As with a number of my posts I do occasionally get off the beaten track and talk about other subjects.  Business Process Management just happens to be one of them.



For those of you who want to brush up on what that means i've "lifted" a definition from Wikipedia that address that quite well.



"Business process management (BPM) is a method of efficiently aligning an organization with the wants and needs of clients. It is a holistic management approach that promotes business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility and integration with technology. As organizations strive for attainment of their objectives, BPM attempts to continuously improve processes - the process to define, measure and improve your processes – a ‘process optimization' process."



Business process management can be broadly grouped into the following categories.
 





     
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  • Design




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  • Modeling




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  • Execution




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  • Monitoring




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  • Optimization




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Benefits of Business Process Management



The hard work here is done by the tools and technologies at ones disposal, dramatically increasing the efficiency gains. Some of the biggest advantages are:



1. Transparency

BPM makes a business process very  transparent, thereby improving visibility and efficiency.  It can show where the most delays are occurring, and where is each transaction stuck as it passes from one stage to another.



2. Process refinement

The initial configuration and design exercise coupled with the data that emerges after running processes for some time can allow refinement.



3. Centralization of Data