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Business
Process Management
Articles
Becoming A
Process-Focused Organization
Daniel J.
Madison, Owner, Value Creation Partners, BPMInstitute.Org Website and Newsletter, March 30,
2007.
Process management is comprised of end-to-end
documentation, improvement (from radical to continuous), and
management of organizational processes. Decisions are data-driven
and based on customer satisfaction metrics, quality, timeliness, and
cost. The responsibility of monitoring process performance and
facilitating process changes belongs to a process advisor or
manager. Administering processes is dramatically enabled by business
process management technology. Finally a process structure and
governance is created to “cement” the move to process based
management.
Business Process Architecture and
Design
Oscar
Barros, University of Chile,
BPTrends Newsletter and Website, May 1,
2007.
Oscar Barros of the
University of Chile presents a detailed methodology for Business
Process Architecture that has been used with success in more than
100 projects
The Process Life Cycle and Project Life Cycle
Partnership
Sandra Lusk, BPM Instiitute
Newsletter
and Website, April 24, 2007.
In the past, large
IT projects would deploy new applications or upgrades and be
considered failures not because the technology failed but because
the impact to the business wasn’t fully understood or even
considered as a criteria for the success of the project. Similarly,
many process improvement initiatives would meet the same fate
because they focused on the execution of business tasks and, if
technology was considered at all, it was identified for a potential
and separate future IT project. Unfortunately by the time the
project was approved and the funds allocated the original process
improvement deliverables would be outdated or overshadowed by the
technology deliverables. With the increased interest in Business
Process Management, the relationship between project management and
process management methodologies has become a topic for serious
consideration when organizations consider launching new projects
and/or process improvement initiatives
Business Process
Management Maturity : It's Not That Simple
Jim Sinur,
Global 360, BP Trends
Newsletter
and Website, May 1, 2007.
Jim Sinur seeks to
clarify and expand the definition of “maturity” in BPM. To do so, he
proposes some sound oversight practices that will continuously
improve your organization’s processes.
How to Do Call Volume
Forecasting for Service Desks
Krishna Murthy Dasari,
Satyam
Computer Services, iSixSigma Insights
Newsletter, April 30, 2007.
Setting appropriate staffing levels for
a service desk requires a way to forecast call volumes. While there
are many forecasting techniques, one that is simple, easy to
implement and can be applied to any size service desk is the best
place to start. An effective combination of the mathematical
calculations with management's firsthand knowledge of the situation
is required to achieve accurate forecasts. There are other more
complex forecasting techniques, but organizations should go through
an evolutionary progression in adopting them. Start with a simple
forecasting method, gain knowledge and move towards more
sophisticated methods if necessary.
Integrating Project Management into a Six
Sigma System
Daniel Zucker, Southwest Research Institute, iSixSigma Website and
Newsletter, April 23, 2007.
As organizations
continue to look for ways to improve their systems, cut costs and
develop new products for the benefit of profit, project systems will
be continually refined. The integration of project management and
Six Sigma is a natural fit. This integrated approach will better
define ways to accomplish cost reduction, process enhancement,
faster implementation and new product development. The integration
of the Six Sigma methodology and project management yields an
approach that can be used for both transactional and manufacturing
organizations to better understand the problems and opportunities
that lie ahead.
Business Belt : Integrating Six
Sigma and Business Sense
Michael
J. Pestorious, iSixSigma Website and
Newsletter, April 16,
2007.
The Black Belt as an
expert in applying Six Sigma tools and techniques is insufficient to
provide the change leadership businesses require. Now a successful
Black Belt must be defined as being one who inspires people to adopt
Six Sigma tools into daily business operations. The constant
change that defines modern business mandates that the role of a
Black Belt as a "process fixer" needs to evolve into a "business
process integrator."
Business
Process Outsourcing
Articles
Should You Outsource a Mess?
Outsourcing
Venture, Sourcingmag.com Newsletter and Website, April 25, 2007.
As the double-edged
sword of globalization -- new market opportunities on one edge,
increased competition on the other -- relentlessly forces companies
to pare away waste and inefficiency in their operations, business
process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology outsourcing
(ITO) continue to demonstrate their worth. But increasingly, the
question enterprises are asking is: Should we outsource a mess, or
should we clean it up first? This article helps you develop answers
applicable to your specific situation.
Domestic Outsourcing: Latent
Opportunity?
ValueNotes Database Newsletter and Website,
April 16, 2007.
India continues to be in the limelight for the
tremendous growth of its IT and BPO industry. However, even as
IT
services
and BPO exports hog the limelight, there is a latent opportunity in
the domestic market.
Business Process Outsourcing Can Be Key For Survival, Say CIOS
Linda
Tucci, searchCIO.com
Newsletter and Website,
April 19,
2007.
Technology executives
who have outsourced key business processes say the strategy can keep
a company alive.
Teleradiology Services: An Offshore
Opportunity for India?
ValueNotes Database Newsletter and Website,
April 6, 2007.
An emergency scan is performed on a patient in
the middle of the night in Altoona
Hospital in
Pennsylvania. The operating team needs a radiologist to read the
scan. So what do they do? They send the scan electronically to a
teleradiology outsourcing company in India where it is read and
results sent back to the waiting surgeon in real time! Such services
are termed as Nighthawk services.
What The World is Flat
Means to IT Outsourcing
Ben
Worthen,
CIO Magazine and Website, May 1,
2007.
The days of lump-sum
outsourcing deals and blunt offshore labor arbitrage are gone. The
future is about disaggregating IT processes -- and then figuring who
is best equipped to handle them and where they are located. Here's
how to do it right.
Agile Outsourcing:
End User Metrics for Outsourced Software Development
Nari Kannan, Ajira Technologies, Inc.,
Sourcingmag.com Newsletter and Website, May 7,
2007.
End user satisfaction is crucial for the success of outsourced
software development. You can get all the other aspects right,
but if users aren't satisfied, the whole effort is a waste.
Outsourcing decisions may have been made without too much
consultation with users, but they still need to get their job
done everyday with or without the help of the software provided
by the service provider. This article covers a menu of criteria
that can be used to measure end user satisfaction and
a qualitative approach to doing it.
Notable
News
The Bangalores of Europe
International Herald Tribune, Newspaper and
Website, April 18,
2007.
Prague is turning into a
center for outsourcing white collar jobs like bookkeeping, data
crunching and even research and development, leading the charge in
Central European countries like Poland, Hungary and Slovakia that
are clamoring to serve the needs of multinational corporations - and
themselves.
Human Resource Outsourcing: Emerging Trends
Avinash Vashistha, Tholons, Global Sources
Newsletter and Website, April 15th, 2007.
Outsourcing of HR processes worldwide
touched $59 billion in 2006. Who's sourcing from where?
12
Crisis Lessons From India
CIO India
Staff, CIO Leader Newsletter
and Website, April 23, 2007.
CIOs from some of
India's biggest companies recount how they adapted to floods, power
outages and other unexpected crises
Using Lean Six Sigma to Improve
Call Center Operations
Robert Gettys, George Group, iSixSigma Finance
Newsletter and Website, April 18,
2007.
A call
center client was so disappointed in the call center service that it
was considering canceling the contract. With the help of a Lean Six
Sigma expert, the call center improved its performance and the
client renewed its contract. Call centers are not only ubiquitous,
but also a hot bed for customer dissatisfaction. The performance can
make or break any service provider's indexes of customer loyalty.
Only by honing in on what the client needs (or another department,
if the call center is internal), building a process around those
needs and collecting measurement on key factors can a call center be
an asset to the organization as a whole.
Six Sigma, Process Reengineering and
Prototyping
Bryan
Carey, DeLeeuw Associates, iSixSigma Financial Services Newsletter and
Website, April 4, 2007.
With no Design for
Six Sigma experience, a financial services company used traditional
process reengineering and the concept of prototyping to leverage Six
Sigma and implement end-to-end process improvements based on the
customer's perspective. Because prototypes inherently increase the
quality and amount of communication between the developer/analyst
and the end user, their use has become widespread. Prototyping
should be employed only when users are able to participate actively
in the project.
Using Six Sigma to Reduce Pressure
Ulcers at a Hospital
Carolyn
Pexton, GE Healthcare, iSixSigma Healthcare Newsletter and
Website, April 25, 2007.
Since 2001, Thibodaux Regional
Medical Center (TRMC) in Louisiana has applied Six Sigma and change
management methods to a range of clinical and operational issues.
One project that clearly aligned with the hospital's strategic plan
was an initiative to reduce nosocomial or hospital-acquired pressure
ulcers, because this is one of the key performance metrics
indicating quality of care.
Insurers Are Making Business More Personal
Anthony
O'Donnell, Insurance &
Technology, April 4, 2007.
Insurers such as Humana and WellPoint
pursue an ideal of customer intimacy with highly personalized
documents and phone communications.
Banks Starting to Look to Microsoft Vista
Mario
Bruno-Britz, Bank Systems
& Technology, March 30,
2007.
Microsoft Vista operating system sports
several features designed to help banks' security and operational
requirements.
Notable
Events
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