MGMT 6125

Perspectives for
Business Analysis
Modules 10-11: Business Process Management
Perspective

Material in this presentation is sourced from the

Business Analysis Book of Knowledge v3.
INTRODUCTION – BUSINESS PROCESS
MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE
• Business Process Management (BPM) is a management
discipline and a set of enabling technologies that:
• Focuses on how the organization performs work to deliver value
across multiple functional areas to customers and stakeholders
• Aims for a view of value delivery that spans the entire
organization
• Views the organization through a process-­centric lens

• BPM initiative delivers value by implementing improvements to

the way work is performed in an organization.
• BPM determines how manual and automated processes are:
• Created
• Modified
• Cancelled
• Governed
CHANGE SCOPE

Introduction

• Business analysts working within the BPM discipline may

address:
• A single process with limited scope
• All of the processes in the organization

• Focus is on how the processes of an organization can be

changed in order to improve and meet the objectives of the
organization.
BPM LIFE CYCLE

Designing

Optimizing Modeling

Execution and
Monitoring
BPM LIFE CYCLE

• Designing
• Identification of processes.
• Definition of current state (as-­is).
• Determining how we get to the future state (to-­be) by taking in
consideration stakeholders’ expectations of how the business
should be run.

• Modeling
• Graphical representation of the process that documents the
process as well as comparing current and future state.
• Provides input to requirements and solution design specification as
well as analyzing their potential value.
• Simulation may use quantitative data so that the potential value of
variations on the process can be analyzed and compared.
BPM LIFE CYCLE

• Execution and Monitoring

• Provides the same type of input as Modeling but in terms of the
actual execution of processes.
• Data collected as a result of the actual business process flow is
reliable and objective.
• Collected data is used in analyzing value and recommending
alternatives for design improvement.

• Optimizing
• Ongoing repetition or iteration of the previous phases.
• May be a source of requirements and solution design definitions
that comes directly from stakeholders and the user community.
• Demonstrates the value of a suggested solution modification and
justifies process and product improvement initiatives.
CHANGE SCOPE

Breadth and Depth

• The goal of BPM is to ensure that value delivery is optimized across end-­to-­
end processes.

• BPM frameworks are sets or descriptions of processes for:

• Generic organization
• Specific industry
• Professional area, or
• Type of value stream

• BPM frameworks define particular levels of processes throughout the

organization's process architecture.

• Business analysts involved with BPM are frequently engaged in continuous

improvement activities as a part of it.
BPM ACHIEVEMENTS

Value and Solutions Delivered

• BPM achievements could be evaluated by reducing cost/risks or by
operational performance improvement.
• Effectiveness
• Efficiency
• Adaptability
• Quality

• Transparency into processes and operations is a common core value

of BPM initiatives, providing decision makers a clear view of the
operational consequences of process-­related decisions.

• Starting point – identification of the business need of the

customers.
BPM DRIVERS

Value and Solutions Delivered

• Cost reduction initiatives

• Increase in quality

• Increase in productivity

• Emerging competition

• Risk management

• Compliance initiatives

• Next generation process automation

• Core system implementation

BPM DRIVERS

Value and Solutions Delivered

• Innovation and growth

• Post merger and acquisition rationalization

• Standardization initiatives

• Major transformation programs

• Establishment of a BPM Centre of Excellence

• Increased agility

• Speed or faster processes

BUSINESS ANALYST ROLES
PROCESS ARCHITECT

Business Analysis Position

Responsible for:
• Modeling, analyzing, deploying, monitoring, and continuously improving
business processes.
• Developing and maintaining standards and the repository of reference models
for products/services, business processes, key performance indicators (KPIs),
and critical success factors (CSF).

Knows how to design business processes & enhance them.

• Enhances & transforms business processes into technically enhanced
and executable process templates.
• Focuses on managing business performance or on mapping technology
to business operations.

Addresses & guides the decisions about process knowledge, methodology, and
technology.
PROCESS ANALYST/DESIGNER

Business Analysis Position

• Has detailed process knowledge, skills, and interest

• Expert in documenting and understanding process design along

with performance trends

• Has an interest in business process optimization to increase

overall business performance

• Understands the detailed process and performs the

necessary analysis for process optimization
• Performs analysis and assessment of as-­is processes
• Evaluates alternate process design options
• Makes recommendations for change based on various
frameworks
PROCESS MODELER

Business Analysis Position

• Captures & documents business processes:

• Current (as-­is)
• Future/target (to-­be)

• Documents a process for implementation or support by an

information technology system.

• The process analyst/designer and the process modeler

functions frequently reside within a single position.
OUTCOMES WITHIN THE DISCIPLINE OF BPM

Business Analysis Outcomes

• Business process models

• Business rules

• Process performance measures

• Business decisions

• Process performance assessment

COMMONLY USED METHODOLOGIES

Methodologies
Adaptive Case Management (ACM)
• Used when processes are not fixed or static in nature, and have a
lot of human interaction.

Business Process Re-­engineering (BPR)

• Fundamental rethinking and redesigning of business processes to
generate improvements in critical performance measures.

Continuous Improvement (CI)

• Ongoing monitoring and adjustment of existing processes to bring
them closer to goals or performance targets.

Six Sigma
• Continuous improvement methodology that focuses on the
elimination of variations in the outcome of a process.
COMMONLY USED METHODOLOGIES

Methodologies
Lean
• Continuous improvement methodology that focuses on the elimination of
waste in a process.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

• Processes of the organization should provide the customer and stakeholders
with the highest quality products and services.
• Products/services meet or exceed the expectations.

Theory Of Constraints (TOC)

• Performance of a process is dominated by one key constraint at any given time,
and the process can only be optimized by improving the performance of that
constraint.
• Performance can be optimized by managing three variables: throughput of a
process, operational expense to produce it and inventory of products.
BASIC SKILLS

Competencies
• Challenge the status quo.

• Dig to understand the root causes of a problem.

• Assess why things are being done in a particular way.

• Encourage subject matter experts (SMEs) to consider new ideas and

approaches to make their processes more efficient and effective.
• Analyze internal and external views of the processes.
• Understand
• Articulate
• Move back and forth between views
BASIC SKILLS

Competencies
• Due to the effects that changes to processes have on the working habits of
individuals, interaction skills are valuable.

• Negotiate and arbitrate between individuals with different opinions.

• Expose and resolve conflicts between different groups within the

organization.

• The business analyst is a neutral and independent facilitator of

the change.

• Communicate across organizational boundaries as well as outside the

organization.
11.3.5 IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE AREAS

Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring

• Progressive elaboration is used due to the amount of information available
for full planning may be limited in the initial stages.

• Common cause of failure of BPM initiatives is the failure to plan for ongoing
monitoring of the effect of changes to the process.

• Initial focus of business analysis work is on:

• Analyzing and improving the business process before considering:
• Technology used to support the process
• Any changes that might be required to software applications or work
procedures
11.3.5 IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE AREAS

Elicitation and Collaboration

• The scope of the initiative and the scope of the affected process must be
defined and understood.

• Process Modeling and stakeholder analysis are generally utilized

during the elicitation phase of a BPM initiative.

• Process maps are an important tool to drive elicitation in BPM initiatives and
stakeholders are frequently consulted during their development.

• Process changes can have significant impacts across the organization, so

managing stakeholders and their expectations is critical.
11.3.5 IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE AREAS

Requirements Life Cycle Management

• BPM is a set of approaches that focus on ways to deliver value across

multiple functional areas through a process-­ centric lens.
• BPM activities can drive out business requirements resulting in new
design, coding, implementation, and post-­implementation changes.
• Business analyst ensures that communication is effectively conducted
with stakeholders and process owners.
• Business processes documentation is available to all stakeholders as it is
to be used in the daily operation of the business.
11.3.5 IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE AREAS

Strategy Analysis
• Strategy analysis involves understanding the role the process plays in an
enterprise value chain.

• Any process that interacts with the processes affected by the BPM initiative
must be considered.
• Both current and future states need to be described by the value chain and
performance measures for the business process.

• Continuous improvement methods focus on the performance

measures to determine the strategy.

• The change strategy will involve the identification of possible process

changes.
11.3.5 IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE AREAS

Requirements Analysis and Design Definition

• Focus on defining the to-­be process model.

• The requirements architecture includes:

• The process model
• Associated business rules and decisions
• Information requirements
• Organizational structure

• Solution options include:

• Changes to IT needed to support the process
• Outsourcing of aspects of the process
11.3.5 IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE AREAS

Solution Evaluation

• Solution evaluation occurs repeatedly during BPM initiatives

to assess the business process performance.

• As processes are evaluated for different scenarios, they can

be refined and the results are monitored.

• Solution evaluation assists in understanding of the impact and

value delivered by business process change.
11.3.5 IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE AREAS

Solution Evaluation
Analyze solution performance task
• Understanding the differences between potential & actual value.
• Determining if a solution can perform better/realize more value.

The evaluation examines:

• Opportunities or constraints of the implemented solution
• How it satisfies needs
• How it could be improved

Solution evaluation result:

• Triggers further optimization of the process
• Can lead to repeating of the BPM life cycle
Business Process Management Case

• Review and prepare for the case.

• In addition to the discussion questions for next class, there will be a short
reflective statement or question for this case.