Recent posts about BP Logix (2)

Process Director Business Process Management Software

Process Director business process management software is designed to support the multiple processes that make a business run. It works to improve workflow processes by automating, reducing redundancies and outdated practices, streamlining document based procedures and more. Agile BPM software like Process Director can meet specific needs unlike enterprise software of old, making it the new solution for a variety of applications to increase businesses’ bottom lines.

Intelligent Business Process Management Software (iBPMS)

Business Process Automation: The process of automating redundant tasks removes redundancies and increases efficiency for better output.

Social BPM: Social media can make or break credibility with today’s consumer. Social BPM watches consumer behaviors and takes specific actions to provide more dynamic online engagements.

Mobile BPM: BPM software is ever expanding through the use of apps. Rapid app development means solutions for field workers to reduce lag time and increase consistency.

Electronic Forms: Create consistent data entry and rules around who can access what information, for a more robust and useful knowledge base. For example: Memphis Light, Gas & Water.

Analytics: By creating benchmarks to track and adjust, managers can be more predictive and responsive to data driven information and make better decisions.

Simple Integration: Web-based software means it is easy to access from anywhere and reduces the risk of on-site back-up failure. Integration between enterprise software is easy to integrate and reduces the need to learn new software.

Alerts and Rules: Automating linear and complex processes with rules and alerts keeps things moving forward without “babysitting”. Approval processes become easier to manage and paperwork isn’t lost or buried in a desk in-box.

Rapid Application Development: Easy to use forms, dashboards, reports and more can all be created quickly through rapid app development, without coding.

Compliance and Security: Document workflow management allows you to stay compliant and organized by storing, securing, managing and searching content across multiple arenas of business. User permissions allow tracking, security and collaboration.

Process Director Award Winning BPM Software

BP Logix is proud to offer Process Director BPM software. Award winning, customer focused and agile, Process Director BPM is ready to take your business to the next level. Process Director is also in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Intelligent Business Process Management Software (iBPMS).

Ready to learn more? Contact us today or schedule a free demonstration to learn more about how our iBPMS can support your objectives.

Order Processing, Quality Assurance, Change Control, and Compliance are Improved with BPM Software

Our work with our manufacturing customers is not ‘just’ about implementing technology for manufacturing process automation. For Process Director BPM software to be most effective to our manufacturing customers we needed to understand their business, how they work with their own customers, and what makes them unique. The manufacturing sector provides a particularly outstanding business environment for process-minded individuals – and teams.

The complexity of building and delivering goods and services in the global economy is probably felt most profoundly by manufacturing companies. With software or services, input and communication renders location essentially unimportant, but those in the business of building hard goods need to ensure they have materials to do their work, and the ability to deliver finished products irrespective of geography. Because of the increasingly detailed nature of accomplishing ‘work’, there is a greater need for these kinds of businesses to have manufacturing process automation solutions that adopt and adhere to their business processes.

Why Manufacturing Process Automation Is Important

Order processing, quality assurance, engineering change control, government and industry compliance represent areas for manufacturing process automation. When those processes are automated they enable near real-time decision-making and auditability. With the IT ecosystem needing to be more dynamic, rigid and form- fit processes must be replaced to ensure that the company can adapt (and respond!) to changing market conditions.

Process Director BPM Software

While repeatability is desirable in any manufacturing process, so too is the ability to be flexible. We understand that companies need to adapt processes real-time. It would be costly and ineffective to halt all manufacturing while a process change request slowly travels through the IT queue. That is one of the reasons that manufacturing process automation with Process Director BPM software requires no programming skills to make changes to running processes.

Manufacturing is also a highly-regulated industry. Audits from the government and agencies are performed to ensure compliance with financial laws and industry guidelines. We built Process Director to implement the rules and procedures that demonstrate and ensure business process governance.

Being beholden to governance, risk and compliance usually means a higher likelihood of audits. For compliant organizations, the need to back-track, research, identify and review previous actions, decisions and requests is part of the audit scenario. BPM software facilitates that by allowing access to information that can be displayed, reviewed and approved for all decisions and actions.

When a manufacturing organization implement manufacturing process automation solutions with BPM software they operate according to well-defined actions and operations, gaining an advantage in terms of both repeatability and accountability. The organizations that rely on processes to handle the ‘heavy lifting’ are then able to focus on quality which, in turn, creates loyalty and competitive advantage.

Schedule A Demo

Schedule a free demonstration of Process Director BPM platform and discover for yourself how this unique business process management software platform empowers you to innovate, respond to market demands, and delight your customers. Or, contact us to learn more about how our BPM and digital transformation solutions have helped our customers conquer their digital challenges.

What is EAI? EAI Definition Explained

What is EAI, you ask? Enterprise application integration refers to the approach, services and/or technologies that integrate software, hardware and otherwise disconnected IT systems in an enterprise.

Most businesses rely on several working parts in order to complete all the tasks and processes required to run day-to-day operations. Enterprise application integration works to take all the moving pieces – from vendors to customers to employees and the processes for each, into a single module.

When Is It Best To Use?

Small enterprise who only need a couple integrations typically are able to use a point-to-point integration, but large companies, those with even four or more connections between operating systems required, are better suited with enterprise application integration. Consistency across databases becomes critical when scalability matters. When the complexity of integration is high, a more stable application integration needs to be in place.

Why Does Application Integration Matter?

Simply put, communication between multiple applications can simplify and automate business processes to improve efficiency. In the past, the time, expense and learning curve were steep to implement data structure changes. Today, with enterprise application integration, those obstacles have been overcome, providing even faster implementation and ROI.

Data integration ensures consistent information across multiple systems, managers have access to real-time information, processes are automated, streamlined and simplified, and information is more easily accessed by the right people at the right time.
Development, implementation and maintenance are faster and easier than ever before.

“If you’re looking for a platform that will help you build support systems for business processes that need to be able to be reshaped and re-prioritized to maximize service delivery – particularly, business processes in which customers/citizens, partners or suppliers play key direct roles – then you should definitely consider BP Logix and Process Director.”

The Future

What is EAI doing that is impacting the future? Better business process management is key to surviving the fast-paced, technology-driven consumerism of the 21st Century. As large business moves increasingly to cloud based computing, and rapid application development allows for greater segmentation, we expect to see top, forward-thinking companies embrace application integration to increase productivity, lower costs, provide better customer service including better social media interactions and increase their agility.

What is EAI to BP Logix

Process Director BPM platform by BP Logix offers built-in database connectors, becoming an enterprise application integration tool that enables you to connect to and exchange information with your organization’s databases. Any data accessible via SQL can be integrated directly into your forms and workflow. ERP systems such as JDE/JD Edwards, SAP, or Microsoft Dynamics GP, HR applications, CRMs, or any program that stores information in a database can be integrated without scripting or coding. With Process Director, you simply select the database you wish to access, and the application integration goes to work assisting you in selecting the data, tables, and columns you need for security, consistency and growth.

Application integration is now faster and easier than ever with BP Logix Process Director. Ready to see for yourself? Contact us for a free demonstration from a BP Logix expert.

Business is going really well at our company. We have seven consecutive quarters of significant growth, dramatic improvement in margins, we are hiring good people, and morale is great. In the midst of this, the last thing anyone wants to do is kill the momentum. Which is why, if I don't nail the project I'm planning, I could easily become the guy who ruined all the fun.

The truth is, I think we have the potential to improve. Even with all this success, I see areas that would benefit from business process improvement— in areas like how we manage tasks, how we communicate, and how we make decisions. I see this from the perspective of an employee whose work depends on business processes and workflows. Yet, as Director of IT, I also know that with the right solution, the right internal buy-in, and collaboration, we can improve on how our company achieves its goals. If I can get agreement and support to drive a project that identifies and implements a business process improvement solution, I have no doubt that every department within the company will get on board.

It is interesting how success can sometimes breed complacency. Some might attribute it to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" syndrome. In other words, since business is going so well, why introduce something that will require ‘change’ and modify our business operations? My vantage point tells me that this is precisely the right time to make a change. We are already running efficiently and have a focus on our goals. Some could translate that as we're already where we want to be. Yet, I’m sure we can do better.

So the challenge is for me to sell it. I need to get senior management to approve and support the project. In fact, I even need them to champion it. The first step, however, is to get my CIO and other executives to recognize that this is not the time to sit on our hands. I need them to see that with action, we can prepare our company for a future where we can replicate the things we are doing well right now— and even do them more effectively.

In order to get their approval and for me to then be able to move forward, I have to explain it in their terms. I need to inform and persuade our executives by focusing on outcomes. I want them to see the critical improvements that our company will realize with the implementation of this kind of thinking (yes, I need to talk to them about business process management), and I also need to assuage any concerns they have. My approach will be a mixture of salesmanship and exploration. I recognize that in the course of doing this, I will also learn more about the issues they think are important, and ultimately, I may bake those into our solution.

These are the issues I will address in order to get executive approval:

ROI: As they say, accentuate the positives. Our executives need to answer to their Board and investors; their performance is based on how well they manage costs and increase revenue. I am doing a fairly rudimentary cost/benefit analysis that demonstrates significant cost savings from deploying a robust BPM solution. It includes estimates of reductions in the number of hours employees spend on time- consuming tasks, the impact of faster and more collaborative decision-making. And because I am looking at a BPM solution that doesn’t require coding to create processes, my ROI shows significant savings that will come from avoiding the IT application queue (plus having the ability to create, modify and manage their own processes.)

Empowerment: Executives love it when people can do more. A BPM software solution, especially one that does not require IT to build and manage processes, empowers employees to improve their workload by creating more efficient ways to accomplish tasks. I know they will love to learn that we can reduce the IT burden and give staff the ability to build, implement and manage processes. That means there will be cost savings and change management all in one.

Risk mitigation: There are always concerns, with any new BPM or workflow software, around allowing access to company and customer data. I completely understand that! If our data falls victim to a hack or security breach, it could have a major impact on our brand; if customers cannot trust us, they will not remain customers for very long. I have already built in tight security controls for our network and our environment. To ensure that our BPM system will be secure, I have developed specific guidelines for usage and access, and, with the solution I'm proposing, I will be able to monitor usage trends and behavior.

Automation benefits: Most of our business activities consist of repeatable processes. The issue is finding time to actually codify them as processes and commit them to how people work. In my company, even the C-level execs are frustrated with the length of time it takes to accomplish certain tasks. I am going to demonstrate what a BPM solution with workflow automation capabilities can do to automate certain tasks, thereby reducing red tape and increasing efficiencies across the organization.

My work is cut out for me. Our execs, like all execs, are a demanding bunch— but that is why I like being here. I want them to really poke at my project because it will ultimately help me create a better plan.

I will be back shortly...and I will let you know if I got the green light. Wish me luck!

Continue The Journey

The Project, Step 2: Process Pat Seeks Executive Champions

Business Process Outcomes: What an Enterprise Should Expect for Its BPM Investment

We talk with companies of all sizes and shapes and, even though their industries vary, their business challenges are usually quite similar. Some have preconceived notions of what a business solution “should” look like. And they have perceptions as to what success looks like as well.

It is not our job to suggest a workflow solution where one is not warranted. We always have to consider a customer's predilections when creating the right solution for them. It is important, however, for decision makers to understand the reality of what workflow is— and what it provides.

The first part of our engagement with any customer is to listen to their story and learn what is important to them. We are workflow and business process experts, but we can’t identify how to help a customer until we understand their challenge. Once we “get it”, we can work with that customer to suggest where BPM and workflow could help.

For us to be successful, and for our customers to derive value, we must also help them achieve a significant ROI. And our customers tell us they have achieved measurable improvement in these areas:

1. Document format standardization: Different types of documents are used within organizations, with differences attributed to functional needs and design preferences. This is totally normal. As long as all documents adhere to business rules and some level of guidance, which are provided by a workflow solution, variances in look-and-feel can be accommodated.

2. Deeper user engagement: The whole point of workflow is to increase transparency and eliminate bottlenecks caused by participants who are unaware of changes and updates. A workflow solution must alert people to changes in documents, request approvals where needed, and provide real-time updates. Those enable the business owners to manage expectations and be better equipped to anticipate where issues might occur. They enable them to be more informed and able to adapt.

3. Integrate data: No matter how you look at it, data drives an enterprise. There's almost nothing that happens that is not ‘informed’ by data that resides somewhere else within the organization. Irrespective of company size, data needs to be shared and workflow is the best enabler of that communication. An effective workflow and process management solution should be able to easily pull data (that includes specified, selected sets of data) from different documents and applications, and integrate it into a usable, functional presentation layer. This data forms the foundation of the workflow— and it is critical that it be easy to create and manage.

4. Make use of replicable patterns: A key element of business efficiency is automating processes. Workflow provides a foundation upon which processes can be built, and is done in a way that mirrors human activity. Doing so allows participants to optimize what works best for them, and use what they've learned in other processes. The goals can be different however the workflow foundation and processes supporting it can be re-used and re-purposed.

5. Better governance: Once created, workflows can be adapted and changed, however the workflows themselves must be carefully managed. You want everyone included who should be included — yet access needs to be limited to those who are actively involved. A solid workflow solution will facilitate easy change management, so that new players can get involved and contribute.

6. More user and admin flexibility: With all the great things a workflow provides, one of the most important things it needs is flexibility. This means it has to be changeable, easily, to adapt to new business needs, new participants, and updated goals. Workflows are not built then left to fend for themselves. This limits what workflows can provide. The true test of an effective workflow is one that is able to constantly change, like the business it supports.

7. Increased predictive capabilities: Irrespective of what you are trying to achieve through your workflows and processes, you should be able to have visibility in to what a post-workflow world looks like. Your solution must provide intelligent, thoughtful predictions about the improvements you will see, then measure whether or not you are actually achieving them.

Business challenges come in all shapes and sizes, and they are not easy to predict. But if you have implemented an effective workflow solution and adhere to a smart business process framework, you will be well positioned to deal with any issues you might face. You are trying to build something that will enable growth; your workflow and BPM will prove time and again that they can be effective tools to help you do that. Contact us to learn more about Process Director and schedule a free demonstration today.

Jim Barksdale, the charismatic CEO of Netscape, famously said, “Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” In the business world, truer words have never been spoken. Money is the lubricant that runs everything we do. The purpose of every organization is to grow and improve—and a better bottom line indicates achievement on both counts. Reaching a certain financial outcome is, however, determined by numbers, and numbers only.

What the bottom line fails to calculate, however, is the human element in our business ‘activity.’ Improvements can be made - sometimes big, sweeping improvements - that do not show up on a spreadsheet. In sales parlance, this is often referred to as a "soft benefit", and may not, unfortunately, be considered. When we talk with Process Director users, however, we find that these "soft benefits" are precisely what fuels large organizational changes which, in turn. ultimately lead to better bottom lines.

This is the crux of the Process Director BPM software value proposition. It enables processes that lead BOTH directly and indirectly to improvement!

Those improvements occur in a variety of different ways:

Participant contribution: Let’s be honest: this is not exactly sexy stuff. But business process management (BPM) is a critical piece of how we run our organizations When we have better insights into the way our companies operate, we get a deeper sense of what is, and what isn't, working. Maybe we knew from the beginning that invoices weren't getting approved quickly because submitters did not include copies of paperwork, for example. Yet, when using a BPM and workflow tool we can identify what is occurring throughout the course of a process, contributing our personal knowledge to improve how things get done. (And reminding submitters, in this example, to include the appropriate documentation). Imagine if everyone in an organization had a tool that would allow them to be that involved?

Insight: For the sake of speed and expedience, people want to be supplied with data and metrics on a regular basis. In far too many cases, users just want to validate the status of some activity. But that's not what is essential. The really critical things are the issues and process that can be changed and improved through insight and analysis. A weekly Excel report can indicate specifics, but it does not encourage users to seek solutions. Process Director empowers users to combine their own analytical skills with the insights provided through our BPM and workflow solution. When combined, they give an organization the ability to change and improve in ways that are meaningful to them, to their customers, and indeed, to the bottom line.

Usability leads to engagement: Process Director does not require users to code in order to create or make changes to usable processes. By knowing and understanding what is important the right types of changes can be made easily, changes that can impact company performance. There are two important outcomes that can result from this: 1) The potential for better processes and operations, and 2) A sense of ownership among the employees who are involved. What's more, when employees know they can contribute in this way, a feeling begins to permeate throughout the organization— creating an internal esprit de corps. This becomes an invaluable asset for any organization, and one that begins to build upon itself.

BPM software and workflow software are business tools. Using them effectively results in greater efficiency and effectiveness. Those lead to bottom line business process improvement. We know that customers seek that when looking for a solution initially. We have come to find, however, that the bottom line is not the only benefit from automating and streamlining processes and workflows. They are solutions that breed the mindset of accountability and improvement— and that ultimately leads to better financial results.

Time can be both the greatest asset and, potentially, biggest enemy, of any business. Failing to meet a schedule or not delivering on expectations can be disastrous. Having insight into your organization’s cadences and applying that information to ‘predict and prepare’ is one of the most important advantages any company can have.

Within the preparation process itself is the need to manage deliverables, activities and actions. One of the best ways to do that is by streamlining and automating the processes that run the company.

Process Director has been developed to address the dimension of time as it relates to meeting the demands of today’s business environment. The patented business process automation software technology, Process Timeline™, gives users the earliest and most immediate notice of potential delays in processes, leading to earlier intervention and fewer surprises. It also offers process owners the ability to examine “what-if” scenarios, enabling them to predict the impact of an anticipated or hypothetical delay in a given process instance.

Analysts at Info-Tech Research gave high praise to this functionality when they said, "...[the Process Timeline] ensures that processes are triggered and executed in the proper order. The Timeline feature also displays all of the project due dates in relation to each other, and when a due date is missed or the workflow is edited ad hoc by a user, the Timeline automatically adjusts and updates itself to reflect the new expected due dates with no additional plug-ins required.”

Our competitors tend to think of timelines differently than we do as is demonstrated in their offerings. For most, timelines are either about: A) How a process is structured, or B) As an element ‘baked’ into an action. In other words, every action is merely added to a time-specified place on the process continuum. There are others who view timelines as a series of milestones best instituted by identifying and establishing repetitive tasks. These vendors believe that at various steps in the process, (some) action should be dictated by a pre-defined set of milestones, events and notifications.

There is value in applying timeline concepts in this way, but it is also limiting. Checklists are helpful to a point. With this perspective, they encourage customers to make their business issues fit within this pre-defined set of potential circumstances.

Other vendors recommend creating processes before any tools are applied. This is not all bad, as it encourages a process-focused mindset— and we are all for that. But it fails to take into account the ways in which a process or solution can change, and how the organization needs to deal with that change.

The biggest difference is that BP Logix views timelines as relevant to the entire process. Each step along the process is subject to the dictates of the Timeline, and can be adapted as the process changes. Within each activity in the process can be entire separate, but related workflows that facilitate the overall process.

A process is very much an evolutionary thing. It must adapt to the changes that occur in the business. Process Director enables non-technical participants to update and change both the Timelines and its processes easily. It empowers the people who recognize problem to be able to affect necessary and relevant changes.

We believe the Process Timeline — and the results it achieves for customers. They attest to the fact that, because of the ability to predict and act, they are better equipped and prepared to be problem solvers. That, in turn, enables their companies to be more successful in delivering results and meeting expectations.

If you are interested in learning more about workflow and BPM, we invite you to join us for a free BPM software demo of Process Director, the award-winning solution from BP Logix - please contact us and we will coordinate with you.

In our technology-obsessed economy, business managers trying to find business process management (BPM) solutions to the problems they are facing often turn to software. In the eyes of many, anything that can be downloaded, accessed via the cloud, or available on a smart phones represents a potential problem-solver. And while technology can bring about major improvements regarding how we work, there’s a lot more to changing the way that the organization works than downloading bits.

One of the biggest predictors of success is preparedness and readiness to prepare for change. For our customers, success is a result of the benefits of the workflow they have initiated — workflows that automate, streamline and tie together what can sometimes be disparate parts of a process. We have learned that to have a realistic framework for that workflow, an organization must first recognize that it is ready. This means requirements gathering, internal education (or training) and “process change” to facilitate the transition to a workflow-friendly environment.

Recognition is an important first step; from there employees can factor in specific information about what needs to be solved, who needs to be involved, and the requirements that will lead to a successful outcome. These are the factors that play a key role in ultimately solving issues! In the preliminary stages of your workflow solution search, however, they provide a framework that helps participants truly understand the role they play in improving business operations.

Workflow doesn’t just happen. You can’t ‘announce’ a workflow launch one day and expect your processes to become wildly efficient the next. For workflow tools to have an impact on an organization, the team responsible for implementation needs to have considered where it will be used, how it will be used, and whom it will benefit. This is the defining moment for the workflow mindset.

The concept of workflow can, and should, enter the minds of your team before it is implemented. This gives them time to prepare, anticipate and create an optimal environment for the launch. Your internal workflow champion should advise those involved to begin building requirements around these questions.

- Do my processes need to only work internally, or should they be available to third-parties in our ecosystem?

- Can my workflow be improved by HOW it will be accessed? What impact do I anticipate from mobile, social and other types of digital interaction?

- Is our organization looking at short-term, repeatable processes only? Is this limiting my ability to achieve better results from workflow?

- Are there documents and data sources that, if included in my workflow, could make it more valuable?

- What level of interaction do I want my team to have? (For example, do you want participants to have the ability to make changes to the workflow or should this be the domain of experts only?)

- Could my workflow be more valuable if it provided data analysis and metrics?

The answers to these questions will determine how to move forward to adopt the right workflow for your needs. Simply asking these questions will help those who work on your processes to think through the fundamental aspects of how they can begin to make changes in thinking and work habits— changes that can ultimately help to identify the best workflow tool and to deploy it in the most effective way possible.

Increasing profits is critical, but BPM and workflow can positively impact so many elements of organizational operations

Any organization’s bottom line is an incredible “motivator.” It is used to pay bonuses, bestow awards and give accolades to those whose efforts lead to reducing spending and increasing profits. After all, the purpose of any organization is to grow and improve— and a healthy bottom line indicates achievement on both counts. There are limitations, though, to what a company can try to achieve through its profit-maximizing efforts. As a result companies have to safeguard against idealizing “business improvement” in terms of numbers only.

What the bottom line fails to calculate is the human element in business activity. Improvements can be made — sometimes big, sweeping improvements— and not be represented in a spreadsheet as those efforts may be more difficult to quantify. When we talk with Process Director users, however, we find that these so-called "soft benefits" often help change the mindset of the organization in such a way that long term bottom line improvement becomes embedded into how the company actually operates.

This is the essence of Process Director. It enables processes that lead BOTH directly and indirectly to business process improvement. Some benefits are realized immediately, while others form over time yet their impact is seen, felt and heard for years to come. These longer term improvements are usually seen in a variety of ways:

Participant contribution: We all go to a job every day and would like to make an impact, and play a role in both our own and the company’s success. When we have greater insights into the way our company truly operates, we can gain a deeper sense for what is, and is not, working. Maybe we sensed that invoices weren't getting approved quickly because submitters did not include appropriate paperwork, for example. Yet, by using a BPM software and workflow software solution, we can identify what is going on throughout a process leading to improving the way things get done. Imagine if every person in an organization had a tool that would enable them to be involved in creating better, and faster, processes leading to better, faster results.

Increased visibility: Pilot and author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote, "...what is essential is invisible to the eye." He was talking about things far grander than workflow, but his sentiment can also be applied to our business environment. Let's look at it this way: for the sake of expedience, employees rely on a steady flow of data and information. In far too many cases, that data may not lead them to think too much about the process. But that's truly not what is essential. It's useful however the critical things are the issues and processes that, through insight and analysis, can be changed and improved. A weekly Excel report does not encourage employees to seek ways to improve a process. On the other hand, Process Director empowers users to apply their analytical skills to the insight provided by our product. When combined, they give an organization the ability to change and improve in ways that are meaningful to the organization, its customers, and to the bottom line.

Ownership: Employees that have the right tools and permissions can make changes that move a company closer to its goals. Process Director, for example, does not require coding skills to create a usable process —nor to change that process when required. By knowing and understanding the desired outcome, the right types of changes (those that will impact the bottom line) can be made. Two important outcomes result: 1) The potential for better processes and company operations, and 2) A sense of ownership among the employees who are involved. What's more, when employees know their contributions hold the potential to make a real impact, a feeling begins to permeate throughout the organization –and a sense of esprit de corps emerges. This becomes an invaluable asset for any organization, and one that begins to build upon itself.

BPM and workflow are outstanding tools to help businesses perform more effectively. Using them can and ‘should’ result in bottom line improvements. We also know that BPM and workflow can lead to a mindset among 'players' that enables them to be a part of, and accountable for a better way of doing business.

Every organization has some elements of workflow occurring in its daily operations. Even though an organization might not have formalized the very structure of its processes, we know that nothing can happen unless there is a sequence of actions that arrive at a desired result. In colloquial terms, it's called, "Getting Stuff Done." In our vernacular it’s called “Getting Stuff Done through Workflow.” And while stuff always gets done, making sure it's the right stuff, done at the right time, with the right people requires a more structured action plan.

One of the first steps towards business efficiency is recognition. That recognition might be as simple as “Something has to change!” or just the awareness that there's a potential to do things better. This is important because it goes to the heart of what the people in companies actually value. We understand that there is a huge difference between a company that was ‘sold’ a workflow software solution versus one that was seeking a workflow solution for business process improvement in some specific area of its business. For those organizations that want to find a tool to serve as the basis of a better way of doing business, workflow software can be an incredibly effective asset.

Establishing a “Workflow Process” doesn't begin immediately after you sign a purchase order. It starts by establishing a culture that looks to its workflow tools as an operational foundation (the place to start). If your organization is ready for that mindset, you are already a step ahead. (You would be surprised at how many companies buy workflow software, yet have a very limited concept of how to use it). The fun starts once you begin building your guidelines and requirements for implementing what the ‘workflow mindset’ in your organization.

Based on working with hundreds of customers over the past 10+ years, we have observed that there are four steps that, when followed, tend to ensure workflow success. There is also a recommendation: that your implementation team includes both IT and business leaders. The more closely aligned they are, the faster the road to success:

Here is our list:

1. Write down the steps: Yes, this may seem obvious however you want to be clear about the actions, people and decisions that need to occur to arrive at a desired result. Be aware not to make the mistake of thinking that workflow takes care of itself. Workflow is incredibly effective, but only if it is provided with the proper steps.

2. Anticipate changes: Workflow is not something you set up once, then leave it to take care of itself. Workflow is meant to be responsive to your business and the people involved with it. If you have no intention of ever changing what you do, when you do it, or who does ‘it’, then you could set up your workflow and leave it. But we all know that business needs change constantly. Your workflow and processes need to be equipped to be easily changed and updated so they remain in alignment with your goals.

3. Predict outcomes: Do you know what results you are trying to achieve? A workflow is wonderful only if it improves results by delivering a result faster, better, or more efficiently. The key for you and your business is knowing what that "thing" is. You should give serious thought to the results you are currently achieving— and create a model for what a post-workflow world would look like. Make intelligent, thoughtful predictions about the improvements you will see, then measure whether or not you are actually achieving them.

4. Analyze: For workflow nerds (we are among the more dedicated), the REAL fun comes when you have time under your belt and look at the results: Are projects being accomplished faster? Did you eliminate time-consuming steps? How is workflow contributing to your company’s overall efficiency and effectiveness? Remember to think about the metrics that will demonstrate the improvements you wanted to achieve — then analyze your processes to determine whether or not workflow is helping you reach them.

Workflow is neither simple, nor complex. It is a methodology and it is a tool. Workflow can be used in any number of ways you to help your organization. It is not, however, something that should be implemented once —then left to run in the background. Leave that to your high six-figure ERP systems. Workflow can help you to accomplish something constructive and useful. Make sure that you apply it with that in mind for your organization.

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.

Learn more about Process Director with a free BPM software demo.

What does workflow solve? A lot, it turns out, but only if you give it the consideration it deserves

A simple, but often unacknowledged truth about the modern corporate world is that it is rife with doses of irrationality. For a segment of the economy that is supposed to operate with precision, it is surprising how many managers at enterprises across the globe lack what we call  “common sense”. Even in the best-run companies, there are times when best intentions go awry and people are left wondering, "How did we EVER get here?”

Is implementing a workflow and/or a business process easy? Not necessarily. It can, however, be simple —and simple leads to less stress, more control, and a greater likelihood of meeting expectations. "Simple" does not mean that the approach is lacking in sophistication, as simplicity is an admirable goal when pursuing a better way of doing business

We know that best-laid plans may often go astray — as competing demands can distract and turn “simple” into a multi-headed beast. Take heart. It is rare to be able to consistently adhere to defined policies and steps in the face of “unintended issues.” Our thought, however, is that it is beneficial to have a  list of considerations to discuss, in advance, with your team — so that all of you can think through, and act on, the steps necessary to prepare your workflow and its  implementation.

Here are those considerations:

First, it is important to recognize that plans are not reality. They are an effort to create an optimal future. No matter what you put into a spreadsheet, it will not likely end up exactly as planned. Different strategies may assist in the preparation (think: agile, waterfall, checklist.) Irrespective of how you do it, a good rule of thumb is to anticipate that you will encounter every possible consequence you have not considered. And, because it wasn't something you planned for, you can expect to waste days dealing with it.

A better use of your time is to identify:

Your concept of success: This is far more than a mission statement. Implementing a workflow does not mean just arriving at a single goal. Successful implementation and management means that your company executes an infinite number of actions according to a predefined (yet flexible) framework. It does so in order to move in the direction of greater efficiency and better results. You need executive approval of what constitutes success: Is it financial, is it based on what IT can deliver, does it mean better use of employees' time, or does it have to do with extending your business to a broader ecosystem? Perhaps it is a combination of these things. Know what it is — then drive towards that goal.

Players: Who are your primary stakeholders? What do they NEED and what are they likely to REQUEST. Those are two different things; you need to be judicious in what you agree to deliver. Part of your job will be to have people understand the nature of your project (at a macro level), not just their part in it. A myopic approach can lead to an enhanced sense of self-interest, which can lead to each person/group thinking its issues are the most important. If you ignore this, however, you will have disagreement before you even have requirements.

Risks: Doing certain things incorrectly will create major issues. Sound simple or silly? Understanding the trade-off is not enough. Not doing certain things (you will know what they are) will cause delays. Think through, in a linear and interconnected way, where the pain points are likely to be — and how you can avoid them.

Granular vs. high-level: As former Netscape CEO James Barksdale used to say, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." You always need stakeholders to step back and remember the ultimate goal. You and the project team must ask yourselves repeatedly, "Is this action leading us towards our goal?” By not asking, you are more likely to move the project in an unintended direction.

Build requirements for the business and technology teams: There is a need to align business and IT goals, but reaching a successful outcome for those two sides of the house may involve different skill sets and requirements. That is perfectly normal and expected; there is a symbiotic relationship between IT and business —and ultimately they are both trying to achieve some level of complementary results. But make sure there is an effort to articulate goals and acceptable practices for achieving them from the start. By identifying, up front, where the responsibilities reside and expectations in terms of deliverables, these groups can better support one another to achieve their common goal.

Fail forward: It is easy to say that you can learn important lessons from failing, but when you have deadlines and a budget, few executives are interested in allowing you time to fail, then learn, when things need to come together. Does the workflow you create with 100% compliance reflect the requirements you had at the beginning— or does it reflect changes in your business that may have occurred along the way? Is 100% compliance with your initial requirements still valid? Seek ways to determine if certain forms do not work well with their corresponding processes. Uncover preconceived ideas as to how things are done. Are there outdated ways of doing things that should not be considered in the new environment? Do things – and do them with purpose! That will enable you to uncover your potential for failure yet the ultimate outcome will be better.

You undoubtedly want to change how your company works, in whatever form that takes. That requires thinking through many scenarios, while keeping your eyes on the prize. The prize, however, will likely change the working lives of everyone in your organization, so take care to give your workflow tools the attention that all prizes deserve.

The advertising industry long ago shed the style dramatized in “Mad Men”— and the same can be said about the ad agency workflow process of old. Rather than Scotch-fueled strategy sessions, ad agency conference rooms are now more likely to be occupied (and surrounded by) iPads, tablets, smart phones and the ever-present latte.

What has not changed is the strict focus on the needs of the clients. As a service-based business, ad agencies can only grow when they have built a solid reputation for delivering on strategies that make their clients successful.

The unveiling of new designs and ad concepts is highly visual —and evokes an immediate response. Clients have come to expect and appreciate that. The ad agency workflow for each project includes decisions, actions and tasks that enable a campaign to be highly successful are the invisible, but crucial, pieces that need constant attention for the ad agency.

In order for an ad agency to "get it right" for their clients, the creative process calls for the right people to collaborate. Additionally, there is a cast of others who provide review and approval for copy, budget, staffing etc. Every action has an impact, and when there are problems, they can lead to delays. In a deadline-driven, "get-it-done-yesterday" environment, time and decisions are of the essence and there is a premium placed on reducing bottlenecks. Business process management provides a huge advantage in streamlining the efforts of ad agencies and media companies.

For the advertising industry, one of the most noticeable areas that workflow successfully addresses is marrying a digital structure with a traditionally paper-based environment. Even today, most ad agencies rely on forms and paper to drive internal processes. Reviews, sign-offs, decisions and client expenditures are among the many elements of daily life in advertising. And as client demands grow, it becomes increasingly more challenging to keep up due to inefficient processes.

Moving from a paper-based environment to an ad agency workflow solution like Process Director smart forms means that stakeholders can easily access vast numbers of forms and data— and these documents can then become part of an integrated approval workflow that helps to manage content, ensure collaboration and provide access to information needed for decision-making.

Lag time in decision-making creates delays which stymies the ability to deliver concepts to clients and execute a tight project plan. With ad agency workflow software, an organization can start to rely on an automated set of processes for tasks, routing of content, approvals and decision-making. Rather than requests sitting in in-boxes, alerts, rules and notifications can be created to streamline and automate the process. Workflows enable organizations to be flexible and accountable as they seek to meet the demands of their stakeholders.

Leo Burnett, a BP Logix customer, provides an example of why routing and rules-based workflow is so important. Two members of the team that implemented Process Director, said, “We needed and ad agency workflow solution to route estimates for the work that every client requests from us - and for every brand and sub-brand. All estimates we create on behalf of clients must go through a process. Additionally, we need to update estimates along the way and to set up rules based on brand and dollar amount – and to control the process."

It is easy to see that, without a foundation and an ad agency workflow system for creating and updating processes, internal stop-gaps could easily prevent an agency from meeting deadlines and delivering its best work.

Producing higher quality materials under ever-tightening project deadlines, integrating new technologies and becoming both more agile and collaborative are some of the benefits of workflow. In an industry that relies heavily on relationships, the more important benefit, however, comes in the form of accountability to its clients.

Process Director Productivity Gains Illustrated with BP Logix Value Estimator

Organizations thrive when they are productive and productivity comes in many forms. We can also measure productivity in a number of ways— for example, how quickly a task is successfully completed. Ultimately, however, business process improvement means producing more things in less time with fewer distractions.

The hope of every CEO is that productivity translates to greater profits and a less complicated way to arrive at that state of achievement. While that is an admirable goal, there is a lot of room for interpretation as to how productivity is calculated. Ask a Sicilian mother about productivity and she will tell you that a sauce needs MORE time to simmer, not less. Ask a widget manufacturer and he will tell you that more widgets in less time is the outcome he desires.

Is there such a thing as being overly productive? Can doing too much too quickly lead to quality issues? We think the answer to that can be a resounding “Yes!”

Many enterprises today are operating with too many people doing too many redundant things. If these companies were to apply business process management to their environments, they would likely find great savings in time and effort, all of which could be redeployed to other business-critical tasks.

Smart enterprises that seek to make improvements in productivity approach the task with specific goals in mind. They tell us that knowing what they want to achieve and having a tangible idea of what success looks like enabled them to construct a business process management (BPM) and workflow strategy to complement their efforts.

First of all, there must be synergy among the different organizational teams that are focused on improving productivity. Agreement on this means a unified vision and collaboration, leading to creating processes that all participants can use. For some organizations this can only happen by starting from scratch— or it could mean re-tooling long-held processes and habits. The hope is that instituting process change leads to eliminating waste, reducing redundancy and ultimately paving the way to better processes. That, in turn, delivers a greater sense of purpose and measurable increases in productivity.

Because productivity improvements are cited by so many customers as a goal, we have a keen focus on it as a business outcome. In our BPM Value Estimator, we provide customer examples that demonstrate these improvements as a result of implementing BPM software and workflow management software. Leo Burnett, the advertising and media agency, sought to gain greater insights into how internal data was processed and decisions made. The result of using Process Director to helps the Agency realize substantial gains in productivity as well as cost savings. Another customer, Multi-Plan, eliminated bottlenecks in with its 300+ contracts that were renewing at different times throughout the year – as well as replacing its Lotus Notes application with Process Director.

These, and customers like Multi-Chem have seen significant changes in their businesses as a result of focusing on how work gets done, determining who is responsible for it, and defining the results they need. For an organization that thoughtfully considers how to best manage its processes,  tangible changes to productivity can be observed—and measured. This may take the form of fewer people required to perform certain tasks, less time needed at decision points, greater transparency and, of course, greater flexibility.

We invite you to spend some time with our Value Estimator infographic. We think it provides insights as to what our customers are trying to accomplish and how Process Director helps them achieve their goals. The ultimate efficiencies and benefits result from process automation, a shift in corporate culture and dedication to change. We hope that the examples the Value Estimator provides will help you to see  some possibilities that your organization might also expect to achieve.

Product Excellence through Customer Satisfaction

We work hard to get prospects (including, hopefully, you!) to think favorably about Process Director —and encourage them to think about new ways they can leverage the product. In an effort to do that, we write material that describes the product, explains the market, and communicates how Process Director can be applied to achieve business goals. The content we produce is remarkably effective, but the greatest marketing and sales assets we have are our customers.

Our Chairman of the Board, Ed Skiko, once explained that we are focused on "...the duality of excellent products and keen customer awareness." Looking through the lens of many years of experience in this business, we know that customers demand excellent products, and excellent products can only be delivered if we know what customers need.

We spend a great deal of time with  BP Logix's customers and, while we are indeed in learning mode to understand how to help solve their business-critical issues, we also genuinely like them as people. Indeed, we have walked away from potential deals when we felt there was not a good fit. Our intention is to create long-term partnerships.  We want to know their stories, and to be reliable and useful for the long-term. It’s also nice to enjoy the relationships we create along the way.

Perhaps the best way to get to know us is through our customers — and to hear about what they are doing. Almost all of them began with needing to address specific problems: processes that needed to be automated, filing cabinets full of forms and documents that could not be accessed in a timely manner, a growing IT backlog, process development that required too many cycles of technical personnel, lack of consistent data in forms, and a host of other issues that kept CIOs and LOB managers awake at night —and prevented them from making meaningful improvements to their business.

The IT department at MultiPlan was looking for a better way to handle capital and major expenditure requests. Their existing solution (built on the old workhorse Lotus Notes) was outdated and incapable of meeting the growing needs of this healthcare cost management provider. The Finance department wanted to work with forms and documents that were based on the ones that had used for many years.  IT wanted to satisfy the needs of Finance, yet provide them with an application that offered other possibilities. (After the initial CapEx process went live, MultiPlan went on to create processes for Asset Management and Disposal, as well as Contract Management.) With the our Cloud BPM edition of Process Director, MultiPlan has met both objectives.  Employees are working with forms that mirror what they have known for years; they can easily identify the requirements for their procurement requests, then track and manage those requests through to the approval stage. With its robust workflow management software capabilities and predictive capabilities, Process Director has dramatically changed how MultiPlan handles some of the most critical parts of its Finance organization.

Vulcan Materials, headquartered in Alabama, is keenly aware of how increasing business efficiency can both help its customers prosper and directly impact its bottom line. The company continually seeks ways to optimize and improve its operations.  A few states to the west, IT management at the County of Fresno  in California needed greater insights into its business processes. Both companies had legacy systems that were still usable— but could not provide the level of analysis, reporting or awareness that was required. In addition, the assistance of technical staff was needed to update and maintain the systems. Both customers are champions of Process Director because changes to their underlying business processes enable them to operate more effectively, which have led to better customer experiences. These, in turn, have created greater alignment between the business owners and IT staff.

These are just some examples that we hope will start you thinking about Process Director. We encourage you to get to know our customers and to listen to their stories. You will learn what is important to them and how they view their "before" and "after" business and technology scenarios. Then, have a look at Process Director for yourself and let us know if we can partner with you to create your business story.

Part 2 of a 2 part blog

Business activity should be done with a purpose in mind. While not every group in a company will have a direct impact on the bottom line, everything that each employee does will ideally contribute to a better financial result for the enterprise.

There are tremendous benefits that result from the correct mix of purpose, methodology, tools and practice. When the right players become focused in a collaborative way— and towards a common goal— the entire organization can move forward effectively. For this to happen, however, the people within the organization need to be equipped with the tools that will help them in their efforts. In this case, the right tools are the ones that best match their skill set and enable them to produce results.

In Part 1 of this blog series, we explained how business goals are formed and how plans are created to implement them. Two particular items were identified as key to BPM software successfully moving an organization towards achieving its goals: 1) A process-oriented mindset, and 2) Tools that empower users to contribute their expertise and impact these goals.

At BP Logix, we know that Process Director can be a critical tool in this regard, because we have seen the impact it has made for so many of our customers. Process Director was, from its inception, built to be used by those who are responsible for effecting change. It is software, for sure — however unlike most enterprise software solutions, Process Director is intended for business users themselves.

We know that tools are most effective when they make the jobs of people on the “front lines” easier, leading to better results. Process Director is a rapid application development platform which requires no programming expertise from its users. Everyone talks about empowering employees— and Process Director makes that possible. The whole point of the product is to provide a business dashboard and navigation tool for those who need a way to codify and implement a structure for running a business. Because programming skills are not required, changes can be made ad hoc, leading to immediate results. Two important things occur as a result of this. The: 1) Solution is created by the person who can most knowledgeably assess the problem, and 2) Time required to make and implement changes is almost immediate. In an environment that equates speed with money, this means a faster time to savings and greater revenue potential.

Also critical to effective BPM solutions is usability. The demands on employees’ time leave little room for a long learning curve. Today's workers are accustomed to social media and highly interactive user interfaces. A BPM product like Process Director offers a graphical environment in which almost any user can function. Because Process Director has cloud BPM and mobile BPM capabilities, it is available when and where users choose to work.

Among the keys to achieving a company’s goals is the ability for employees to have an active role in helping to make those goals ‘happen.’ When they can organize their work tasks around actions that address these goals, employees have a greater (and more visible) stake in how the company performs. It is not surprising then, that empowered employees, equipped with the right tools, can do amazing things to support the company's vision. When this becomes part of daily operations, all pieces of the company can be focused on creating success for their organization.

Part 1 of a 2 part blog

Any organization that wants to be successful spends time carefully crafting its vision. Quite often, however, it defines that vision in terms that may be either unreachable ("to place our widgets in the hands of every executive in the United States), too broad ("to be the best software company on the planet"), or just not reasonable ("to change the way the world ties its shoes"). Smart enterprises not only avoid getting caught into the trap of hazy mission statements, they also apply rigorous and intelligent thought to aligning their purpose with specific goals.

To see those goals come to fruition and deliver demonstrable results, they need to be supported with business processes that enable employees to achieve these goals.

Neither the company’s nor departmental visions need to be lofty. They do not require a lot of ‘fancy language’ to convey what they aspire to do. In fact, it is often the simplest of messages that most easily translates into action.

It is also true that business processes are most effective when they are applicable - and can be used by the people who can benefit most directly from them. Said another way, one of the most advantageous things a company can do is give employees clear, attainable goals, tools to help them achieve those goals, and support that encourages attaining those goals.

Those in the executive wing can easily describe how achieving the company’s goals translates to increasing the value of the business. In reality, however, most employees are too far removed from those operations to understand how these goals are achieved. They have no skin in the game (unless management has included them in the processes that lead to success).

Most company goals focus on the bottom line. That makes good business sense. One good quarter, however, does not necessarily equate to a healthy business. As a result there can be a disconnect among employees who are close enough to the ‘action’ yet also know the difference between a quick win and a sustainable business practice. In fact many of us have worked in places where outside appearances indicate a well-oiled operation. Yet when the cover is lifted, they may reveal a dysfunctional, inefficient operation with a focus only on short-term wins.

This is why a business process mindset, and the corresponding tools, is so critical to achieving goals which translates to business success. With a clear definition of what needs to be done, people closest to creating actionable change can have an impact across the entire organization. Actionable change – this is truly the differentiator!

BPM solutions being sold today would have you believe that it can radically alter how your company operates. Yet a successful implementation of a BPM software solution requires two things: 1) The mindset we’ve been describing and 2) Tools that accurately reflect how users operate. Together they can truly affect the kind of change that translates into achieving goals.

Join us on the next blog for some examples of how that is done!

Capabilities that Can Dramatically Improve How You Work

Business process management (BPM) is used within organizations to address a variety of needs and requirements. And, as with BPM software, reaching some short-term goals often takes precedent over utilizing all the capabilities available.

Our customers tell us that BPM can impact a broad set of their operations and provide insights not previously available. They tell us that BPM is a way to run a business—and that the streamlining their processes (the P in BPM) are what make them successful.

There are three factors within Process Director that help organizations to become more efficient at achieving their business goals:

Processes in the context of timelines
There is no point in initiating a process without having an end point that signifies completion or success. As surprising as it may seem, most process tools have been created to achieve workflow and task-orientation alone— and neglect to consider that tasks are meant to be delivered according to time frames. This is not only limiting to the business, but also prevents users from becoming smarter about where to make changes and adjustments to running processes.

We, however, look at time as fundamental to achieving goals. The business process automation software component of  Process Timeline was developed to embrace the dimension of time — specifically time as it relates to completing a task. Irrespective of just how long something takes, our feeling is that at some point, deadlines, timelines and accomplishments rule the day (more than the process itself.) The work that people are doing needs to be understood in the context of how long it will take —and the timeframes that can be used to set expectations. Just ask anyone who's had to deliver something by the end of the quarter and they'll gladly validate the fact that, as Benjamin Franklin famously said, “Time is money”.

Predictive capabilities
With time being such a critical element to an organization’s processes, the ability to predict activities and deliverables provides a unique and competitive advantage. Intelligent, predictable timeframes result in realistic expectations and are key to better planning.

The best way to predict the outcome of your resources, processes and activities is through intelligence derived from what your processes do. In other words, through the actions that occur within the process workflows themselves. Probably the best intellectual property in your organization is contained within the data and decisions that transact your business processes. We have always believed that analysis of that data helps keep projects moving forward and suggests when adjustments need to be made due to timelines and milestones not being met.

The ability to anticipate and adapt makes your organization more nimble— and requires nothing more than adherence and attention to your own processes.

Coding not required
We developed Process Director for people who are responsible for the outcomes of business processes. We call them the process owners. The knowledge required to understand what an organization needs in order to deliver the solution resides with them — and they are key to their success. Historically many companies believed that any changes to a process required IT involvement (building requirements, coding the changes, testing them, then rolling them out.) With IT drowning in a queue of requests and application backlog, that paradigm no longer works. Process owners can mitigate this outdated system by making the changes to the processes that they determine are necessary.

There's also an issue of resources: why complicate things by involving people who do not have a stake in the success (or outcome) of a process? Process Director is FOR and ABOUT the people who benefit from (and are involved in) the processes. The process itself is not necessarily the goal; outcomes are! Process Director was designed to be a users’ tool. A unique Word-based Smart Form builder and an intuitive graphical user interface make building, deploying and managing processes easier. The result: greater time-to-value from your processes and business operations.

Everyone talks about ease-of-use, and there are many BPM tools that appear easy to work with. Process Director was always intended to be a tool for business users. We want them to take their knowledge and insight to create usable processes that make lives easier and their organizations more profitable. We have created Process Director to enable you, and the people in your organization, to become more insightful, impactful and purposeful.