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BPM Group11 Assign#07
BPM Group11 Assign#07
Repository, and Monitoring Services. You may deploy all or some of these
components as part of your BPMS Architecture, but youre not likely to
get them all from the same vendor. The main question is, do you need
them all? Most organizations already have some BPM tools in place, so a
proper assessment of existing tools needs to be done to determine what
extra tools you need to do BPM, if any.
Unlike the ERP Software that may come integrated, the components of
the BPMS Architecture are not commonly available as an integrated
whole.
So, now that we have established that BPMS and ERP are two distinctive
technologies, what are the differences between the two?
BPMS adopts a process-centric approach while ERP focuses on
organizational functions. They both, however, have elements of process
definition and integration.
BPMS at its core, focuses on optimizing the efficiency of existing
business processes; monitoring process effectiveness, process modelling
and simulations. It can thus, be described as a process-intelligent layer
that may or may not be integrated with an organizations ERP.
Most ERPs come with inbuilt process functionalities, which you may
decide to adopt, customize or configure to suit your operations. if youre
looking for the flexibility that comes with changing processes, flexible
business rules management, process modelling, designing, executing and
monitoring your business processes for continuous improvement, BPMS
is the way to go. You wont be stuck with one version of the process and
you can dynamically decide which process versions to map to which
system users.
The Beauty of BPMS is that you can manage processes across disparate
systems, applications and repositories beyond the span of your ERP
system. So, if your organization cannot afford ALL the ERP modules,
which are rather expensive to acquire, you could implement the BPMS to
manage processes not covered by the ERP. This would still provide the
benefits of integration with multiple data sources or external databases.
Though both technologies can exist independently, a combination of the
two or a combination of their components, may serve you well until both
technologies are available as one in the market
demonstrate how BPM and BPR interact along the Capability Maturity
Model Integration (CMMI):
1.
While I agree that the initial ERP implementation will result in major
changes with existing business functions, BPR will not happen unless
there is a concerted effort to redefine the holistic business model and
organizational structure to be successful with the ERP software.
Implementing ERP will give us BPM.
The direct answer is no. ERP does provide an information foundation
that can support BPM. BPM is more about a discipline for managing
processes and less about software.
Do I need ERP to mature my business processes?
Technically speaking, ERP is not a hard requirement for BPM. However,
manual routine tasks and limited visibility hinder strategic activities.
ERP can play a key support role in automating business tasks and
provide visibility through integration.
Should I implement ERP features that support business activities at
different maturity levels?
Business realities will necessitate that customers implement ERP
features supporting different CMMI maturity levels. The problem lies in
two areas:
1.
Company
Technology
Function fit
Support
Cost of ownership
Once the vendors have been identified, the team should go about a
process of evaluating these criteria. Here is a definition of each criterion:
Company
Company size (annual revenues and number of employees) becomes very
important in your evaluation. Who will make the best partner? Who
knows my industry the best and has the most references of companies
like mine? Are they committed to serving my industry? Who will be able
to keep my company abreast of technology changes for the next 20
years? Who will make the best vendor partner?
Technology
We find that most companies have developed a technology strategy
favored by top management and IT. You will also find that ERP
vendors have their own technology strategy. Even though most vendors
profess they are open systems, in truth, each vendor has their technology
sweet spot. Understand the technology platform and architecture for
each vendor and measure it against your strategy.
Function Fit
Even though there are dozens of vendors that have a good function fit,
you will find there are only about three or four vendors that are the best
fit for your business. The key in your evaluation is to quickly find those
vendors that best address business best practices for your industry.
ERP Support
ERP vendors have a number of ways to support their client. The larger
firms have significant support ecosystems to support their market.
Buyers should evaluate all of their support systems including the
following:
Consulting organization
Implementation methodology
Education
Cost of Ownership
Learn from the customers of the vendors about their cost of ownership.
We find that at the end of the day, most software vendors all get to the
same price for software. A number of other factors differentiate vendors
with cost of ownership. Annual support fees vary, implementation rates
and fees vary, and ongoing need for support varies from vendor to
vendor. Look to understand and confirm the total cost of ownership over
a five year period.
Ultra guides its clients in the development of a decision criteria table
that documents all the facts gathered in the evaluation phase organized
by the above criterion.
Expert ERP Selection Criteria Assessment
Todays modern ERP system provides manufacturers the tools necessary
to improve business performance. Robust business intelligence,
dashboard reporting, mobile access, real-time data access, integrated
inventory control, quality, MRP, and other features can help companies
work smarter, make informed decisions, and improve business processes.
When carefully selected, an ERP system helps companies succeed and
prosper in changing environments, setting them apart from competitors.
Model
Implement
Execute
Monitor
Optimize
Model
Capture the business processes at a high level.
Gather just enough detail to understand conceptually how the process
works.
Concentrate on ensuring the high level detail is correct without being
distracted by the detail of how its going to be implemented.
Historically carried out by business analysts, but simple-to-use
technologies such as Sequence are allowing the business manager to
undertake this task, as this is typically where the in-depth knowledge
required to model the process lies.
Implement
Extend the model to capture more detail required to execute the process,
e.g.
Recipients
Form controls and layout
1. ERP Roll out: The initial roll out of an ERP system itself consists
of various phases commencing with Request for Proposal (RFP) and
vendor selecton and ending with go live and hand holding phase.
Some important matter concerning this phase,as given below, will
have direct bearing on subsequent phases of ERP lifecycle:
2. Optimization: After the system is live and rolled out, there will be
a period of turmoil. Due to lack of understanding, a lot pf confusion
will prevail amongst users. There will be teething problems and
some software bugs will invariably appear. With retraining, some
tweaking of the system and assistance from a responsive help desk,
this phase should be over within six months to one year and the
system should start stabilzing.
3. Maintenance: This is the longest period of life cycle, when the
organization start realizing value of their investment. Users will get
familiar and start owning the system. Some changes will be
continuing such as new reports, different workflows, some
localisation on taxes etc. Maintenance will be covered by service
level agreement, entailing payment of license fee to the vendor. For
a complicated system, there may be a third party vendor, helping
maintenance at site. The license fee, due to provision of escalation,
gets escalated at regular intervals and after some years, adversely
effects Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
4. Extending Values: This phase overlap with the phase of
maintenance. New or changed business processes necessiate minor
or moderate changes in the system. There may be extensive
changes under scenario such as i) implementing a new accounting
system e.g. International Finance Reporting standard (IFRS) ii) A
new regulatory requirement like Sarbanes=Oxley iii) Margers and
acquisations/ restructuring.iv) Extending the system with add on
poducts suchy as Customer Relationship Management and Business
Intelligence (BI). Sometime the cost changes may be prohibitive,
particularly for systems where a lot of customization has been done
during implementation phase.
Parallel to business changes, technological changes also occur.
New release and versions appear for underlaying technologiocal
platforms like Operating System and Data Base. ERP vendors
release patches and versions of their producdts at regular intervals
which needed to be incorporated in the existing system. This
usually involves minor or modeate efforts. But, problem arises
where
many
softwae
objects
were
customized
during
implementation. Retrofitting these objects for making them
compatiable with later versions, may turn out to be a major
migration exercise involving exorbitant cost and effort.
5. Decaying Performance: For an enterprise, business need and
technological requirement, continue to evolve. Cost, Complexity