Process Is The Main Thing

@ Anatoly Belaychuk’s BPM Blog

Takeaways From bpmNEXT’2014, Twitter Style

Below is the collection of tweets I didn’t send from Asilomar. The asterisks designate my personal favorites.

March 25, 2014:

Foreword from Bruce Silver: We gathered people well-known in the industry. People knowing the answers, no sales guys.

Me: there is more use from smart guys saying wrong things than v.v.

Brayan Reale (Colosa/ProcessMaker) presented FormSlider - nice app builder for structured and ad hoc workflow. If you have to set it up then it’s designed poorly. #ui

Me: in few years desktop development tools will become obsolete.

Romeo Elias (Interneer): BPM for small-IT or no-IT organizations. Ability to work offline and store everything locally until reconnected. #ui

Scott Francis (BP3): Brazos mobile UI, continued from last year. Responsive HTML rules! Mobile UI should not just match the desktop UI - it should be superior. Proposed: register and play. Promised: 1) single UI for different engines (so far: IBM and Activity) 2) make Brazos Open Source. #ui

Me: there is a room for industry initiative - standardize process engine API.

Roger King (TIBCO): task/resource management in big organizations (thousands of branches). Started talking about modeling but has fallen to program code too far. #org

Me: thanks for the reference to Resource Patterns work by Van der Aalst et al.

Jim Sinur (not Gartner): the next catch phrase is Intelligent Agent. #agent

March 26, 2014:

** Tom Baeyens (Effektif): value of cloud - register and login vs. install and setup. No dependency on IT, cheap (do it yourself), scalable from personal to enterprise (oh really?). Inspired by UI from Trello and IFTTT. Decisions implemented via buttons on a user task preceding the gateway (questionable). #ui

Me: thanks for the reference to Amazon Simple Workflow.

* Stefan Andreasen (Kapow, now part of Kofax): hook up web applications by emulating browser session. Robot (web crawler) presented itself as API to a specific app. No coding: build by example. “Best on show” winner. #integration

Me: similar approach was used to wrap up “green terminal” apps in the past. So the idea is not that new but the implementation looks pretty nice.

E. Scott Menter (BPLogix): GANTT instead of BPMN. Predict future timeline of the process. #analysis

Jean-Loup Comeliau (W4): global model for process and data. BPMN data stores mapped to data classes. #arch #bpmn

Denis Gagne et al. (Model Interchange Workgroup): live model interchange demonstration between 12 BPMN tools. #bpmn

Me: from BPM practice perspective, model interchange is more a “checkbox feature” than a necessity. Yet from BPMN adoption perspective it’s important to make BPMN a true standard.

*** Denis Gagne (Trisotech): manual BPMN validation by pinging a token plus live process flow animation by triggering multimedia content on a click. #bpmn #ui

Me: there were many talks about simplicity but Denis was the one who really made it simple - bravo! My personal vote for “best on show”.

Bruce Silver, Stephan Fischli, Antonio Palumbo (BPMessentials/itp commerce): generate “good BPMN” (based on Bruce’s “Method and Style”) by wizards. #bpmn

Me: process modeling is business programming after all. It may be simple in certain cases and complex at other. It requires professionalism. I don’t buy wizards and automatic verification in general programming neither I would in process modeling.

Gero Decker (Signavio): bridging the gap between BPA and EA - integrating Signavio with Archimate (leading enterprise architecture tool) by links. #arch

Me: don’t like loose coupling and don’t believe in round-trip. EA capabilities must be implemented within BPMS. From “What You Model Is What You Run” to “What You Architect Is What You Run”.

John Reynolds, Amy Dickson (IBM): preconditions for ad-hoc activities. Any BPMS is an event process engine. #case

Ashok Anand, R.V.S Mani (Inswit): how to democratize BPM by lowering acceptance barriers with appyio platform. #arch

Jason Bloomberg (EnterpriseWeb): Agent-Oriented Architecture. Policy-based, data-driven intelligent agents. #agent

Me: sounds great but would you approach a business analyst with “intelligent agent”? Or better yet to a business manager?

March 27, 2014:

Harsh Jegadeesan (SAP): intelligent business operations with SAP HANA, using global logistics operator as an example. Cycle time forecasting. Monitoring and KPI implemented as BPMN extensions. XES: let’s standardize on process logs for easy process mining. #arch #analysis

Me: that was probably too much for the format suggested and the case looked too tailor-made to make general conclusions about the future of BPM.

Dominic Greenwood (Whitestein): Intelligent Process Controller, another variation of Intelligent Agent theme. Using DHL as a reference: accept transportation orders on the fly, relocate track routes dynamically responding e.g. to traffic jams and other cool stuff. Goal-driven BPM. #agent

Me: similar to SAP case, too tailor-made for generalizations.

* Jacob Freund (Camunda): open source engine for java developers. bpmn.io: BPMN javascript framework, to be published soon. Amazing: simple BPMN engine implemented in javascript. Live BPMN forum. #bpmn

** Keith Swenson (Fujitsu): Cognoscenti - federated case management. Open source. Personal ACM environment for every participant. Clone projects (copying case contents) at handoffs. Let’s accept silos as domains of control. #case #arch

Me: the use case isn’t quite common but anyway that was the boldest ideas presented at the show.

James Taylor (Decision Management Solutions): model-driven rules engine. Decision Model and Notation (just beta-released by OMG). Everything at the diagram has URL. Elements: rules, documents, knowledge sources. OpenRules open source engine. #arch

François Chevresson-Aubain, Aurélien Pupier (Bonitasoft): modify connection properties on the fly for better robustness. #integration

Me: isn’t it a standard function of ESB?

Robert Shapiro: Optima - a holistic simulation and analytics tool. What-if resource utilization vs. cycle time analysis. Optima Process Capture: generate process map from log data and make predictions. #analysis

John Patton (Sight Software): another analytical tool. #analysis

Alfred Godeke, Chiel Labee (Vision Waves): from enterprise management ontology via model-driven execution to connected. #arch

Me: impressive but probably too much for the format given.

Best in Show nomination:

Special thanks to:

Now let’s look at what others say:

04/01/14 | Responces | ,     Comments: closed

(Русский) “Управленческий хайтек” - доклад на конференции CNews 06.02.2014

Sorry, this entry is only available in Русский.

02/13/14 | Presentations | ,     Comments: closed

BPM As Usual

Sorry, this entry is only available in Русский.

12/26/13 | Notes | ,     Comments: closed

Live Process Analysis & Modeling Experience

It ain’t a classic blog post but rather a rolling-out story. No one knows how it will go neither who is the killer :)

The reader of this blog Crisitan submitted a comment asking how to model “state machine”-like processes:

Here is my made-up story: we are trying to model and implement a computerized system for handling the lifecycle of some licence obeying the rules below.

The Ministry of Energy of some country issues licences for oil exploration and production to applying oil companies. Oil companies must get a licence before they may legally produce or explore for oil in that country. When companies get a licence from ministry, they are said to own the licence. In order to get the licence, a company must first apply for it via ministry. Any licence application gets reviewed by ministry staff and, if application is approved, it results in the issuance of the licence. A licence has an Issue Date and an Expiry Date. Every time Expiry Date is moved forward, it does so at most one year at a time, but it may be moved forward repeatedly thru the Renew Licence function of the system.

» read the rest

11/11/13 | Articles | ,     Comments: 51

(Русский) Типовой перечень бизнес-процессов

Sorry, this entry is only available in Русский.

11/08/13 | Articles |     Comments: 1

Process Pattern: “Find a Victim”

Depicting process interactions with external stakeholders is a standard stumbling block for BPMN newcomers.

A typical example:

Fig.1

There are a whole bunch of errors: » read the rest

08/17/13 | Articles | ,     Comments: 17

(Русский) Что такое бизнес-процесс, что такое BPM: трактовка ABPMP

Sorry, this entry is only available in Русский.

07/24/13 | Articles | ,     Comments: 9

Tell The Story

Occasionally I get BPMN diagrams like this:

Payment process BPMN diagram, incorrect

This is the “Payment process” composed of interacting “Accounting department process”, “Business unit finance department process” and “Corporate finance department process.” » read the rest

07/15/13 | Articles |     Comments: 13

Task Management as a Process Management Imitation

From time to time we are approached by prospects requesting task control automation by BPM.

The idea is simple: someone assigns tasks by setting goals, responsibles and terms. It’s easy enough to develop a system automating terms control, due dates reminders, statistical analysis, etc.

» read the rest

07/10/13 | Articles | ,     Comments: 14

Why Do We Launch ABPMP Russian Chapter

In short, we want to make a profession out of BPM.

The current issue of BPM market in Russia and worldwide is the lack of a common ground - a core set of concepts, techniques and technologies that would be accepted by all stakeholders.

Process management is a discipline with a long history: TQM in the 70’s, re-engineering in the 90s, BPM in the 2000s. Lean and Six Sigma also have process aspects. Apart from this mainstream, there is a number of esoteric doctrines shared only by the author or a small group of followers.

How does it look from a potential customer perspective? He/she sees a number of gurus, each evangelizing his own way. They cannot agree with each other. They aren’t helpful beyond the relatively narrow scope. The natural question “where can I read about it?” doesn’t meet a clear answer. Besides, BPM is not widely presented in universities and MBA courses. Sub-disciplines (e.g. modeling or automation of processes) are available but BPM as a holistic discipline is not offered in a significant scale.

Not surprisingly, only the most self-confident customers get into it - those who have intellectual resources to pave their own route in a rough sea of BPM. Hence the predictable result: today, 10 years after the birth, BPM is still at the Early Adopters stage of the Technology Lifecycle.

BPM is a fun for practitioners yet that’s what scares off potential customers - they’d prefer something more simple, common, boring if you like.

Can this situation be changed? We believe it’s not only possible - the time for the change is now.

Thanks to the efforts of BPM pioneers we now have practical experience in methodology, technology and implementation. A number of organizations have achieved spectacular success in BPM. The community of BPM enthusiasts in Russia develops a common view of process management issues for more than 5 years. We have matured to develop a consensus on BPM basics. (Just basics - it’s not about eliminating diversity and creativity in the whole BPM domain.)

And it’s easy to do because there is no need to invent the basic platform. For 10 years there is an organization called ABPMP (www.abpmp.org) - The Association of BPM Professionals - comprising more than 6,000 members around the world. And it isn’t just a club: ABPMP published and further develops (the third edition to be released soon) the BPM CBOK (Common Body of Knowledge) and certification system called CBPP (Certified Business Process Professional) based on BPM CBOK.

By creating the ABPMP Russian Chapter we want to assist the transformation of BPM into acknowledged discipline and eventually to add dynamics to the BPM market.

Is it real? Looking at the project management state of the art, there is every reason to say yes. PMBOK there vs. BPM CBOK here. A system of certification here and there. Yet unlike BPM, there is no need to explain what a project management is. The reason is obvious: BPM is younger. But it will pass with age.

Another encouraging example is ABPMP Brazil Chapter. I was surprising to hear from American colleagues that ​​BPM ideas in Brazil are more widespread than in the US. No doubt there is a contribution of the local ABPMP Chapter and its president Gart Capote who advised me on establishing the chapter in Russia (thanks, Gart!) Why not achieving a similar success here? Russia has endless opportunities for process management and BPM.

So far, the initiative group has created a Russian Chapter (www.abpmp.org.ru) and registered it with ABPMP International. The next important milestone is the kick-start meeting - the registration is opened.

Planned Chapter activities are: Russian BPM glossary, BPM CBOK translation into Russian, CBPP certification, seminars, workshops etc.

Get involved now!

05/10/13 | Articles | ,     Comments: 5

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