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.