Analytica Business Consultants

Business Process Management (BPM)

What is Business Process Management (BPM)?

Business Process Management (BPM) is a discipline that employs a variety of tools and techniques to model, implement, monitor, and improve business processes. In order to create business outcomes in support of a business strategy, a business process coordinates the behavior of people, systems, information, and things.

BPM focuses on establishing a standardized, automated procedure for common transactions and interpersonal interactions. Reducing waste and duplication of effort and raising team productivity, aids in lowering the operational expenses of the company. Businesses using BPM can decide to use one of the many BPM methods, such as Six Sigma and Lean.

Business Process Management suites can organize people, systems, information, and material to achieve business outcomes by integrating advanced analytics, activity tracking, and decision management capabilities. They have thus been especially useful in quickening digital transition plans.

Why is BPM Important for Business Success?

The foundation of every corporation is its internal business operations. In order for businesses to achieve their long-term objectives and differentiate themselves from their rivals, they must operate at their peak efficiency. The foundation of a BPM system is essential for digital transformation success: Companies can identify new potential and business areas, constantly review and improve their structures and procedures, and use the knowledge gained to tailor their offerings to the needs of their clients by having a digital view of their entire company.

Advantages:

This gives them full operational transparency, accelerates the process flow, and increases their flexibility through automation. Through improved comprehension, ongoing process optimization, and automation, errors, waste, and wasted time are all considerably reduced. With a BPM system, new industry challenges and market trends can be structurally handled and created as new business models. Business process management is therefore crucial to keeping up with the times and long-term market success because it serves as the fundamental building block for increased output and efficiency within the organization.

Various Types of Business Process Management Systems

BPM systems are grouped according to the function they perform. The following are the three subcategories of business process management:

  • System-Centric BPM (or Integration-Centric BPM)

With little to no human involvement, this kind of business process management system manages operations that mainly rely on already-in-place business systems (such as HRMS, CRM, and ERP). In order to build quick and effective business processes, system-centric business process management software has comprehensive integrations and API access. Online banking is an illustration of a process that is integration-centric and may involve the merger of multiple software systems.

  • Human-Centric BPM

Human-centric BPM puts the needs of the people first, with the help of several automatic features. These are tasks that people mainly carry out, and automation cannot easily take their place. It frequently require numerous approvals and individual duties. Customer support, handling complaints, employee onboarding, running e-commerce, and filing expense reports are a few examples of human-centric procedures.

  • Document-centric BPM 

This kind of BPM centers on a particular paper, like a contract. To create a contract between the customer and vendor, businesses must go through a number of forms and approval processes before making a purchase.

The BPM Lifecycle

Process management’s central element, the control loop, used to represent the different BPM activities. It offers a thorough understanding of the process environment and identifies areas for optimization. The various stages of the entire BPM lifecycle are iterative because businesses act dynamically and continually realign their own business processes and goals in order to improve them.

1.  Design

The first stage involves an analysis of the current processes. Additionally, it defines specific objectives that are meant to be accomplished as a consequence of Business Process Management (BPM)

2.  Modeling

Businesses choose new processes for the modeling stage in order to individually describe them in accordance with its own requirements and define target processes on this premise.

3.  Execution

All business procedures that mold are noted and documented. They are then put into practice in a process model, made available in the internal IT system, and carried out. 

4.  Monitoring

These processes are constantly tracked and examined in this stage. Potential for optimization is revealed by a data-based comparison of the actual processes with the modeled goal specifications. Only those who have a thorough understanding of the potential and crucial areas of their processes can come up with solutions, and precise solutions, and execute them effectively.

5.  Optimization

They are then improved upon, and the goal definitions are put into place based on the newfound understanding. The primary goal of traditional process optimization theories like Kaizen or Six Sigma is to constantly monitor and improve throughput times, cost-effectiveness, error rates, and other key performance indicators, for instance by automating or tying processes together.

BPM lifecycle closes and the control loop reopens with the modifications to the processes, signaling the start of a new design period. It is only possible to track development and constantly enhance individual processes if the processes go through this control loop entirely and account for every stage of the entire life cycle.

When should Organizations Implement Business Process Management?

Here are a few business process illustrations where adopting BPM will yield a significant return on investment.

  1. Processes that are dynamic and call for modifications to regulatory compliance, such as a shift in customer information management in response to modifications to financial or privacy laws.
  2. Multiple business entities, divisions, functional departments, or workgroups must orchestrate and coordinate complex business processes.
  3. mission-critical operations that can be measured and immediately enhance an important performance metric.
  4. Business procedures must be completed using one or more legacy apps.
  5. business procedures with a few exceptions that demand quick turnarounds or are managed manually

Features of Tool:

Features that any tool that is capable of managing company processes should have. Here is a list of the qualities a decent business process management system ought to have now that you are aware of the reasons why a BPM system is required.

  • Visual process mapping software
  • form creator with drag-and-drop
  • Role-based access management
  • Mobile assistance
  • strong management capabilities
  • solitary sign-on (SSO)
  • Adaptation to currently used software platforms
  • Analytics and reports
  • Efficacy for massive user populations
  • Metrics of process efficiency

Business Process Management Examples

1. HR

Have you ever thought that the hiring procedure at your company is too convoluted and disorganized? Does your HR staff require candidates to spend a lot of time filling out paper forms? This is a result of your HR staff not adhering to the BPM principle. (BPM). By automating your HR processes from beginning to end, business process management enables you to save money, effort, and paper forms. Here are a few instances of how business process management can assist your HR staff in streamlining its operations:

  • Quicker approval of employee timesheets
  • Easily onboard new employees

2. Sales

To get sales invoices approved, the accounts receivable (AR) staff and the sales team typically spend a lot of time working together. The salespeople’s lives are ruined by even the smallest typo on bills. This is where business process management enters the picture, as it automates the invoice approval process and does away with the possibility of manual mistakes and the need for clarification exchanges between the AP staff and the sales team. Here are a few scenarios where business process management can assist the sales staff in streamlining their procedures:

  • Streamline your processes for the sales cycle
  • Deliver quotes and invoices on schedule.

3. Finance

Every day, the finance staff is inundated with emails and paper forms because everything involving money must pass through them. As an illustration, if the asset management team wishes to buy 50 laptops, they send the vendor’s quote to the finance team for approval. This is merely one example. Think about the volume of emails and paper forms that they receive every day from different teams. They struggle to handle all of these without a system in place. They can handle everything thanks to business process management (BPM) software. Here are a few scenarios in which business process management comes to the rescue in the finance sector:

  • Travel request approvals in one step
  • Create unique processes for specific situations
Business Process Automation (BPA) vs Business Process Management (BPM)

Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Process Automation (BPA) are similar and even complementary in some respects, but they are not the same. Process automation is the focus of BPA, whereas process management, which may or may not include automation, is the focus of BPM. Simply stated, not all BPM may involve BPA, but all BPA can be thought of as a form of BPM.

Any technique used to automate and streamline business operations is referred to as business process automation (BPA). It can adopt a broad range of applications and tools that seek to increase productivity, agility, efficiency, and compliance in regular business duties.

BPA is frequently used in the following types of processes:

  • Employee onboarding and offboarding
  • Vacation requests
  • HR requests
  • Expense filing
  • New equipment requests
  • IT support requests

Example:

Business processes that are initiated by a particular, triggering event are usually those that can be automated. As an illustration, the submission of an expenditure report could start a pre-planned chain of events that culminates in the employee receiving reimbursement in their bank account.

On the other hand, BPM is a methodical strategy for enhancing business operations. Everyone will have a greater understanding of how they add to the accomplishment of organizational goals when it is successfully implemented. This usually results in a happy, more effective workforce, which usually leads to happier clients, increased earnings, and decreased expenses.

Business process management use cases

More structure around processes is provided by BPM software, which reduces some inefficiencies in a particular routine. Here are some instances where it has been effectively used:

  • Content distribution:

BPM can be used by media companies to automate the creation, distribution, and maintenance of information. Systems for content management, rights management, content traffic, and task orders can all be integrated with business process management software.

  • Customer service:

When there is a high volume of service requests, customer care representatives can identify commonly asked questions for chatbots to handle, relieving the team. Additionally, transcript data from contact centers and chatbots can be used to further automate workflows and provide customers with more individualized service.

  • Finance:

Companies can acquire business software or hardware more quickly by creating templates to standardize purchase order entries from various teams. Additionally, for special circumstances, customized processes can be created.

  • Human resources:

BPM can be used by HR to streamline workflow and document handling. It offers a more structured setting for handling HR forms, including those for hiring and firing employees, performance reviews, leave requests, and timesheet approval.

  • Banking:

Banks must assess applicants for possible credit risk when processing loans for people or businesses. The information must be gathered from a variety of places, including applicants, employers, and credit rating agencies. By controlling the flow of information throughout the process and lowering documentation errors, BPM speeds up choices regarding loan eligibility.

  • Order fulfillment:

Businesses can use BPM to increase the business effectiveness of their order fulfillment systems. Special offers, purchase capture, and order fulfillment can all be managed by BPM. As a result, the procedure is changed to focus on customer-centric order management, which generates higher business value.

What are the Benefits of Implementing Business Process Management?

Organizations can complete their digital transformation and achieve their larger organizational objectives with the aid of business process management. Some significant benefits of adopting BPM in your business include the following:

1. Improved Business Agility

To adapt to changing market conditions, an organization’s business procedures must be changed and improved. Businesses can pause business operations, make changes, and then restart them thanks to BPM. Business processes become more responsive through workflow modifications, reuse, and customization, and the firm gains a deeper grasp of the effects of process changes as a result.

2. Reduced Costs and Higher Revenues 

By eliminating bottlenecks, a business process management tool gradually lowers expenses in a significant way. Reduced lead times for product sales, which give customers quick access to services and goods, can have the impact of increasing sales and improving revenue. BPM tools can be used to distribute and track resources to reduce waste, which also helps to reduce expenses and boost profits.

3. Higher Efficiency

The integration of corporate processes offers the capability to increase process efficiency from start to finish. Process owners can carefully monitor delays and, if necessary, allocate more resources with the correct information. The business process becomes more efficient thanks to automation and the elimination of repetitive duties.

4. Better Visibility

Real-time tracking of critical performance indicators is ensured by BPM software while automation is made possible. Better management and the ability to effectively change structures and processes while monitoring results are the results of this increased transparency.

5. Compliance, Safety, and Security

Organizations will always adhere to legal requirements and standards thanks to a thorough BPM. By correctly documenting procedures and facilitating compliance, BPM can also support safety and security measures. In order to prevent fraud, theft, or loss of the company’s assets, including tangible property and sensitive data, businesses can encourage their employees to do so.

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