Paul speculates on what impact the coming months will have on process practitioners. Established processes will need to be tailored or trimmed to accommodate new priorities and some major processes will need to be changed as companies adopt new ways of doing business. Some shifts will be temporary, but some will be longer lasting. Look inside for specifics.
Paul Harmon
Executive Editor and Founder, Business Process Trends
In addition to his role as Executive Editor and Founder of Business Process Trends, Paul Harmon is Chief Consultant and Founder of BPTrends Associates, a professional services company providing educational and consulting services to managers interested in understanding and implementing business process change.
Paul is a noted consultant, author and analyst concerned with applying new technologies to real-world business problems. He is the author of Business Process Change: A Manager's Guide to Improving, Redesigning, and Automating Processes (2003). He has previously co-authored Developing E-business Systems and Architectures (2001), Understanding UML (1998), and Intelligent Software Systems Development (1993). Mr. Harmon has served as a senior consultant and head of Cutter Consortium's Distributed Architecture practice. Between 1985 and 2000 Mr. Harmon wrote Cutter newsletters, including Expert Systems Strategies, CASE Strategies, and Component Development Strategies.
Paul has worked on major process redesign projects with Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Security Pacific, Prudential, and Citibank, among others. He is a member of ISPI and a Certified Performance Technologist. Paul is a widely respected keynote speaker and has developed and delivered workshops and seminars on a wide variety of topics to conferences and major corporations through out the world.
Paul lives in Las Vegas.
Paul can be reached at pharmon@bptrends.com
Harmon on BPM: Managing Ongoing Processes
October 5, 2020 , By
When most process practitioners think of business process work, they think of redesigning or improving processes. In fact, all processes have two phases. Phase I is the state of the current process, and Phase II is the redesign of the Phase I process to improve performance. Read Paul’s Column to understand the significance of Phase I and why practitioners need to have a thorough knowledge of the issues involved.
Harmon on BPM: Process Improvement at a Casino
August 31, 2020 , By
Paul recently received a solicitation for a Process Management job at a casino. He read the job description, and then considered how he might approach the opportunity. Read his thoughts on how he would prepare for the proposal and what process activities he would emphasize.
Harmon on BPM: Brett Champlin and the ABPMP
July 6, 2020 , By
Paul eulogizes Brett Champlin and enumerates his many contributions to establishing the Association of Business Process Management Professionals as the respected BPM professional organization it is today.
Harmon on BPM: Thinking about Post-Pandemic Processes
June 1, 2020 , By
Our May survey revealed that 17% of our readers are still working at their normal place of employment. At the same time about 60% of our readers are still working, but working at home. Others have been laid off. Paul observes that this is a time of business disruption from which we’re not likely to recover for a long time. So, what might be the long lasting effects of this disruption?
Harmon on BPM: Major Transformation, Incremental Improvement and AI
May 4, 2020 , By
Paul exhorts readers to think beyond the idea that AI is nothing more than Robotics Process Automation. “AI is a call to think big – to imagine new futures and new industries – to imagine transformed business processes.” Read his Column to learn why he thinks this is so.
Harmon on BPM: Business Process Trends
April 6, 2020 , By
Since we began publishing BPTrends in 2003, Paul has attempted to provide readers with a broad understanding of the process market. Though not the most exciting reading, Paul concedes, he continues to provide everyone who works in the process area with a good understanding of the market and where the market is trending. Read his latest update on where we are and where we’re headed.
Harmon on BPM: Recycling
March 2, 2020 , By
Paul devotes his Column this month to the all-important topic of recycling. Business processes take inputs and convert them into valued outputs. However, the dirty secret is that while business processes take some inputs and convert them into valued outputs, most are, in fact, converted into waste bi-products that are simply thrown away. Read some thoughts on this important topic in Paul’s Column.
Harmon on BPM: Artificial Intelligence–Some Recent Developments
February 3, 2020 , By
This month, Paul explores some recent developments in AI which he believes is the most popular technology today. To keep readers up to date, he decided to do a review featuring some recent announcements. Read further to learn more about what he learned.
Harmon on BPM: Why Isn’t Process a First Class Concern to Business?
January 6, 2020 , By
Paul recently came across several articles regarding changes being made to business school curricula to better prepare MBA students for today’s business environment. The articles addressed some specific changes to the programs but none of them talked about changing the fundamental content and none of them addressed the need for including BPM topics. In this column Paul asks Why Not?
