a manual analysis of a business process improvement project and ultimately contribute to costly inefficiencies during the effort. Anne Rozinat proposes Process Mining as an effective and efficient means to discover the hidden waste in a business process. Read this well-illustrated and informative Article to learn how to use process mining in your process improvement project.
  

• Down Under: BPM and Change Management - Two Perspectives
  John Jeston - June 07, 2011
  Inspired by Paul Harmon’s May 10 Advisor on BPM and Change Management, John Jeston and Johan Nelis decided to present their individual perspectives on this topic. Both perspectives are worthy of consideration, and they are offered here in a single Column. Let us know what you think.
  

• The Power of Mobile-Enabled BPM
  Austin Rosenfeld - June 07, 2011
  Austin Rosenfeld contends that IT systems have not kept pace with today’s consumer demands for instant access to information from anywhere at any time. He sees mobile-enabled BPM as the technology delivers that access. If, like me, you’re unfamiliar with the term mobile-enabled BPM and how it will impact your organization, his Article is a must read.
  

• The Elements of Southbeach Notation 0.9
  Howard Smith - June 07, 2011
  Green is 'useful', red is 'harmful'. A dashed line is 'insufficient', a dotted line is 'potentially'. These and many other visual idioms are defined by Southbeach Notation, a unique and visual approach to innovation, improvement, problem solving and other analytical tasks. This month, the authors of Southbeach, Howard Smith and Mark Burnett, release a new specification that incorporates their experience with TRIZ and TRIZ-like methods over the last few years.
  

• MDA Journal: Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN) - Standardization for Semantic Interoperability
  David Frankel - June 07, 2011
  Created in 2008 to define standards for service-oriented architecture in the banking industry, BIAN takes an unusual approach to vertical market software standardization that focuses on semantic interoperability. David Frankel offers a thoughtful and engaging analysis of the challenges confronted by IT units in financial institutions and the steps undertaken by BIAN to respond to those challenges.
  

• BPM and SOA: SOA and the Cloud
  Mike Rosen - June 07, 2011
  Not wishing to be left out of the seemingly omnipresent discussions of the Cloud, Mike Rosen devotes this month’s Column to a discussion of the relationship between SOA and the Cloud. Since the Cloud is about making IT resources available as services and SOA is about creating solutions with service building blocks, the relationship may seem obvious. Mike takes a more critical look and provides three diagrams that succinctly illustrate the connection between the two technologies.
  

• Practical Process: What if “Top Down” Isn’t Possible?
  Roger Tregear - June 07, 2011
  In an ideal world, all BPM initiatives would begin with the enthusiastic commitment of top management. However, in most organizations, this is not the case. In most cases, BPM practitioners spend most of their time engaged in Process Improvement projects. In his Column this month, Roger Tregear offers some sound advice on how to get from Process Improvement (PI) to Process Management (PM).
  

• BPM and Compliance Management: From Overhead to Getting Ahead, Part 1
  Neeli Basant Kumar - June 07, 2011
  Compliance with government regulations is a fact of life that all organizations must deal with and business processes are among the most critical components of a compliance system. Neeli Basanth Kumar argues that instead of regarding compliance implementation as overhead, managers should think of it as a strategy for getting ahead of the competition. In this Article, he offers some advice on how to do so.
  

• The Seven Secrets of Sales Performance Optimization
  Ken Thompson - May 03, 2011
  Ken Thompson contends that some of the most effective sales strategies are counter intuitive. Gleaned from his experience as a practitioner and consultant, he has compiled seven strategies that, seemingly, fly in the face of conventional wisdom yet have proven successful in increasing sales revenues.
  

• Human Processes: The Huddle Muddle
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - May 03, 2011
  With the proliferation of isolated workspaces occurring in corporations, line managers—particularly in large organizations—find they have no visibility into the workspaces of their direct reports. Similarly, agencies and organizations that wish to collaborate often revert to a command-and-control approach to accommodate the workspace dilemma. Keith prescribes a Human Interaction Management (HIM) plan with Goal Oriented Organization Design (GOOD) to remedy the problem.
  

• Bridges over Troubled Waters
  Grzegorz Gruchman - May 03, 2011
  In this Article, Grzegorz Gruchman analyzes organizational theory in an effort to determine its usefulness and applicability to BPM. He identifies two major camps into which organizational theories fall—Organizations as Rational Systems and Organizations as Natural Systems. Read his insights into how these two seemingly conflicting views of organizations can be adapted to BPM initiatives.
  

• Extreme Competition: Listening Posts, Sockpuppets, Trolls, Drones and Trust
  Peter Fingar - May 03, 2011
  Peter Fingar contends that we’ve moved beyond BPM 2.0 and are already in BPM 3.0—a realm in which social networks drive the conversation about your company. Traditional market research techniques won’t work in today’s world. Read Peter’s Column to learn more about BPM 3.0 and whether or not you are a sockpuppet.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Business Rules vs. System Design Choices
  Ronald Ross - May 03, 2011
  Ron Ross asks, “Do you know the difference between a business rule and a system design choice?” Read his Column this month to find out. Business rules fall into two fundamental categories: rules that shape concepts, and rules that guide human activity. These rules are called ‘definitional rules’ and ‘behavioral rules’, respectively. This Column explains everything the business process professional needs to understand about these two fundamental categories of business rules.
  

• Enterprise Process Modeling Framework
  Eswar Ganesan - May 03, 2011
  Having sifted through the volumes of literature on maturity and assessment research, Eswar Ganesan, a business architecture consultant, developed an assessment questionnaire for enterprise process modeling maturity. A sample questionnaire is included in this Article along with a method for interpreting the responses. The results provide a roadmap for practitioners who use the system to navigate an enterprise modeling project.
  

• BPM in Europe: Master Data Management
  Dee Carri - May 03, 2011
  You may be asking why Master Data Management (MDM) is important to an organization. Read Dee’s Column to learn about three main process improvement methodologies European organizations have used successfully to improve the quality of their organization’s master data and MDM.
  

• Performance Improvement: The Process-Centered Organization—The Long Road
  Alan Ramias - May 03, 2011
  In their February Column, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins defined a process-centered organization (PCO) and gave an example of a company that became process-centered in a relatively short period of time. In this Column they reflect on the more frequently experienced approach—the long road. Read about the obstacles that one company encountered, their successes, and lessons learned.
  

• MDA Journal: XBRL Strategic Initiatives
  David Frankel - April 05, 2011
  In his April 2009 Column, David Frankel expressed a hope that the growing community of XBRL stakeholders would support new architectural and governance mechanisms needed to scale XBRL up for mass adoption. Recently XBRL International, Inc. (XII) announced a series of strategic initiatives designed with that in mind. In his Column this month, David describes the XBRL organizational structure and defines the six strategic initiatives put together by XBRL International’s Standards Board.
  

• Performance Architecture: Sustainable Performance Architecture—the 3-D Enterprise
  Roger Addison - April 05, 2011
  Using Rediscovering Value—Leading the 3-D Enterprise to Sustainable Success, authored by Geary Rummler, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins, Carol Haig and Roger Addison launch this month’s discussion of performance architecture. The authors lay out the steps an organization must take to align and balance the 3 dimensions of business performance – (1) the value dimension, (2) the resource dimension, and (3) the management dimension. Alignment of these dimensions is difficult and the authors acknowledge that, while many organizations have achieved alignment of the value and resource dimensions, none has accomplished alignment of all three. Where does your organization fit as a 3-D Enterprise?
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education—Of Ivory Towers and Boundary Spanners
  Jan Recker - April 05, 2011
  In his debut Column, Jan Recker lays the groundwork for future Columns by analyzing the results of the Delphi Study undertaken by his research group at Queensland University in 2010. The research was conducted among three groups—BPM academics, vendors of BPM software and consultancy services, and end user organizations involved in BPM. Each group prioritized its top ten process modeling challenges. The results differed significantly from group to group. Jan proposes two ways to deal with the contrasts among these groups. Read this compelling analysis for a thought-provoking perspective on BPM.
  

• Practical Process: What Do We Believe?
  Roger Tregear - April 05, 2011
  Roger Tregear opens his Column this month by asking what, as evangelists for BPM, do we believe are the essential and compelling elements of process-based management? Roger contends that in attempting to respond to that question, too often we try to explain BPM and process-based management by focusing on the How and the What of BPM. He proposes, instead, that we focus on Why and suggests a BPM Creed that serves that purpose. Do you agree with his Creed?
  

• The Anatomy of Software Frameworks
  Sameer Paradkar - April 05, 2011
  In this Article, Sameer Paradkar outlines historical data around frameworks and explains standard approaches to framework development. Whether you are in the process of selecting a framework application or developing one, Sameer’s Article will provide useful information to assist you in your effort.
  

• Processes in Practice: A Process is Not Just a Flow Chart (or a BPMN Model)
  Rob Davis - April 05, 2011
  In his Column this month, Rob Davis argues that creating process drawings using a graphical design tool is not adequate for designing any serious business processes. He believes that to ensure effective business performance, organizations need a process modeling tool that enables the process professional to create multiple models. Read his Column for details of what such a tool should look like and the benefits it would bring to the design of an organization’s business processes.
  

• The Five “Rights” of Business Process Management
  Howard Webb - April 05, 2011
  While working with a client in the medical field, Howard Webb became aware of The Five “Rights” of patient care, a checklist used by members of the nursing profession as a precaution against making critical errors in ministering to patients. In reflecting on the usefulness of the checklist, Howard thought an adaptation of that approach could prove helpful in avoiding costly errors in process improvement projects. Before you recommend reorganization or purchasing new technologies, read Howard’s Five “Rights” of BPM.
  

• BPM and IT Cost Reduction: A Well-timed Challenge
  Diego Passadore - April 05, 2011
  Diego Passadore and Eugenio Garcia discuss BPM as a tool for IT cost reduction by exploring a specific case involving a license management process at a leading knowledge-based software development tool provider. The company had recently established new bases of operation in several locations and decided to automate what had previously been a manual operation. Read about their successful BPM initiative and the resulting cost reduction benefits.
  

• BPM and SOA: Business Processes from an Enterprise Perspective
  Mike Rosen - March 01, 2011
  In his past few Columns, Mike Rosen has discussed business capabilities, outcomes, and collaborative processes. This month, he demonstrates how all of these different elements fit together from the enterprise perspective. To do so, he uses a diagram in which BPM is represented as an octagon to visually emphasize the many different facets of BPM and the enterprise environment that it must accommodate. Read this detailed and useful analysis of BPM and where it fits in the enterprise.
  

• Human Processes: Cross-Boundary Processes
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - March 01, 2011
  In modern business life, organizations, regardless of size and mission, need to work with other organizations to find viable solutions to managing their cross-boundary processes. To do so successfully, Keith Harrison-Broninski urges organizations to avoid approaches that are inherently “command-and-control, such as case management and project management. As an alternative, he proposes Human Interaction Management (HIM) as an effective and powerful solution in today’s business landscape where “connect-and-collaborate is taking over from command-and-control as the dominant paradigm.”
  

• BPM in India: The Career Portfolio
  Jyoti Bhat - March 01, 2011
  After receiving numerous inquiries regarding BPM careers from readers of their BPTends Column, Jyoti Bhat and Jude Fernandez decided to devote this month’s Column to a detailed account of career paths for BPM professionals in India. Whether you’re considering a move to India, already there, or just curious about career possibilities as they are developing in this fast-growing market, you will want to read the authors’ analysis of BPM careers in India and where the jobs are.
  

• A Comparison of Common Business Modeling Approaches and GODS Generic Business Architecture
  Adrian Grigoriu - March 01, 2011
  In this Article, Adrian Grigoriu provides a comparison of some of the most commonly used business modeling approaches and the proposed GODS (Governance, Operations, Development and Support) single page generic Business Architecture (gBA). In his Article, Adrian not only provides a comparison of common modeling approaches and GODS, but also a comparison among the modeling approaches themselves.
  

• The Right Start for BPM
  Ritesh Jain - March 01, 2011
  The first steps taken in any BPM initiative are critical to its success. In this Article, Ritesh Jain offers guidelines for the team assigned to implementing the initiative and details the activities necessary to get off to the right start.
  

• BPM in Europe: Integrated Compliance, Quality and Management System
  Dee Carri - March 01, 2011
  In her debut Column, Dee Carri discusses the deficiencies resulting from a piecemeal approach to quality, compliance and process improvement. Organizations that follow the piecemeal route ultimately do not fully realize the potential benefits from these programs. Increasing numbers of organizations are pursuing an approach that involves the implementation of a Business Process Management System. Could your organization benefit from this approach? Read Dee’s Column for the steps required to adopt a quality management system using BPMS.
  

• Extreme Competition: BRICs—Innovation and Blowback
  Peter Fingar - March 01, 2011
  Peter Fingar contends that there’s a new game in the business world called BRICs—Innovation and Blowback. Innovations are now starting to flow from the world’s emerging markets—Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). What effect will this have on the world as we know it? Peter suggests that to withstand the impact of this cataclysmic shift, it’s time to rethink the structure of our companies and move away from a “top management” organization. For details of his proposed restructuring, as well as some astonishing economic data, read his thought provoking Column.
  

• Two Roles of Processes in SOA
  Vitaly Khusidman - March 01, 2011
  The distinction between business processes that orchestrate services in the context of human-centric workflows, and processes that orchestrate services in the context of a single short-lived transaction, is not always understood. Misunderstanding the differences between the two types of processes may lead to costly mistakes in creating organizational architecture strategies and, ultimately, the selection of wrong standards and tools. In this Article, Vitaly Khusidman explains the difference between the roles in the two processes. Further, he proposes a layered diagram for SOA Reference Architecture, providing general recommendations for selecting standards and tools.
  

• Business Process Management: Plug and Play
  Maria Moreira - March 01, 2011
  To achieve and maintain competitiveness, most organizations have undergone several iterations of their management systems, with the result that most of the elements of BPM are already present within their systems. However, these elements are frequently unconnected. In this Article, the authors, Maria Moreira, Karina Mingatto and Marcel Druker propose a Plug and Play approach to create an integrated deployment model.
  

• Down Under: Highly Effective Process Winners
  John Jeston - February 01, 2011
  John Jeston and Johan Nelis continue to wonder why a large percentage of managers and organizations never document processes, use process metrics, or manage processes. Having addressed this question in previous Columns, they turn this month to principles espoused by Stephen Covey in his book, The 8th Habit, from Effectiveness to Greatness. Applying those principles to BPM, they urge all process professionals to go beyond the comfortable circles of process converts and show the benefits of working on business processes to the more sceptical individuals.
  

• Business Rules Solutions: Why Rulebook Management?
  Ron Ross - February 01, 2011
  Perhaps you’ve asked the same question that Ron Ross poses in his Column this month. Ron contends that, contrary to what you may think, the problem that rulebook management addresses is a relatively simple one, as is the solution. A major step in understanding rulebook management is to grasp the distinction between software requirements and business rules. Ron provides a well-articulated clarification of the differences as well as five best practices in rulebook management. Read his Column to gain a better perspective on this critical topic.
  

• How Do Processes Create Value
  Paul Harmon - February 01, 2011
  In this Article, Paul Harmon expands on his January 25 Advisor regarding how processes create value. He considers the historical origins of the idea of process value, from Michael Porter’s value chain in 1985 through the present. He explores the shift from a manufacturing based market to a services based market and the more complex challenges facing process managers and practitioners, today. Anyone interested in processes will want to read Paul’s thoughtful analysis of what is required of a modern theory of process value.
  

• Business Process Discovery
  Sandeep Jadhav - February 01, 2011
  Though Business Process Discovery is not a new concept, its importance and use has increased recently. It has undergone significant change from the 90’s when process discovery was in its initial phases. In this Article, Sandeep Jadhav discusses the challenges and benefits of the two techniques used in process discovery—manual, using interviewing techniques, and automated, using APBD (Automated Business Process Discovery). Read Sandeep’s Article for an up-to-date summary and analysis of current Business Process Discovery techniques.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective: Models not Modules—Keeping Your Process Models “Human-readable”
  Alec Sharp - February 01, 2011
  In his Column this month, Alec Sharp asks how we can ensure that our models communicate with the people involved in process change before we transition to models that support process automation. To answer the question, he first identifies the three most common modeling practices that interfere with understanding process models and follows with three tips to avoid these problems.
  

• Process Improvement: The Process-Centered Organization—Do You Know Where You’re Going?
  Alan Ramias - February 01, 2011
  In the first of a four-part series on the (PCO) Process-Centered Organization, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins define the characteristics they believe must be in place for an organization to be “process-centered.” These characteristics are derived from their experiences working with organizations to help them develop and improve their BPM programs. Acknowledging that some readers may wonder if any organization has ever reached their ideal PCO, the authors describe an actual case in which a wealth management bank successfully achieves that ideal.
  

• Business Performance Modeling for ERP Projects, Part 2
  Joseph DeFee - February 01, 2011
  In Part 2 of this two-part series, Joseph DeFee provides additional detail on how business process modeling and simulation is used to support enterprise resource planning (ERP) in commercial off the shelf (COTS) projects. The author argues that the use of simulation models is key to gaining buy-in from the functional users and that the techniques described in his Article will remove significant risk in all aspects and phases of ERP projects.
  

• Universal Service Definition in the Context of Service Catalog Design
  Nino Sipina - January 04, 2011
  Nino Sipina acknowledges that creating a service catalog is a demanding task, but that doing so can lead to significant cost reductions. In this Article, he proposes a generic (industry independent) service definition, correlates it with processes and provides a blueprint for testing the maturity level of each designed service.
  

• Processes in Practice: The Rise and (Deliberate) Fall of the BPM Competency Center
  Rob Davis - January 04, 2011
  Rob Davis argues that, while the BPM Competency Center (Center of Excellence) is essential to successfully implementing BPM, it should not remain in existence forever. In fact, it should be designed to rise and then fall once its true objective has been achieved – changing the current business management approach to one based on Business Process Management. Read Rob’s considered advice for designing the ideal BPM Competency Center life cycle.
  

• Business Performance Modeling for ERP Projects
  Joseph DeFee - January 04, 2011
  In this Article, Joseph DeFee provides detailed information and examples of how business process modeling and simulation is used to support enterprise resource planning (ERP) with commercial off the shelf (COTS) projects. He posits that understanding how the COTS/ERP business applications and rules will perform and how well they will integrate with external business processes in your organization is critical to avoiding a potentially significant implementation failure.
  

• BPM in Europe: BPM, Tomorrow’s Discussion, and the Whuffie Factor
  Frits Bussemaker - January 04, 2011
  In his final Column for BPTrends, Frits Bussemaker reflects on the past seven years of BPM in Europe. To achieve a sustainable future, Frits advocates limiting, rather than expanding, the scope of BPM which he thinks is blurring the definition of BPM. You will want to read this Column for his perspectives on the past and future of BPM. And, oh yes, for a definition of “Whuffie factor.”
  

• Extreme Competition: The Meaning of 21st Century Business--Unleashing the Power within Using Social Networks
  Peter Fingar - January 04, 2011
  If, as Peter Fingar contends, social networking is working its way into the definition of a successful enterprise, what can you do to ensure that your organization survives in this world of “business as unusual?” Peter exhorts us to get beyond the hype curve and look within our own public and private communities for inspiration. Read his compelling view of the “dizzying world we live in.”
  

• Performance Architecture: How Work Gets Done—the Culture Audit
  Roger Addison - January 04, 2011
  What is a culture audit and what can you learn from it? Just as an organization’s financial records can be audited, so too can its culture. In their Column this month, Roger Addison and Carol Haig define the culture audit and provide the tools to investigate and assess an organization’s culture. They contend that a carefully conducted culture audit can yield critical insights that can add significantly to the success of major initiatives. Read their Column to learn some surprising applications of the culture audit reported in recent news stories
  

• Human Resources: The Waste of Unused Human Talent
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - January 04, 2011
  Lean practitioners have identified the “8th form of waste” as the waste of unused human talent. In his Column this month, Keith Harrison-Broninski describes how HIM (Human Interaction Management) allows organizations to deal with unused human talent, and it is not by using approaches focused on tasks, flowcharts or cases. Read Keith’s HIM solution to process innovation.
  

• Red, Green and Blue - Situational Improvement Using Southbeach
  Howard Smith - January 04, 2011
  In this Article, Howard Smith explains how Southbeach Diagrams can provide a visual technique for problem solving and for change management that everyone involved can understand and act on without losing important details. Read his detailed road map for getting all stakeholders on the same page in working toward a successful solution to problem situations.
  

• BPM in India: BPM in e-Governance—Towards Citizen-Centric Processes
  Jyoti Bhat - December 07, 2010
  This month, Jyoti Bhat and Jude Fernandez explore four different e-governance initiatives in the Indian government; two at the national level, one involving both national and state governments, and one at the local city council level. In their analysis, they attempt to uncover the underlying processes and process technology dimensions of the operational transformation, the progress made, and the opportunities not yet addressed. In the final analysis, they conclude that it’s time to open the process window wider to bring in more fresh air. Read their Column to learn why they arrive at this conclusion.
  

• The Self-Organizing Supply Chain
  Tom Bellinson - December 07, 2010
  In a departure from his customary topic of ERP Software analysis, Tom Bellinson offers a thought-provoking essay in which he proposes that technology offers the best solution—perhaps the only solution—to accommodating the ever-changing business environment. He contends that organizations will increasingly remove humans from their supply chain loop and replace them with faster, better, more reliable and less expensive technology solutions.
  

• Deliberately Choosing Simplicity
  Dick Markvoort - December 07, 2010
  Dick Markvoort exhorts us to opt for simplicity over complexity in solving issues relating to processes. He examines a model developed by his colleague, Frans van der Reep, called PSO, Processes, Systems, and Organizations. In this Article, the author focuses on what we can learn from this model, how we can use it, and how its use will lead to a pragmatic and simplified approach for making process decisions.
  

• MDA Journal: New Dimensions in Business Applications
  David Frankel - December 07, 2010
  In his September 2010 installment of the MDA Journal, David Frankel discussed some new dimensions of cloud computing and mobile devices that present opportunities and challenges for enterprise-class business applications. In this Column, he explores additional new dimensions that impact business applications, providing added value but also creating increased complexity. Read David’s compelling take on the new wave of enterprise software.
  

• Performance Improvement: Who is Responsible for Process Performance?
  Alan Ramias - December 07, 2010
  In their May 2010 Column on process performance measurement, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins provided some principles to avoid complications in creating effective process performance measurement systems. In their September Column they provided a tool for identifying appropriate process metrics linked to both customer and business requirements. In this, the third and final Column in their series, the authors address the issue of who is responsible for process performance. These three Columns provide an invaluable reference for all who are engaged in this important work.
  

• Practical Process: Process Lenses
  Roger Tregear - December 07, 2010
  Roger Tregear proposes that business process practitioners apply a series of lenses to accomplish an effective analysis of complex processes. Building a set of metaphorical lenses and deliberately using them to focus thinking on a range of important perspectives, one at a time, provides a richer understanding of the context, purpose and performance of the process-in-focus. Read his Column to learn about a practical and useful technique to apply when analyzing your organization’s processes.
  

• BPM and SOA—Business Processes Start with Capabilities
  Mike Rosen - December 07, 2010
  In his Column this month, Mike Rosen takes up the topic of business capability which he defines as what an enterprise does, not how it does it. Capability models are relevant to the business, and they provide the all-important link between the business and IT architectures. Read Mike’s succinct, insightful analysis of capability models and mapping which, he believes, represent current best practices in the area of business architecture.
  

• A Single Page Generic Business Architecture
  Adrian Grigoriu - December 07, 2010
  In this Article, Adrian Grigoriu proposes a generic Business Architecture called GODS, an acronym for: Governance, Operations, Development, and Support, which is an extension of Porter’s Value Chain concept. GODS offers a comprehensive view of the key enterprise functions that form the enterprise structure that deliver value to stakeholders. Read Adrian’s Article for the details.
  

• Down Under: the Sell, Definition and Frustration
  John Jeston - November 02, 2010
  Spurred by recent comments on the BPTrends Linkedin Discussion Group, John Jeston and Johan Nelis attempt to address the ongoing question of how to sell BPM in your organization. The authors organize the various questions and comments into two major categories—intangible sales approaches and tangible sales approaches. Read their analysis and join the discussion on the BPTrends Linkedin Discussion.Group.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Agility Based on Business Rules—Just Common Sense
  November 02, 2010
  Ron Ross asserts that today’s business systems aren’t agile. To create agility, he exhorts business process practitioners to stop thinking of business rules as simply another form of software requirement. Software requirements go away once a project is completed. For business rules, in contrast, a project’s end is just the beginning. Read his expert advice on how to create agility based on business rules.
  

• 2010 Winners of the OMG Sponsored BPM/SOA Competition
  Richard Soley - November 02, 2010
  The goal of the BPM/SOA Case Study Competition was to highlight business success stories and lessons learned and to provide insights for other organizations considering or pursuing BPM, SOA or combined BPM-SOA adoption. In this Article, Richard Soley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OMG, presents a brief summary of the winning Case Studies. In subsequent months, BPTrends will publish the Case Study Competition winners in their entirety.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective: Weighing in on BPMN---What it’s good for, What it’s not
  Alec Sharp - November 02, 2010
  Is BPMN a lingua franca – suitable for use by both technical and non-technical audiences? This month, Alec Sharp enters this ongoing argument, presenting his perspective as a long-time consultant and BPM practitioner. Upon reading his Column, some readers will cheer, others will disagree vehemently. We’d like to know your thoughts.
  

• Extreme Competition: Process on Demand and Cloud Services
  Peter Fingar - November 02, 2010
  In his Column this month, Peter Fingar argues that without BPM, the Cloud remains a passive environment that can save an organization money and eliminate some operational headaches. But, adding a process layer to the Cloud can revolutionize the way business services are created and consumed and can provide an organization with a significant competitive advantage.
  

• BPTF Framework, Part 3: Practical BPTF Application
  Tom Mercer - November 02, 2010
  In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, Tom Mercer, Dennis Groves and Vasco Drecun introduced the elements of the Business Process Transformation Framework (BPTF) and described its architectural framework. In this, the final Article of the series, they describe how BPTF provides an organization with the ability to incorporate best practices into its business processes and the agility required to respond quickly to changes in the marketplace.
  

• Social Media and Social Companies
  Frans van der Reep - November 02, 2010
  Frans van der Reep believes that the internet is creating a new reality for the software world. In this Article, he describes his vision of what new software functionality is needed in order to meet the requirements of the networked economy. Read his compelling analysis of the profound impact social media will have on software development in the near future.
  

• Process Management—A Global View
  Andrew Spanyi - November 02, 2010
  On a year-long journey around the world, attending BPM events and visiting BPM clients in Europe and Australia, Andrew Spanyi took advantage of the opportunity to continue his research on how various companies launch and execute process management methods. Read his Article to learn the results of his research. You may be surprised.
  

• Process in Practice: The Process for Process Management
  Rob Davis - October 05, 2010
  Rob Davis believes that in order to achieve world-class processes, we need to employ a world-class approach to the “Process for Process Management.” Rob observes that when it comes to process design, we don’t always employ the rigorous governance techniques that we apply in other areas of our work. In this Column, he offers suggestions for a layered approach to process design that incorporates those techniques.
  

• BPTF Framework 2010, Part 2: Architectural Overview
  Tom Mercer - October 05, 2010
  In Part I of their three-part series, Tom Mercer, Dennis Groves and Vasco Drecun explained that the Business ProcessTransformation Framework (BPTF), with its three dimensions, defines process transformation scope with the precision required for analysis and improvement of processes. In this Article they describe how different views of the process transformation must be assembled to communicate concerns, plan possibilities, and transform activities.
  

• Product Development Challenges for IT Services Companies
  Srikanth Inaganti - October 05, 2010
  In his position as a Practice Partner in the Enterprise Architecture Consulting Practice at Wipro, Srikanth Inaganti has had a first-hand opportunity to observe that IT services companies are delivering similar or the same solutions in different vertical industry segments. This practice has frequently led to either limited or no success in deployment of the solution. In this Article, Srikanth discusses the obstacles within a services company for creating a decisive differentiation that would help augment further growth and proposes an approach that would lead to greater success.
  

• Unified Organizations. Do you fit in?
  Peter van den Heuvel - October 05, 2010
  Few would disagree that all systems within an organization need to be aligned to operate optimally. How to arrive at that ideal state remains a challenge. Peter van den Heuvel proposes a solution in the form of a Company Reference Grid (CRG). In this Article, Peter provides the components of a CRG as well as a roadmap to a successful alignment effort.
  

• Performance Architecture: Why Trends Matter
  Roger Addison - October 05, 2010
  Many of us ignore current trends as irrelevant to our business and social activities. In their Column this month, Roger Addison and Carol Haig cite numerous trends they feel are significant. Read how and why being aware of trends can add value to your work as BPM practitioners.
  

• Human Processes: Big Processes
  Keith Harrison - October 05, 2010
  What, you may well ask, are “Big Processes” as opposed to small ones? In order to see the elephant in the room, Keith Harrison-Broninski suggests you stop identifying processes with flow chart diagrams. Read Keith’s thought-provoking Column to learn how a Human Interaction Management System (HIMS)deployment can effect order-of-magnitude changes while your competitors are occupied with tweaking the details of their operations.
  

• BPM and the New Enterprise: BPM Vendors Lag in New Technology Uptake
  Rashid Khan - October 05, 2010
  While looking for a workflow product to deploy a bug tracking solution for his new company, Rashid Khan discovered that, among the many BPM/workflow systems on the market, a low-cost and easy-to-deploy system does not exist, leaving him, and others like him in small start-ups, no choice but to use packaged solutions instead of a true BPMS. Read Rashid’s analysis of why BPM/workflow vendors lag in their uptake of new and innovative technology.
  

• Process Management as a Service
  Michael Rosemann - October 05, 2010
  Is a service a process and vice-versa? In this Article, Michael Rosemann provides an answer to the skeptics in the BPM community who regard everything as a process - “process as the ultimate first class citizen” - and who doubt that the service concept can add new insights. Professor Rosemann argues that “process” and “service” are complementary views of the same capabilities in an organization and that their associated viewpoints stress alternative facets of those capabilities. Read his Article for the details of his analysis.
  

• MDA Journal: Business Applications in the Cloud-Mobility Era
  David Frankel - September 14, 2010
  Considering Cloud Computing from a different perspective, David Frankel discusses the potential business benefits made possible by the new technology, as well as the complexity it introduces in dealing with scalability. He believes model-driven approaches to enterprise software, although not a cure-all, can play an important role in exploiting the new technology in a manageable and measured manner. Be sure to read David’s Column—the first of several—on Cloud Computing.
  

• Performance Improvement: Building Metrics for Process
  Alan Ramias - September 14, 2010
  In their May Column, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins began a series on process metrics. They cite some of the recurring problems and pitfalls they have encountered in working with clients, including: creating metrics that were unlinked to management of the business; creating disorganized piles of metrics instead of a logical set; measuring too much, too little, or the wrong things. In this Column, they address remedies for some of the most significant problems. They describe the guidelines they follow in creating process metrics and apply those guidelines using a tool for identifying the right process metrics.
  

• Extreme Competition: Fractal Enterprise Architecture and BPM - Can UML or BPMN Model a Cloud?
  Peter Fingar - September 14, 2010
  Peter Fingar contends that existing Enterprise Architecture approaches and today’s BPM systems lack the flexibility to accommodate Cloud based, loosely coupled, stateless architectures. These architectures feature complex business ecosystems made up of large numbers of participants spread across the globe. Peter’s solution? An agent-oriented BPM. Read his Column to learn precisely what that term means and to learn how you can respond to Peter’s questions and participate in an on-going discussion of agent-oriented BPM.
  

• Telecom Reference Architecture, Part 2
  Gopala Behara - September 14, 2010
  In the final installment of their Article on telecom reference architecture, Gopala Krishna Behara, Pradyumna Mahajani, and Prasad Palli provide a detailed analysis of the major building blocks of any telecom service provider architecture and demonstrate how using a BPM tool facilitates the management and maintenance of the business processes.
  

• BPTF Framework, Part 1
  Tom Mercer - September 14, 2010
  n the first of a three-part series, Tom Mercer, Dennis Groves and Vasco Drecun, discuss the rationale behind the development of Business Process Transformation Framework (BPTF), an emerging technology/methodology, and define the three transformational dimensions applicable to every company.
  

• BPM—Quo Vadis?
  Joachim Van den Bergh - September 14, 2010
  The authors of this Article, Stijn Viaene, Joachim van den Bergh, Friedrike Schroeder-Pander and Willem Mertens, conducted six years of intensive research to determine the strategic positioning and future challenges of BPM. Read their Article and find out for yourself what their research has revealed about the issues and challenges that face those trying to put BPM into practice.
  

• Business Rules Solutions: Building Business Capability
  Ronald Ross - September 14, 2010
  This month, Ron Ross departs from his usual focus to discuss business rules in the context of a new cross disciplinary conference event, Building Business Capability, that will feature thought leaders and practitioners in Business Analysis, Business Rules and Business Process Management. Read Ron’s Column for details.
  

• Practical Process: Occasionally, It has to be Remarkable
  Roger Tregear - September 14, 2010
  Roger Tregear was alarmed when he read recently that fewer than 40% of major improvement projects succeed in reaching their stated goals—obviously not a statistic to quote in garnering support for a process improvement project. How can practitioners improve on that statistic? He asserts that process improvement is not about making lists of the obvious. Rather, it’s about knowing what problem we are trying to solve and pushing the envelope to find all the possible change ideas and selecting the best among them. Read this Column for Roger’s 4Dimensions solution.
  

• What’s in a Name? It’s Just Window Dressing, Isn’t It?
  Ian Gotts - September 14, 2010
  Ian Gotts suggests that companies looking to transform their business through BPM or process mapping need to sell the project to their staff to ensure success. He describes an actual scenario based on his work with a client involving 800+ retail stores to illustrate his point. Read his engaging Article to learn how to develop a “coherent plan entertainingly communicated.”
  

• Performance Architecture: The Checklist - The Great Equalizer)
  Carol Haig - July 06, 2010
  As practitioners, Roger Addison and Carol Haig, have long advocated for the “job aid” as a first response to most requests for performance improvement help. One such tool is the checklist. They were excited to discover another advocate in the Surgeon for the World Health Organization, Dr. Atul Gawande, author of the best selling book, The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right. In their Column this mon. th, Read their Column and consider the potential value of the checklist in your own work.
  

• BPM Governance Framework
  Vitaly Khusidman - July 06, 2010
  In this Article, Vitaly Khusidman defines the requirements of a comprehensive framework that can serve as a single point of reference for all methods, artifacts, and tools needed for implementing a successful BPM initiative. Although the list of requirements is not complete, Vitaly sees this Article as a starting point for creating a BPM Governance Framework. Read his comprehensive and well-thought out treatment of this important topic.
  

• Processes in Practice: What Organizations Need is a BPM Road Map
  Rob Davis - July 06, 2010
  After reading the June 15th BPTrends Advisor, Once More, What is BPM?, Rob Davis asked himself another question, “Why is it so difficult to get organizations to care about business process?” Rob believes that the ongoing confusion regarding the meaning of BPM causes roadblocks to process initiatives. As a solution, he proposes a BPM Roadmap that creates a long term vision of BPM for the organization and puts a plan in place to achieve it, but at the same time, initiates Process Transformation projects that deliver more immediate benefits. Read his Column for the details.
  

• BPM and the New Enterprise: The Case for Mobile BPM
  Rashid Khan - July 06, 2010
  In his May Column, Rashid Khan argued that smartphones would become the ideal platform for running Web and SaaS applications. In this Column, he asks why BPM is lagging in the support of smartphones, and what types of BPM tasks are suitable for smartphones. Read his answers and his advice to vendors attempting to respond to this potential growth market.
  

• BPM in India: Spreading their Wings - Home-Grown Indian BPM Products
  Jyoti Bhat - July 06, 2010
  While much has been written about the global BPM players and their efforts to increase their market share in the rapidly expanding Indian BPM market, Jyoti Bhat and Jude Fernandez thought it would be interesting to look at the Indian BPM players, how they grew, the unique challenges they faced and, finally, the possible trends for the future. Read their Column for their insights and analysis of “Home-Grown” Indian BPM products.
  

• Points of View: Who Cares About Your Business Processes? Part 2
  Roger Burlton - July 06, 2010
  In his March Column, Roger Burlton explored some ways of looking at our external business stakeholders, based on communications between organizations and those they serve and those who serve them. In this month’s Column, Roger describes what we need to know about relationships and processes at the enterprise level and what we must do accommodate stakeholders in order to achieve strategic goals.
  

• BPM and SOA: Moving Beyond Processes to Outcomes
  Mike Rosen - July 06, 2010
  To achieve the benefits processes can provide, Mike Rosen asserts that BPM must be built on top of an agile, flexible layer of business services. In his Column this month, Mike presents a technique to ensure that your BPM initiative is aligned and supported by your enterprise architecture. Read his clear and concise directions for achieving a successfully aligned BPM initiative.
  

• Down Under: Business Agility Requires Business Processes as its Basis.
  John Jeston - July 06, 2010
  Confronted by the need for continuous change, many organizations are looking closely at options to increase their agility. In this environment, IT has suggested that an organization can have agility if it adopts an Agile IT development methodology. IT’s argument goes something like this, “It is better to be a business analyst than a process analyst, as we first determine what the business needs, then build a system, and then do the business processes.” John Jeston and Johan Nelis could not disagree more. Read their rebuttal in this month’s Column.
  

• Telecom Reference Architecture, Part 1
  Gopala Behara - July 06, 2010
  In their capacity as Senior Consultants for Wipro Consulting Services, Gopala Krishna Behara, Pradyumna Mahajani, and Prasad Palli have had considerable experience working with telecom service providers. In Part 1 of a two part Article, the authors define a telecom reference architecture and its purpose, describe common pitfalls for telecom service providers they’ve encountered in their work, and identify industry trends. Read their Article for greater insight into telecom architecture.
  

• Deploying BPM in the Cloud Has a Silver Lining
  Austin Rosenfeld - July 06, 2010
  Vendors beware. Austin Rosenfeld believes that the Cloud, or more specifically, the Software as a Service (SaaS) model that the Cloud enables, eliminates the need for many companies to buy servers and pay for the associated maintenance in order to use specific applications. Read Austin’s Article for reasons why deploying in the Cloud could be a significant money-saving strategy for your organization.
  

• ERP Systems: Unlock the Hidden Value
  Tom Sonde - July 06, 2010
  If you believe that your ERP system hasn’t lived up to expectations, don’t despair. Tom Sonde has some practical advice to help you unlock the hidden value, “marry process with technology, and apply best practices.” Easier said than done, you say. Read Tom’s Article for the details.
  

• Putting the M Back in Management
  June 01, 2010
  Ian Gotts, CEO of Nimbus, defines BPM as the management discipline by which an organization treats its business processes as one of its most valuable assets. The fact is, however, that to many in the IT world, BPM means “process automation tools.” In this Article, Ian explains his view of how successful enterprises are “putting the M back in BPM” to address their goal of sustained operational excellence.
  

• Data4BPM
  June 01, 2010
  Experts from IBM are developing a series of articles that will lay out a technical vision and approach for how data can be represented and specified for BPM applications. In this series, to be published over the next several months on the IBM website, the authors will present various facets of this vision. In this Article, Prabir Nandi, a member of the research staff, summarizes the articles, the first of which, the Business Entity Definition Language (BEDL) and BPEL4Data, is available for download on the IBM site.
  

• Human Processes: Going HIM
  June 01, 2010
  As a strong advocate of HIM (Human Interaction Management), Keith Harrison-Broninski is frequently asked questions about what is involved in “Going “HIM.” In his Column this month, Keith responds to that question and relates a recent experience in working with a client who called him in to deal with the same problem in two consecutive years. To learn the moral of the story and the potential value of HIM Systems to your organization, read Keith’s Column.
  

• Human Processes: Going HIM
  June 01, 2010
  As a strong advocate of HIM (Human Interaction Management), Keith Harrison-Broninski is frequently asked questions about what is involved in “Going “HIM.” In his Column this month, Keith responds to that question and relates a recent experience in working with a client who called him in to deal with the same problem in two consecutive years. To learn the moral of the story and the potential value of HIM Systems to your organization, read Keith’s Column.
  

• Practical Process: Balanced Process Management
  June 01, 2010
  Believing that Business Process Management is a holistic management philosophy, Roger Tregear advocates Balanced Process Management as the best means of optimizing the delivery of value to all stakeholders. In his Column this month, Roger provides his list of “points of balance” that need to be considered and managed if the organization is to achieve a balanced process.
  

• Back to Work
  June 01, 2010
  In his previous Article, Jim Womack asked readers of his monthly e-letter to share their concerns about where we go from here in the Lean Community. He received over 300 responses, and, in this Article, he categorizes and summarizes the responses into five major themes and five major experiments. Anyone interested in Lean will want to read Jim’s thoughtful Article.
  

• Extreme Competition: Whither the CIO?
  June 01, 2010
  In an environment where customers are increasingly turning to Social Networks for information required to make purchasing decisions, and where internal business units are increasingly turning to Cloud service providers for the resources required to get work done, what is the role of the CIO? Peter Fingar sees the next generation CIO as a strategic agent for business transformation. Read his Column for the details.
  

• Business Rules Solutions: What is a Business Rule?
  June 01, 2010
  If, like me, you’ve been confused by rules about business rules, Ron Ross’ Column this month will go a long way toward clearing up the confusion. He answers the basic question of when a rule can be considered a rule and when not by presenting five pragmatic tests for knowing when you’ve identified a true business rule.
  

• Business Process Transformation Framework, Part 3
  June 01, 2010
  In this final Article in their three part series, Rick Burris and Robert Howard describe the process steps for using a Business Process Transformation Framework (BPTF) effectively and efficiently. Like any tool, it can be used to produce the desired business results, or it can be misused, creating a wheel-spinning effort without conclusion or tangible economic benefits. Read their Article for guidelines on how to avoid spinning your wheels.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective: Process Architecture on a Budget—Part 2
  Alec Sharp - May 04, 2010
  In Part 2 of Process Architecture on a Budget, Alec Sharp continues his discussion of a project he is currently working on that involves completing enterprise process identification on a limited budget and within a short time frame. This month, he focuses on issues relating to the use (or not) of process reference models, the use of available resources and artifacts, and “enabling” and “governance and external relations” processes. As in Part 1, he shares lessons learned from each step in the process.
  

• MDA Journal: The ISO 20022 Common Global Implementation - Streamlining Corporate-Bank Connectivity
  David Frankel - May 04, 2010
  In his Column this month, David Frankel parses the ISO 20022 payment and cash management messages which aim to streamline electronic communication between banks and corporate customers. This initiative has recently gained traction globally and, once the growing pains are addressed, promises a substantial positive economic impact on the global economy. Read David’s insightful analysis of this important development.
  

• BPM and the New Enterprise: Smartphones - The Ultimate IT Platform for the New Enterprise
  Rashid Khan - May 04, 2010
  Rashid Khan admits that three years ago he hated cell phones, considering them noisy, intrusive and a pain in the neck, and only begrudgingly used the one given to him as a gift. With the evolution of cell phones to Smartphones, however, he has revised his opinion and now predicts that Smartphones are on their way to becoming the ultimate client for software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications of all types. Do you agree? Read his Column and find out.
  

• Performance Improvement: Measuring Process Performance
  Alan Ramias - May 04, 2010
  In the first of three Columns devoted to process metrics, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins cite some of the pitfalls they have encountered over the years, including some of their own mistakes as well as those committed by others. They name and define the five most common pitfalls and end their Column on a hopeful note by citing what they consider the requirements for effective measurement of process performance.
  

• The Business Process Transformation Framework: Part 2
  Rick Burris - May 04, 2010
  In the second Article of their three part series, Rick Burris and Robert Howard present a scenario in a global company that has determined that its Master Scheduling process is failing to produce the required results. The company decides to re-engineer the master supply planning process. Read their Article to discover how they successfully carry out their re-engineering project.
  

• Beyond Toyota
  Jim Womack - May 04, 2010
  Jim Womack, Founder and Chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute, urges us to look beyond Toyota and create management systems and organizations that can practice (not just preach) Lean every day, year after year. He exhorts Lean advocates to work at creating sustainable Lean Enterprises in every industry, in every country. Read this, the first of two Articles, on the next challenge for Lean practitioners.
  

• From the Outside World to Internal Structure
  Oscar Vincenti - May 04, 2010
  Oscar Vincenti sees Business Process Management as the consolidator of all the aspects of business, from the outside world to the internal structure. Is this an overstatement? Read his engaging ideas on how the Customer Value Proposition provides key elements for the development of an enterprise architecture.
  

• Performance Architecture: Performance Improvement - The Case for Horizontal Oversight
  Roger Addison - April 06, 2010
  Would you consider a modest proposal to improve the success ratio of performance improvement initiatives? Roger Addison and Carol Haig propose an approach that brings together the Process Architecture experts from all three levels of the organization, including human performance, process performance and organizational performance. and mandates them to work horizontally across all functions. If you’re skeptical, read their Column for two examples of large corporations that have followed their model and experienced success.
  

• Processes in Practice: Thinking End-to-End - Time for Cinderella to Go to the Ball
  Rob Davis - April 06, 2010
  Rob Davis uses the Cinderella story as a metaphor to describe the lowly position of “Concept to Market” in traditional thinking about end-to-end processes. It is positioned well behind “Lead to Cash” and “Problem-to-Resolution.” Rob argues that “Concept to Market” should not follow the other two, but rather should precede them and should design and a deliver those processes. Read why he believes this approach can bring extraordinary value to the organization.
  

• Application of Enterprise Architecture Patterns in Hospitals
  Oscar Barros - April 06, 2010
  In their second and final Article defining their approach to enterprise and process architecture, Oscar Barros and Cristian Julio present the application of the approach to hospital management. The application is part of a large project being conducted under the auspices of the Health Ministry in Chile. In a surprisingly short period of time, the team was able to successfully implement the application (two months) and to claim the project an overall success (six months). Read their Article for a detailed recap of their experience.
  

• Human Resources: Hyper-productive Working Practices
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - April 06, 2010
  If you have ever been engaged in a project requiring you to use techniques and technologies you are not completely familiar with, you may have welcomed an interruption from a colleague seeking your help on an unrelated matter. Welcome as the distraction may have been, it likely caused a significant time loss when you returned your focus to the unfamiliar task at hand. Keith Harrison-Broninski has a tried and true remedy for avoiding such focus derailments. Read his Column for the formula.
  

• Extreme Competition: Enterprise as a Service (EaaS) - That’s Where BPM Comes In
  April 06, 2010
  Are you in the Larry Ellison camp and wonder, “What the hell is cloud computing?” And furthermore, do you wonder, “What does it have to do with BPM?” If these are questions you’ve asked in the middle of all the hype around cloud computing, Peter Fingar offers some answers. Read his Column for his take on how BPM sets enterprise cloud computing apart from consumer cloud computing and why it will provide a competitive advantage, in the 21st century, to companies that embrace it.
  

• BPM in India: BPM and Quality Management—Will the Twain Meet?
  Jyoti Bhat - April 06, 2010
  Quality management has buy-in and commitment from senior management in most Indian companies, while BPM resides in the domain of IT. Jyoti Bhat and Jude Fernandez provide an inside look at how, in most Indian companies, the two groups remain unaligned in working toward their respective goals. They urge researchers and analysts involved with process work in both camps to get beyond their mutual misunderstandings and recognize the complementary possibilities of the Quality management and BPM approaches.
  

• Down Under: 10 Impediments to Achieving Process Excellence
  John Jeston - April 06, 2010
  Using imaginative illustrations to characterize the 10 impediments to achieving process excellence, John Jeston and Johan Nelis provide a chart that identifies the symptoms and suggestions for dealing with the impediments. The presentation not only offers a refreshing approach to defining common problems on the road to process excellence, but, more importantly, provides sound advice to the process weary. You will find their chart an excellent reference tool.
  

• Show me the Money
  Carla Howard - April 06, 2010
  In this engaging Article, Christine Dicken and Carla Howard, performance consultants at Arizona Public Service, describe how they were able to convince the sponsors of the Center for Process Excellence that, despite economic hard times, investment in continuous process improvement was worthwhile. How did they do it? Literally, by proving the economic value of performance improvement by developing a financial analysis tool that presented their case in the “language of their executives.” Read this fascinating account of their journey to successfully “Showing the Money.”
  

• Interneer’s Interneer Intellect, Version 6.5
  Romeo Elias - April 06, 2010
  Interneer’s Interneer Intellect is a Human Centric Business Process Management Suite for creating, automating, and managing business processes. Interneer Intellect was designed to simplify Business Process Management and make it accessible to companies of all sizes. All stakeholders login to the same environment, and, depending on their role, are provided the appropriate tools and features required. Follow the link for complete details of this newly released BPMS tool.
  

• Business Process Transformation Framework
  Rick Burris - April 06, 2010
  Given the number of well-publicized failed Enterprise Resource Planning system implementations, most will agree that there is a strong case for the need to improve process implementation. In this, the first of three Articles, Rick Burris and Robert Howard introduce an emerging process improvement technology called Business Process Transformation Framework (BPTF). The authors suggest that BPTF addresses many root causes of ERP system failures and ensures a balance among the key drivers of business transformation success throughout the design process.
  

• Enterprise and Process Architecture Patterns
  Oscar Barros - March 02, 2010
  Much has been written by professional practitioners and academics about efforts to align enterprise architecture with business strategy. In this comprehensive Article, the first of two, Oscar Barros and Cristian Julio propose a model for enterprise architecture derived from numerous practical business design projects, performed by graduate students at the University of Chile in collaboration with Chilean firms.
  

• Points of View: Who Cares about your Business Processes?
  Roger Burlton - March 02, 2010
  Sorting through the myriad, complicated relationships among stakeholders is a challenge to any change manager, but a challenge that must be overcome if the project is to succeed. In this Column, Roger provides a foundational model for stakeholder analysis that will be of interest to any manager faced with the push and pull of stake holders’ conflicting interests. Without an analytical approach to reconciling the conflicts, most projects will be derailed and fail.
  

• Business Rules Solutions: From Rule Book Management to Business Governance
  Ronald Ross - March 02, 2010
  In his Column this month, Ron Ross discusses how business rules and the governance of an enterprise are inherently and inextricably linked. In other words, the better your organization becomes at deploying policy and business rules effectively, the better it will become at the details of governance. Ron also discusses what is involved in a governance process and how it should be supported. Finally, he examines the organizational function required to support a re-engineered governance process.
  

• Evolving the Decision Model with Views
  Larry Goldberg - March 02, 2010
  Larry Goldberg and Barbara von Halle can cite successful implementations of the Decision Model in many large scale enterprises, but what about one of the more challenging business rule environments - the nationwide, multi-line insurance company? These companies must operate within as many as 55 regulatory mandates. How do the authors propose to solve these complex challenges? Read their Article for the answer.
  

• Practical Processes: The Important Questions
  Roger Tregear - March 02, 2010
  In a bit of whimsy involving The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which suggests that “The answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42,” Roger Tregear considered that perhaps The Ultimate BPM Problem is that we have plenty of answers and not enough questions. So, in his Column this month, he asks your help in determining the most important questions in BPM. He’s come up with 27. Read his Column and join the conversation.
  

• BPM and the New Enterprise: Processes and the New Enterprise
  Rashid Khan - March 02, 2010
  For several years, Rashid Khan, founder and former CEO of Ultimus, wrote a BPTrends Column titled BPM: A Global View. Recently, Rashid launched a new start-up company, and we asked him to write about the role of business process in his new venture He agreed and this month he returns to discuss how he is “bootstrapping” his new company with easily accessible process tools that enable the development of a new product and a customer base at a surprisingly reasonable cost. Whether you’re planning your own new enterprise or just dreaming about it, you should read Rashid’s perspective on process and the new enterprise.
  

• ISO 9000: A Springboard to BPM
  Sam Anbazhagan - March 02, 2010
  Sam Anbazhagan believes that the early adopters of ISO 9000 were better able to successfully deploy BPM tools than were those who delayed or avoided adoption of the standard. Does ISO 9000 deserve another look? Read Sam’s thoughts on the subject to see if you agree.
  

• Executive Overview BPM Survey-2010
  Paul Harmon - March 01, 2010
  
  

• Performance Architecture: The Way We Do Things Now
  Roger Addison - February 02, 2010
  What happens when well-designed processes are not aligned with the practices of the supervisors who perform them? In their Column this month, Roger Addison and Carol Haig examine this question and identify the symptoms of process and practice misalignment. Read their Column for practical solutions that can help in “halting the cycle of poor performance.”
  

• Process in Practice: Process Reuse
  Rob Davis - February 02, 2010
  In his debut Column for BPTrends, Rob Davis addresses the subject of reuse. Although it is a concept that has been around for a long time, do we understand what it really means? In response to that question, Rob identifies and defines the key categories of reuse—structural, design, and implementation - and suggests some things we need to understand in order to achieve effective reuse in these key categories.
  

• MDA Journal: Semantic Metadata—Tapping the Potential of Semantic Ontologies
  David Frankel - February 02, 2010
  David Frankel has written extensively on semantic interoperability problems and has suggested solutions to many of them. Those readers familiar with Dave’s previous Columns on this subject know that he considers semantic interoperability a major economic enabler. This month, he focuses on semantic ontologies and where they fit into the picture.
  

• Business Architecture: The Missing Link between Business Strategy and Enterprise Architecture
  SOA Consortium EA2010 Working Group - February 02, 2010
  The SOA Consortium’s EA2010 Working Group, a self described group of “street-smart” enterprise architecture practitioners, has been actively discussing the domains, services, practices, and skills required for a thriving, business relevant enterprise architecture practice in the next decade. In this Article, previously published on the OMG website, members of the working group articulate the reasons for their belief that business relevant architecture is the missing link between an organization’s strategy and its enterprise architecture.
  

• BPM and SOA: Collaborative Knowledge Processes
  Mike Rosen - February 02, 2010
  Mike Rosen identifies a variety of factors inherent in knowledge processes that do not lend themselves to traditional BPMS solutions. How to accommodate the unpredictable and interactive nature of knowledge workers is the challenge the next generation of BPM must deal with. Read Mike’s Column for his insightful perceptions on this important issue.
  

• Practitioner’s Perspective: Process Architecture on a Budget, Part 1
  Alec Sharp - February 02, 2010
  Identifying the 100 or so processes in an enterprise can be time consuming and expensive. In his Column this month, Alec looks at a project he is currently working on that involves completing enterprise process identification on a limited budget and within a short time frame. Read what he has to say about the process and some lessons learned on achieving that all-important executive buy-in.
  

• Extreme Innovation
  Dieter Jenz - February 02, 2010
  Dieter Jenz takes up the ongoing misalignment between business and IT and suggests that it is no longer feasible to pursue the same old well-trodden paths. Instead, he proposes a holistic BPM solution. Read his Article for the details
  

• Advanced Decisioning Process Excellence
  James Taylor - February 02, 2010
  In this Article, James Taylor discusses his theory of Advanced Decisioning, which, he contends, makes processes simpler, more agile and smarter. Read his explanation of this approach to process excellence, why he believes in it, and the three steps necessary to achieving it.
  

• Extreme Competition: Social Networks, Innovation and the MITH Myth
  Peter Fingar - February 02, 2010
  Peter Fingar turns his attention to the compelling topic of social networks and their relevancy to the changing role of information technology in business. He sees social networks not as time-wasters but as a new source of business intelligence - places where work gets done and innovation is born. Your boss may not agree, but you should read Peter’s Column and form your own opinion
  

• It’s Time: Ditch Your Rules
  Larry Goldberg - January 05, 2010
  Now that they have your attention, Larry Goldberg and Barbara von Halle want to explain what they mean. They contend that business rules without context and structure are fairly meaningless. How to provide context and structure to your organization’s business rules is their focus, and they argue convincingly that the Decision Model is the means to accomplish this goal. Read their Article to see if you agree.
  

• Human Processes: Playing in the Orchestra on the Titanic
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - January 05, 2010
  How will the business process industry fare in the aftermath of the current economic recession? Keith Harrison-Broninski challenges the notion that resuming the same old BPM solutions will continue to provide the answers.. Read Keith’s suggestions for how to avoid pouring old wine into new bottles once the economy is on a path to recovery.
  

• Down Under: Execution is Everything?
  John Jeston - January 05, 2010
  Despite the challenges to long term business strategies by a rapidly changing world, organizations still need direction and vision. John Jeston and Johan Nelis pose three critical questions and suggest that the answers to these questions will provide direction for closing the gap between a business strategy and its execution. Read their Column for a guide to avoiding what they refer to as the “management execution void,”
  

• Quality Management Doesn’t Cut it Anymore
  Ian Gotts - January 05, 2010
  As the Quality Manager, how do you change your operation from a liability or simply a cost center to an asset or a value add? Ian Gotts has some practical advice on how to move from being the owner of the Quality Manual to being the facilitator of process improvement. Read his Article for the details.
  

• Process Innovation and Corporate Agility: Balancing Efficiency and Adaptability in a Knowledge-Centric World
  Derek Miers - January 05, 2010
  In this Article, Derek Miers presents a comprehensive exploration of issues associated with finding the right balance between standardization and evolution. Read this thoroughly researched analysis for Derek’s conclusions on how best to find the right balance.
  

• BPM in India: Thou Shalt Comply-the BPM Angle
  Jude Fernandez - January 05, 2010
  This month, Jyoti Bhat and Jude Fernandez turn their attention to compliance regulation in India. They observe that, as Indian companies assume global status, there will be an increased need to bring in mature process based compliance practices, tools and technologies to enable organizations to achieve and/or maintain compliance. How will the cost of compliance in India compare to other economies? Read their Column to learn their thoughts on this timely subject.
  

• Process Improvement: The Role of the Performance Architect
  Alan Ramias - January 05, 2010
  In two previous Columns on process ownership in July and October 2009, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins discussed various approaches to process ownership and what process owners actually do. In this, the final installment in the series, they focus on the critical role of the performance architect. Broadly speaking, process owners should be managing while performance architects carry out the tasks that enable them to manage. Combined, these three Columns offer an excellent reference for defining the roles and responsibilities of process owners versus those of process architects.
  

• Process Centricity and the Business Analyst’s New Role
  Pradeep Henry - January 05, 2010
  Pradeep Henry believes that the Business Analyst’s role and skill set should be extended beyond traditional boundaries. In this Article, he not only defines the specifics of the new role, but he provides evidence of the success of this approach. Business Analyst readers, do you agree?
  

• BPM in Europe: Community Building Down Under
  Frits Bussemaker - December 09, 2009
  In October, Frits Bussemaker went “Down Under” to give the keynote address at a BPM Conference focused on the future of BPM. In the course of preparation and presentation, he observed the similarities between managing a community of independent people and managing an end-to-end business process. Here, he presents “10 lessons learned for setting up and managing a community.”
  

• BPM Conference Europe 2009
  Dee Carri - December 01, 2009
  At the BPM Conference Europe, 2009, Dee Carri conducted a networking session focused on process improvement. The participants shared their own experiences to identify areas where they, or other organizations known to them, successfully delivered clear benefits in a short time span – speed being one of the critical success factors for improvement projects during the economic downturn. Read this compelling account of a dynamic session that could benefit you and your organization.
  

• Extreme Competition: Cloud Computing Management Innovation
  Peter Fingar - December 01, 2009
  Peter Fingar describes the power of process driven Cloud Computing and suggests that organizations taking a wait and see attitude are travelling at their own risk. In fact, he posits that the best way to undermine your competitors is to tell them that Cloud Computing is just a bunch of hype. Read his Column for complete instructions.
  

• From Process Analysis to Employee Job Aids
  Jim Boots - December 01, 2009
  In this Article, Jim Boots, Senior Process Advisor in Chevron’s IT Company, and Paul Harmon, BPTrends Executive Editor and BPTrends Associates Chief Methodologist, team up to describe a specific approach that Chevron developed to transition from running process improvement projects to supporting day-to-day employee performance, with on-line job aids. Read their account of how the Chevron approach makes the process of process change more efficient and effective.
  

• BPM: A Global View - What BPM Can Learn from Robotics
  Rashid Khan - December 01, 2009
  Rashid Khan analyzes the step-by-step development of the robotics industry and concludes that the Japanese learned from the practical implementation of robotics and achieved global leadership in robotics. In contrast, BPM players have continually pursued a grand vision without facing the challenges of real world deployments. Read Rashid’s Column for insights into the state of BPM today and why BPM remains “up for grabs.”
  

• Practical Process: Practical Governance
  Roger Tregear - December 01, 2009
  In his Column this month, Roger Tregear attempts to clear up the confusion caused by the proliferation of jargon surrounding BPM Governance. He presents his perspective on the five key elements required to establishing effective BPM Governance and the 7 Deadly Sins to be scrupulously avoided in implementing and maintaining a BPM Governance program. Read his Column for the details.
  

• The State of ERP Software: BPMS Integration
  Tom Bellinson - December 01, 2009
  Acknowledging the importance of BPM, ERP vendors are adopting a variety of approaches to incorporating BPMS capabilities in their software. In this well-researched and insightful Article, Tom Bellinson reviews and analyzes the components of these approaches and provides a partial list of ERP vendors and the components they have implemented in their software solutions.
  

• Process as Art and Other Misconceptions
  Mitchell Gooze - December 01, 2009
  Taking issue with a recent article in the Harvard Business Review in which the authors assert that “…some processes naturally resist standardization…” Mitchell Gooze says that, to the contrary, sound process management principles can be applied to processes that require flexibility and human input. Read his Article for details of his rebuttal.
  

• BPM and SOA: Avoiding Common Failure Modes with BPM and SOA Projects
  Mike Rosen - December 01, 2009
  Although the idea of BPM and SOA working together has been around for several years, there still seems to be a limited understanding of what that concept means from an implementation perspective. This month, Mike Rosen reviews the key concepts of BPM and SOA and cites some of the common failure modes he’s witnessed over the years. Most important, he provides practical suggestions for avoiding them in your organization.
  

• Performance Architecture: The Performance Technology Landscape
  Roger Addison - November 03, 2009
  In their debut Column for BPTrends, Roger Addison and Carol Haig present their view of the performance technology landscape and define the four principles performance improvement professionals adhere to in their work. These principles, expressed as RSVP+, are valuable guides for measuring performance improvement. Read their Column for the details.
  

• Down Under: Leveraging BPM Skills
  John Jeston - November 03, 2009
  In the current economic climate, many BPM professionals have been forced to focus on “employability” rather than deciding which opportunity among many to pursue. If this statement describes your plight, then this Column is a must read. Years of experience as successful BPM consultants have given John Jeston and Johan Nelis principles for weathering economic downturns. Here they offer their tips for survival.
  

• What Makes a Good Process?
  Rob Davis - November 03, 2009
  Do we know what a good process is and would we know one if we saw one? In this Article, Rob Davis attempts to answer these questions by presenting his criteria for identifying the elements of a good process and for creating a good process model. The result is what he considers the nine key principles of business process excellence. Do you agree? Let us know your response.
  

• Merging Academic and Real World BPM
  Erin Noone - November 03, 2009
  When offered the opportunity to participate in a real-world BPM project in lieu of a final exam, three MBA students at Arizona State University decided, after much “trepidation,” to accept the option. They chose a project that involved analyzing the Arizona Public Service’s (APS) process for accepting credit and debit cards. In this Article, Erin Noone, Veronica Rosell and Travis Thomas recount their experience. Read what they learned about process thinking and how it will have a lasting impact on their post MBA careers.
  

• Leading Process Change - Part 3
  Andrew Spanyi - November 03, 2009
  In his initial Article, published here in September, Andrew Spanyi proposed that leaders need to develop specific business practices in the three key stages of a process improvement project: getting ready, taking action, and sustaining change. In this Article, he addresses the management practices key to sustaining the gains from process improvement projects. Read his Article for the details.
  

• Overcoming the Challenge of Real Processes Execution - Business Case
  November 03, 2009
  In October, Volkmar Voltzke presented a methodology for transforming concepts into real process executions. Here he presents an actual business case in which a large international company, unable to deliver reliable financial forecasts, successfully confronted the challenge by employing the methodology.
  

• MDA Journal: A Decade of MDA - An Appraisal
  David Frankel - November 03, 2009
  In 2000 the Object Management Group (OMG) launched its Model Driven Architecture (MDA) initiative. Dave Frankel offers a retrospective on the evolution of MDA during the subsequent ten years, discussing what it evolved from, how it was first envisioned, and what it has evolved to. Read his insightful assessment of the challenges MDA practitioners encountered in the last decade as well as current and future challenges that will continue the evolution of MDA.
  

• Human Processes: Human Interaction Management and Learning
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - November 03, 2009
  A strong proponent of Human Interaction Management (HIM), Keith Harrison-Broninski believes that by applying its principles, an organization can become a “Learning Organization.” The results will benefit the organization not only in terms of overall performance improvement but, equally important, by providing a more fulfilling workplace for the individual. Read Keith’s Column for a clear understanding of HIM and the steps involved in implementing its principles.
  

• Project Management for Business Process Improvement
  Gina Abudi - November 03, 2009
  Many Business Process Improvement initiatives are undertaken without considering the impact their implementation will have on other processes within the organization. The resulting snafus are frequently time-consuming and costly. In this Article, Gina Abudi argues that by applying a Project Management approach managers of these initiatives can avoid negatively affecting other processes, and she presents a case study to illustrate her point.
  

• Business Rules Solutions: What You Need to Know about Business Rules
  Ronald Ross - November 03, 2009
  Ron Ross contends that business rules should be externalized from processes and established as a separate resource. In this month’s Column, he explores this principle of separation called Rule Independence and discusses the many benefits of not embedding business rules in processes. Read his Column for a better understanding of the separation principle and how it can benefit your organization.
  

• Keynote ISPI--St.Louis--2009
  Paul Harmon - October 07, 2009
  Paul Harmon's slide presentation to accompany his Keynote at the September, 2009 ISPI Conference in St. Louis.
  

• Innovation: Customer Experience - The Marriage of Marketing and Business Process
  Victor Howard - October 06, 2009
  Aside from being highly successful online retailers, what do Amazon.com, Land’s End, e-Bay, and Barnes and Noble have in common? They have all embraced the principles of Customer Experience Management (CEM). Using numerous anecdotes from actual company narratives, Victor Howard brings the tenets of CEM into focus. If you’re interested in knowing the steps to successful branding and beyond, read Victor’s brief course in Customer Experience Management.
  

• Performance Architecture: The Performance Technology Landscape
  Roger Addison - October 06, 2009
  In their debut Column for BPTrends, Roger Addison and Carol Haig present their view of the performance technology landscape and define the four principles performance improvement professionals adhere to in their work. These principles, expressed as RSVP+, are valuable guides for measuring performance improvement. Read their Column for the details.
  

• Service Oriented Architecture for E-Governance
  Gopala - October 06, 2009
  Recognizing the challenges of effective e-governance, Gopala Krishna Behara, Vishnu Vardhan Varre and Madhusudhana Rao argue that SOA, properly implemented, can enhance the delivery of government services. The authors offer a step by step roadmap to successful execution of Service Oriented E-Governance.
  

• BPM in India: Maturity of BPM in India—the Process Management Dimension
  Jyoti Bhat - October 06, 2009
  Jyoti Bhat and Jude Fernandez believe that process management deserves considerable mention in any narrative describing India’s rise as an economic power. They observe that maturity in processes has become a strategy for producing and delivering superior quality products and services. Readers will be rewarded with an insider’s perspective on how Indian organizations have used BPM to arrive at their current level of maturity and what the next steps should be for continued success.
  

• Extreme Competition: Service Process Management
  Peter Fingar - October 06, 2009
  This month, Peter Fingar turns his focus to service science and its application to BPM. Although the service sector represents 70% to 80% of the GDP in advanced economies, little has been done to take on services as the object of BPM initiatives. Peter offers his perspective on why this is so and predicts that service process management, when it does emerge, will not be your father’s BPM. Find out if you are ready for the leap from BPM to SPM.
  

• Process Improvement: What do Process Owners Do
  Alan Ramias - October 06, 2009
  In their July Column, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins discussed various approaches to process ownership. This month, they focus on what they have observed individual process owners doing and offer some advice on what they should be doing. The difference between tasks performed and those that should be performed will surprise you. Read Alan and Cherie’s analysis to see how your process ownership performance stacks up.
  

• Integrating Modeling at Several Design Abstraction Levels in Architecture
  Oscar Barros - October 06, 2009
  Oscar Barros and Cristian Julio wrote this Article in response to Roger Burlton’s July Column in which he discussed his perspective on process modeling. They propose an alternative approach which they present here. Read their Article to see if you agree with their approach.
  

• Leading Process Change--Part 2
  Andrew Spanyi - October 06, 2009
  In Part 1 of Leading Process Change, Andrew Spanyi described the role of the leader in getting ready for change. In Part 2, he considers the leader’s role in the “taking action” stage. Read Part 2 for specific direction on what actions to take as well as what actions to avoid.
  

• Overcoming the Challenge of Real Process Execution
  Volkmar Volzke - October 06, 2009
  Years of experience as a consultant focusing on process improvement has led Volkmar Volzke to develop a methodology for sustained execution of processes. In this Article, he shares his methodology which he believes will lead to real “operative process execution” rather than “conceptual execution,” which he feels can derail process initiatives.
  

• BPM: A Global View: Social Networking and BPM of the Future
  Rashid Khan - September 08, 2009
  Rashid Khan believes that social networking has become one of the most dynamic phenomena in technology in recent years and that in the near future we will see a new generation of BPM solutions that are built on top of social networking platforms. Read Rashid’s predictions regarding the unique characteristics these solutions will deliver.
  

• Business Rules Solutions: Business Rules and Business Processes
  Ron Ross - September 08, 2009
  Early on in his Column, Ron Ross asserts, “Business rules do not substitute for business processes, they just make them a lot better.” Be sure to read Ron’s Column to learn how business rules and business processes relate and just how, correctly implemented, rules can improve your organization’s processes.
  

• Human Processes: Change Aims
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - September 08, 2009
  How can your organization avoid the Pareto principle that says that 20% of "exceptional cases" account for 80% of the costs? Keith Harrison-Broninski proposes that Human Interaction Management techniques for process management allow organizations to eliminate much of the 28% of knowledge worker time currently lost to poor control of human interactions. Read his Column for the details.
  

• Don’t Panic: Business Processes and Business Rules Need Not be Complex
  David Pedersen - September 08, 2009
  Simplify! Simplify! say Larry Goldberg and David Pedersen, and in this Article they show the way. Citing several examples from their own experience in coaching process improvement teams, the authors demonstrate that by separating your process and business logic into appropriate, and separate models, you will likely discover that your processes are simpler than you think. To understand why, read the Article.
  

• Framework for BPM Center of Excellence
  Michael Rosemann - September 08, 2009
  In this Article, the author team of Leandro Jesus, Andre Macieira, Daniel Karrer, and Michael Rosemann propose three capability levels for the structure for a BPM Center of Excellence. Their proposal goes beyond levels of analysis of detail in other models and provides a framework for the design of such a Center of Excellence based on different levels of maturity. Read their Article for a useful reference model in adapting or creating your organization’s CoE.
  

• Leading Process Change
  Andrew Spanyi - September 08, 2009
  Andrew Spanyi cites a 2008 McKinsey survey of executives in which only about a third said that their organizations succeeded in implementing major change. He rightly wonders why we have not observed more progress in terms of process leadership. Read his Article for his take on some answers and on ways to avoid the pitfalls that lead to failure.
  

• Reliability Centered Process Driven Technology
  Gail Petersen - September 08, 2009
  In this Article, Gail Petersen and Brian DeMeulle tell the story of how Facilities Management at the University of California, San Diego, implemented a successful business process renewal project in its maintenance operations. The story is illustrated with revealing breakthrough examples.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective: Some Thoughts on Process Discovery
  Alec Sharp - September 08, 2009
  So, you think you know what your organization’s processes are? Alec Sharp contends that incorrectly identified processes are the root cause of troubled BPM projects. Read his Column for some examples of troubled projects where process discovery was flawed and for his advice on how to guard against this happening in your organization.
  

• Practical Process: The Problem of the Question Mark
  Roger Tregear - September 08, 2009
  Everyone agrees that measuring process performance is fundamental, but few do it well. In his Column this month, Roger explores some problems in establishing real process measures, capturing current values and setting targets. Read his Column and measure your experiences against Roger’s summary and analysis of measurement issues.
  

• The ERP Software Promise
  Tom Bellinson - July 07, 2009
  After reading Paul Harmon’s May 26 Advisor, Porter, ERP and BPMS, Tom Bellinson had some thoughts of his own on the subject and asked if he might express them in an Article for BPTrends. We agreed and are pleased to present them here.
  

• Performance Improvement: Varieties of Process Ownership
  July 07, 2009
  In their Column this month, Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins describe the evolution of process ownership. Besides identifying various approaches to process ownership and citing examples from their own experiences, they also suggest the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. The question arises; do we need process ownership at all? Read their Column for their take on the question.
  

• BPM in India: Bridging the Digital Divide Through the Mobile - A Process Perspective
  Jyoti Bhat - July 07, 2009
  In 2008, cell phone service expanded by 10 million connections per month in India—much of the expansion extending into rural areas. This phenomenal growth obviously presents unique opportunities and challenges. Jyoti Baht and Jude Fernandez examine the potential for Indian companies to extend their reach to a large, suddenly accessible rural population and how the mobile phone affects the management of business processes. Read this fascinating account of one aspect of an economy in transformation.
  

• Point of View: Perspectives on Process Modeling
  Roger Burlton - July 07, 2009
  Resuming an examination of a subject that, by his own admission, has gotten him in trouble in the past, Roger Burlton plunges headlong into the ongoing issues and challenges surrounding BPM process modeling. He argues that a one size fits all stake holders approach can, and frequently does, lead to confusion and ultimately, failed BPM initiatives. Read Roger’s perspectives on when, where and how specific notational systems are most appropriately used.
  

• BPM and SOA: Designing Service Oriented Solutions, Part II-The Design Process
  Mike Rosen - July 07, 2009
  In Part I of this series which we published in May, Mike looked at the relationship of business processes to business services in terms of functional decomposition. This month, he examines the ways in which those concepts fit into the overall design process. Mike firmly believes that aligning IT with business is not impossible, and these two Columns present invaluable guidelines for doing so.
  

• Business Processes and Patent Law
  Celia Wolf - July 07, 2009
  After reading a recent article in the New York Times titled “Justices Weigh Issue of Patenting Business Methods,” Celia Wolf, CEO and Publisher of BPTrends, was inspired to consider how decisions by the US Patent Office impact business processes and software. Read her Article to learn what “a business method exception” means in Patent Office parlance and how its interpretation effects the protection of software and business methods.
  

• General Motors—What’s Next?
  James Womack - July 07, 2009
  In this Article, Jim Womack, Founder and Chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute, provides an insightful examination of the decline of General Motors, a decline that he believes began in the recession of 1979. To learn his thoughts on what’s next—not just for GM but for Lean as well, read his compelling Article.
  

• Human Processes: The First Step for BPM is HIM
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - July 07, 2009
  When it comes to challenging conventional wisdom, Keith Harrison-Broninski is no stranger, and his Column this month reconfirms his reputation as an independent thinker. He asks, “Do you want to get value for money, motivate your staff, and stay afloat in the Internet Age?” If your answer is yes, he exhorts you to do HIM (Human Interaction Management) before you do BPM. He presents a forceful argument for his point of view. Read his Column to see if you agree.
  

• Gaining Ground in a Recession: Two Smart Ways to Save Big and Perform Better
  Laura Mooney - June 02, 2009
  Laura Mooney, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Metastorm, argues that there are better ways to survive the recession than cutting people, budgets and travel. Read Laura’s Article for two solutions that could save jobs and add significantly to the bottom line.
  

• Extreme Competition: Cloud Oriented Business Architecture
  Peter Fingar - June 02, 2009
  Are you still up in the air about Cloud Computing? If you are, then you are precisely the reader Peter Fingar seeks to address in this month’s Column. Not known for being shy about embracing new technologies, Peter believes Cloud Computing to be the next step in the evolution of the Internet as a source of services, and he presents a convincing argument for his belief.
  

• Down Under: Beyond Process Improvement, on to Process Transformation
  John Jeston - June 02, 2009
  Why are CEO’s reluctant to apply BPM at the enterprise level when their organizations have experienced successful Process Improvement implementations? An enduring question and one that has fascinated and perplexed practitioners for years. In this month’s Column, John Jeston and Johan Nelis offer their take on the matt
  

• Business Rules Solutions: RuleSpeak® Sentence Form
  Ron Ross - June 02, 2009
  Of primary importance in effective business communication is capturing and expressing Business Rules. This month, Ron Ross presents a guide to writing Business Rules that will ensure that they are more easily understood and that practitioners who are working with large sets of Business Rules express the same ideas in the same way. You will want to download this useful Column for future reference.
  

• A Practitioner’s Perspective: Boxes, Lines, Widgets and Words—Managing Detail and Perspective in Models
  Alec Sharp - June 02, 2009
  In his first Column for BPTrends, Alec Sharp wastes no time in taking up one of the major areas of misunderstanding and disagreement in business process—that of modeling. Alec demystifies various modeling approaches and asserts that one size does not fit all. The “right” approach varies with context and audience. Read his Column for sage advice on process modeling derived from his vast experience as a BPM practitioner.
  

• On the Maturity of Open Source BPM Systems
  Petia Wohed - June 02, 2009
  In this Article, Petia Wohed, Arthur H. M. ter Hofstede, Nick Russell, Birger Andersson, and Wil M. P. van der Aalst present the results of their examination of existing open source BPM systems. Their conclusions are illuminating for both Open Source developers as well as the user community. Read their Article for the details of their study.
  

• MDA Journal: XBRL and Semantic Interoperability
  David Frankel - June 02, 2009
  Dave Frankel has written extensively in previous BPTrends MDA Journals about issues relating to semantic interoperability. This month, he addresses foreseeable problems with XBRL, the eXtensible Business Reporting Language being mandated by governments world wide for various kinds of compliance reporting. Sound complicated? Dave provides a clear and concise description of the language and the potential issues surrounding it.
  

• A Day in the Life of…
  Mike Gammage - June 02, 2009
  Mike Gammage of Nimbus Partners imagines a day in the life of the CEO of a pharmaceutical company whose commitment to continuous process improvement leads to successful results that benefit the entire enterprise. For a story with a happy ending, read Mike’s imaginative Article.
  

• Points of View: Process Project Perspectives - Hope is Not a Strategy and Ignorance is Not Bliss
  Roger Burlton - May 05, 2009
  Process change projects - large and small - offer numerous opportunities for derailment, not least among them the many differing perspectives held by interested parties. Derived from his years of experience as a BPM practitioner and consultant, Roger Burlton developed a technique to avoid such derailments. He urges a rigorous program at the outset of the project that involves personal goal alignment with the organization’s business and customer requirements. In his Column this month, he shares his insights and methods to achieve this alignment.
  

• Proposal: A Vendor Approach to a Business Problem
  Gopala Behara - May 05, 2009
  In this Article, Gopala Krishna Behara and Madhusudhana Rao of Wipro Consulting Services, offer their best counsel on preparing business proposals. In addition to consolidating the concepts and benefits of writing successful proposals, they also identify various pitfalls to avoid in the process. Readers involved in responding to RFP’s will find this Article an excellent reference guide that will enhance their chances of success.
  

• Process Maps and FMEA Help Prepare Utility for Disaster
  David Marden - May 05, 2009
  In this timely Article, David Marden, Phil Hannan, and Myron Olstein provide a case study that offers some practical and time-saving measures for successful implementation of the Six Sigma methodology. Two Six Sigma tools - process maps and the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) - were employed by a team at a wastewater utility to prepare for possible issues in the wake of retiring staff, and the process helped ready the facility to face a devastating natural disaster.
  

• BPM in Europe: From Corporations to Cooperations
  Frits Bussemaker - May 05, 2009
  How will “six degrees of separation” affect corporations? Frits Bussemaker sees an opportunity for companies to benefit from internet based peer communities that are supported by the emerging power of dot.Cloud computing. He cites several examples of companies already successfully pursuing this technology. For more on this compelling subject read his Column.
  

• Innovation: Leadership Qualities that Enable Innovation
  Victor Howard - May 05, 2009
  Victor Howard contends that accomplishing transformation is the mission of organizational leaders, and the process of transformation, more often than not, involves innovation. In his Column this month, he discusses the three qualities common among all leaders who successfully deliver innovation - focus, foundation, and freedom. Read Victor’s insightful observations on how successful leaders use these qualities to enable innovation.
  

• Business Process Architecture – One Company’s Journey in Adoption
  Christine Dicken - May 05, 2009
  In this engaging Article, Christine Dicken and Scott Archibald recount their experience as members of a Center for Process Excellence at Arizona Public Service. Charged with the responsibility to review best practices, they discovered that a Business Process Architecture (BPA) would be the best vehicle for showing the flow of processes in an organization. Here they reveal the step-by-step journey they undertook to demonstrate their processes and the conclusions they drew from the experience.
  

• System Transformation: Be Careful or You Will Not Get What You Asked For
  David Pedersen - May 05, 2009
  David Pedersen and Larry Goldberg have navigated the mine fields of re-inventing, adding improvements to, or significantly changing the capabilities of legacy systems. To avoid unsuccessful outcomes, they have devised a decision model for system transformation which they illustrate and explicate in this Article. This is a must read for all involved in adapting legacy systems.
  

• BPM and SOA: Designing Service Oriented Solutions, Part I--The Business Model
  Mike Rosen - May 05, 2009
  Although Business and IT alignment is a consistent goal of both groups, often the business goals and strategy are not well-understood or articulated In the first installment of a two-part series describing the role of Business Architecture in designing service oriented solutions, Mike Rosen provides an overview of the important aspects: process design, information design, and service identification. Read Mike’s Column for a well-articulated examination and discussion of this important issue.
  

• Performance Improvement: The Two Performers - People and Technology
  Cherie Wilkins - April 07, 2009
  Alan Ramias and Cherie Wilkins believe that to be in the business of improving processes requires that we must also be in the business of engineering performer systems to deliver results. In order to effectively diagnose an organization’s processs performance design and implement change, and manage process performance, we need to understand and engineer the performance of both people and technology systems. In their initial collaboration, the authors have provided a valuable “how to” approach to analyzing and managing your organization’s two performers.
  

• Practical Process: Fraud Investigation - A Process View
  Roger Tregear - April 07, 2009
  In his previous Column, Roger Tregear suggested that there is a finite set of compelling reasons for adopting process-based management—a theory that he intends to support by presenting a series of case studies that illustrate those reasons. This month, he recounts the story of Centrelink, an Australian Government agency responsible for the distribution of funds to various programs such as social security and disaster assistance. Read Roger’s Column to learn how Centrelink significantly improved its fraud investigation process.
  

• Human Processes: De-risking Business Change
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - April 07, 2009
  In this Column, Keith Harrison-Broninski launches the first of a series in which he will suggest ways you can de-risk business change by using the techniques of Goal-Oriented Organization Design (GOOD). GOOD is the methodology associated with Human Interaction Management (HIM) techniques and tools, but its applicability goes far beyond process design and implementation. Be sure to read Keith’s Column to learn what good is.
  

• Value Chains, Value Streams, Value Nets, and Value Delivery Chains
  George Brown - April 07, 2009
  Recognizing that there has been a considerable amount of discussion about value chains and related concepts by those involved in business process change, George Brown thinks it’s time for clarification of the terminology resulting from those discussions. In this Article, he discusses the evolution and current use of these concepts and provides a clear understanding of the Value Chain Group’s framework.
  

• How To 99% Test Your Business Processes
  Ram Grandhi - April 07, 2009
  Ram Grandhi contends that the credibility of a business process lies not only in the way it has been implemented but also the way in which it is continually tested for any unforeseen issues. Using a typical expense reimbursement process as a model, he provides step by step instruction on how to apply proven software testing techniques to a business process. Read this Article for insight into a technique that could help you avoid time-consuming and costly mishaps in your processes.
  

• Surviving and Growing During an Economic Downturn
  David Pedersen - April 07, 2009
  Considering business processes and operating decisions as the core of every organization, David Pedersen and Larry Goldberg argue that we need a technology independent modeling language that everyone - i.e., business and IT - can easily understand. They propose BPMN as the solution for modeling processes and the Decision Model (DM) for modeling Business Decisions. They contend that these two essential disciplines are the two keys for creating a lean, competitive, and agile organization. Read their Article for an explication of their methodology.
  

• Down Under: A Quick-fix to Beat the Global Financial Crisis Through BPM
  Johan Nelis - April 07, 2009
  John Jeston and Johan Nelis argue that the global financial crisis presents a unique opportunity for organizations to justify a fundamental analysis and improvement of their business processes and management - an opportunity, if taken, that will provide immediate, as well as future, rewards once the market recovers. But practitioners must adjust their message to motivate managers who have not previously bought into the BPM philosophy. Read their sound advice on how to adapt your BPM message during these times of economic uncertainty.
  

• The Cloud Enterprise
  Adrian Grigoriu - April 07, 2009
  Adrian Grigoriu discusses how Business Process Utility, the Virtual Enterprise, Cloud Computing, Enterprise Architecture, and SOA can all be deployed and integrated in a organization. How would the concepts fit together and what would the outcome look like? In this illuminating Article, he attempts to provide some answers. If you share the confusion of many on just what a cloud enterprise entails, read Grigoriu’s analysis and conclusions.
  

• SOA Adoption Challenges
  Raju Alluri - March 03, 2009
  Starting with the premise that SOA is evolutionary and not revolutionary, Raju Alluri, a Lead Architect at Wipro Industries, presents a list of challenges that occur during the development life cycle. If you are involved, or are about to be involved, in a SOA project, this Article will provide a useful reference as you proceed through the process.
  

• The MDA Journal: Business Network Transformation
  David Frankel - March 03, 2009
  n his December, 2008 Column, David Frankel and his colleague Steve Winkler discussed the advantages of data sharing. This month, he explores the advances in technology in combination with macro economic factors that are underscoring the importance of collaborative relationships among business partners. You will want to read his Column to learn about the possibilities as well as potential barriers to business network expansion and efficiency.
  

• BPM in India: Banking—The Interest in BPM
  Jyoti Bhat - March 03, 2009
  Starting in April 2009, the second phase of the reforms by the Reserve Bank of India will open up the Indian banking sector to foreign banks and provide greater freedom, challenges, and opportunities for improvement. Jyoti Bhat and Jude Fernandez discuss these challenges and the resulting opportunity for a specific BPM application. Read their Column for an inside look at the banking system in India and the role BPM will likely play in the impending transformation.
  

• Extreme Competition: The Business Platform in the Sky
  Peter Fingar - March 03, 2009
  Have you wondered about Cloud Computing and how or if your industry and organization will be affected by it? Peter Fingar believes that it will redefine BPM and that BPM will no longer operate merely within the confines of a single organization but will stretch across the entire multi-company value delivery system. For a glimpse of Peter’s view of the future of BPM, read his Column this month.
  

• BPM: A Global View—The Hype about Simulation and Optimization
  Rashid Khan - March 03, 2009
  Some business analysts suggest that simulation and optimization are a major benefit of BPM and can be easily carried out by business operatives. Rashid Khan believes this is wishful thinking but devoid of reality. He argues that successful simulation depends entirely on the quality of the assumptions a business analyst makes about a large number of parameters. To make the correct assumptions requires a deep understanding of the process as well as a serious understanding of math and statistics. Where do you stand on this issue?
  

• Business Rule Solution: A Personal Insurance Saga
  Ron Ross - March 03, 2009
  A recent auto insurance invoice showing a startling increase from the previous year caused Ron Ross immediate panic and subsequent reflection on the series of events that led to the increase. A breakdown had occurred somewhere in the system. Read Ron’s analysis and ask yourself if your company’s business rules are causing similar snafus and potential loss of business.
  

• Leading Indicators vs. Lagging Indicators
  Ian Gotts - March 03, 2009
  Ian Gotts begins his Article by asking a leading question—are your managers operating as company doctors or coroners? In other words, are their Key Performance Indicators leading indicators or lagging indicators? Read this engaging Article to determine whether your company’s measurement standards lead or lag.
  

• The Process-based View of a Company, Part 3
  Grzegorz Gruchman - March 03, 2009
  In the final installment of the series, Grzegorz Gruchman continues his discussion of why industry leaders are able to maintain a competitive advantage. In this Article, he focuses the discussion on examining the causal reasons behind successful strategy execution.
  

• Beyond Survival: Thriving on Innovation in a Down Economy
  Laura Mooney - March 03, 2009
  Laura Mooney, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Metastorm, warns against the impulse to cut, cut, cut in response to the unfavorable economic environment. Instead, she exhorts companies to focus on innovation to create opportunities for new revenue and to leap ahead of competitors who are in survival mode. By looking ahead and pursuing innovation, you can emerge from the economic downturn stronger than you were at the outset.
  

• An Approach to Case Based Management
  Henk de Man - February 03, 2009
  This Article by Henk de Man is a follow-on to his January Article on case based management. Like his previous Article, this Article explores the dynamic processes that deal with unique cases that he believes require different analysis techniques and a different notation than more conventional processes. In his first Article, he defined the problem, as he sees it. In this Article, he discusses one concrete way to approach documenting and managing case-based processes.
  

• Human Processes: The Business Process Spectrum
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - February 03, 2009
  In January, we published an Article by Henk de Man detailing Cordys’ response to the Object Management Group’s RFI on “dynamic Business Activity modeling.” In that Article, de Man offered his analysis of a number of approaches which aim to support case management – among them, an approach advocated by Keith Harrison-Broninski in his widely read book, Human Interaction Management. Here, Keith responds to the author’s analysis and criticism.
  

• Practical Process: The Compelling Reasons for BPM
  Roger Tregear - February 03, 2009
  In his debut Column, Roger Tregear explains his enthusiasm for BPM and presents the issues he plans to address in future Columns: what creates success, what causes failure, and most importantly, perhaps, how to sell BPM to management. Toward that goal, he hopes to compile an anthology of stories, case studies and other support material and asks BPTrends readers to participate in this endeavour.
  

• The Process-based View of a Company, Part 2
  Grzegorz Guchman - February 03, 2009
  In this Article, Grzegorz Gruchman continues his analysis of what comprises competitive advantage—why one company has it and another does not. In this Article, he concludes that the Process-based View (PBV) combines the best of both worlds--the Activity-based view (ABV) and the Resource-based View (RBV). The PBV is, however, more than a simple integration of these concepts. Read his Article for his insights on the subject.
  

• Agility Calls for Maturity
  Janne Korhonen - February 03, 2009
  The promise of Service Oriented Architecture is agility, but what qualities must a company possess in order to successfully implement a SOA? Janne Korhonen’s response is clear. SOA cannot be bought or simply built. Success requires that organizations work systematically, and this calls for a holistic governance model. Read Janne’s compelling Article to learn why his experience has led him to this conclusion.
  

• Creating a Process Focused Organization
  Dennis Rohan - February 03, 2009
  Before a process focused organization can emerge, Dennis Rohan argues that the divide between company-wide technical functions and short range process improvement techniques, such as Lean and Six Sigma, must be resolved. In his usual straight forward style, he lays out a plan to tackle the many challenges involved in the transformation. Read his sage advice on how to achieve a successful transition.
  

• BPM Research and Education: Service Processes—The Customer at the Center?
  Michael zur Muehlen - February 03, 2009
  Have you ever experienced a bureaucratic snafu? Michael zur Muehlen has, and in his Column this month he relates two frustrating encounters with public service administrations and offers some suggestions for ways to improve public service processes. Read his Column, written with wry humor, and compare your own experiences with public sector bureaucracies to see if you agree.
  

• Case Management: A Review of Modeling Approaches
  Henk de Man - January 06, 2009
  In 2008, the Object Management Group issued an RFI on “dynamic Business Activity modeling” in response to what they perceived as a need to model case management processes. In the first of two Articles, Henk de Man, Research Director at Cordys, one of several BPMS companies that responded to the RFI, defines and characterizes case management and offers his analysis of the various business process management approaches which aim to support case management.
  

• Learning from Context to Improve Business Process
  Jan Recker - January 06, 2009
  K. Ploesser, M. Peleg, P.Soffer, M. Rosemann, and J. Recker, are members of a team of researchers from Queensland University, Australia, Stanford University, USA and Haifa University, Israel, who are currently investigating how context-awareness can become an integral part of business process modeling. They argue that to get to the next level of process management we must broaden our analysis beyond internal processes to the contextual environment in which the processes are embedded. Read this compelling Article for their take on how this will impact business process management in the future.
  

• The Wheels Haven’t Come off Yet
  Ian Gotts - January 06, 2009
  Forget the gloomy financial forecasts. Ian Gotts sees opportunity for companies to come out of this economic crisis having gained market share and emerging as the dominant player as competition falters. He exhorts decision makers to make targeted investments that support the corporation’s strategic direction. Read his Article for some concrete advice on how to accomplish this goal.
  

• Points of View
  Roger Burlton - January 06, 2009
  In his work as a BPM consultant, Roger Burlton frequently encounters situations in which the complexity of a BPM project is further complicated by individual stakeholders who advocate strongly for their singular point of view - one that is, more often than not, in conflict with those of other stakeholders. Moreover, the stakeholders are often confused regarding the nature of BPM. Unresolved, the confusion, combined with the conflicting points of view, can derail effective implementation of BPM. Read his Column and provide Roger feedback on your own experiences in dealing with varying points of view in your organization.
  

• BPM: A Global View - BPM and Global Finance
  Rashid Khan - January 06, 2009
  If you believe, as many do, that the BPM industry is counter-cyclical, Rashid Khan’s Column this month is a must read. He argues that BPM is not a quick fix solution for cost cutting and cites three significant reasons why corporations are less likely to commit to the investment of time and money necessary for deployment of BPM in the current economic crisis. We hope he’s wrong. See what you think.
  

• BPM and SOA: Collaborative Business Applications: Part II - Extended Business Processes
  Mike Rosen - January 06, 2009
  In his Column this month, Mike Rosen continues his discussion of the potential of new collaboration capabilities which, he argues, can enhance and extend business processes - particularly the management, monitoring, reporting and optimization of your business. Read his Column for examples of how to improve your business processes using SOA to add collaboration capabilities to enterprise applications.
  

• Process Improvement: Framework for Enterprise Alignment—Part 3
  Alan Ramias - January 06, 2009
  In this, the final Column of a three-part series, and, sadly the final Column of the collaboration between Geary Rummler and Alan Ramias, the authors add the technology and human resource dimensions to complete the framework for modeling the business architecture layer of enterprise architecture. The previous two Columns were published in 2008 - Part I in April, presenting their theory of Value Creation Hierarchy and Part II in September in which they expanded the framework to include a Value Creation Management System. Both previous Columns are posted on our website.
  

• Case Management: A Review of Modeling Approaches
  Henk de Man - January 06, 2009
  In 2008, the Object Management Group issued an RFI on “dynamic Business Activity modeling” in response to what they perceived as a need to model case management processes. In the first of two Articles, Henk de Man, Research Director at Cordys, one of several BPMS companies that responded to the RFI, defines and characterizes case management and offers his analysis of the various business process management approaches which aim to support case management.
  

• Extreme Competition: The Process-Managed Org Chart - The End of Management and the Rise of Bioteams
  Peter Fingar - January 06, 2009
  Will the 21st Century witness the end of Management as we know it? Can bioteams succeed in creating a competitive advantage where top-down management organizations have failed? These are questions Peter Fingar addresses in his Column this month. In addition to offering a fascinating summary of current literature on bioteams, he also cites three actual scenarios in which teams made the difference between success and failure.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: The Meaning of Things
  Ron Ross - January 06, 2009
  In this month’s Column, Ron Ross discusses how business concepts come to be well-formed in a business rules approach following ISO and SBVR (Semantics of Business Vocabularies and Business Rules) standards. Ron defines a business concept as corresponding to a “set of things important to the business” and shows how the business rules approach clarifies what business things really mean.
  

• The Processed Based View of a Company - Principles and Applications
  Grzegorz Gruchman - January 06, 2009
  Why does one company consistently have a competitive advantage over its competition? In this Article, Grzegorz Gruchman attempts to deconstruct the subject and offer an answer to that question by analyzing the current literature and research on the basic elements that comprise “competitive advantage.”
  

• Go for the Green - Realize Both Cash and Environmental Savings across the Enterprise
  Laura Mooney - January 06, 2009
  In our inaugural Article for Green BPM, Laura Mooney of Metastorm, contends that BPM and EA technologies have the potential to deliver greener operations. Read her perspective on how these technologies can be put to use in your organization to reduce costs and to help save the environment.
  

• Case Management: A Review of Modeling Approaches
  Henk de Man - January 06, 2009
  In 2008, the Object Management Group issued an RFI on “dynamic Business Activity modeling” in response to what they perceived as a need to model case management processes. In the first of two Articles, Henk de Man, Research Director at Cordys, one of several BPMS companies that responded to the RFI, defines and characterizes case management and offers his analysis of the various business process management approaches which aim to support case management.
  

• MDA Journal: Safeguard the Future of your Business - Unvault Your Data
  David Frankel - December 02, 2008
  This month, Dave Frankel asked his colleague, Steve Winkler, to discuss a topic he considers of critical importance to organizations facing the problems of a difficult economy—data sharing. Read Mr. Winkler’s expert assessment of why data sharing is of value and how it can create a positive impact on an organization’s ROI.
  

• Information Integration Based on SOA
  Srikanth Inaganti - December 02, 2008
  A frequent contributor to the Monthly Update, Srikanth Inaganti, presents a step-by-step approach to assist the enterprise architect in avoiding technology issues that can derail process initiatives. Followed carefully, the end result will be a streamlined information delivery system.
  

• Down Under: Enterprise Alignment and Business Process
  John Jeston - December 02, 2008
  John Jeston and Johan Nelis ask what, precisely, does strategic alignment mean and how do we achieve it. To answer the question, they propose two critical questions that, when answered, will help to determine the best path forward for your organization to optimize the probability of true alignment.
  

• BPM in Europe: Eat your own Dog Food
  Frits Bussemaker - December 02, 2008
  Frits Bussemaker argues that BPM Conferences tracks and presentations are just as “siloed” as the organizations represented by the attendees at the conferences.He urges the organizers of BPM Conferences to “model the event according to the BPM message: Facilitate a dialogue and align the presentations.” Read his Column to see if you agree with his assessment.
  

• BPM in India: Lifting the Veil
  Jyoti Bhat - December 02, 2008
  In their debut Column for BPTrends, the authors share their insights into the state of BPM in India and forecast the direction Indian companies will likely take to initiate and enhance existing processes. Read their Column for their inside view of the opportunities, challenges and uniqueness of the Indian market.
  

• Human Process: Human Interaction Management
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - December 02, 2008
  In a Column that is certain to evoke a considerable response from our readers, Keith Harrison-Broninski asserts that BPMN “is a symptom of a deep problem within BPM.” He proposes a new paradigm for process description. Read his argument before you decide where you stand on the issue.
  

• How Product and Marketing Managers Can Increase Sales in a Frustrating Market
  Michael Webb - December 02, 2008
  Michael Webb and Robert Ferguson propose an imaginative solution for product and marketing managers attempting to successfully overcome the challenges presented by new product launches. If you’ve been perplexed by these challenges, be sure to read their Article to discover a framework for a sales production process.
  

• Engaging the Business Side in BPM
  Dennis Rohan - December 02, 2008
  Dennis Rohan answers the question faced by many Technical Support Managers - “What do Business Managers Want?” If you’ve ever been confounded by that question, you will find Dennis’ Article an invaluable reference for managing current and future dealings with your business colleagues.
  

• Communication of Business Process Models via Virtual Environment Simulations
  Ross Brown - December 02, 2008
  Ross Brown and Florian Cliquet present a compelling Article on how visual simulation environments, similar to those used in game technology, can be used to effect business process modelling. Don’t miss this fascinating account of the current research in this area, the state of the art of software now being developed for this purpose, and the possibilities they represent for effective communication of process models.
  

• From Staffs Conducting Programs to Line Managers Solving Problems
  James Womack - November 04, 2008
  James Womack describes a scenario that he frequently encounters when visiting organizations where Lean Programs have existed for several years. He is often asked by team members why their successful Lean initiatives don’t translate to bottom line improvement. This Article is a must read for any and all who have been involved in Lean programs
  

• Pursuit of the Perfect Order: Telecommunications Industry Perspective.
  Aman Gupta - November 04, 2008
  Fierce competition within the telecommunications industry requires that market players make their systems more effective, flexible, and scalable to efficiently manage an increasingly complex product portfolio. Aman Gupta describes this as a multi-dimensional problem requiring optimized processes, accurate operational data, and integrated solutions. In this illuminating Article, he analyzes the various challenges faced by telecom companies and suggests how these challenges can be addressed.
  

• Inside the Process Box
  Fred Nickols - November 04, 2008
  Fred Nickols suggests you set aside your “outside the box” thinking and consider what’s “inside the box” in the process diagram. He believes that what lies inside can be useful in figuring out how to improve the performance of people and processes. Read his Article for a set of diagnostic questions and useful guidelines for anyone seeking to analyze and understand problems of non-performance.
  

• BPM and SOA Collaborative Business Applications: Part I Architectural Foundations
  Mike Rosen - November 04, 2008
  Collaboration is a much discussed topic these days, but what does it mean? Most of the capabilities we see in collaboration have to do with the user experience. So how do we incorporate collaboration into enterprise business processes? In his Column this month, Mike Rosen addresses this issue, and shows how SOA can be used to accomplish it.
  

• Configurable Process Models: How to Adopt Standard Practices in Your Own Way
  Marcello La Rosa - November 04, 2008
  Marcello La Rosa and Marlon Dumas ask, “How do you model business processes that are similar to one another in many ways, yet differ in some other ways from one organization, project, or industry to another?” In response to this question, in this Article they discuss the potential benefits of configurable process models and introduce a method and a toolset for process design based on configurable process models.
  

• Extreme Competition: BPM - The Battleground States
  Peter Fingar - November 04, 2008
  Reporting from the battle ground state of Florida, Peter Fingar argues, with, in his words, “a little sprinkle of election verbiage and satire,” that staying the course with command-and-control functional management can lead to disaster in these turbulent economic times. He prescribes, instead, agility, an attribute of the BPM approach that can make organizations more adaptable to the ups and downs of the current economy. Whether you tend red or blue, read Peter’s Column for a refreshing relief from the news of the day.
  

• Innovation: A Simple Approach to Accelerating Innovation
  Clay Richardson - November 04, 2008
  Victor Howard and Clay Richardson wanted to address the subject of Innovation and SOA, so they sought the expertise of a colleague, Puspendu Pal, who is the Lead Architect for Project Performance Corporation’s Business Process Improvement Practice. Their efforts resulted in a compelling argument for applying a top-down rather than a bottom-up approach to implementing a SOA framework. Read their Column for the details.
  

• Down Under: Re-Inventing Business Process Improvement and Management
  John Jeston - October 07, 2008
  In their years of experience as consultants, John Jestin and Johan Nelis have found that most BPM professionals prefer to develop their own methodologies to carry out BPM initiatives. Stop!! The authors present a convincing argument for discarding this practice and instead recommend adopting proven methodologies to improve and manage processes. Read their Column to learn if your approach to business process amounts to re-inventing the wheel and what solutions are available to effect a more successful approach.
  

• BPM: A Global View—BPM and Web 2.0.
  Rashid Kahn - October 07, 2008
  Can we call BPM a Web 2.0 solution? After considerable reading on the subject, Rashid Khan noted that some writers took diametrically opposed positions on the question. In his Column this month, Rashid deconstructs these varying definitions, identifies the three qualities that comprise a Web 2.0 solution and suggests that BPM vendors who are sufficiently nimble at combining these qualities in their products will have a significant competitive edge in the marketplace. Read his Column for the details.
  

• SOA and Integration
  Gopala Behara - October 07, 2008
  In this insightful and comprehensive Article, Dr. Gopala Behara makes a convincing case for integrating applications in a SOA environment. He enumerates the many benefits of integration, discusses the various methodologies, and presents a correlation among various integration maturity levels to SOA maturity levels. For all involved in SOA, this Article offers an invaluable reference resource.
  

• BPM in Europe: The Process Community
  Frits Bussemaker - October 07, 2008
  While attending a summer BPM Conference in Portugal, Frits Bussemaker not only discovered the effects of cultural differences in how meetings are conducted, but, more importantly, learned the advantages of sharing BPM case studies among local communities globally. As a result, he and his colleagues established The Process Community whose founding principles are to work together and collaborate with global networks to share local experiences and best practices. Read his Column to learn more about this worthwhile effort.
  

• Human Process: Preparing for the Third World War
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - October 07, 2008
  No, Keith Harrison-Broninski is not providing instructions for building a bomb shelter. Rather he is discussing a subject of great concern to the world at large—the ecological threats that, if unchecked, promise to leave future generations with a profoundly diminished environment. Read his Column to learn what he foresees as the impact on business in the immediate future and the suggestions he offers for anticipating and dealing in advance with the inevitable restraints governments will impose on business operations to reduce further destruction of the environment.
  

• Southbeach, P-TRIZ, Now has Software Support
  Howard Smith - October 07, 2008
  In the May, 2008 Howard Smith and his colleagues presented a comprehensive specification for a new visual diagramming and modelling notation: Southbeach Notation. Response to the announcement suggests that it appeals to both consultants and analysts. This Article announces the availability of the software, Southbeach Modeller 0.8, which can be downloaded free of charge. Read their Article for details.
  

• Using Critical Path Analysis to Prioritize Projects
  Monique Renault - October 07, 2008
  Deciding how to priortize among the many possible process improvement projects in your organization can be a vexing problem. In this Article, Monique Renault, a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, presents a method of analysis that will help to determine where and in what sequence to allocate your organization’s resources.
  

• Business Rules Solutions: My Son—Business Rules Analyst
  Ron Ross - October 07, 2008
  As more and more articles are addressing the relationship between Business Rules and successful BPM initiatives, Ron Ross relates an amusing anecdote involving his son who worked as an intern for a professional sports team. The story illustrates the challenges of conducting business effectively when business rules are mismanaged. Sound familiar?
  

• Using ROI to Measure the Results of Business Process Improvement Initiatives
  Gina Westcott - October 07, 2008
  Given today’s economic environment, there’s little need to emphasize the importance of return on investment. But when and how to use ROI analysis to prove the benefits of a proposed business process initiative is an issue Gina Westcott considers in this compelling Article. Not all initiatives are equal, and the author provides guidelines for selecting the ones that offer the best opportunity for significant impact across the organization. Additionally, she offers a step-by-step method for calculating ROI. This is a must read and a valuable resource for all BPM professionals.
  

• BPM2008HARMONKEYNOTE
  Paul Harmon - September 03, 2008
  
  

• Strategic Planning Process for Information Technology
  Craig Haydamack - September 02, 2008
  Recently, Intel Corporation undertook the development and implementation of a new strategic planning process across the enterprise. In this Article, Craig Haydamack, Director of Strategy and Benchmarking at Intel, recounts the process and the lessons learned.
  

• Extreme Competition: BPM is Dead, Viva la BPM
  Peter Fingar - September 02, 2008
  Just when you thought BPM was coasting to a period of comfortable growth potential, Peter Fingar challenges your assessment. Don’t get too complacent, he warns, as he cites 7 indicators for the decline of BPM. But, don’t despair, he says - there’s hope on the horizon, after all.
  

• SOA and BPM: Creating Flexible Services
  Mike Rosen - September 02, 2008
  This month, Mike Rosen begins with a review of the basic structure of a service and then turns to practical suggestions for creating a flexible SOA. He cautions, however, against the temptation to do too much. Don’t miss his advice on how to maximize the value of your SOA.
  

• Performance Improvement: A Framework for Defining and Designing the Structure of Work, Part 2
  Geary Rummler - September 02, 2008
  In Part 1 of this three-part series, published in their April Column, the authors discussed their theory of Value Creation Hierarchy (VCH). This month, they add the Value Creation Management System. The three components of the system - performance planned, performance executed, and performance managed - are defined in detail and then illustrated in a series of diagrams that offer a valuable reference to all involved in performance improvement projects.
  

• How BPM, SOA, and EA Can Meet True Customer Needs
  Dennis Rohan - September 02, 2008
  Dennis Rohan, a BPR practitioner for over 25 years, proposes that by combining the distinctive strengths of BPM, SOA and EA, you can successfully meet customer needs. His four-step process is presented here and is a must read for all faced with the challenge of assessing customer needs.
  

• The Service Portfolio of a BPM Center of Excellence
  Michael Rosemann - September 02, 2008
  In this Article, Dr. Michael Rosemann, sets out to make the challenge of set-up and delivery of an enterprise-wide BPM system easier for managers responsible for the project. He provides all the tools necessary for a “portfolio management approach” and offers a public sector case study to illustrate the principles of his approach.
  

• Detail Process Charts: A Common Ground for Business and Development
  Ben Graham - September 02, 2008
  Ben Graham presents a compelling argument for the use of detail process charting instead of high level process maps for visualizing workflow. Read this Article to learn the benefits of detail charting as well as a concise introduction to its methodology.
  

• MDA Journal: MIS Schools in Decline
  David Frankel - September 02, 2008
  In his Column this month, David Frankel discusses the alarming and seemingly precipitous decline in MIS enrollments in colleges and universities, to the extent that some programs have shut down. David makes the point that if this downward trend continues, it could threaten prospects for the continued development of BPM that depends so heavily on a future generation of trained experts. Read his Column for the details of what is happening and what might be done to correct the situation.
  

• A Strategists Perspective: Managing Migration Work for Profit
  Jim Sinur - July 01, 2008
  maximizing the money-making potential of the process. He identifies three primary patterns of process/workflow, examines their unique properties, and estimates the money-making potential of each pattern. He also adds his opinion on which of these patterns will be the focus of future BPM workflow applications.
  

• Down Under: Case Studies of Excellence through Management by Process
  John Jeston - July 01, 2008
  In their March Column, John Jeston and Johan Nelis elaborated on their thesis that high performance is sustained through two inextricable components—managing business processes and inspiring leadership. They continue their discussion this month by presenting four case studies that illustrate this principle. Read their Column to learn the process challenges each organization faced and how they worked through them to arrive at highly successful outcomes.
  

• Process as an Asset
  Kirk Gould - July 01, 2008
  Kirk Gould and Christine Dicken ask, “Where is the tipping point in moving from Industrial Age values to Information Age values?” They present a strong argument that people and processes should replace buildings, machines and equipment as the more valuable assets in an organization. This Article is a must read for anyone interested in this timely topic.
  

• BPM in Europe: Think Ahead, Stay Small
  Frits Bussemaker - July 01, 2008
  Frits Bussemaker challenges the notion that “thinking big” sends the right message to managers skeptical of the benefits of becoming a process centric organization. Read this month’s Column to learn why he believes “think ahead, stay small” is a more appropriate slogan for winning over the unconvinced.
  

• Human Processes: The $650 Billion Problem
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - July 01, 2008
  Keith Harrison-Broninski contends that globalization, reduction in labor demand, and worldwide recession are leading to a sea change in collaborative knowledge work. Read his compelling analysis of the impact these major market forces will inevitably have on knowledge workers and what managers can do to optimize the performance of their staff in this challenging business environment.
  

• Do you Need a Business Process Department?
  Ricardo Fuzaro - July 01, 2008
  To meet the potential promised by BPM, Ricardo Fuzaro proposes that organizations establish a Business Process Department, Here he describes the services such a department would perform to benefit the entire organization. Read his Article for useful suggestions regarding how to establish a BPM team in your company.
  

• Enterprise Modeling: Checking with Reality
  Ed Johnson - July 01, 2008
  Paul Harmon’s Advisor of October 23, 2007, Enterprise Modeling, (LINK) inspired Ed Johnson to write his own perspective on the topic. The author contends that while an organization’s data models and process models differ in purpose and form, they must complement each other. Do you agree? Read his Article to find out.
  

• A BPX Cookbook for Developing SAP Netweaver Composite Applications
  Dipankar Saha - July 01, 2008
  In this Article, Dipankar Saha offers a step-by-step presentation on how to develop a composite application in the SAP Netweaver platform, focusing on specification design phases. Those interested in this topic will find the text and accompanying graphics a useful reference in their work.
  

• Process Discovery Technology: A Comment on Paul Harmon’s June 10 Advisor
  Wil van der Aalst - July 01, 2008
  In this Article, Wil van der Aalst responds to Paul Harmon’s Advisor, Fujitsu’s Process Discovery Technology. While applauding Fujitsu’s efforts in process discovery technology, he points out that such tools have been available in the academic world for quite some time. Read his Article to learn more.
  

• Roots of the Business Process Mapping
  BenGraham - June 03, 2008
  In the May BPTrends Monthly Update, Paul Harmon reviewed Ben B. Graham’s groundbreaking book, Detail Process Charting: Speaking the Language of Process. This month, Ben Graham graciously agreed to update the first chapter of his book. Readers will discover a meaningful context for understanding the BPM movement, its origins and its development through the decades.
  

• Transitioning From Functional Silos to Process Centric - Learnings from Australian Organizations
  Gaby Doebeli - June 03, 2008
  Tonia de Bruin and Gaby Doebeli, along with other members of the BPTrends FORUM in Brisbane, Australia, wanted to know how organizations have gone about transforming from functional to process centric organizations. They conducted workshops and research among organizations from a cross section of industries representing both large and small organizations, and organizations in both the public and private sectors. Read their Article to learn the results of their work and, perhaps more importantly, the questions that were raised.
  

• Aligning People with Business Processes: Building Robust, Self-Correcting
  Dennis Rohan - June 03, 2008
  How do you achieve the challenging task of creating a team of individuals committed to business process methods and the processes they support? Dennis Rohan shares his years of leadership consulting experience and provides five steps using BPL standards to accomplish a robust alignment of people and process. Read his Article for a method with a proven track record.
  

• Extreme Competition: BPM - The Next Generation
  Peter Fingar - June 03, 2008
  While acknowledging great progress in the theory and practice of BPM, Peter Fingar asks, “where’s the breakthrough that can help the company win in the brave new world of globalization and extreme competition?” Peter’s suggestion is to change your current practice from tactical to strategic BPM. If you’re wondering how to achieve that change, read this Column.
  

• MDA Journal: Requirements for BPMN 2.0
  David Frankel - June 03, 2008
  As the Object Management Group (OMG) gets closer to releasing BPMN 2.0, David Frankel examines the main issues to be addressed in the new release. Read his timely and engaging Column for interesting insights into the issues and solutions proposed by the two groups working on the new release.
  

• BPM: A Global View-- BPM as SaaS: The Next BPM Frontier
  Rashid Khan - June 03, 2008
  From his first-hand experience as CTO of Ultimus, Rashid Khan discusses the opportunities and the challenges to BPM vendors as a result of the Software-as-a-Service trend currently in vogue. Although he foresees that the journey for BPM toward SaaS will be slow but steady, the process, done with care, will ultimately yield more adaptable BPM systems that will deliver significant benefits to the customer. Read Rashid’s Column for a thoughtful perspective on this important topic.
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education - Evidence-Based Research - What We Know, What We Don’t and Why We Should Find Out.
  Michael zur Muehlen - June 03, 2008
  In all of the literature on BPMN there has been little focus on how BPMN is actually used by modellers. With his colleague Jan Recker (whose Article on BPMN modelling appeared in the May Update), Michael zur Muehlen set about to gather some data on the subject. Readers of this Column will be rewarded with a review of the surprising results revealed in the study.
  

• Getting the Process of BPMS Right: The Need for an Implementation Methodology
  Salman Akhtar - June 03, 2008
  Salman Akhtar and Haleem Vaince argue that successful deployment of a BPMS project requires an approach that differs from the standard IT implementation methodology. They take into account all of the challenges involved in the process and propose an alternative methodology that responds more effectively to these challenges. This Article is a must read for any and all who are engaged, or will be, in a BPMS project.
  

• IIR-BPM-5-08
  Paul Harmon - May 14, 2008
  
  

• Human Processes: Hyper-Productivity
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - May 06, 2008
  Keith Harrison-Broninski contends that improvement of the way people do collaborative knowledge work is the necessary next step in IT and business management. If you agree, his Column this month is a must read. If you’re not sure, read his Column for some substantive advice on how to manage a large software project both efficiently and effectively.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Rules vs. Process (Again)
  Ron Ross - May 06, 2008
  Ron Ross recently reviewed ongoing standards work in business process modeling and found that some fundamental confusion remains over the difference between processes and rules. Have you, like many of us, confused those concepts? Read Ron’s Column to clarify what each term does and does not mean.
  

• BPMN Modeling—Who, Where, How and Why
  Jan Recker - May 06, 2008
  Jan Recker of Queensland University presents the fascinating results of a global survey of process modelers conducted from May to August of 2007. Read his Article to learn more about BPMN and its users as well as the author’s speculation on the way forward for this system.
  

• Creativity Management—The New Challenge for BPM
  Michael Rosemann - May 06, 2008
  Stefan Seidel and Michael Rosemann ask if BPM, in addition to its many successful applications, can also facilitate the management of creativity, an all-important component of innovation. The authors believe it can, and hope to set a baseline for further discussions on creativity-oriented BPM. Read their provocative Article and join the discussion.
  

• Innovation: Five Secrets for Delivering Process Improvement in less than 60 Days
  Victor Howard - May 06, 2008
  This month Victor Howard and Clay Richardson invited a guest columnist, Cornelius Pone, to share his experiences in helping companies build new business applications and systems. He says what we know to be true—that a fast turnaround from conception to final roll out is crucial for overall success. Read his five secrets to achieving a successful and rapid implementation, and in only sixty days.
  

• Southbeach Notation: Improve Everything Always
  Howard Smith - May 06, 2008
  In this Article well-respected thought leader, Howard Smith, with coauthors, Mark Burnett and Chrysogon Young, announce Southbeach 0.8, a new visual diagramming and modeling style. It fosters integrative thinking—situations where the problem needs to be viewed from multiple perspectives and there is a need to resolve contradictions among opposing ideas to generate innovative outcomes. Southbeach 0.8 is an extension of typical TRIZ and has been developed to support a variety of new applications where TRIZ methods are valuable. The authors believe that this notation and its methodology will have many applications in business, design and technology, including Change Management, Process Improvement and Re-engineering, and that it will appeal to management consultants and engineers, alike.
  

• Metricizing the World
  Kirk Gould - May 06, 2008
  Kirk Gould has a prescription for responding to a “call for metrics” that borrows a technique from science and involves focusing on a limited number of metrics rather than a profusion of them. Read his Article for a practical approach that will help you to avoid “metric disease” and lead to a successful outcome when called upon to provide metrics.
  

• BPM In Europe: BPM Leadership
  Frits Bussemaker - April 01, 2008
  In his first 2008 Column, Frits Bussemaker discusses a topic of major importance - BPM leadership. He believes, as many do, that leadership is more about cooperation and collaboration than control, and that a collaborative environment is an ideal environment for a process-centric organization. Read his Column to learn why he predicts that when today’s youth enter the world of business, they will render the siloed organization an anachronism.
  

• The Virtualization of the Enterprise
  Adrian Grigoriu - April 01, 2008
  Adrian Grigoriu contends that to be competitive in today’s business world of strategic alliances, partnerships, and outsourcing organizations are required to understand and manage their Value Chains. In this Article, he proposes virtualization of the enterprise to solve the complex IT and Business issues involved in dealing with these diverse elements. Read his formula for a successful Virtual Enterprise.
  

• Performance Improvement: A Framework for Designing the Structure of Work
  Geary Rummler - April 01, 2008
  With this Column, Geary Rummler and Alan Ramias launch the first of a three-part series describing a framework for modeling the Business Architecture layer of Enterprise Architecture. Their view, and the approach that has evolved from it, is in contrast to the IT-centric Business Architecture that generally prevails in organizations. They suggest that to create a successful Enterprise Architecture that will be adaptive and sustainable over the long term, the organization must be recognized as a Super System. To learn what that means and how to apply it to your own circumstance, read this well written presentation, enhanced by diagrams illustrating their concepts.
  

• Extreme Competition: The New IT
  Peter Fingar - April 01, 2008
  Looking forward to the new frontier in this era of global competition, Peter Fingar offers a provocative essay on where we are and where we’re going in the realm of technology tools and methodologies. Having implemented IT driven production and transaction automation systems, companies now need to look beyond IT for new opportunities in order to remain competitive. Peter sees the New IT as an evolutionary process comprising three elements, two of which you know well, computer systems and business process. The third, tacit interaction, is more elusive. but equally important. Read Peter’s Column for his views on the New IT.
  

• BPM and SOA: Orchestration or Choreography
  Mike Rosen - April 01, 2008
  Inspired by a thought-provoking session he attended at a recent conference, Mike Rosen decomposes the elements of orchestration and choreography--two alternative approaches to using BPM and SOA in an organization. Each approach has distinct advantages in certain scenarios. Read his Column this month to learn which approach would yield the greatest benefits to your organization.
  

• BPM and PI (Part 3)
  Imre Hegedus - April 01, 2008
  As he has emphasized in Parts 1 and 2 in this series, Imre Hegedus believes that Process Improvement and Process Management should be a deliberate exercise. In this third and final Article of the series, he concludes with an exploration of how you might go about deploying both BPM and PI as complementary strategies toward company transformation. Wherever you are in your process improvement maturity, this series is a must read.
  

• Testing a SOA Application
  Srikanth Inaganti - April 01, 2008
  To avoid the many potential sources of failure because of reuse requirements, Srikanth Inaganti and Sriram Aravamudan advocate a robust testing methodology for a SOA application. In this Article, these experienced Enterprise Architecture consultants provide an overall testing methodology. But in addition, they caution that in terms of the success of the SOA application, the tester is as important as the methodology. Who should undertake the tester’s responsibility? The answer may surprise you.
  

• The Organizational Scan: A Periodic Table for Organizational Change
  Donald Tosti - April 01, 2008
  In this Article, Donald Tosti argues that SCAN (System Centered Analysis) can provide a way to order the “million or so things” that can affect organizational results in much the same way the Periodic Table of Elements provided order to potential chemical reactions. Read this Article for an illustration of SCAN tools as well as several examples of successful application of the SCAN method.
  

• Managing BPM: The Greening of Process
  Joe Francis - March 04, 2008
  In his first Column of 2008, Joe Francis turns to a timely topic—the greening of process. Anticipating the March presentation of SCOR 9.0, which will incorporate components that will characterize process from an environmental perspective, he discusses how advanced process management can begin to look at the “environmental footprint” of process in general.
  

• Down Under: High Performance Management by Management through Process and Leadership
  John Jeston - March 04, 2008
  John Jeston and Johan Nelis believe that globalization makes high performance management essential for organizations in today’s world. They contend that to achieve and sustain high performance, companies must move beyond their current focus on technology to business strategy execution. Read their Column for a look at a simple but powerful framework to achieve strategic objectives and learn how strong leadership is an absolute necessity in the process.
  

• A Strategist’s Perspective: Competing with Process Innovation
  Jim Sinur - March 04, 2008
  In his Column this month, Jim Sinur brings a different perspective—a “softer” one—to the conversation about process innovation. He presents seven anecdotes, which he calls “seven symbols of success,” that demonstrate how process innovation can be applied to improve human relations and interactions. From avoiding railroad disasters to handling the devastating effects of hurricanes, these stories offer a compelling read.
  

• BPM and PI, Part 2
  Imre Hegedus - March 04, 2008
  Imre Hegedus continues his discussion of the relationship between improvement and management cycles. In Part 2, he presents a series of questions that will assist you in determining the next steps your organization should take to sustain a workable interplay between BPM and PI. The answer may be to seek the middle ground. Read and find out.
  

• BPM: Doing it Right
  Smita Sharma - March 04, 2008
  In her experience as a Business Process Management consultant, Smita Sharma has encountered many BPM initiatives gone awry, because they are undertaken from an IT perspective and ultimately become just another IT application. The solution, she maintains, is a paradigm shift in which BPM is embedded in the organization’s culture. For a clear and concise roadmap to accomplish this goal, read her Article.
  

• How to Avoid the 4 Most Common Mistakes of Sales Process Mapping
  Michael Webb - March 04, 2008
  Webb is a strong advocate of process mapping as a technique for improving business results. Based on his work with several dozen clients, he has detected four common mistakes that deter successful use of this technique. Learn what they are and how effective use of sales process mapping can lead to a more successful sales force and have a bottom line impact.
  

• Human Processes: Ruling Unruly Rules
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - March 04, 2008
  What is the next major step in enterprise IT? Keith Harrison Broninski has a fascinating perspective. He argues convincingly that there will be a shift in emphasis from server-side automation application to client-side human interaction. Read his Column for the details of why he’s convinced this change will occur.
  

• Workflow Resource Patterns as a Rule to Support BPEL4 People Standardization Efforts
  Wil van der Aalst - March 04, 2008
  Nick Russell and Wil van der Aalst propose that workflow resource patterns serve as a means of evaluating BPEL4People and WS-Human Task standardization proposals currently under consideration. Read their Article to learn their take on the strengths and weaknesses of these proposals and what opportunities exist for further improvement.
  

• Respect for People
  James Womack - February 04, 2008
  James Womack’s notion of “respect for people,” a core value in most corporations, may surprise you. In this Article, he compares and contrasts the implementation of that value in two distribution centers in the same city. The results are fascinating and well worth the read.
  

• Look Back to Look Forward
  Howard Smith - February 04, 2008
  Where is BPM headed in 2008? Howard Smith offers his predictions on the subject. In this Article, he provides a compelling analysis and synopsis of the past two decades of BPM and takes us forward to the future where super users will control their own computing destinies.
  

• MDA Journal: Semantic Interoperability Roadmap
  David Frankel - February 04, 2008
  David Frankel continues his discussion of semantic interoperability problems this month with a focus on financial institutions. In a clear and concise fashion, he outlines the approach being considered by the expert panel convened to revise the standard. Read his Column to gain an understanding of the urgency of the problem and possible solutions standards groups are working on now, or will be in the near future.
  

• Innovation: Create an Atmosphere of Innovation
  Victor Howard - February 04, 2008
  If your eyes have ever glazed over at the exhortation to think outside of the box, you’ll welcome Victor Howard and Clay Richardson’s Column this month. In a lively and engaging style, they offer sound advice on ways to avoid the hackneyed vernacular of “innovation” and to create an environment where innovation can occur naturally.
  

• Service Design Essentials
  Srikanth Inaganti - February 04, 2008
  Srikanth Inaganti and Srini Chintala offer advice to managers overseeing SOA transformation projects. During their years of experience as consultants in Enterprise Architecture, they have compiled a set of best practices to apply at the various steps in the transformation process, and they provide them as guidelines in this Article.
  

• Extreme Competition: Get Your Head into the Clouds
  Peter Fingar - February 04, 2008
  Peter Fingar urges all of us to get out of the in-house infrastructure and put our heads in the clouds. Read his take on cloud computing, which, he predicts will be the next IT platform shift, and how it promises to dramatically reduce the costs and complexity of Enterprise IT.
  

• BPM and PI
  Imre Hegedus - February 04, 2008
  In the first of a three part series, Imre Hegedus explores the relationship between BPM and Process Improvement methods. He advocates a holistic and phased approach in which BPM and PI are deployed together to lead to successful and sustainable business performance.
  

• Human Processes: Is Your SOA a Disaster Waiting to Happen?
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - January 08, 2008
  Keith Harrison-Broninski exhorts all who propose to undertake SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) in their organizations to recognize that SOA Governance is complex and risky and is implemented and managed by humans, not machines. Acknowledging the potential for human malfunction at the outset of the project can help avoid a disastrous outcome. Read his Column for helpful guidelines for implementing a SOA that humans can manage successfully.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Legacy Systems--Poorly Engineered or Over-Engineered?
  Ron Ross - January 08, 2008
  Ron Ross proposes that traditional systems were not poorly engineered, but that they were overly-engineered for today’s systems environment. With roughly 75% of IT resources being used for system maintenance, he suggests a critical look at how traditional systems were engineered would lead to the building of smarter systems. Read his Column to learn the symptoms of over-engineering and the solutions.
  

• A Strategist’s Perspective: Seven Deadly Beliefs that could Hurt SOA Efforts
  Jim Sinur - January 08, 2008
  Jim Sinur acknowledges the ever-increasing link between BPM and SOA and foresees a potential for serious problems resulting from misconceptions about what SOA can do for the organization. When the dreams of a perfect SOA solution are not fulfilled, the fortunes of BPM will inevitably be affected. Jim’s advice - Let the buyer be aware!
  

• Class Notes: BPM Research and Education—A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
  Michael zur Muehlen - January 08, 2008
  Michael Zur Muehlen offers a compelling perspective on building BPM skills within the organization. The “classmates” - Executives, Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, and BPM Vendors and Systems Integrators - all have different roles and responsibilities, and, therefore, different skill-development requirements. To accommodate the growing need for BPM expertise, Zur Muehlen contends, we need more structured and role-specific education programs. Read his Column for an in-depth discussion of this issue.
  

• SOA: To Do or not to Do
  Gopala Behara - January 08, 2008
  Gopala Behera & K.T.R.B. Sarma, with their vast experience in witnessing SOA projects gone awry, offer a series of criteria for determining when to launch a SOA and, equally important, when not to. This Article should be required reading for both IT and business managers who are in the early stages of planning a SOA in their organizations.
  

• Why Your Sales Process Cost Matters and What You Need to Know to Get it Right
  Michael Webb - January 08, 2008
  Michael Webb’s message is loud and clear—don’t assume your sales process is effective in generating profit. In this compelling Article, he provides a method of cost analysis that may prompt you to make changes to eliminate the weak links in your organization’s sales process.
  

• Enterprise Architecture and the Business Rule Life Cycle
  Art Tortolero - January 08, 2008
  Art Tortolero provides a precise description of the basic Business Rule Life Cycle within an advanced logical and physical integration of Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Decision Management.
  

• Six Fallacies of Business Process Improvement
  Jean-Jacques Dubray - January 08, 2008
  Jean-Jacques Dubray has translated this Article by Dominique Vaquier which identifies six commonly held beliefs pertaining to Business Process Improvement and demonstrates the fallacies inherent in each one. If you proceed with your improvement project believing any or all of these beliefs, mistakes can occur. Learn what these beliefs are and how to avoid their potentially costly consequences.
  

• Performance Improvement: The IT-Business Gap—Another Root Cause
  Geary Rummler - December 04, 2007
  Geary Rummler and Alan Ramias can recount numerous experiences in their work as consultants where IT projects have gone disastrously awry, costing organizations untold amounts of time and money. This month, the disaster examples they cite have one common thread—a lack of Management oversight of IT projects. Their advice on prevention tactics is must reading for Senior Managers involved in such projects.
  

• Service Oriented Enterprise Architecture
  Adrian Grigoriu - December 04, 2007
  Adrian Grigoriu acknowledges that SOA appears to be at the top of its “hype curve,” but he asks what it really means to the organization. In this article, he defines SOA not only in terms of what it is, but what it isn’t and contends that SOA + EA = SOEA—the best formula to apply.
  

• Down Under: Project Management Essential in Process Management Projects
  John Jeston - December 04, 2007
  John Jeston and Johan Nelis draw on their vast experience in BPM consulting and offer advice on ways to avoid the pitfalls that frequently occur in process improvement projects. Their advice? Read how using a Project Management Maturity Model can help create realistic expectations, avoid failure, and arrive at a successful conclusion. A word to the wise…
  

• BPM in Europe: ABS Inside!
  Frits Bussemaker - December 04, 2007
  In his Column this month, Frits Bussemaker resumes his use of analogies to offer his perspective on BPM trends in Europe. He reflects on the 2007 European BPM conferences and finds some outcomes bemusing. Find out why and read his latest analogy and how it applies to the current state of BPM in Europe.
  

• BPM and SOA: Service Usage Types
  Michael Rosen - December 04, 2007
  In his Column this month, Mike Rosen asks if newly implemented SOA and BPM technologies are really contributing to improved business responsiveness. Acquiring the technology is only the first step; using it effectively is the hard part. Read his Column for some clearly presented practical advice on how to deal with the hard part.
  

• Customer Value
  Imre Hegedus - December 04, 2007
  Imre Hegedus asserts that business relevance begins and ends with the customer and must be the basis for aligning and evaluating BPM deployment. Read how to apply practical process solutions to what may seem competing process goals within the organization by adhering to a customer focus.
  

• SOA Maturity Model Scenarios
  Srikanth Inaganti - December 04, 2007
  Srikanth Inaganti, in another of his insightful articles, simplifies the Maturity Model and demonstrates that a successful SOA Transformation Process, from Level One through Level Five, depends on wide-ranging IT processes. All who are interested in understanding Maturity Models will want to read this article.
  

• Enterprise Architecture as a Meta Process
  Heinz Lienhard - December 04, 2007
  Heinz Lienhard presents a compelling argument for designing Business Processes not only for optimal business support, but also for easy process management. In his Article, he demystifies what would, at first blush, appear to be the daunting task of accommodating both goals.
  

• The Silver Bullet of Business Rules Management Systems
  Art Tortolero - November 06, 2007
  Art Tortelero is a strong advocate for the use of business rules management systems and, in this Article, he provides reasons why he perceives this approach is creating a “sea change” in how corporations will build and maintain their core business systems.
  

• Extreme Competition: EDP Audit and Control Redux
  Peter Fingar - November 06, 2007
  Peter Fingar takes a walk down memory lane to explore EDP controls from their beginnings in 1979 to the present. What he finds in his analysis will alarm all who are not already aware of the growing risk of loss exposure, particularly among organizations engaged in global enterprise.
  

• Human Processes: What are Human Processes?
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - November 06, 2007
  In his initial Column for BPTrends, Keith Harrison-Broninski continues his call to consider new and different perspectives on the nature of work involving human beings. We look forward (as Keith would urge) to his many new insights on this important topic in this and future Columns.
  

• A Strategist’s Perspective: Green BPM: Processes with a Conscience
  Jim Sinur - November 06, 2007
  In his Column this month, Jim Sinur addresses a timely topic by proposing “green” processes that will not only conserve our valuable resources but will simultaneously reduce costs for companies that employ the practices he suggests.
  

• The Business Technology Drivers and Benefits of SOA
  Syed Mohiuddin - November 06, 2007
  Syed Ahmed Mohiuddin focuses on the current and future challenges of rapid business service delivery and provides valuable insights and guidance for using SOA as an enabler for companies facing those challenges.
  

• Wheels Coming off the BPM Project? You need Alignment
  Yash Pandhi - November 06, 2007
  Yash Pandhi, a BPM Consultant, has frequently arrived in the aftermath of failed BPM projects. Here he shares his experience and provides insights that will help you avoid the derailment before it happens.
  

• Start Building your Business Process Models “Now”
  Venugopal Juturu - November 06, 2007
  Chandra Sekhar Ramaraju and Venugopal Juturu present an engaging argument for developing process models sooner rather than later. Pre-crisis development will result in more efficient, effective and less costly models in the long run.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: The Value of Decision
  Ron Ross - November 06, 2007
  If you have had problems convincing management of the value of business rules initiatives, Ron Ross’ Column is a must read. He provides powerful tools for convincing management that a business rules approach is a sound investment for improving ROI.
  

• Managing BPM: The Customer is always
  Joe Francis - November 06, 2007
  Joe Francis shares some valuable insights gained while teaching benchmarking. Read his Column to learn how to avoid some common pitfalls that can derail your benchmarking project and lead you away from what we all know to be true—the customer is always right.
  

• BPM and Organizational Maturity: Maturity Model du Jour
  Bill Curtis - October 02, 2007
  Bill Curtis and John Alden argue in favor of consolidating rather than expanding the number of maturity models. They contend that the world needs only a handful of MM’s and propose some means to achieve that end. Read their Column for some timely advice on this subject.
  

• Managing BPM: The Food Processor
  Joe Francis - October 02, 2007
  You’ll be hungry after reading Joe Francis’ entertaining Column in which he advocates the use of simple analogies to convey the 5 key elements of BPM. His analogy of choice? The outdoor BBQ. Bon appetite!
  

• Innovation: Accelerating Business Innovation
  Victor Howard - October 02, 2007
  Are you interested in knowing how BPM Technology can provide a framework to accelerate business innovation? Be sure to read Victor Howard and Clay Richardson’s Column for a clear and concise presentation of BPM’s five unique characteristics that enable an organization to accelerate the pace of innovation.
  

• Major Issues in BPM: An Expert Prospective
  Sandy Chong - October 02, 2007
  The authors, Wasana Bandarn, Marta Indulska, Sandy Chong, and Shazia Sadiq, present an important compilation of information gathered from interviews with fourteen global BPM experts. The results of those interviews, presented here, highlight the issues and challenges that are prevalent or emerging wherever BPM is applied or being considered.
  

• The Future of SOA, Part 7 of 7
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - October 02, 2007
  In his final Article in this thought-provoking series on the future of SOA, Keith Harrison-Broninski challenges all readers to consider, once again, what is missing from current approaches to SOA. In his summary, he suggests four ways SOA can improve the operation of your organization.
  

• MDA Journal: Semantic Interoperability and Convergence in the Financial Industry
  David Frankel - October 02, 2007
  This month, David Frankel continues his examination of semantic interoperability and its primary importance in reducing integration costs. Read his Column to discover how standards organizations in the financial sector are dealing with this issue by converging around a single standard known as Universal Financial Industry Message Scheme (UNIFI).
  

• Government Process Management
  Roger Tregear - October 02, 2007
  Roger Tregear and Teri Jenkins prepared this Article (originally presented at the 2007 BPM Conference in Brisbane, Australia) to address the increasing interest in BPM in the public sector. They identify nine key differences between the public and private sectors. BPM practitioners of all stripes will find this discussion compelling.
  

• Extreme Competition: Innovation’s Child
  Peter Fingar - September 04, 2007
  This month, Peter Fingar takes up the timely topic of “innovation.” For a fascinating summary of some key innovation issues companies must face in the context of globalization, read Peter’s column.
  

• A Strategist’s Perspective: Designing Process Properly
  Jim Sinur - September 04, 2007
  Jim Sinur draws on his years of experience in BPM to offer a model for ”proper process design.” Read his Column for succinct and practical advice on scoping processes from the top down, rather than the bottom up.
  

• Improving Performance: 3 Linked Architectures for the Enterprise
  Guy Wallace - September 04, 2007
  In his final column in this series, Guy Wallace addresses how to use Enterprise Performance Architecture (see June, 2007 Update) to create Enterprise Learner/Performance Architecture. He ends with a discussion of using both to inform the design of Enterprise Content Architecture.
  

• Business Change Through Process
  Christine Dicken - September 04, 2007
  While working through a recent consulting engagement, Christine Dicken and her colleagues came upon issues that create “pain points” in implementing business processes. Here she recounts that experience and discusses the four primary sources of pain that invariably arise during the implementation of a business process improvement project.
  

• Business Activity Monitoring
  Venugopal Juturu - September 04, 2007
  In this comprehensive and clearly written article, Venugopal Juturu addresses the challenges addressed by BAM, discuses some implementation benefits, and provides a practical approach to achieving a BAM solution within your organization.
  

• The Future of SOA, Part 6 of 7
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - September 04, 2007
  As in previous articles in this series, Keith Harrison-Broninski continues his argument that current approaches to SOA are fundamentally flawed. Throw away the flow charts, and adopt a new modeling approach based on reality rather than artificial definitions.
  

• BPM A Global View: Checkbox BPM
  Rashid Khan - September 04, 2007
  Rashid Khan issues a warning to unsuspecting buyers of BPM software whose companies use RFP’s to select products. A “yes” in the check box does not necessarily signify a fully developed feature. Caveat emptor!
  

• Holistic BPM is Coming of Age
  Michael Rosemann - September 04, 2007
  BPM is not only important within companies, but it is also a hot research topic at universities. In this short paper, Michael Rosemann, head of the BPM program at Queensland University of Technology, and his colleague Marlon Dumas, consider which aspects of BPM are most interesting to academics and researchers. At the same time, they consider how those topics will be addressed at BPM 2007, the premiere academic BPM conference scheduled this month in Brisbane, Australia.
  

• OMGBPM
  Paul Harmon - July 23, 2007
  
  

• BPM in Europe: Gaudi & Gravity
  Frits Bussemaker - July 03, 2007
  Just as the renowned Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi, applied a creative use of gravity to achieve his unique design concepts, Frits Bussemaker challenges the reader to consider alternative imagery to “change management icebergs” and “strategy pyramids” to reduce the complexity of creating and aligning business processes within organizations.
  

• Managing Performance: IT Disasters—A Root Cause
  Geary Rummler - July 03, 2007
  Geary Rummler and Alan Ramias contend that a major cause of costly IT disasters is failure to understand the organization as a system on a macro level.Read their Column for an inside view of their Process System Hierarchy framework, which, when used as an analytical tool by IT, can help to avoid costly investment in technologies that are not aligned with the business requirement.
  

• Innovation Out of the Box
  Kiran Garimella - July 03, 2007
  Kiran Garimella posits that innovation is the most important imperative for an enterprise’s continued growth and competitive advantage. Read how collaborative interactions, facilitated by sound business process management practices, can foster innovative thinking in an organization.
  

• The Future of SOA, Part 5 of 7
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - July 03, 2007
  In the fifth article in this series, Keith Harrison-Broninski asks, “Are you goal-directed, or task trapped?” He differentiates between mechanistic work (a set of tasks) and human-driven work, which should have a description based on goals. (
  

• When Best Practice is not Good Enough
  Mark McGregor - July 03, 2007
  Mark McGregor suggests that you look outside your own industry for examples of excellence in various aspects of business processes. Then, consider how you can adapt their practices in your own business, and you will have a list of powerful ideas for turning potential success into reality.
  

• MDA Journal: Industrial Convergence
  David Frankel - July 03, 2007
  David Frankel offers a clear and concise discussion of what he sees as a potential problem as data sharing across vertical markets becomes more prevalent. Read his Column for some thoughts on how to manage this issue before it becomes a serious problem.
  

• Down Under: Case Study—Wealth Management
  John Jeston - July 03, 2007
  This month, John Jeston and Johan Nelis present a compelling case study involving a financial institution’s launch of a new product, acknowledged to be the best in its class. Despite its reputed excellence, the launch was faltering. Read how a group of practitioners, selected for their positive attitudes, worked as a team to reverse the failure and increased business volume by 300-400% within four weeks. (Link)
  

• Michael Hammer’s Process and Maturity Model
  Brad Powers - July 03, 2007
  Brad Power presents a critique of Michael Hammer’s article in the Harvard Business Review on PEMM (Process & Enterprise Maturity Model). While he believes that Hammer’s PEMM may be useful to business process people, he points out what he considers to be some weaknesses you might want to consider. (Link)
  

• Extreme Competition: Upside Down and Inside Out
  Peter Fingar - July 03, 2007
  Continuing his discussion of how to survive in the age of total global competition, Peter Fingar exhorts readers to adopt the technique of Ram Charan—work backward to define need, then search for what helps. Read this month’s Column for some sound advice on simplifying the BPM lexicon and infusing common sense into the process.
  

• ICT Value Solutions for Large Enterprises in Line with their Business Objectives: A Marketing Approach
  Jose Vasquez - July 03, 2007
  Jose Ramon Vasquez suggests that there is a lack of alignment between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services and business, in general. Here, he describes how ICT solutions can be developed and used strategically to transform and enhance the core business processes of large organizations.
  

• Reuse Framework for SOA
  Srikanth Inaganti - June 05, 2007
  Srikanth Inaganti discusses the overall framework for business logic, or code reuse, in the context of SOA, and proposes solutions to some of the hurdles you may encounter in promoting a reuse culture in your organization.
  

• Business Innovation: A Balanced Appraoch
  Victor Howard - June 05, 2007
  In their initial BPTrends Column, Victor Howard and Clay Richardson define three concepts imperative to understanding and guiding business innovation. They then go on to discuss the first of these concepts – Creating Value. Read their Column to learn how “ease and grace” relate to Creating Value and the Process of Innovation which, they contend, should be disciplined but not over-engineered.
  

• Business Rules Solutions: Rules Are Not Actions, So Don’t
  Ron Ross - June 05, 2007
  In his Column this month, Ron Ross addresses the difference between a rule and an action—two words frequently confused by some professionals. As he explains in this Column, understanding the difference is fundamental to the business rule approach to business process.
  

• Integrating Industrial Services into Manufacturing Supply Chains
  Herbert Heinzel - June 05, 2007
  Herbert Heinzel, Amit Garg, and Stefan Schleyer outline a basic framework for managing the growing interdependency between the Manufacturing Supply Chain and Service Providers.
  

• Improving Performance: Enterprise Process Performance
  Guy Wallace - June 05, 2007
  This month, Guy Wallace provides a set of tools for evaluating an organization’s Enterprise Process Performance Architecture (EPPA). He provides a template and suggests a series of questions BPM practitioners should ask as they analyze their organization’s EPPA.
  

• Managing BPM: The IT Supply-Chain Material Flow
  Joe Francis - June 05, 2007
  This is the fourth in a series of informative columns on applying SCOR-based techniques to the IT Supply Chain. In it, Joe Francis demonstrates how to create a mapping technique to manage the IT infrastructure around field automation and how to implement SCOR Processes to identify the sources of the gap between a company’s actual performance and its performance potential.
  

• BPM: A Global View: Whose BPM is it Anyway?
  Rashid Khan - June 05, 2007
  The question of who owns business process improvement initiatives, the IT team or the Business team, is given a fresh analysis by Rashid Khan. Read his Column to discover a useful model for the interactive roles of the stakeholders in these initiatives and the tools they need to bring about successful business process solutions.
  

• BPM and Six Sigma: Post Merger Integration through BPM and
  Udit Sharma - June 05, 2007
  Udit Sharma, a Lean Six Sigma Master Consultant, is David Silverstein’s guest columnist this month. Here, he presents a thoughtful exploration of the use of BPM and Lean Six Sigma in the post-merger integration of businesses.
  

• The Future of SOA, Part 4 of 7
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - June 05, 2007
  Keith Harrison-Broninski proposes that SOA initiatives be driven by business people with business objectives – not by technical people with technical objectives often presented as “business advantages”.
  

• A Strategist’s Perspective: Business Process Management Maturity
  Jim Sinur - May 01, 2007
  In his initial column for BPTrends, Jim Sinur seeks to clarify and expand the definition of “maturity” in BPM. To do so, he proposes some sound oversight practices that will continuously improve your organization’s processes.
  

• Process Innovation: # 10 P-TRIZ There Are Solutions in Polarities
  Howard Smith - May 01, 2007
  This month Howard Smith examines Barry Johnson’s theory involving polarities, i.e. that there are some insolvable problems. Howard disagrees. Read his challenge to that theory and his solutions to Johnson’s unsolvable problems.
  

• Extreme Competition: Shift Happens
  Peter Fingar - May 01, 2007
  If you haven’t seriously considered the possible impact of globalization on your organization, read Peter Fingar’s column this month for some startling facts that will give you cause to consider it now. Peter offers counsel on rethinking BPM initiatives to meet the challenge the “Shift”, a consequence of globalization, will inevitably present to your enterprise.
  

• Down Under: A Powerful Metaphor for a Balanced BPM Implementation
  John Jeston - May 01, 2007
  Using the metaphor of a rowing team in a race to the finish line, John Jeston and Johan Nelis, examine the components necessary for team success and apply them to the implementation of BPM initiatives. Balanced implementation is the key, and the authors provide useful ammunition to present to managers who wish to slash implementation costs.
  

• Class Notes: Research and Education in BPM
  Michael zur Muehlen - May 01, 2007
  In his first column on research and Education in the context of Business Process Management, Michael zur Muehlen presents a brief history of BPM research in the academy. This month, Michael examines an old business book from 1956 and discovers how pertinent the contents and questions posed by the author remain in today’s business environment.
  

• Do You Have a Business-Oriented Architecture?
  Rod Favoron - May 01, 2007
  In his article, Rod Favoron describes BPM as a business-oriented architecture that enables owners of processes to set improvement goals and orchestrate actions across the company to achieve them. Recognition of this fact by CIO’s has made BPM tools and architecture one of the most sought-after technologies.
  

• Understanding Work and Work Control Systems
  Fred Nickols - May 01, 2007
  In this clear and concise article, Fred Nickols presents a model of a work control system that has had proven success in making work more productive.
  

• Process Innovation: # 10 P-TRIZ There Are Solutions in Polarities
  Howard Smith - May 01, 2007
  This month Howard Smith examines Barry Johnson’s theory involving polarities, i.e. that there are some insolvable problems. Howard disagrees. Read his challenge to that theory and his solutions to Johnson’s unsolvable problems.
  

• Business Process Architecture and Design
  Oscar Barros - May 01, 2007
  Oscar Barros of the University of Chile presents a detailed methodology for Business Process Architecture that has been used with success in more than 100 projects.
  

• Future of SOA-Part 3 of 7
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - May 01, 2007
  Keith Harrison-Broninski continues his examination of potential problems for adopters of SOA. In this article, he explores unforeseen dangers in the implementation of software changes. (Link)
  

• BPM and SOA: BPM Project Perspectives
  Mike Rosen - April 01, 2007
  In this month’s Column, Mike Rosen addresses the common clashes that occur on SOA projects. He sets out to clear up the confusion that results when those who see SOA as an enabler for BPM come up against those others who attempt to kick off SOA from a grass roots level.
  

• A Case Study for Process Roadmaps: The Gap between Process and End Users
  Christine Dicken - April 01, 2007
  Christine Dicken and Julius Spain examine the problems their organization encountered in implementing process initiatives, and describe the solution they developed to overcome the gap between the development of the processes, and implementation of the processes by end users.
  

• SOA Maturity Model
  Srikanth Inaganti - April 01, 2007
  Believing that pursuing either technology or process in isolation will not produce the best result, Srikanth Inaganti and Sriram Aravamudan propose an SOA maturity model for assessing the effectiveness of processes, people, and technology options, as well as the maturity of the architecture.
  

• BPM and Organizational Maturity: A Popular Misconception about the Maturity Model
  Bill Curtis - April 01, 2007
  Bill Curtis and John Alden dispute a common criticism of the Watts Humphrey’s Process Maturity Framework – i.e., that it focuses on management practices rather than value-adding processes. Alden and Curtis dispel this misconception by examining all five levels of the Watts Humphrey’s Process Maturity Framework.
  

• MDA Journal: MDA’s “Last Mile” Problem
  Dave Frankel - April 01, 2007
  An IDC Report analyzing the model-driven development market provided Dave Frankel with the central theme for this month’s Column – specifically, that model-driven approaches need to go the “last mile of applications development—making the applications come to life.” Read this clear and concise essay to learn his conclusions on the “last mile” challenge.
  

• Process Innovation: Oliver’s Garage
  Howard Smith - April 01, 2007
  This month, Howard Smith resumes his Column on P-TRIZ with an engaging, true story involving an eleven year old boy, three garages, and an innovation process. The story illustrates how, using P-Triz, any business process can be improved, yielding an ideal design.
  

• BPM and Workflow Analysis
  Wil van der Aalst - April 01, 2007
  Wil van der Aalst announces the launch of a new Workflow Patterns Website and discusses the September International BPM Conference to be held in Brisbane, Australia.
  

• The Power of Two: Lean Six Sigma and BPM
  Lance Gibbs - April 01, 2007
  Lance Gibbs and Tom Shea consider the benefits that accrue to an organization when Lean Six Sigma Teams and BPM teams combine efforts. They offer useful guidelines for getting these two groups aligned on process projects to achieve positive results.
  

• The Future of SOA—Part 2 of 7
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - April 01, 2007
  Keith Harrison Broninski asks if your organization is getting a return on its investment in IT and poses several key assessment questions that he plans to address in subsequent articles in this series.
  

• A Business Oriented Architecture: Combining BPM and SOA for Competitive Advantage
  Phil Gilbert - March 06, 2007
  Phil Gilbert describes what a combined BPM and SOA architecture looks like and discusses, in detail, the competitive advantages that can result from implementing these initiatives.
  

• Extreme Competition: The Greatest Innovation since BPM
  Peter Fingar - March 06, 2007
  Three years ago, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar wrote Business Process Management: The Third Wave. Now, Fingar contends that it is time to consider a Fourth Wave —human interaction management systems. Read his Column to find out why.
  

• The Future of SOA, Part 1
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - March 06, 2007
  This month, Keith Harrison-Broninski launches a new series of articles offering guidelines for the implementation of a next-generation IT infrastructure—one that is based on the business goals of your organization rather than technical innovations.
  

• Business Rules: When Is a Door not a Door?
  Ron Ross - March 06, 2007
  According to Ron Ross, “In a world of constant and accelerating change, adaptability is the name of the game.” Read his Column to learn why Rules are an essential component of your company’s strategy for achieving adaptability.
  

• BPM and Six Sigma: Innovation behind the Scenes
  Phil Samuel - March 06, 2007
  This month, Dr. Phil Samuel is David Silverstein’s guest author. In his Column, Dr. Samuel proposes to expand the current discourse on the synergy between BPM and Lean Six Sigma beyond entitlement performance to include innovation approaches which create new value through creativity and redesign.
  

• Improving Performance: EPPI Intervention Initiatives—Tools and Techniques
  Guy Wallace - March 06, 2007
  n this, his first Column in 2007, Guy Wallace addresses the tools and techniques used in Stage 2 of Enterprise Process Performance Improvement (EPPI). He identifies and defines the six phases of the process involved in Stage 2 implementation.
  

• Whither Training? Less in the Classroom, More in the Workflow
  Allison Rossett - March 06, 2007
  Allison Rossett discusses the positive aspects of the shift from classroom-based instruction to the broader and more effective arena of blended learning, where the focus is on improving performance while employees remain in the workplace, not in the classroom.
  

• Lean Tools That Improve Processes: An Overview
  Forrest Breyfogle - March 06, 2007
  In this Article, Forrest Breyfogle describes Lean Tools, their uses and advantages, and how they can best be implemented in the organization.
  

• A Business Oriented Architecture: Combining BPM and SOA for Competitive Advantage
  Phil Gilbert - March 06, 2007
  Phil Gilbert describes what a combined BPM and SOA architecture looks like and discusses, in detail, the competitive advantages that can result from implementing these initiatives.
  

• A Business Oriented Architecture: Combining BPM and SOA for Competitive Advantage
  Phil Gilbert - March 06, 2007
  Phil Gilbert describes what a combined BPM and SOA architecture looks like and discusses, in detail, the competitive advantages that can result from implementing these initiatives. (LINK)
  

• Managing BPM: The IT Supply-Chain SCORcard
  Joe Francis - March 06, 2007
  This is the third in a series of four Columns on applying SCOR-based BPM techniques to the IT Supply Chain. In this Column, Joe demonstrates how to set up an IT SCORcard for benchmarking, and for aligning performance with corporate strategy.(LINK)
  

• Service Identification: BPM and SOA Handshake
  Srikanth Inaganti - March 06, 2007
  Srikanth Inaganti and Gopala Behera once again address this timely subject. In this article, they emphasize the need for value chain analysis and discuss some best practices to avoid ambiguities that sometimes occur in service identification. They stress the need for business and IT collaboration throughout the process to achieve successful identification of enterprise-level services.
  

• Business Process Management and Organizational Maturity: The What, Why and How of BPMM
  John Alden - February 06, 2007
  Read Bill Curtis and John Alden’s Column this month to learn how the Business Process Maturity Model (BPMM) can be used for planning, prioritizing, managing and optimizing a company’s business process program.
  

• Influence of Enterprise Architecture
  Geoff Cardwell - February 06, 2007
  In this Article, Geoff Cardwell acknowledges the communication gap between the workforce and those who design and implement the company’s business systems. He suggests that Enterprise Architecture can be structured in a set of simple process architectures understandable to both groups.
  

• Down Under: A BPM Engagement Model to Achieve Sustainable Results
  John Jeston - February 06, 2007
  In their Column this month, John Jeston and Johan Nelis propose an engagement model for the business to ensure that BPM initiatives and results are enforced as part of “Management as Usual”. They include a case study to illustrate their argument.
  

• Managing Performance
  Geary Rummler - February 06, 2007
  In their first Column for BPTrends, Geary Rummler and Alan Ramias discuss the issue of costly IT projects that fail and are ultimately abandoned by their companies. They believe these costly blunders are avoidable and will devote future Columns to suggest possible solutions.
  

• An Approach to Service Management in SOA Space
  Gopala Behara - February 06, 2007
  In this comprehensive Article, Gopala Behara and Srikanth Inaganti discuss the management of SOA at different layers and the challenges faced by SOA Management.
  

• BPM for Knowledge Workers: Inside Decision Intensive Pro
  David Bromberg - February 06, 2007
  In this second Article of a four-part series, David Bromberg probes more deeply into the concept of knowledge and its relationship to enterprise decision making.
  

• Process Innovation and Corporate Agility
  Derek Miers - February 06, 2007
  In this Article, Derek Miers explores issues associated with finding the right balance between standardization and evolution in a firm’s business processes. Finding that balance will enable the company to achieve organizational longevity, with a special emphasis on service orientation and business process outsourcing.
  

• BPM in Europe: Glass Silos
  Frits Bussemaker - February 06, 2007
  Frits Bussemaker characterizes some professional organizations as “Glass Silos” in which members preach to the converted. After a recent successful joint meeting between two professional communities, he encourages greater communication between “Glass Silos” which, he believes, will stimulate more innovation and, ultimately, greater overall effectiveness.
  

• Managing BPM: The IT-Chain Matrix
  Joe Francis - February 06, 2007
  Joe Francis presents his second Column in a four-part series on IT Supply-Chain metrics. Read this month’s installment to learn a simple technique for identifying IT Supply-Chains selected for optimization using the SCOR Roadmap™.
  

• BPM and SOA: SOA, EA and Tools
  Mike Rosen - January 02, 2007
  This month, Mike Rosen continues to explore the relationship of SOA to Enterprise Architecture by looking at the relationship of SOA tools to Enterprise Architecture and Process Modeling tools.
  

• Managing BPM: The IT Supply Chain Top 10
  Joe Francis - January 02, 2007
  This month, Joe Francis begins a series of three Columns demystifying the concept of “measuring an architecture.” In his first Column in the series, he discusses the top ten process metrics for the IT Supply Chain, with a focus on SOA.
  

• MDA Journal: A Convergence of Business and IT Thinking? SOA and the Business-IT Divide
  Dave Frankel - January 02, 2007
  As the title suggests, Dave Frankel takes on the commonly held notion that business and IT people speak different languages. David sees a convergence of thinking that offers new opportunities for the two parties to discover common ground.
  

• The Future of BPM: Part 6 of 6
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - January 02, 2007
  In his concluding Article in the BPTrends 6-part series on the Future of BPM, Keith Harrison-Broninski presents his views on who will take BPM into the future.
  

• BPM for Knowledge Workers: The Structural Foundation of Decision Intensive Processess
  David Bromberg - January 02, 2007
  During the last ten years, David Bromberg has explored the nature of knowledge and decision making and its incorporation into the workings of a knowledge-based enterprise. In this Article, he shares insights derived from his experience.
  

• Enterprise BPM: A Systematic Approach
  Janne Korhonen - January 02, 2007
  In this Article, Janne J. Korhonen presents a four tier model to provide a classification system for enterprise-wide Business Process Management. He proposes this idealized systematic view as a foundation for a more comprehensive and concrete framework of enterprise BPM.
  

• A Process for a Process Design Ecosystem
  Keith Swenson - January 02, 2007
  Keith Swenson sees a clear need for an open, non-proprietary process design ecosystem that will enable companies using “best of breed” software solutions to move process design from one vendor’s tool to another’s. Read this Article for his take on existing standards.
  

• Making the Case for BPM: A Benefits Checklist
  Jim Rudden - January 02, 2007
  In this Article, Jim Rudden argues convincingly that an investment in BPM software, along with new approaches to project implementation, will enable companies to institutionalize a sustainable business process improvement program.
  

• The Challenge of Lean Transformation
  Jim Womack - January 02, 2007
  Read Jim Womack’s astute observations on the current state of Lean Management and his proposal for three simple elements of Lean Management worthy of experimentation.
  

• Improving Performance: Targeting EPPI--Tools and Techniques
  Guy Wallace - December 05, 2006
  In this month's column, Guy Wallace provides a detailed description of the tools and techniques needed in targeting Stage 1 of Enterprise Process Performance Inprovement. Read "Targeting EPPI--Tools and Techniques" for helpful suggestions on avoiding loss of ROI and economic value projections along the way.
  

• Extreme Competition:The MBA is Dead--Long Live the MBI
  Peter Fingar - December 05, 2006
  Peter Fingar proposes that “Business Administration” be replaced by “Business Innovation” in this increasingly globalized world. Read his column this month to learn why.
  

• BPM--A Global View: What makes BPM Human Centric
  Rashid Khan - December 05, 2006
  In response to his previous column many of you asked about the specific requirements of human-centric BPM and why those requirements are so difficult to deliver. Rashid Khan provides some answers and proposes some solutions in this month's column.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Rules and Proccesses--Examples Showing how they Relate
  Ron Ross - December 05, 2006
  This month Ron Ross cites six esamples of how business rules relate to business process. One example, in particular, provides fundamental insight into business process architecture.
  

• The Future of BPM, Part 5
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - December 05, 2006
  Following up on last month's article, Keith Harrison-Broninski urges you to consider orchestration and choreography in equal measure when evaluating your organization's process mapping efforts.
  

• Potential Pitfalls on the Road to a PMO, Part II
  Geary Rummler - December 05, 2006
  In Part 1, Geary Rummler and Alan Ramias proposed the Organization-as-a-system (OAS)lens to guide efforts to create a process-centered or process-managed organization. This month they examine potential pitfalls in that process and describe "the type of journey that will lead to success."
  

• Beyond SOX: Corporate Improvement with 4th Generation Balanced Scorecard
  Tomonori Tomura - December 05, 2006
  In this article, Tomonori Tomura, the Managing Director of the Japan Management Research Institute (JMRI), advocates a new approach that employs a Balanced Scorecard in conjunction with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). He suggests that this new approach can lead to greater improvements in corporate value in the post-SOX era. Describing recent work undertaken in Japan, the author hopes to stimulate an international discussion and urges readers of this article to contact him with their comments.
  

• The Future of BPM, Part 4
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - November 07, 2006
  Using a musical analogy, Keith Harrison-Broninski continues his argument that BPMN will make the process language, BPEL, obsolete.
  

• The BPTrends Author Index
  Paul Harmon - November 07, 2006
  A list, by author, of the over 500 columns and articles published on BPTrends between January of 2003 and July of 2006.
  

• The BPTrends Author Index
  Paul Harmon - November 07, 2006
  A list, by author, of the over 500 columns and articles published on BPTrends between January of 2003 and July of 2006.
  

• BPM and Six Sigma
  David Silverstein - November 07, 2006
  This month, David Silverstein hosts Mark Smith as a guest columnist. Mark, an expert in Creative Thinking and Planning and Hoshin and Quality Improvement, argues that Hoshin needs BPM, and BPM needs Hoshin to achieve their common goal of bridging strategy and execution.
  

• The Application of “Aspects” to Business Process Analysis
  Bob Urry - November 07, 2006
  Bob Urry, of the CSC e4 and BPM Center for Excellence, discusses how Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP) can help manage the complexity that inevitably occurs during the development process, enabling designers to avoid distractions and to focus on one issue at a time.
  

• All I Really Need to Know About BPM I Learned in Kindergarten
  Roger Tregear - November 07, 2006
  Roger Tregear and Andrew Spanyi examine lessons learned from Robert Fulghum’s 1988 best seller, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Applying elements of his credo to modern organizations, the authors take a different view of what it takes to create and maintain a process-aware management system.
  

• Potential Pitfalls on the Road to a Process Managed Organization (Part I)
  Geary Rummler - November 07, 2006
  In Part 1 of a two-part article, Geary Rummler and Alan Ramias present “The Organization as Systems Lens.” Their lens provides a way of looking at organizations that is “essential to the notion of being process-centered.”
  

• BPM in Europe: What is the new Reality Called?
  Frits Bussemaker - November 07, 2006
  This month, Frits Bussemaker challenges you, the readers, to propose a name for a new business model that will create a link between a structured organization and professional autonomy. The reward for the best suggestion is.
  

• SOA, EA and Tools
  Mike Rosen - November 07, 2006
  This month, Mike Rosen explores the relationship of SOA to Enterprise Architecture, complementing the recently published BPTrends 2006 Enterprise Architecture, Process Modeling and Simulation Tools Report, Version 2.0,
  

• BPM and Organizational Maturity
  Bill Curtis - November 07, 2006
  In their initial Column, John Alden and Bill Curtis provide an overview of the Business Process Maturity Model and describe the five levels of maturity .
  

• BPM and Organizational Maturity
  Bill Curtis - November 07, 2006
  In their initial Column, John Alden and Bill Curtis provide an overview of the Business Process Maturity Model and describe the five levels of maturity.
  

• Managing BPM: Keeping on Keeping on...
  Joe Francis - November 07, 2006
  Read Joe Francis’ Column to learn what Winnie the Pooh and Jack the Ripper have in common. This month, Joe provides suggestions for avoiding “analysis paralysis”, insisting that BPM should be about solving business issues, not just identifying their cause.
  

• Process Innovation: P-TRIZ and the Theories of Clay Christensen
  Howard Smith - November 07, 2006
  In Part 8 of his series on P-TRIZ, Howard Smith discusses Clayton Christensen’s theories of disruptive innovations and compares the Christensen solutions with a TRIZ approach to the same scenarios.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: The Value of Decisions
  Ron Ross - November 07, 2006
  If you have had problems convincing management of the value of business rules initiatives, Ron Ross’ Column is a must read. He provides powerful tools for convincing management that a business rules approach is a sound investment for improving ROI.
  

• Down Under: Are All BPM Projects Equal?
  John Jeston - October 03, 2006
  In this month’s column, John Jeston and Johan Nelis present one aspect of how BPM projects can differ significantly from one another and how they can be initiated in various ways within the organization.
  

• BPM: A Global View: It’s All About the Person in the Process, Stupid
  Rashid Khan - October 03, 2006
  In this month’s column, Rashid Khan presents his analysis of why there exists a considerable discrepancy between BPM’s market viability and its actual use among Global 2000 companies. Read this thought-provoking essay to get his take on the issue.
  

• SOA Enabled Workflow Modernization
  Vitaly Khusidman - October 03, 2006
  This month, Vitaly Khusidman explores, from a variety of perspectives, how workflow modernization fits into the Architecture Driven Modernization paradigm. He also discusses some workflow modernization scenarios leveraging SOA.
  

• The Future of BPM: (Third Article)
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - October 03, 2006
  Keith Harrison-Broninski continues his series on Human Interaction Management and RAD (Role Activity Diagrams) by discussing the future he sees for BPMS and the role that he believes modeling techniques can play in this future.
  

• From BPMN Directly To Implementation – The Graphical Way
  Heinz Lienhard - October 03, 2006
  Heinz Lienhard and Bruno Butler of IvyTeam-SORECO Group argue that BPMN must become what the name implies – a true model that can be simulated, validated, and turned into a real-time application. They then provide a graphic solution to accomplish this goal.
  

• MDA Journal: The Technology 1.0 Syndrome, How Business Learns to Use Technology
  David Frankel - October 03, 2006
  This month, David Frankel introduces the term Technology 1.0 Syndrome to describe the tendency throughout recent history to use new technology to mimic old approaches. He explores how this syndrome is currently playing out with the WEB and with B2B electronic commerce.
  

• Real-Time Six Sigma with BPM Suites
  Setrag Khoshafian - October 03, 2006
  Dr. Setrag Khoshafian, VP of BPM Technology at Pegasystems Inc., asserts that BPM, like Six Sigma, is about “process improvement” using automation, management and continuous improvement. He then categorizes different types of “process” within an organization and, ultimately, demonstrates how BPMS Suites can help support Six Sigma projects.
  

• BPM and Six Sigma: The Bigger Picture of BPM
  David Silverstein - September 05, 2006
  This month, David Silverstein launches a new Column focused on how BPM works in concert with a variety of methods and tools. He begins with a discussion of Six Sigma and how it can work in lockstep with BPM to generate better results than either method can by itself.
  

• Process Innovation: P-TRIZ 7 The Trouble with People
  Howard Smith - September 05, 2006
  This month Howard Smith continues his introduction of P-TRIZ by exploring some of the human relations factors that can, and frequently do, interfere with problem-solving and suggests one way to align competing stakeholders in the process.
  

• Improving Performance; EPPI Stage 1—Targeting EPPI
  Guy Wallace - September 05, 2006
  Read this comprehensive “how-to” guide for integrating BPM methodologies at the outset of the improvement process. The results will provide the first step toward producing a strategic and significant impact on ROI.
  

• Does Design Really Chain?
  Caspar Hunsche - September 05, 2006
  Caspar Hunsche has been involved in the Supply Chain Council (SCC) for years and was the original author of HP’s Customer-Chain and Design-Chain reference models, Subsequently, these reference models were provided to the SCC. Caspar is currently working with other SCC professionals to develop a standard for New Product Design and reports on this effort.
  

• The Future of BPM: (Second Article)
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - September 05, 2006
  Keith Harrison-Broninski continues his series on Human Interaction Management and RAD (Role Activity Diagrams) by discussing the future he sees for BPMS and the role he believes modeling techniques can play in this future.
  

• Process Governance Best Practices: Building a BPM Center of Excellence
  Clay Richardson - September 05, 2006
  This month, Clay Richardson discusses the five basic things that need to be done to establish and effectively manage business process governance at your company.
  

• Practical Considerations When Selecting a Notation for Business Modeling
  David Lyalin - September 05, 2006
  n July, Paul Harmon discussed some alternatives for modeling processes. In this counterpoint, David Lyalin, of Northrop Grumman, and Warren Williams, of the Centers for Disease Control, describe their experience and their preference for UML.
  

• What Is Expertise
  Rob Foshay - September 05, 2006
  Rob Foshay is a human performance technologist and researcher who has done a lot of work in cognitive task analysis. Various authors have suggested that communication and knowledge work require special approaches Dr. Foshay examines the current work in cognitive task analysis and suggests some of the techniques needed to capture the knowledge and skill sets of human experts.
  

• BP Management: Falsehood
  Joe Francis - September 05, 2006
  In this month’s Column, Joe Francis discusses how one important aspect of the scientific method can be used to improve how you think about business process analysis.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Business Rule Scripts
  September 05, 2006
  Ron Ross defines the many challenges of getting “the product out the door and into the customer’s hands,” and proposes rule-friendly models for managing those challenges.
  

• Extreme Competition: The Singaporean Connection
  Peter Fingar - September 05, 2006
  This month, Peter Fingar shows how a Singaporean contract manufacturer uses its business processes to compete with remarkable success in “the brave new world of global competition.”
  

• Process Innovation: SWOT
  Howard Smith - July 11, 2006
  
  

• BPM in Europe: BPM-Forum Polska
  Frits Bussemaker - July 11, 2006
  There are a number of process analysis models that are designed to focus on more complex human interactions. One example is the RAD approach of Oulds and Harrison-Broninski and another is the Closed-Loop Business Interaction Model of Winograd and Flores. Both are useful in special circumstances, but neither replaces a basic workflow diagram.
  

• Managing BPM: Plan P From Outer Space
  Joe Francis - July 11, 2006
  This month, Joe Francis considers what it takes to successfully manage a BPM team. He not only provides advice but offers a formula that suggests project variables and shows how process management varies from small to mid-sized and large teams.
  

• BPM Down Under: Process Innovation
  John Jeston - July 11, 2006
  This month, John Jeston and Johan Nelis offer a broad overview on what’s involved in process innovation and suggest how the challenges vary as one attempts to apply it to larger and more complex processes.
  

• BPM and SOA: What Kind of Service Does a Business Process Need?
  Mike Rosen - July 11, 2006
  The relationship between BPM and SOA continues to attract a lot of attention. In his last Column, Mike Rosen defined a Business Service as the interface between BPM and SOA. This month, he goes on to describe the kinds of services a BPM system really needs.
  

• Process Innovation: P-TRIZ 6 Beyond SWOT And Toward Change
  Howard Smith - July 11, 2006
  Howard Smith continues his introduction of P-TRIZ with a discussion of SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) and shows how P-TRIZ allows managers to go beyond simplistic SWOT analysis to develop an actionable implementation strategy.
  

• Effective Supply Chain Strategy: Take This Strategy Test to Check How Your Company Scores
  Peter Bolstorff - July 11, 2006
  Peter Bolstorff is the author of the leading book on the SCOR methodology. In this insightful article on supply chain strategy, he offers a test that you can take to determine how well your organization has mastered an effective supply chain strategy.
  

• The Future of BPM: An Introduction to Human Interaction Management and RAD
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - July 11, 2006
  Keith Harrison-Broninski begins a new series on Human Interaction Management and RAD (Role Activity Diagrams) by discussing the future he sees for BPMS and the role that he believes modeling techniques can play in this future.
  

• Stage-Gate and the Critical Success Factors for New Product Development
  Robert Cooper - July 11, 2006
  Robert Cooper and Scott Edgett, co-founders of the Product Development Institute and Stage-Gate Inc., provide an overview of the importance of the Stage-Gate approach to new product development processes.
  

• An Approach to the Enterprise Interoperability Using SOA
  Upadrista Venkatesh - July 11, 2006
  Upadrista Venkatesh, a technical manager at Cognizant Technologies, provides a nice, short summary of the importance of SOA in the design of effective enterprise interoperability systems.
  

• Extreme Competition: Changing Change Itself
  Peter Fingar - June 06, 2006
  This month, Peter Fingar considers how International Truck and Engine Corporation is using Winograd and Flores closed-loop communication model to provide a high-level understanding of business processes.
  

• IT|Redux: Nobody Cares About BPM
  Ismael Ghalimi - June 06, 2006
  This month, Ismael Ghalimi describes an exciting new service from Google, and uses it to conclude that interest in BPM peaked in 2003. He argues that the stage has been set for a second round -- which he terms BPM 2.0
  

• BPM: A Global View: Outside SAP
  Rashid Khan - June 06, 2006
  In this interesting column, Rashid Khan discusses processes that can be captured by SAP applications and those that lie outside the range of SAP and are better approached with BPM.
  

• Process Innovation: P-TRIZ 5 Thinking Visually in TRIZ and Six Sigma
  Howard Smith - June 06, 2006
  This is installment five in Howard Smith’s exciting introduction to P-TRIZ. In this Column he considers why TRIZ should be considered in a broader context than Six Sigma and demonstrates by applying TRIZ to the Barriers & Aids chart.
  

• Improving Performance: Enterprise Process Performance Improvement
  Guy Wallace - June 06, 2006
  In this column, Guy Wallace extends his ongoing description of Human Performance Technology to include an enterprise process model for performance improvement.
  

• Market Definition is a Multi-Dimentional Process
  Michael Lodato - June 06, 2006
  Michael Lodato has just published a book on Sales Process Management and continues to share his thoughts on the problems of managing sales processes in this latest paper on the processes involved in defining target markets.
  

• The Emerging Era of BPM and its Imperatives for an IT Leadeer
  Vinaykumar Mummigatti - June 06, 2006
  Vinaykumar Mummigatti, the General Manager of the BPM practice at Satyam Computer Services, offers an overview of the factors that are driving BPM and explores the business case for pursuing BPM at your company.
  

• Process Innovation: P-TRIZ 4 5 Ways on Steriods
  Howard Smith - May 02, 2006
  This is installment four in Howard Smith’s introduction to P-TRIZ. This refreshing new approach to process and innovation is forcing lots of readers to rethink what they do when doing process analysis.
  

• Process Modeling in the 21st Century
  Jan Recker - May 02, 2006
  In this thought provoking article, Jan Recker, a doctoral student at Queensland University of Technology, considers where different organizations are today, and suggests some basic guidelines for how to move forward.
  

• The Best Applications are the Ones that Get Used
  Jeff Mills - May 02, 2006
  Jeff Mills, the Vice President of Channel Development at Bluespring Software Associates, offers some practical advice about the best uses of BPMS.
  

• MDA Journal: What Does
  David Frankel - May 02, 2006
  This month Dave Frankel considers what the “model-driven” in the OMG’s Model-Driven Architecture really means. He concludes that, for MDA, models and metadata are very closely related.
  

• BPM and SOA: 5 Key Requirements for SOA
  Mike Rosen - May 02, 2006
  In May’s column, Mike Rosen reflects on recent announcements about BPM and SOA and concludes that the differences are really a matter of viewpoint and terminology. He then goes on to define the 5 key requirements that SOA products need in order to support BPM.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: Business Rules & Events: The Crux of the Matter
  Ronald Ross - May 02, 2006
  Ron Ross continues his wide-ranging introduction to the basic concepts of business rules with some additional definitions and explanations that everyone who uses business rules needs to keep in mind.
  

• MDA Journal: A Response to Forrester
  David Frankel - April 03, 2006
  This month, David Frankel responds to a Forrester article that attacks MDA. He argues that Forrester has misrepresented the views of the leading MDA thinkers and practitioners.
  

• Down Under: Why Do We Need BPM Coaching When We Can Do It Ourselves?
  John Jeston - April 03, 2006
  This new BPTrends Column is written by John Jeston and Johan Nelis, Lead Consultants for TouchPoint Business Process Services in Sydney Australia. In their first Column they consider how a business process coach can help a company in BPM.
  

• Extreme Competition: All Is Changed, Changed Utterly
  Peter Fingar - April 03, 2006
  Peter Fingar considers five transformers that are increasingly driving companies as they find themselves engaged in extreme competition.
  

• Process Innovation: P-TRIZ 3 P-TRIZ in the History of Business
  Howard Smith - April 03, 2006
  Howard Smith continues his discussion of Process TRIZ, a new and very interesting approach to thinking about analyzing and redesigning business processes.
  

• A Tale of Two Business Systems
  James Womack - April 03, 2006
  In 1990, James Womack joined with Dan Jones and Dan Roos to co-author The Machine That Changed The World – a description of how Toyota was using Lean techniques to change auto manufacturing. In this thoughtful article Womack, who now heads the Lean Enterprise Institute, reflects on what has happened since The Machine was published.
  

• Process Portfolio Management
  Michael Rosemann - April 03, 2006
  Dr. Michael Rosemann is a professor at Queensland University of Technology and co-leader of the QUT’s BPM Group. In this article, Dr. Rosemann describes how companies can apply portfolio management techniques to analyze their processes and prioritize their intervention efforts. He goes on to show that more process-mature companies can use this approach more effectively.
  

• The Idea Behind Business Process Improvement
  Florian Forster - April 03, 2006
  In early 2005 BPTrends announced that we would publish the best paper submitted by a graduate or undergraduate student on business process change written during 2005. The winner of the 2005 contest is Florian Forster, a doctoral student at Munich University of Technology, in Germany, and a Visiting Student at Queensland University of Technology, in Australia. The paper begins with a general discussion of what actually happens when an analyst seeks to move from an As-Is to a To-Be process, and then proceeds to propose some BP improvement patterns that can help designers conceptualize their options.
  

• Managing BPM: Stamp of Approval
  Joe Francis - March 07, 2006
  Lots of process change teams have worked hard to improve a process and rolled it out to a grateful audience, only to find that their new process is noncompliant. This month, Joe Francis considers how you validate processes to win that stamp of approval.
  

• IT|Redux: BPM 2.0
  Ismael Ghalimi - March 07, 2006
  This month, Ismael Ghalimi speculates that open source BPMS tools will usher in a new generation of BPM applications, which he terms BPM 2. He goes on to describe the differences between existing and open source BPMS products.
  

• Process Innovation: P-TRIZ 2 Basic Concepts
  Howard Smith - March 07, 2006
  In this column, Howard Smith continues his introduction to Process TRIZ, a new approach to analyze process problems and generating creative improvements. This month he looks at some basic concepts.
  

• Improving Performance: Peak Performance Requires a Balance
  Guy Wallace - March 07, 2006
  Guy Wallace continues his in-depth discussion of human performance technology. This month, he looks at the interaction between human factors and environmental factors in the design of performance improvement solutions.
  

• BPM Implementations: Does One Approach Fit All?
  John Jeston - March 07, 2006
  John Jeston and Johan Nelis have just published a new book, Business Process Management: Practical Guidelines to Successful Implementations. In this article, drawn from their book, they argue that different BPMS projects require different approaches. Then they go on to describe a model that helps BPMS teams decide on the best approach for the type of BPMS projects they face.
  

• Value Chains Versus Supply Chains
  Andrew Feller - March 07, 2006
  In this thought provoking article, Andrew Feller, Dan Shunk, and Tom Callarman consider the nature of value chains and supply chains and discuss how companies can synchronize the two to optimize business performance.
  

• Process Is Only Half The Story
  Don Tosti - March 07, 2006
  Last month, Don Tosti’s White Paper described the basic elements that Human Performance Technologists manipulate to improve performance. This month, he discusses the importance of employee and managerial practices and suggests how the two should be changed simultaneously.
  

• Workflow Resource Patterns as a Rule to Support BPEL4 People Standardization Efforts
  Wil van der Aalst - March 04, 2006
  Nick Russell and Wil van der Aalt propose that workflow resource patterns serve as a means of evaluating BPEL4People and WS-Human Task standardization proposals currently under consideration. Read their Article to learn their take on the strengths and weaknesses of these proposals and what opportunities exist for further improvement.
  

• MDA Journal: BPMI and OMG: The BPM Merger
  David Frankel - February 07, 2006
  This month David Frankel takes a detailed look at exactly how the work of BPMI and the OMG complement each other and offers a vision of their future together.
  

• Managing BPM: The Normal Modeler
  Joe Francis - February 07, 2006
  One of the big mistakes BPM teams make when they use reference frameworks is to try to force business process experts to use the vocabulary of the reference model to describe their processes. Joe Francis uses discusses this problem and others and suggests more appropriate ways to use a frameworks.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: More Things You Need to Know
  Ron Ross - February 07, 2006
  Ron Ross continues his wide-ranging introduction to the basic concepts of business rules with some additional definitions and explanations that everyone who uses business rules needs to keep in mind.
  

• Process Innovation: P-TRIZ 1 An Introduction to P-TRIZ
  Howard Smith - February 07, 2006
  Howard Smith begins a new Column this year. Although he will range across a variety of topics relevant to BPM practitioners, he will focus on the role of innovation in process improvement. He begins by introducing a new variation of TRIZ, P-TRIZ.
  

• Extreme Competition: Competition Gets Extreme
  Peter Fingar - February 07, 2006
  This year, Peter Fingar also begins a new Column in which he will discuss the changing business environment and how those changes will drive BPM in the years ahead.
  

• BPMS: Some Predictions for 2006
  Ismael Ghalimi - February 07, 2006
  This month, our new columnist, Ismael Ghalimi, a founder of the BPMI.org and the CEO of Intalio, makes some predictions about how the BPMS market will develop in the year ahead.
  

• Why Working With Reference Models Increases Process Innovation
  Albrecht Ricken - February 07, 2006
  Albrecht Ricken and Ansgar Steinhorst have both spent the past 15 years working with global companies on ERP and Supply Chain systems. In this article they consider how a business framework like SCOR can lead to dramatic improvements.
  

• How to Demystify BPM?
  John Jeston - February 07, 2006
  John Jeston and Johan Nelis work at TouchPoint, a consultancy that has helped several companies undertake BPM implementations. They have just published Business Process Management: Practical Guidelines to Successful Implementations. Here they share their insights regarding how to demystify BPM for business managers.
  

• Re: Re: Standardizing BP Notation
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - February 07, 2006
  In November, Paul Harmon wrote suggesting that BP Notation should be standardized. In December, Keith Harrison-Broninski offered his thoughts on the problem of standardization. Paul responded in January and, here, Keith concludes the exchange.
  

• Manage Your Business Processes to Create a Competitive Advantage
  Scott Cleveland - February 07, 2006
  Scott Cleveland of ingenuus discusses how BPM can help companies gain competitive advantage and focuses on what BPM Suites can contribute to that goal.
  

• Business Process Management and Organizational Maturity: The What, Why and How of BPMM
  John Alden - February 07, 2006
  Read Bill Curtis and John Alden’s Column this month to learn how the Business Process Maturity Model (BPMM) can be used for planning, prioritizing, managing and optimizing a company’s business process program. (LINK)
  

• Managing BPM: A Word From Your Sponsor
  Joe Francis - January 03, 2006
  When asked about the most important key to process improvement, most practitioners immediately say its having a good sponsor. This month, Joe Francis reflects on sponsors and their importance.
  

• BPM: A Global View: Value-Based BPM Pricing
  Rashid Khan - January 03, 2006
  In this column, Rashid Khan responds to a CIO who suggested that BPM could be evaluated by CPU-based pricing. This is a thoughtful overview of the issues involved in putting a price on a BPMS effort.
  

• BPM and SOA: Where Does One End and the Other Begin?
  Mike Rosen - January 03, 2006
  This month, our new columnist, Mike Rosen, lays out an overview of the relationship between BPM and the software technologies that make up the Service Oriented Architecture. Together, Mike suggests, BPM and SOA provide the perfect platform for enterprise computing.
  

• Notations for Business People
  Michael Havey - January 03, 2006
  Michael Havey, an architect with IBM’s Global Services division who recently published Essential Business Process Modeling, offers his insights into the type of notation one needs when one works with business managers.
  

• SAP's NetWeaver is an Enterprise Integration Platform
  Jason Matthews - January 03, 2006
  In this article, Jason Matthews and Scott Campbell describe how NetWeaver serves to facilitate the development and execution of business process management applications.
  

• Keys to BPM Success
  Derek Miers - January 03, 2006
  Derek Miers offers a step-by-step overview of how one goes about developing a BPM system. This represents one of the first efforts we know of to sketch out a methodology for BPMS.
  

• Sieves, Mechanical Processes, and Pragmatics
  Paul Harmon - January 03, 2006
  Last month Keith Harrison-Broninski offered an alternative to Paul Harmon’s November 15th BPTrends Advisor, Standardizing Business Process Notation. This month Paul replies.
  

• A Response to Peter Fingar’s Article: The Coming IT Flip Flop
  Lawrence Catchpole - January 03, 2006
  Lawrence Catchpole, of M1 Global Solutions, offers some comments on the article by Peter Fingar that was published on BPTrends in December. This is yet another perspective on the human-mechanical process distinction that is being discussed in many different forms.
  

• peru
  January 01, 2006
  Materials missing from handouts provided during a seminar by Paul Harmon in Lima, Peru, June 15, 2007
  

• MDA Journal: Scaling the Business Process Platform Up: The Challenges
  Dave Frankel - December 06, 2005
  In July, Dave Frankel discussed the emerging Business Process Platform. This month he considers exactly how such a platform would interface with services or components and considers some of the scaling problems such a platform would have to deal with.
  

• Managing BPM: Just Doing It
  Joe Francis - December 06, 2005
  This month, Joe Francis considers what happens after a BPM group creates a new design. He considers a variety of deployment strategies he’s encountered and offers some advice on what seems to work best.
  

• Process Pragmatics: The Dawn of a New Era
  Steve Stanton - December 06, 2005
  Steve Stanton suggests that “most organizations today operate in a state of frenzied irrationality.” He argues that this approach won’t work much longer and that the race will increasingly be won by organizations that figure out how to control their performance data and respond in a more systematic manner to the challenges they face.
  

• HPI: Wrapping Up the HAMS of Process Management-Design-Improvement
  Guy Wallace - December 06, 2005
  In this column, Guy Wallace continues his discussion of a Human Asset Management Systems model and looks at some of the possible causes of performance problems.
  

• Integrated Sales Management
  Michael Lodato - December 06, 2005
  In this stimulating article, Michael Lodato surveys some of the developments in CRM, concludes that the sales process will increasingly be a key differentiator, and proceeds to consider how an Integrated Sales Process Management system would function and what values is could deliver.
  

• BPM on the Couch
  Kiran Garimella - December 06, 2005
  In October, Kiran Garimella wrote an interesting dialog on BPM and Six Sigma. This month he returns with a dialog between Dr. Jeffrey Sterllings and the depressed Mr. Underwriting Audit.
  

• The Coming IT Flip Flop
  Peter Fingar - December 06, 2005
  In this article Peter Fingar argues that a new technology is emerging, which he terms Human Interaction Management, that will help us structure the way humans interact within processes.
  

• And Your Future BPMS is? Microsoft Office
  Howard Smith - December 06, 2005
  Howard Smith reflects on the recent announcements by Microsoft of its new Windows Workflow environment. Smith feels that Microsoft has adopted a process centric approach and is laying the foundation for a BPMS-based version of Microsoft Office.
  

• Going to Sea in a Sieve
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - December 06, 2005
  Keith Harrison-Broninski writes to offer an alternative to Paul Harmon’s November 15th BPTrends Advisor, Standardizing Business Process Notation.(
  

• BPTrends 2005 College Essay Contest
  December 06, 2005
  In the Spring f this year we announced our Second Annual BPTrends contest for the Best College Essay on a Business Process Topic. Any undergraduate or graduate student who wants to submit a paper for consideration should submit the application and the paper in electronic format no later than March 1, 2006.
  

• Managing BPM: Blink Analysis
  Joe Francis - November 01, 2005
  This month, Joe Francis reflects on how a professional, familiar with the common problem patterns that occur in a specific domain, can sometimes instantly recognize problems that someone less familiar with the domain patterns would uncover, only after extensive research and study.
  

• Business Rules: Are System Requirements Business Rules?
  Stan Hendryx - November 01, 2005
  Stan Hendryx reports on the latest success of the OMG’s ongoing effort to standardize the use of business rules and then considers how it has led to other questions about the nature of business rules and business models.
  

• BPM in Europe: 17576
  Frits Bussemaker - November 01, 2005
  Frits Bussemaker, our correspondent in Europe, reports on a BPM Congress in the Netherlands and makes some interesting observations on the vendors who attended.
  

• Enterprise Architecture in the Context of Organizational Strategy
  Sundararajan Vaidyanathan - November 01, 2005
  Lots of organizations are working to develop an enterprise architecture. In this insightful paper, Sundararajan Vaidyanathan, the Senior Enterprise Architect at Unisys, suggests that an enterprise architecture is part of an overall organizational strategy and needs to be integrated with strategic efforts in order to have maximum impact.
  

• Standardization or Harmonization?
  Albrecht Richen - November 01, 2005
  Dr. Albrecht Ricken and Ansgar Steinhorst report hearing a CFO of a major company argue that his organization didn’t need to have standard processes throughout the world, but they did need to have them harmonized. In this article, they consider the difference and how they might respond to such a CFO.
  

• Will BPM Deep Six Six-Sigma?
  Kiran Garimella - November 01, 2005
  Some organizations see BPM and Six Sigma as alternative process methodologies and argue whether or not they need both. In this clever dialog, Kiran Garimella explores whether one might eliminate the other.
  

• MDA Journal: Electronic Payments and MDA
  Dave Frankel - October 04, 2005
  This month, Dave Frankel zeros in on what MDA can bring to a classic automation problem like Electronic Payments. He explains why message formats are insufficient and goes on to review the work of the OMG’s Electronic Payments Working Group.
  

• Managing BPM: The Process Crawl
  Joe Francis - October 04, 2005
  This month, Joe Francis considers how the use of business process frameworks simplifies the task of capturing current process information in an organization.
  

• Process Pragmatics: The Six Pillers of Process Progress
  Steve Stanton - October 04, 2005
  Steve Stanton, with an apology to T.E. Lawrence, suggests that process progress depends on six pillars and proceeds to discuss the importance of each of them
  

• BPM: A Global View: The Two Faces of Process Templates
  Rashid Khan - October 04, 2005
  Rashid Khan reports that he is increasingly asked about the benefits of process templates. He considers both the benefits and the potential drawbacks in this thoughtful column.
  

• Business Rule Solutions: What Exactly is a Business Rule?
  Ron Ross - October 04, 2005
  This month, Ron Ross begins writing a new column on Business Rules.He begins with a basic discussion of the nature of Business Rules.
  

• A Broader Look at BPM
  Ashish Agrawal - October 04, 2005
  In the past few months, Adobe has begun to position itself in the BPM market, emphasizing its knowledge of document processing. In this article, by Ashish Agrawal, a member of the BPMI board and an Adobe Senior Product Manager, offers a look at his vision for BPM.
  

• The 2005 Business Rules Awareness Survey
  Kristen Seer - October 04, 2005
  This summer, the European Business Rules Conference joined with the Business Rules Forum to conduct a survey of 184 managers and practitioners who were involved in Business Rules development within their respective organizations. This short summary by Kristen Seer provides a nice glimpse into how the Business Rules professionals think the rules market is developing.
  

• Learning to Become a Process-Managed Enterprise
  Peter Fingar - October 04, 2005
  In this article, Peter Fingar argues that BPM is the major source of competitive advantage companies have, and they need to learn how to use it to compete effectively.
  

• Managing BPM: The MOBO Process Path
  September 06, 2005
  This month Joe Francis considers how companies continue to reorganize their functions and suggests that the management of processes gives leading organizations the ability to continue to prosper even as organizations change functional reporting relationships.
  

• BPM in Europe: One Customer’s Experience
  September 06, 2005
  During the summer our European correspondent, Frits Bussemaker, moved from one house to another. In this month’s column he reflects on the experience. The bottom line – in Europe, as in the US – some companies have good processes and provide excellent customer service and others don’t do as well.
  

• Performance Improvement: Data That Drives Process Performance Design and Improvement
  September 06, 2005
  Guy Wallace is doing for HPT what Dave Frankel has done for MDA. He is writing long columns that lay out the core issues. This month he continues to elaborates on a general model of a Human Asset Management System and its associated Environmental Asset Management System, and explains how basic principles can help managers be more effective in dealing with employee performance.
  

• Business Rules: What Kinds of Business Rules Are There?
  September 06, 2005
  This month Stan Hendrix discusses possible answers to a question about the nature of business rules, drawing heavily on the recent work that rules experts have done to prepare a proposal for the OMG’s Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Business Rules (SBVR) metamodel.
  

• A Marriage Made in Heaven: Combining Six Sigma with Process Management to Reach Unprecedented Levels of Business Performance
  September 06, 2005
  There is a growing movement among leading companies to combine their various business process change efforts. In this article, Mike Forster, the CEO of CommerceQuest, describes how recent efforts to combine Six Sigma and BPM technologies have resulted in major advances in business performance.
  

• Systems Thinking: The “Core” Core Competency for BPM
  September 06, 2005
  In this short but insightful article, Peter Fingar reminds us all of the importance of systems thinking to business process change. Ultimately processes are simply one element in the overall system that we call a company.
  

• MDA Journal: Towards A Business Process Platform
  David Frankel - July 05, 2005
  This month, David Frankel describes the rise of the idea of the Business Process Platform and discusses how it can speed up the acceptance of SOA (Service Oriented Architecture).
  

• Managing BPM: To O or Not to O
  Joe Francis - July 05, 2005
  This month, Joe Francis describes how he approaches outsourcing proposals using a business process framework like SCOR.
  

• BPM in Europe: Business Processes, Business Rules, and the Devastating Virus Attack
  Frits Bussemaker - July 05, 2005
  Frits Bussemaker, our intrepid European correspondent, describes an interesting thought experiment that was discussed at the recent meeting of the European Business Rules Conference (EBRC) in Amsterdam, and invites readers to offer their own interpretation..
  

• The Discipline of Business Modeling
  Steve Baker - July 05, 2005
  Steve Baker and Cedric Tyler of Business Genetics argue the importance of a formal discipline for those engaged in business modeling and describe the benefits that accrue to those willing to make the effort
  

• Service Process Improvement: Ten Lessons from Japanese Manufacturing
  Nari Kannan - July 05, 2005
  Nari Kannan, the CEO of Ajira, a company that designs and develops Service Process Management tools, describes how services processes are managed in Japan.
  

• BPM Capability and Credibility
  Roger Tregear - July 05, 2005
  Creating a process management culture is a difficult and daunting task. In this article, Roger Tregear, a principal consultant with Leonardo Consulting, provides a roadmap and makes some suggestions regarding how to achieve it in your organization.
  

• Business Rules: Work Continues on OMG Business Rules Proposal
  Stan Hendryx - June 07, 2005
  Stan Hendryx describes the latest developments in the OMG’s effort to define a formal standard for business rules.
  

• Process Pragmatics: Improving the Process Improvement Process: Part II
  Steve Stanton - June 07, 2005
  This month, Steve Stanton continues his discussion of the practical issues involved in trying to establish an effective process improvement process that can coordinate among the different units that share roles in a common process.
  

• Performance Improvement: Performance-Based Human Asset Management Systems
  Guy Wallace - June 07, 2005
  Last month, Guy Wallace began a discussion of the Human Asset Management Systems and this month he continues, focusing on defining a Performance Model and Enabler Matrices.
  

• BPM: A Global View: Various Types of BPM Software and Customers
  Rashid Khan - June 07, 2005
  Rashid Khan discusses his experience with customers, worldwide, describes some of the types of customers he encounters and considers the types of BPM software different customers want to acquire
  

• BPM in Context: Now and in the Future
  Jon Pyke - June 07, 2005
  Jon Pyke is the former CTO of Staffware, the Chair of the Workflow Management Coalition, and the founder of a new company, the Process Factory. In this paper he considers the various technologies that make up the BPM market and suggests the impact of new methods of deployment on the evolving BPM market.
  

• Good Supply Chains Are the Price of Entry
  Ed Mahler - June 07, 2005
  Ed Mahler has, for years, helped guide the technology strategies of organizations like DuPont, In this article he describes how a good supply chain process is necessary to succeed.
  

• MDA Journal: SOA and MDA
  David Frankel - June 07, 2005
  This month, David Frankel looks at the relationship between Service Oriented Architectures and Model Driven Architectures and concludes that BPM and SOA are driving each other forward and that both need MDA to provide the rich, formal semantics their applications will require.
  

• IQPC BPM Governance Talk
  May 28, 2005
  Slides from Paul Harmon's talk at the May 2005 IQPC BPM Conference in Las Vegas.
  

• MDA Journal: Whatever Happened to CORBA?
  David Frankel - May 03, 2005
  This month, David Frankel looks at CORBA, the middleware standard that the OMG developed and promoted before it began to focus on UML and MDA. A look at CORBA suggests some of the challenges any standard faces as it seeks market acceptance.
  

• Managing BPM: Supermodel
  Joe Francis - May 03, 2005
  Joe Francis focuses his attention on the tendency of some groups and individuals to obsess over process models that are too complex. He advises that the goal is performance improvement and suggests you keep the modeling effort to the minimum necessary to assure improved performance.
  

• The Third Wave: Mastering Business Process Management
  Howard Smith - May 03, 2005
  This month, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar consider the seven states organizations go through as they acquire the competencies to really take advantage of BPM.
  

• Process Pragmatics: Improving Process Improvement
  Steve Stanton - May 03, 2005
  This month Steve Stanton begins a discussion of the process improvement process. Once you begin to think about your process improvement process as a process, some interesting insights emerge.
  

• BPM in Europe: From
  Frits Bussemaker - May 03, 2005
  Frits Bussemaker is joined by Frans van der Reep in a discussion of how some European companies are shifting toward real-time monitoring and decision systems that allow managers to react in real time.
  

• BPM Standards
  Rashid Khan - May 03, 2005
  Rashid Khan, the CEO of Ultimus, reviews the opportunities for business process standards, notes some de facto standards, but concludes that the complexities of the current BPM market mediate against the current efforts to formalize BP modeling languages. Khan’s article provides a thoughtful counterpoint to numerous articles we’ve published that argue that standards will lead to an expanded BP market.
  

• Pi Calculus Versus Petri Nets: Let Us Eat
  Wil van der Aalst - May 03, 2005
  The Petri-Pi Working Group is an informal group of researchers who are discussing the foundations of BPM systems. Wil van der Aalst, one of the leading Workflow and Petri Net theorists from Eindhoven University of Technology, developed this working paper to stimulate discussion within the group.
  

• Business Process Management: A Rigorous Approach
  Martyn Ould - May 03, 2005
  Martyn Ould has just published a new book on BPM. This is the text of the lecture he gave when the book was launched and it provides a nice introduction to the ideas that Ould thinks should dominate BPM discussions.
  

• BPTrends 2005 Best Student Paper Contest
  May 03, 2005
  BPTrends is sponsoring the 2nd Annual Best Student Paper Contest for the best student paper on Business Process Change. The requirements for students wishing to propose papers are described.
  

• MDA Journal: A Response to Scott Ambler
  David Frankel - April 05, 2005
  The April issue of Software Development magazine has an article by Scott Ambler in which he disparages the OMG’s MDA initiative. Dave Frankel uses his April column to respond to Scott’s remarks.
  

• Managing BPM: Growing Up
  Joe Francis - April 05, 2005
  This month Joe Francis recounts his experience with CMM. He provides some metrics for what a company saves as it matures to suggest just how valuable it can be to get to level 4.
  

• The Third Wave: The New Rules of BPM
  Howard Smith - April 05, 2005
  Howard Smith and Peter Fingar describe how they believe the rules for developing business process solutions have changed. They enumerate 36 rules that process people have lived by, and suggest how they are all being shifted during the transition to BPM.
  

• Process Pragmatics: So What Does a Process Owner Really Do?
  Steve Stanton - April 05, 2005
  Steve Stanton has a lot of experience helping companies improve their processes. One critical element in any major change is the role played by person responsible for managing the process. In this column, Steve discusses just what’s involved in managing a process.(
  

• Challenges and Methods for the Implementation of Service Oriented Architectures: An Updated Enterprise Architecture
  Antoine Lonjon - April 05, 2005
  In this paper Antoine Lonjon of MEGA describes a new metaphor for approaching the challenges of Service Oriented Architecture design. Using the idea of city planning, he clarifies some of the problems companies face in creating Enterprise Architectures for distributed environments.(
  

• Three Levels of Process Improvement
  Bob Curtice - April 05, 2005
  Bob Curtice, VP of Process Improvement Associates, LLC, and a Research Associate of the Babson Center for Process Management finished this article, which he’d begun some time ago, in response to the advisor on Process Change Patterns we published last month. It provides another take on this interesting topic
  

• Workflow Management As You Like It
  Irene Vanderfeesten - April 05, 2005
  In early 2004 BPTrends announced that it would publish the best paper submitted by a graduate or undergraduate student on business process change written during 2004. The winner of the 2004 contest is Irene Vanderfeesten whose paper considers how workflow systems can be tuned to make them more useful to companies. She then examines three commercial workflow management tools to see what features of the tools support flexible tuning.
  

• MDA Journal: Eclipse and MDA
  David Frankel - March 01, 2005
  This month, David Frankel discusses the growing importance of Eclipse, the open Java development environment, provides a good brief on the Eclipse framework, and describes how Eclipse can be used with MDA.
  

• Business Rules: A User's Perspective of the OMG Business Rules Proposal
  Stan Hendryx - March 01, 2005
  The OMG met in Burlingame, CA in February and considered the developing Business Rules Metamodel. Stan Hendryx is co-chair of the task force and reflects, here, on the latest proposal for an OMG business rules standard.
  

• BPM in Europe: Processes are Everywhere
  Frits Bussemaker - March 01, 2005
  This month, Frits Bussemaker, the founder and chairman of the BPM-Forum in the Netherlands, discusses a recent meeting of the Forum and goes on to consider how rapidly the interest in processes is growing in Europe.
  

• Process Pragmatics: Searching for Synergy
  Steve Stanton - March 01, 2005
  This month, Steve Stanton discusses the practical issues involved in trying to establish effective collaboration among different units or geographies that share roles in a common process.
  

• Performance Improvement: Leveraging the Human Variable in Process Improvement
  Guy Wallace - March 01, 2005
  This month we launch a new column by Guy Wallace. Guy is a performance improvement consultant who has written several books, including Lean-ISD and is the past president of the ISPI. This column presents an overview of the performance improvement approach he advocates.
  

• BPM: A Global View
  Rashid Khan - March 01, 2005
  Rashid Khan is a well known expert in business process management and workflow automation and the author of Business Process Management: A Practical Guide. In his first BPTrends Column, Rashid presents his global perspective on the development of BPM.
  

• Managing Process Change? Easy as Pi (and Petri)
  Keith Harrison-Broninski - March 01, 2005
  Keith Harrison-Broninski is the CTO of Role Modellers Ltd., the author of Human Interactions: The Heart and Soul of Business Process Management, and an active member of the Petri-Pi Group, an informal group of individuals who are trying to sort out the foundations of business process theory. In this article he discusses his thoughts on processes, Pi Calculus, and Petri Nets.
  

• Managing BPM: Gestures and Recipes
  Joe Francis - March 01, 2005
  This month, Joe Francis considers the recent evolution of process thinking, from primitive gestures where new workers do what older workers do, to recipes and languages that allow us to encode rules in frameworks.
  

• MDA Journal: XML and MDA
  David Frankel - February 01, 2005
  This month, David Frankel looks at the relationship between MDA and a variety of XML standards, including XMI and the XML approach taken by Microsoft.
  

• The Third Wave: The Next Generation
  Howard Smith - February 01, 2005
  This month, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar shed light on where the next generation of computing lies. They argue it is not a BPEL Server designed for programmers, but a BPMS platform designed to support business-led process management tools.
  

• Business Rules: OMG Business Rules Proposal Nears Conclusion
  Stan Hendryx - February 01, 2005
  This month, Stan Hendryx reports on how the OMG’s task force that is working on a business rules metamodel has moved into the final phase.
  

• Process Pragmatics: Towards a Process Organization
  Steve Stanton - February 01, 2005
  This month we launch a new column by Steve Stanton, a consultant who formerly worked with Mike Hammer, with whom he authored a book and the HBR article “How Process Organizations Really Work.” Steve starts off with a BPTrends Column that considers what it really means to move towards a process organization.
  

• Getting Started on the Path to Process-Driven Enterprise Optimization
  Dave Fisher - February 01, 2005
  Dave Fisher, a managing director at BearingPoint, has worked with lots of organizations to help them optimize their enterprises. In this article he discusses the keys to achieving process-driven optimization.
  

• What a BPMS Is
  Howard Smith - February 01, 2005
  In this paper, Howard Smith extends the comments he makes in this month’s column and provides a more in-depth discussion of the advantages that a BPMS platform designed to support business-led process management tools might provide
  

• Managing BPM: From Supply-Chain IT to the IT Supply-Chain
  Joe Francis - February 01, 2005
  Joe Francis discusses how the HP BPM team used the Supply Chain model they were familiar with to model the software lifecycle of their IT department. It’s a nice example of how the basic concepts and insights from one high-level framework can be easily reused to analyze another.
  

• MDA Journal: Six Sigma and MDA
  David Frankel - January 04, 2005
  This month, David Frankel turns his podium over to Mike Guttman who considers how Six Sigma and the OMG’s Model Driven Architecture can support each other. Mike argues that MDA is ideally positioned to support Six Sigma’s exacting quality requirements when automation is required.
  

• The Third Wave: BPM 2005
  Howard Smith - January 04, 2005
  This month, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar reflect on how the acronym “BPM” and the phrase “Business Process Management” were bandied about in 2004, and make some suggestions for improving the dialog about BPM in 2005.
  

• BPM in Europe: The BPM-Forum Netherlands
  Frits Bussemaker - January 04, 2005
  This month Frits Bussemaker, the founder and chairman of the BPM-Forum in the Netherlands, begins a new Column in which he will report on BPM developments in Europe. He begins by describing how the BPM-Forum has grown into a popular place for Dutch BPM practitioners to meet and exchange ideas.
  

• Applying Six Sigma to Business Process Excellence
  Mike Costa - January 04, 2005
  In this Article, Mike Costa, the Corporate Director of the Six Sigma Work Process Expertise Center at Dow Chemical, explains how Dow uses the concept of Most Effective Technology (MET) to drive process improvement value to the bottom line.
  

• Understanding BPM Servers
  David Chappell - January 04, 2005
  David Chappell wrote this piece to explain BPM to folks in the Microsoft world. The article primarily focuses on BizTalk Server and how it can be used to support BPM. We think it is one of the best introductions to Microsoft’s BizTalk Server environment that we’ve seen.
  

• eTOM and ITIL
  Jenny Huang - January 04, 2005
  Jenny Huang, an OSS Architect and Standards Strategist at AT&T Labs, describes how AT&T is using the best of the TeleManagment Forum’s eTOM and NGOSS standards and combining that framework with the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a British IT service delivery and support standard that is rapidly becoming a de facto international standard.
  

• Managing BPM: He's Making a List, Checking It Twice
  Joe Francis - December 07, 2004
  For the holidays, Joe Francis discusses the checklist he uses at HP to assure that BPM programs are successful. There’s no one most important thing, he explains, but, instead five different things that must all be checked off before you launch your BPM project.
  

• Process Innovations: Process vs. Culture: Which Sweeping Generalization is Correct?
  Tom Davenport - December 07, 2004
  Tom Davenport reports on hearing two executives propose alternate views of what’s really important. One says its culture. The other says a new process can change a culture. Tom provides us with his view on this important dichotomy.
  

• The Convergence of Six Sigma and Process Management
  Don Redinius - December 07, 2004
  Don L. Redinius is the President and COO of Savvi International, a well-known Six Sigma training and consulting organization. In this seminal paper, he describes how he expects the two approaches to business process change to converge.
  

• The Talent Search in Business Performance Management
  Cleve Rowley - December 07, 2004
  Cleve Rowley is the Senior Partner of the executive search firm, Matteson Partners. In this interesting article, he considers the current market for BPM professionals and suggests what organizations might want to consider as they approach a BPM talent search.
  

• BPTrends College BP Essay Contest and Application
  December 07, 2004
  In the spring of this year we announced a contest for the Best College Essay on a Business Process Topic. Any undergraduate or graduate student who wants to submit a paper for consideration should complete this application and submit the application and an electronic copy of the paper by January 31, 2005. The winning papers will be published on BPTrends in 2005.
  

• MDA Journal: The DRM, the Semantic Web, and MDA
  David Frankel - December 07, 2004
  This month, David Frankel discusses the US Federal Government’s Data Reference Model (DRM), a key element in the government’s current Enterprise Architecture effort, and considers how it relates to both the Semantic Web and MDA.
  

• MDA Journal: Beyond MDA 1.0: eXecutable Business Processes from Concept to Code
  David Frankel - November 02, 2004
  This month, David Frankel turns his podium over to Ken Orr who offers a rejoinder to last month’s article by Clark, Evans, Sammut and Willans, and offers a vision of a real-time enterprise that realizes the goals CASE advocates failed to achieve in the Eighties.
  

• Managing BP: If I had a Hammer
  Joe Francis - November 02, 2004
  Joe Francis explains how SCOR changes the way business process practitioners look at problems. It isn’t that every process becomes a Supply Chain process, but that every process can be conceptualized in terms of an OR framework and dealt with faster and more systematically.
  

• The Third Wave: Structuring the BPM Conversation - Part 1
  Howard Smith - November 02, 2004
  This month Howard Smith and Peter Fingar consider how BPM advocates should talk about what they hope to achieve and suggest how conversations should be structured for different audiences.
  

• BPM - Too Much BP but Not Enough of the M
  Derek Miers - November 02, 2004
  Derek Miers reviews a case study and concludes that BPM isn’t putting enough emphasis on people or on management.
  

• Introducing the Chief Process and Information Officer (CPIO)
  David Fischer - November 02, 2004
  David Fischer is a Managing Director at BearingPoint, and the author of a new book, Optimize Now (or else!). In this article, he describes how some companies are expanding the role of the CIO to make that individual responsible for both IT and process.
  

• All the World's a Stage
  Martyn Ould - November 02, 2004
  Martyn Ould is an established BP methodologist and a strong advocate of the “role activity” approach to process modeling. He has just published a new book, Business Process Management: A Rigorous Approach. This article is the third excerpt we’ve published from Ould’s new book.
  

• Managing BP: The Case of the Reluctant Engineer
  Joe Francis - October 05, 2004
  In this column, Joe Francis talks about how HP’s Process Improvement team approaches different groups within HP. In turns out that its relatively easy to work with salespeople to install a new process and its rather hard to work with IT and new product engineers.
  

• Business Rules: Report from Montreal
  Stan Hendryx - October 05, 2004
  The OMG’s Technical Committee met in Montreal in August. In this column, Stan Hendryx reports on the progress that the OMG has made in defining some standards for business rules.
  

• Service-Oriented Mobile Business Process Execution
  Steve Stephansen - October 05, 2004
  Steve Stephansen is the CEO of WebV2, a company that specializes in helping other companies develop mobile business process systems. He gave a talk at the Bay Area chapter of ABPMP and we were so impressed that we asked him to work up an article to share their basic approach with others.
  

• Getting Your Head Round Spaghetti
  Martyn Ould - October 05, 2004
  Martyn Ould is an established BP methodologist and a strong advocate of the role activity approach to process modeling. He has just published a new book, Business Process Management: A Rigorous Approach, and this is the second of three short excerpts from it.
  

• MDA Journal: Language Driven Development and MDA
  David Frankel - October 05, 2004
  This month, David Frankel turns his podium over to Tony Clark, Andy Evans, Paul Sammut and James Willans, all from Zactium Limited. They, in turn, consider how MDA functions to generate and integrate semantically rich languages and tools that target specific modeling requirements.
  

• The Business Process Maturity Model: A Practical Approach for Identifying Opportunities for Optimization
  David Fisher - September 07, 2004
  David Fisher is the Managing Director at BearingPoint, and the author of a new book, Optimize Now (or else!). In this article, he shows how a maturity model can suggest a practical approach to identifying opportunities for optimization.
  

• Managing BPM: Rethinking Resources
  Joe Francis - September 07, 2004
  Joe Francis argues that most companies don’t manage processes in a very effective manner. He discusses best practices we take for granted in managing people and IT development and points out that we never seem to get around to applying some of those same principles to managing business processes. Joe makes a good case and urges managers to be more disciplined in the management of their organizations business processes.
  

• The Third Wave: BPM Due Diligence
  Howard Smith - September 07, 2004
  This month, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar reflect on the many meanings of BPM and consider the problems associated with any new term when it becomes popular. They urge customers that want BPM to be more than a marketing slogan to stand up and be counted.
  

• Process Innovations: The Missing Middle in Process Management
  Tom Davenport - September 07, 2004
  Tom Davenport argues that companies that really aspire to process excellence need to focus on the middle. Too often, business executives know what they want, and IT knows what it can do, but somehow the two groups never manage to communicate. Its process that provides the language for that communication and it’s the key to improving results.
  

• Behavior Matters: Coaching Revisited
  Steve Schoonover - September 07, 2004
  Process change only takes place if employees and managers change the way they do things. This month, Steve Schoonover considers the important role that coaching plays in helping managers and employees accept and support important change initiatives.
  

• Business Rules: New Business Rules Initiatives from the OMG
  Stan Hendryx - September 07, 2004
  Stan Hendryx provides an update on the OMG’s efforts to standardize the ways companies define and use business rules.
  

• MDA Journal: Enterprise MDA or How Enterprise Systems Will Be Built
  Dave Frankel - September 07, 2004
  This month, David Frankel turns the podium over to Oliver Sims, a well known methodologist and the co-author of the now classic Business Component Factory, which describes how one uses components in distributed enterprise systems. Sims provides his perspective on how MDA will be used. In addition, Michael Guttman continues his ongoing debate with Steve Cook of Microsoft over the utility of MDA.
  

• Getting Your Head Round Mozzarella
  Martyn Ould - September 07, 2004
  Martyn Ould is an established BP methodologist and a strong advocate of the role activity approach to process modeling. He has just published a new book, Business Process Management: A Rigorous Approach, and over the course of the next three months, we will be publishing three short excerpts from it.
  

• The Process of Working with People: Person-to-Person Business Process Management
  Howard Smith - September 07, 2004
  In this article, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar discuss the development of processes that involve interactions between people, either employee to employee interactions, or interactions between employees and customers or suppliers. In all of these cases, process improvement means structuring these people-to-people interactions so they are more efficient and productive. Smith and Fingar suggest that modeling based on human intentions can help.
  

• MDA Journal: A Model-Driven Semantic Web
  David Frankel - July 06, 2004
  This month, David Frankel, Patrick Hayes, Elisa Kendall, and Deborah McGuinness provide a major White Paper on the idea of Semantic Web, and report on recent efforts to bridge the W3C’s Semantic Web project and the OMG’s MDA initiative.
  

• Managing BP: BPM and the Uses of Enchantment
  Joe Francis - July 06, 2004
  Before you invest in new IT technology, Joe Francis suggests you develop a good understanding of your existing business processes and the potential benefits of any business process improvement initiatives you are considering. Some changes, viewed from the process perspective, will deliver real value, and others won’t.
  

• The Third Wave: Process Management Maturity Models
  Howard Smith - July 06, 2004
  This month, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar reflect on CMM-inspired models and how they relate to the Third Wave of business process management.
  

• Business Rules Management: Eliminating the Barriers to Success
  Steve Minsky - July 06, 2004
  Steve Minsky, a founder of RulesPower and an experienced developer of rule-based systems, offers a good introduction to how one uses and manages business rules in practical situations.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Are you Really doing BPM?
  Mark McGreggor - July 06, 2004
  Mark McGregor’s July Column focuses on how different organizations approach business process change, and suggests what’s involved in serious BPM.
  

• Postcard from Europe: The BPM Spotlight Shines on Europe
  Mark McGregor - June 01, 2004
  This month, Mark McGregor discusses the recent Global Business Process Forum held in London in May, and shares some of the excitement.
  

• MDA Journal: Agile MDA
  David Frankel - June 01, 2004
  This month, David Frankel turns the pulpit over to Stephen Mellor, a leading object methodologists, widely recognized for his work with real-time applications. Mellor considers what will be required to create an MDA modeling system that can generate code.
  

• Managing BPM: BPM and Nonlinear Thinkers
  Joe Francis - June 01, 2004
  Too often, faced with a process problem, analysts immediately seek to describe a sequence. Joe Francis suggests that it is often more productive to circle around the problem a bit before trying to define the process.
  

• Behavior Matters: A Systems Approach to Leadership
  Steve Schoonover - June 01, 2004
  Steve Schoonover reviews some research on leadership and shows how a systems approach can help clarify what’s involved in this sometimes elusive concept.
  

• The Third Wave: Green Forms and the Genesis of Reengineering
  Howard Smith - June 01, 2004
  This month, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar provide a brief history of process change within a company, then use that history to suggest some insights into what’s likely to come next.
  

• Process Innovations: Modelling in Moderation
  Tom Davenport - June 01, 2004
  Tom Davenport provides a brief history of enterprise modeling efforts and urges readers not to repeat the mistakes of the past, and to “model in moderation.”
  

• Is Your Enterprise Architecture All It Can Be?
  Perryn Ashmore - June 01, 2004
  Perryn Ashmore, Joel Henson, Jeff Chancellor, and Mark Nelson provide a wide-ranging overview of what’s involved in creating an Enterprise Architecture and discuss some of the lessons they have learned as they have helped clients create effective Enterprise Architectures.
  

• Beyond Process Maturity to Process Competence
  Andrew Spanyi - June 01, 2004
  Andrew Spanyi considers some efforts to create a process maturity model and goes on to suggest that, in many cases, the major obstacle to organizational change is the silo- focused thinking of senior executives.
  

• Postcard from Europe:The Real Motivation Behind BPM
  Mark McGregor - May 01, 2004
  Mark McGregor takes a broad look at how business is changing and discerns the real drivers for Business Process Management in the continuing drive for change and innovation.
  

• MDA Journal: An MDA Manifesto
  David Frankel - May 01, 2004
  This month, David Frankel’s MDA Journal publishes a paper by five luminaries from IBM’s Rational division. These authors, Grady Booch, Alan Brown, Sridhar Iyengar, Jim Rumbaugh, and Bran Selic, have played major roles in creating UML, MOF, and MDA, and, in this paper, they join to describe IBM’s MDA vision.
  

• Managing BP: By Any Other Name
  Joe Francis - May 01, 2004
  This month Joe Francis considers the term Business Process Management and advices business process change practitioners to focus on business issues when they talk to executives and avoid getting into the technological details.
  

• The Third Wave: Outoperate Your Competition Using BPM
  Howard Smith - May 01, 2004
  This month, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar discuss Michael Hammer’s recent HBR article, where Hammer advocates “Operational Innovation,” and suggest that BPM is going to be needed if Hammer’s goals are to be realized.
  

• Process Innovations: When the Inmates Run the Asylum
  Tom Davenport - May 01, 2004
  This month Tom Davenport consider why mainstream process management rarely addresses processes performed by knowledge works, but suggests that we should, since these processes are critical to the success of organizations and economies.
  

• Business Rules: Initial OMG Business Rules Proposals Evolve
  Stan Hendryx - May 01, 2004
  This month Stan Hendryx joins us as a new columnist. Stan has considerable experience in the use of business rules and plans on sharing his insights. He is an active member of the Business Rules Community and the founder and first chair of the OMG’s Business Rules SIG. Recently the Business Rules group was merged with the Business Process Modeling group in the OMG’s Business Enterprise Integration Domain Task Force (BEIDTF) and Stan become co-chair. This month Stan begins with a column that describes the OMG’s current business rules standardization effort.(
  

• Six Sigma and Human Performance Technology
  Darlene Van Tiem - May 01, 2004
  Many Six Sigma groups looking for ways to extend their practices have concluded that Human Performance Technology (HPT) offers a way to improve results. Similarly, HPT practitioners are incorporating more Six Sigma practices in their work. Professor Darlene Van Tiem, of the Performance Improvement program at the University of Michigan describes how the two approaches can be used, effectively, together.
  

• Microsoft's Next Frontier
  Jean-Jaques Dubray - May 01, 2004
  Jean-Jacques Dubray has been heavily involved in BPM for several years. In this interesting article he describes recent Microsoft developments and explains why he believes that Microsoft is gearing up to play a major role in BPM.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Europe Leads the BPA Vision Again!
  Mark McGregor - April 06, 2004
  In this month’s column, Mark McGregor looks at the companies and products that dominate Gartner’s latest classification of Business Process Analysis vendors and points out that European companies seem to have an edge when it comes to vision.
  

• MDA Journal: Model-Driven Software Development
  David Frankel - April 06, 2004
  This month, David Frankel turns the MDA podium over toJorn Bettin of SoftMetaWare who describes Model Driven Software Development, a methodology for using MDA for software development. In addition, Steve Cook of Microsoft provides a response to Mike Guttman’s review of his article on Microsoft’s position on MDA, published in the MDA Journal in January, 2004.
  

• Managing BP: BPM and Darwin -- Process Evolution
  Joe Francis - April 06, 2004
  Joe Francis suggests that business processes are the DNA of business organizations and considers how processes evolve.
  

• Behavior Matters: A Process Approach to Performance Management
  Steve Schoonover - April 06, 2004
  Performance management is a key element of most significant process efforts. In spite of this, employees often claim they dislike performance management initiatives. Steve Schoonover suggests a process approach that might improve the situation.
  

• The Third Wave: Do You Grok PROCESS?
  Howard Smith - April 06, 2004
  This month, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar speculate on what the world will be like when people intuitively understand process and when computers can process processes.
  

• How BPM Impacts Consulting
  Jim Petrassi - April 06, 2004
  Jim Petrassi, a Partner in Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) reflects on how the current interest in Business Process Management (BPM) will likely impact consulting in the years ahead.
  

• Are All BPM Solutions the Same?
  Alan Trefler - April 06, 2004
  Alan Trefler, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Pegasystems, argues that existing vendors will have a large role to play in creating BPM systems and suggests the special role that business rules will play in these systems.
  

• Postcard from Europe: How Business Processes Create Competitive Advantage
  Mark McGregor - March 02, 2004
  In this month’s column, Mark McGregor discusses how LOGiCOM, an outsourcing vendor, relies on its knowledge of business processes to stay ahead of its competitors.
  

• MDA Journal: The MDA Marketing Message and the MDA Reality
  David Frankel - March 02, 2004
  This month, David Frankel reports on some of the MDA “hype” currently being reported in the media and defines MDA and its current capabilities.
  

• Managing BP: Homeland Security and BPM
  Joseph Francis - March 02, 2004
  Joe Francis reflects on how some of the BP methodologies and approaches used in the HP/Compaq merger might be applied to re-structuring the US Department of Homeland Security.
  

• The Third Wave: The Naming of Cats
  Howard Smith - March 02, 2004
  This month, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar offer their perspective on BPM, BPMS and the link between business process management and technology.
  

• Process Innovations: Attending to Processes
  Tom Davenport - March 02, 2004
  This month Tom Davenport suggests that the success or failure of an organization’s business process management efforts are largely a function of whether or not they focus their attention on it. He offers some thoughts on why business processes may not be receiving the attention required for success and urges organizations to make business process one of the four or five top priorities in their organization.
  

• Business Process Integration: One Piece at a Time
  Ashish Deshpande - March 02, 2004
  Ashish Deshpande, the Chief Technical Officer and founder of Metaserver, describes a step-by-step strategy organizations can use to move toward Business Process Integration.
  

• Business Process Fusion is Inevitable
  Howard Smith - March 02, 2004
  In this article, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar respond to comments regarding their January article, Workflow is Just a Pi Process.
  

• The Third Wave: BPM is Not About People, Culture, and Change. It's About Technology.
  Howard Smith - February 03, 2004
  Howard Smith and Peter Fingar describe a conversation with a potential client in which they seek to convince him that his problems aren’t ultimately people, culture, or change, but about technology.
  

• Why Workflow is NOT Just a Pi Process
  Wil Aalst - February 03, 2004
  Wil M.P. van der Aalst, the lead author of the well known workflow book, Workflow Management: Models, Methods, and Systems (MIT Press, 2002) which introduced an analysis of workflow patterns. In this short article, he responds to comments that appeared in last month’s article by Howard Smith and Peter Fingar.
  

• Does Better Math Lead to Better Business Processes?
  February 03, 2004
  Jon Pyke, CTO of Staffware and chair of the WfMC, and Roger Whitehead, an independent consultant, offer their own analysis of what makes workflow systems work and suggest that neither workflow nor BPM depend on Pi Calculus.
  

• MDA Journal: A Response to Steve Cook
  David Frankel - February 03, 2004
  Last month, Steve Cook explained how Microsoft would not be supporting MDA, but would focus instead on domain specific modeling languages. This month David Frankel turns the podium over to Michael Guttman who offers his personal critique of Microsoft’s position.
  

• Managing BP: Great Unsolved Problems
  Joe Francis - February 03, 2004
  Joe Francis considers some of the major, hard to solve problems facing anyone involved in business process change.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Will You Make the Change Before It Is Too Late?
  Mark McGregor - February 02, 2004
  In this month’s Column, Mark McGregor discusses how business process improvement can make the difference between a successful company and one that is simply waiting to be acquired, or worse. In some cases, he suggests, putting of process redesign can be fatal.
  

• Process Innovations: A Catholic Approach to Process Management
  Tom Davenport - February 02, 2004
  This month we add a new columnist, Tom Davenport, one of the guru’s who stimulated all the interest in business process change in the early Nineties and later championed the move to ERP systems. In his first column, Davenport talks about the variety of business process approaches and recommends an approach that relies on multiple approaches.
  

• Postcard from Europe: That Was The Year That Was!
  Mark McGregor - January 06, 2004
  In his first column of 2004, Mark McGregor reviews some of the issues he covered in 2003 and evaluates their significance in hindsight.
  

• MDA Journal: Domain Specific Modeling and Model Driven Architecture
  David Frankel - January 06, 2004
  In this month's column, David Frankel turns to Steve Cook, a Software Architect in Microsoft's Enterprise Frameworks and Tools group for an update on how Microsoft is thinking about model-driven software development.
  

• Behavior Matters: Upgrading the People Perspective in Balanced Scorecards
  Steve Shoonover - January 06, 2004
  Steve Shoonover takes a look at the Balanced Scorecard and considers how the people perspective can be better represented in this important management tool.
  

• Managing BP: It Depends
  Joe Francis - January 06, 2004
  In this month's column Joe Francis taks about what a Business Process group manager can do to position and sell the Business Process Management group's services to other groups within the organization.
  

• The Third Wave: BPM 2004
  Howard Smith - January 06, 2004
  This month we are launching a new column by Howard Smith and Peter Fingar. In their first column they review what happened in Business Process Manageemnt in 2003 and discuss what will likely happen in the year ahead.
  

• Workflow is Just a Pi Process
  Howard Smith - January 06, 2004
  In this article, which has received a lot of critical attention recently, Howard Smith and Peter Fingar discuss workflow systems and their limitations and argue that new business process management systems must be based on the broader framework of Pi Calculus.
  

• BPTrends College Paper Contest Announcement
  BPTrends - January 06, 2004
  In 2004, BPTrends will sponsor a contest to identify and publish the best paper on business process change written by a graduate or undergraduate student.
  

• Postcard from Europe: An Open Method for BPM?
  Mark McGregor - December 02, 2003
  In this month's column, Mark McGregor discusses BPMRedkite, a new initiative to create a common approach to buisness process improvement.
  

• MDA Journal: MDA, SOA, and Technology Convergence
  David Frankel - December 02, 2003
  This month Dave Frankel turns the podium over to Michael Rosen, a well-known enterprise architect, who provides a wide-ranging look at Service Oriented Architectures and discusses how they will integrate with MDA and languages like BPEL4WS.
  

• Managing BP: Bootstrapping
  Joe Francis - December 02, 2003
  This month we launch a new column by Joe Francis, a senior BP manager at HP and the Chair of the Supply Chain Council. In his first column, Joe Francis talks about how his group at HP decided to extend the SCOR framework-based approach and use frameworks on a wide variety of HP projects.
  

• The Corporate Nexus
  Ralph Whittle - December 02, 2003
  Ralph Whittle and Conrad Myrick, from Integrated Architectures Unlimited, have written an article that describes a systematic approach to linking strategy and processes. They argue that architectures represent the business mainfestation of a corporate startegy and show how they approach the creation of such an architecture.
  

• Digital Six Sigma
  Howard Smith - December 02, 2003
  Howard Smith and Peter Fingar explore how the Six Sigma approach which is so popular in many companies can be built on top of a Business Process Management Systems foundation to provide Six Sigma practitioners with greater flexibility.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Consolidations, Acquisitions and Mergers
  Mark McGregor - November 04, 2003
  In this month's column, Mark McGregor discusses some moves toward consolidation in the business modeling tool marketplace.
  

• MDA Journal: Bringing in MDA
  David Frankel - November 04, 2003
  In this month's column, Dave Frankel turns the podium over to Michael Guttman who discusses the development of MDA FastStart, a program that IT managers can use to introduce MDA into their organizations.
  

• Behavior Matters: How Can Behavioral Factors Be Used To Drive Excellence?
  Steve Schoonover - November 04, 2003
  Steve Schoonover launches a new column this month that focuses on the role of human behavior in process change. He kicks off with a discussion of the role of behavioral metrics in driving process improvement.
  

• Fundamentals of Process Management: Best Practices in Optimizing Corss-Functional Business Processes
  Robert Curtice - November 04, 2003
  In this article, Robert Curtice, the VP of Perfromance Improvement Associates, offers a broad, comprehensive look at what is involved in managing processes that cross functional boundaries.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Converging on Business Process
  Mark McGregor - October 07, 2003
  In this month's column, Mark McGregor discusses how the pace of business is picking up in Europe and how most companies are investing in business process-related projects.
  

• MDA Journal: MDA and the Object Technology Barrier
  David Frankel - October 07, 2003
  In his October Column, David Frankel discusses why some software architects view MDA as object-oriented. David suggests that, in fact, MDA has the flexibility to address these concerns.
  

• Using Lean, Six Sigma, and SCOR To Improve Competitiveness
  Dan Swartwood - October 07, 2003
  Dan Swartwood, a senior consultant for PRAGMATEK, describes how Lean, Six Sigma, and SCOR are evolving toward an integrated framework for tackling supply chain redesign.
  

• What Really Matters!
  Andrew Spanyi - October 07, 2003
  Andrew Spanyi, a BP consultant and the author of a new book, Business Process Manageemnt is a Team Sport, suggests eight principles for enterprise business process management.
  

• MDA Journal: Software Industrialization and the New IT
  David Frankel - September 02, 2003
  This month we luanch a new feature, Dave Frankel's MDA JOURNAL -- comments and articles by Dave and other MDA gurus. In this month's article, Dave reflects on Nicholas Carr's recent HBR article on IT's strategic value. He suggests that MDA illustrates Carr's thesis. He also suggests that MDA will lead to a new era in which IT converges with business process management which will invalidate Carr's thesis.
  

• Time To Trigger A Transformation?
  Peter Fraser - September 02, 2003
  Most companies have used ISO 9000 standards to define procedures. Today, driven by the new interest in business processes, the International Standards Organization is readying a new, more process oriented set of standards, ISO 9001:2000. In this article, Peter Fraser considers how ISO 9001:2000 can be integrated into a business process effort.
  

• Postcard from Europe: ERP and BP Modeling: Strange Bedfellows No More
  Mark MCGregor - July 01, 2003
  In this month's column, Mark McGregor discusses how the ERP automated solution packages and the BP modeling and analysis tools, previously locked in an either/or battle, are now cohabiting nicely in a major BP initiative.
  

• Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Business Rules
  Alain Gougeon - July 01, 2003
  Alain Gougeon is an experienced systems analyst who has spent most of the last 12 years helping South American governments develop financial systems. He has an active interest in business rules and wrote this article to provide those who are new to the subject with a good introduction to business rules. This article is a good complement to the July 2003 BPTrends Newsletter on Business Rules and provides another perspective on the available resources and the cahllenges and opportunities facing those interested in using business rules.
  

• Postcard from Europe: The Future of BPM
  Mark McGregor - June 01, 2003
  In this month’s Column, Mark McGregor reflects on some of the presentations at the May Global Business Process Forum in London and concludes with a cautious note of optimism.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Business Process: Less About Standards and More About Profitability
  Mark McGregor - May 04, 2003
  In this month's Column, Mark McGregor considers the UML's new 2.0 release and discusses how this, and other standards initiatives, affect the BP market.
  

• BPM's Third Wave
  Howard Smith and Peter Fingar - May 04, 2003
  This article is based on extracts from Business Process Management: The Third Wave, a currently popular book on next generation business process techniques, written by Howard Smith and Peter Fingar.
  

• And Then a Miracle Occurs! Ensuring the Successful Implementation of Enterprisewide EPSS and E-Learning from Day One
  Deborah L. Stone and Steven W. Villachica - May 04, 2003
  This article, by Deborah L. Stone and Steven W. Villachica, reprinted from the ISPI's March issue of Performance Improvement, provides a great example of how human performance technology can be used to support the training of employees. Specifically, it discusses how electronic performance support systems (EPSS) can be used to manage learning.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Putting the Business First
  Mark McGregor - April 04, 2003
  Mark McGregor discusses the need for greater emphasis on the human and business aspects of business process change. Too many vendors and change teams, he argues, seem to act as if most processes were automated when, in fact, most activities are performed by employees.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Breaking Down the Language Barrier
  Mark McGregor - March 04, 2003
  Marc McGregor talks about how IT and business process managers often use the same words to mean different things, and why a common vocabulary is important.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Europe Plays Too
  Mark McGregor - February 04, 2003
  This month Mark writes to describe some of the business process and enterprise architecture work in Europe and discusses how Europe is different from the US.
  

• Postcard from Europe: Six Sigma and the Implications for Business Process Improvement
  Mark McGregor - January 06, 2003
  Our European correspondent, Mark McGregor, gives his impression of some Six Sigma developments in Europe.