WHITEPAPER

Going Beyond Process

Modeling
Part 1: Why Do We Manage Processes?
February 2015

Kemsley Design Ltd

Copyright © 2002-2015 Bizagi. All rights reserved.

2 Going Beyond Process Modeling

Overview
Business process modeling - creating a graphical description
of a business process - is a recognized practice in describing,
analyzing and improving business operations. In many
organizations, the model itself is the end product that
communicates the business process amongst stakeholders;
however, significant benefits can be realized by moving
beyond process modeling to process automation.

This paper, the first in a series of two, provides an overview of

the current state of process modeling and automation
practices and technologies, and outlines the drivers and
benefits of moving beyond simple process modeling to more
comprehensive automation and management.

The second paper in this series provides practical advice on

how to start the journey from process modeling to business
process management for continuous improvement.

Why We Model Processes

Almost all organizations create descriptions of their key processes: how to manage a customer
shipment, for example, or the procedure for month-end financial reporting. In many cases,
these go beyond text descriptions to graphical process models, usually in a flowchart format
that shows how activities are interrelated.

Process models can be created using ad hoc drawing tools, or more sophisticated modeling
applications that enforce model integrity and provide analytical capabilities for process
improvement. They may use an industry-standard modeling notation, such as the Business
Process Model and Notation (BPMN), or a graphical notation specific to – and likely only
understood by – the organization or even the individual analyst.

Once created, process models are valuable as operational documentation: they can guide
workers through the steps in processes, ensure that processes are performed in a standardized
fashion, and provide all stakeholders with a common understanding of the processes.
Documenting processes makes it possible to apply analytical techniques, either manually or
using modeling and analysis software, to detect inefficiencies and bottlenecks in processes,
and simulate improved processes before they are put into practice.

In short, process modeling provides value to organizations as a documentation and operational

improvement practice. But how much more value could be gained digitizing and managing
processes?

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 3 Going Beyond Process Modeling
BPM: The World Beyond Modeling
Business process management (BPM) includes a wide
variety of methodologies and tools focused on improving
how processes work. The terms used to describe BPM can
vary, but in general include the following:
★★ Process modeling is the creation of a graphical
description of a business process, usually in a
flowchart-style notation.
★★ Process analysis (BPA) is a superset of process
modeling, adding analytical techniques for detecting
problems and improving processes, such as Lean Six
Sigma and process simulation.
★★ Process automation is the digitization of a business
process within software. It can include presenting
human tasks to operators for completion as well as
fully-automated activities including the integration
and orchestration of other systems. This may be
implemented with a BPM suite (BPMS) or encoded
within other applications.
★★ Process management is a superset of process
automation, using a BPMS for automation plus
process monitoring, work management and process
improvement. This may include functions such as
work allocation and load balancing, manager
dashboards, key performance indicator (KPI)
measurement, real-time predictive analytics, and
dynamic process definitions.
Going beyond process modeling, therefore, requires
moving from “design-time” to “execution-time” activities.
The design-time activities of modeling and analysis are
used to document and suggest improvements to
processes but do not actually run the process; execution-
time automation and management control and monitor
processes as they are happening.
Copyright © 2002-2015 Bizagi. All rights reserved.
Why We Manage Processes
Process modeling and analysis, as mentioned previously,
occurs in most organizations. Process management
happens much less frequently than business process
analysis (BPA), due to the additional cost and complexity
of implementing a BPMS.
What benefits can we expect from
moving beyond process modeling?
First, we see a number of operational efficiency benefits
of process automation and task routing:
★★ Capture information early in the process and route it
electronically, reducing paper handling
★★ Automate decision-making using business rules
★★ Automate integration between systems to reduce
manual data entry and errors
★★ Standardize processes and enforce regulatory
compliance
★★ Route manual tasks to the right person at the right
time
Process management provides additional benefits
beyond automation, many focused on improving
customer satisfaction:
★★ Provide full informational context to improve human
decision-making and focus on the customer journey
★★ Allow model-driven, agile processes to be easily
changed for continuous improvement and innovation
★★ Enable collaboration within processes for faster
problem resolution
★★ Monitor and manage work-in-process, including
reallocation and load balancing, to optimize
workforce utilization
★★ Predict and proactively alert missed deadlines and
KPIs
Although cost benefits are still important, these latter
benefits show how BPM can improve competitive
differentiation and revenue generation.
4 Going Beyond Process Modeling

BPM Benefits: Use Cases

The decision in any organization to move beyond process modeling to
BPM is usually motivated by a combination of some of the benefits listed
in the previous section. The deciding factors can be quite different
depending on the company’s age and corporate culture, as well as their
industry and competition. The following use cases describe typical
implementation scenarios and benefits of BPM.

Financial Institution Back Office:

Process Orchestration

A financial institution has a back office operation that processes transaction, and wants to
improve efficiency and reduce costs rather than consider outsourcing. A BPMS is
implemented to orchestrate and integrate multiple line-of-business systems, removing
the need for workers to re-enter information from one system to another and thereby
reducing error rates. The BPMS is also used to manage exceptions that require manual
intervention, routing and enabling collaboration between workers while providing a rich
information context. The BPMS tracks all work, both fully-automated and human tasks,
and provides alerts when service level agreements that may incur regulatory penalties are
in danger of being missed.

Although the primary benefits are improved efficiency and reduced operational risk, this
also has the effect of improving customer satisfaction by decreasing transaction cycle time
and raising the speed and quality of problem resolution through collaboration.

Back office Integrate multiple Customer

Line-of-business Satisfaction

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5 Going Beyond Process Modeling

Manufacturing Supply Chain:

Agile Integration

A consumer goods manufacturer has complex product development and supply chain
processes in a rapidly-changing market. A BPMS is implemented to replace several
spreadsheet-based planning and control systems, and integrate with an enterprise
resource planning (ERP) system to provide a business-controlled supply chain process.
The process model within the BPMS can be modified directly by analysts within the
product development business units, allowing immediate changes in timing and order of
operations, thereby reducing time to market for new products. The BPMS monitoring
capabilities provide visibility and control over the operational processes, and feed back
into the process modeling and analysis for continuous process improvement.

The primary benefit is improved time to market, with a secondary benefit of reduced
reliance on IT resources and the associated costs.

Rapidly-changing BPMS can be modified

Market Directly by analysts Visibility & Control

Transportation Logistics:
Knowledge Work Support

A transportation logistics company provides freight shipping for one-off shipments and
long-term contracts, in a market driven by competitive pricing. A BPMS is implemented to
manage pricing quotes by routing requests and information between a salesperson, the
pricing manager and (optionally) the customer. The BPMS integrates with a rules
management system that provides recommendations based on comparative cost and
pricing data from similar shipments and current market conditions, and captures the
final price directly into the billing system.

The primary benefit is increased profits due to faster and better-informed pricing
decisions, with a secondary benefit of reduced errors and manual processing time.

Transportation Knowledge Captures the final

Logistics company Work support Price directly into
The billing system

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6 Going Beyond Process Modeling

Consumer Lending:
Intelligent Document Capture

A bank offers loans to individuals and small businesses, requiring the collection of a
variety of documents and other supporting information before approving the loan. A
BPMS is implemented to manage the loan initiation process, using case/folder
management capabilities integrated with an enterprise content management (ECM) and
document capture system. Documents are added by loan officers using scanners at the
bank branches, or through capture directly by the customer using a mobile application.
The BPMS uses business rules to determine the information required for the specific loan
parameters, and sends alerts to the loan office and customer regarding missing
information. Bank managers can monitor the status of loan initiation, determining which
loan officers and/or customers may be delinquent in providing information prior to
issuing the loan.

The primary benefits are improved regulatory compliance due to the rules-based
documentation requirements, and improved loan issuance rates due to reminders about
missing documentation.

Intelligent ECM & Document Improved

Document Capture Capture System regulatory compliance

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7 Going Beyond Process Modeling

Summary
Most organizations model processes, but many fewer go beyond process modeling to
take full advantage of process automation and management, thereby improving customer
satisfaction while increasing operational efficiencies.

In this paper, the first in a series on going beyond process modeling, we have focused on
the reasons why you should consider going beyond process modeling to a more complete
business process management program, including several use cases to illustrate the
benefits.

In the second paper in the series, we will address how to make those first moves beyond
process modeling to take full advantage of process management within your organization.

About the Author

Sandy Kemsley is an independent analyst and process
architect specializing in business process management
(BPM). She consults to end-user organizations and
BPM vendors globally, writes a popular BPM blog at
www.column2.com and is a featured conference
speaker on BPM and related topics.

Kemsley Design
http://www.kemsleydesign.com

Column 2
http://column2.com/

Sponsor This white paper was sponsored by

Copyright © 2002-2015 Bizagi. All rights reserved.

8 Going Beyond Process Modeling

Go Beyond Process Modeling with Bizagi

So you’ve modeled your organizational processes, which has in turn, improved the
transparency and visibility of what you and your team are working on. Your roles are
clearly defined; your tasks and activities are aligned. But this is just the start. The fact is,
to get on the road to continuous improvement, you still need to execute your processes
manually and send tons of emails and spreadsheets every day to make them work.

Process modeling is essential in complex organizations to get a visual overview of how

things work across cross-functional teams. It is a prerequisite to process automation.
Process automation is simply the digitization of a business process. Once you digitize and
streamline the process within your organization, you can feel the effect on your bottom
line - the actual business benefits.

Automation is key to determining the inefficiencies and bottlenecks in a process. It helps

you to embrace change. It helps teams to support collaboration and work in a far more
controlled and measurable way – ensuring increased efficiency, agility and faster time to
market.

Why We Manage Processes

Bizagi is a software platform vendor. Our integrated solution supports the complete BPM
lifecycle from modeling through to automation and deployment – easily summarized as:
model-build-run.

Design process Build process Run Bizagi

maps apps enterprise-wide

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9 Going Beyond Process Modeling

We are an innovative disrupter in the BPM market and were first in the enterprise
application space to offer freemium software. With Bizagi, there is very little coding as the
modeled process is the application. Business people work alongside IT in defining
requirements, building & automating processes, which produces fast results.

Our software is intuitive and uses a “drag and drop” interface to easily adapt and digitalize
the processes whilst supporting reusability of all business objects, data, and forms -
accelerating your time to market. With Bizagi, users easily move from process modeling
to execution, without needing technical knowledge, making this a seamless and a
painless transition.

FAST FLEXIBLE FREE

Our free software comes with active BPM support forums, dedicated social media groups
and online training to help you fast-track your BPM journey.

You can use our ready-made and reusable process apps from Process Xchange or take
advantage of our ready-made “Lego” blocks from Widget Xchange - another two great
reasons to automate your processes with Bizagi!

And don’t forget – when you download our free software, you become part of the buzzing
Bizagi Community. With 200,000 members worldwide, you’ll never be short of advice,
ideas and like-minded people to interact with.

Copyright © 2002-2015 Bizagi. All rights reserved.

10 Going Beyond Process Modeling

Automation with Bizagi - customer benefits:

Our customers have gained competitive advantage by automating complex processes (cross-
functional, global) & daily tasks, for example:

• adidas connects 500 sales units & 400
factories to streamline 5,000 PO changes a
month
• Colombian government, Colpensiones,
automates state pensions, performing 28m
activities a month and serving 6.5m people
• Abengoa’s 400 processes connect 149
companies and 14,000 staff speaking
multiple languages
• ICO (SME Virtual Bank) handled 80,000
credit applications in highly regulated
environment

Key problem areas addressed by Bizagi:

• Slow time to market. Anida (BBVA)
automated real-estate asset admission in
19 weeks, 5 weeks earlier than projected;
Mars’ time to market improved seven-fold
• Low productivity & quality. Saudi
Hospital’s patient registration process
increased staff efficiency by 60% & reduced
human errors by 80%
• Weak regulation compliance. Standard
processes, transparency, better controls
deliver complete auditability & traceability
at Saudi hospital (PSMMC), Anida & the
Colombian government pension unit,
Colpensiones.
• Lack of collaboration. We connect silos &
bridge the gap between business & IT as
proved at adidas, Generali, Audi, and
Abengoa.
• High development costs. On average, our
projects cost 30% of in-house development
costs or less than 50% of competitive
systems.

Got 2 minutes? Check out this video.

Bizagi Studio turns your process models into running applications – without code. And what’s more,
it’s 100% FREE – no time limits, no restrictions on user numbers!

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