If you search the Web for the term "business productivity", you will find that many of the results are associated with business applications. There are apps for time management, apps for invoice processing, apps for inventory control, and apps to help you with just about everything you might want to do. (There is even an app that will remind you when to take breaks). At a macro level, this makes sense. Because they are built to target specific functions, apps are great at identifying and attacking well-defined issues. In and of themselves, however, applications can only solve those problems they are equipped to address. That, too, makes sense.
Business operations can also be enhanced by, and through, applications. Irrespective of how work is inputted, transacted and delivered, the foundation for business productivity will always be process and workflow.
Your business is a complex creature that changes constantly. While most applications are updated regularly with new features, businesses themselves thrive on real-time decision-making, which can only happen with an underlying set of principles and actions that move the business forward.
At BP Logix, we work with a variety of companies who operate in many different industries and markets. Each organization is unique with goals change from quarter to quarter (or week to week). The one thing our customers continually tell us is that they need a unified way to conduct their business; not the "same way" but, rather, having a template that facilitates consistency among users. While workflows themselves are flexible and meant to be modified when needed, employees must be prepared to attack problems as they arise, in order for the company to thrive and be successful.
Our customers also come to us with different types of problems. Because they are smart and innovative, they come with what we call a ‘solution mindset’. There are very few issues that they haven't been able to solve— and Process Director is a major ally in how they attack those issues. The BP Logix faithful use Process Director to address both narrow, specific issues, and larger, inter- and intra-company ones. Process Director gives them the flexibility and comprehensiveness they need to address and resolve their problems.
Any type of process, be it one for marketing, financials, HR, manufacturing, or any combination of these, can be addressed by Process Director. Beyond a BPM software and workflow software solution, it is also a methodology that weaves a mindset among users. No business application, no matter how robust, can do this unless it is integrated across the enterprise. That requires months of work and a significant budget. A process, on the other hand, can be created to identify the critical data and human interactions needed to move forward. A process is not at the mercy of data; rather, it makes use of data from a variety of BPM applications and workflow applications to make the things it delivers more valuable than the sum of its parts.
Business processes offer a unique type of platform. They do not rely solely on bits and bytes. Business processes take data, combine it with the human element, and establish a more efficient and productive environment for the employees that make a business more competitive and successful.