Wikipedia
states “Business process management (BPM)
is a management
discipline that focuses on improving corporate performance by managing
and
optimising a company's business processes”.
“Business
Process” is arguably THE buzz word of the Business
Information Systems world today. Every
major ERP product provides comprehensive support for Business Process
including
comprehensive workflow management and related capabilities.
However,
this focus on Business Process, the vogue for at least the
last ten years is associated with rocketing system implementation costs
and
escalating levels of project catastrophe and write off, see my Failure
Catalogue.
Yet it
seems that the industry does NOT stop to examine the
correlation, let alone draw the uncomfortable conclusion that
consideration of
this correlation calls for. That
Business Process Management or Mapping as an INPUT to any business
systems or
ERP project, is, for the most part irrelevant,
distracting and DANGEROUS!
Why
should they?
BPM is
a license to print money and blame the client for the outcome!
Bridgestone
versus IBM
An
example – Bridgetone Tires are currently engaged in litigation
against IBM for damages resulting from a botched integrated business
systems
supply, development and implementation based on SAP technology. See "IBM Rips Into Bridgestone
Over $600 Million
Lawsuit"
The
name of the project? OTC – “Order to Cash” – a classic example of
the meaningless gobbledygook that BPM proponents use to describe
process orientated
project activities. Once
one understands
the implications the very use of the name “Order to Cash” is a pointer
to a project
with massive time overruns and high probability of damaging business
outcomes –
exactly what happened at Bridgestone.
In
2009, with a number of highly successful implementations under my
belt – see the ASCO
and V3
Case Studies, as evidenced by joint conference presentations
with clients,
the highest form of testimonial possible, I found myself confronted by
a client
who claimed that I did NOT know what I was doing because I did NOT “DO”
business process as an initial step in implementing an ERP.
They
advised me that they would need to replace me with a consultant
“who understands ERP”, which translated meant “a consultant who does
business
process”. I did NOT
know how to respond, YES,
I did NOT do Business Process as an
input, I never had and it had never been an issue.
I had always specified business process or
workflow as an OUTPUT that followed naturally from the precision
configuration
which I undertake with every business systems and ERP project that I
undertake. Eventually
I walked away from the
abovementioned client and started to investigate and consider business
process
and BPM generally. Five years later that client is
in the process of replacing their ERP, major inditement of
their approach.
In the
years that followed I have investigated and diagnosed (see “Pulse
Measurement”) a number of disastrous Business Process centric
ERP and other
business systems projects with massive time and cost overruns, stalled
projects
and damaged client business being the regular experience. In that time I have NOT
encountered a single
high value outcome or, for that matter, a single outcome that has met
client
expectations. Some
mediocrity? YES! Success
by my standards? NO most certainly
not! -- see my article “What
does a HIGH VALUE Business Information System Solution look like?”
Outcome
of a successful business
information systems project
Let me
define success for an ERP or other business systems project in
my terms:
1.
1. It
goes in flawlessly without drama and works
effectively immediately. Staff
are
experienced with the use of the installation before commissioning see
my
comments on the Business
Simulation Laboratory
on my website – note
that specification of the workflow / business processes is an integral
part of
the laboratory;
2. 2.
The
new system enables the business to run more smoothly and efficiently
than it
did before;
3. 3.
The new system strongly supports competitive
strategic decision making and effectiveness such that a few
years after
commissioning the client company is measurably more competitive and
more profitable
and is growing significantly faster than it was BEFORE the new system.
In
other words, a quick call OFF the record, to the CEO results in a
strong expression of satisfaction and perhaps some superlatives.
Why
off the record?
Because
many executives and managers LIE on the record and claim that
their system is just fine because they do NOT want the shareholders to
know
what a mess it is and how much money they have wasted for little or no
return. I know of
one multi-national with a big brand
implementation on which they have spent over £50 million that is so
useless
that almost nothing is being done in it and yet executives have been
led to
believe it is working fine despite the army of contractors and staff
who keep
things running outside of the ERP – the brand of ERP is not material,
any ERP
implemented in the same way would deliver the same result.
BPM
over rated and overstated
Two
years ago I presented a paper titled “BPM
over rated and overstated” at the BPM Summit 2013 in which I
criticised BPM
severely – NO ONE objected and a few people agreed! – an interesting
experience.
In the
ensuing two years I have seen further failures, including
studying the Court
papers of the Bridgestone – IBM case.
And I have finally concluded that in the context of
business system
implementation, BPM, process mapping and process language are irrelevant, distracting and dangerous!
Irrelevant?
Irrelevant
because most parts of most organizations do NOT follow any
relevant or meaningful workflow (the accurate meaning of process). We have functional units
that perform tasks
to agreed standards, policies and in some cases procedures but
generally NOT in
terms of any discernible “flow” or process.
There
ARE cases where workflow IS important and in those cases it
should be optimized (or dictated by senior management), but most of the
time we
rely on the
intuitive initiative of well
trained and responsible personnel to perform tasks in response to
whatever circumstances
life throws at them from minute to minute.
I refer here to management and administrative functions
NOT to
repetitive operational functions where there clearly IS a process and
where
that process should clearly be optimized using Industrial Engineering
methods. On a
number of projects I have
initiated engagement of Industrial Engineers to optimize repetitive
workflows
(processes) so I DO understand the value of process in its proper
context.
To
perform these tasks staff work on computer screens that are
logically organized with packages of related information and collated
with
menus or desktop icons that allow the staff member to gain quick access
to
whatever function
they need
to make use of in the moment.
Case
study – Workflow solution
where BPM / flow charting was a waste of time
Some
time ago I was involved as strategic advisor on a project to
implement a workflow management solution.
The
consultants commenced by drawing flow charts and doing business
process mapping stuff – seemed reasonable at the time, after all we
WERE
implementing a workflow solution and I assumed they knew what they were
doing!
However,
once it got down to actually configuring the workflow software
the fancy drawings that had taken months to perfect had to be all but
totally
discarded and the work redone because the REAL workflow was MUCH more
complex,
varied and finicky than the two dimensional diagrams could cope with. The much more flexible and
powerful workflow
software was able to cope with this complexity, the text book process
mapping techniques
not.
A
powerful lesson that conventional workflow diagramming techniques
with flow charts, etc, as typically used, are NOT sufficiently precise
or accurate
to in actual fact do anything but produce conceptual sketches of
ROUGHLY how
things work round here! EVEN
in the case
of a process project!
From
my engineering perspective, a total waste of time – a conclusion
supported by a number of failed
and sub-optimal
projects I have investigated.
Hence
I conclude that traditional business process mapping in whatever
shape or form it takes is IRRELEVANT!
Distracting?
Distracting
because management consultants spends days and days in
intense workshops producing diagrams that are difficult to understand
because
they are so abstract and inexact and try and capture real time
“Process” that
is multidimensional
rule based, complex,
variable, discretionary and varies from person to person, situation to
situation and day to day.
Flow
Charts, Swim-lanes, Maps, etc – you name it the industry offers
it – problem is that much of the time the consultant does NOT really
understand
the technique and is so caught up in their creative frenzy and drawing
that they
totally lose sight of the REAL goals
of
the project! And
totally fail to
understand the essence
of the business and the business requirement.
And,
because they are so busy drawing, be it on a white board, brown
paper or computer screen, they waste huge amounts of client staff time
AND miss
the vast majority of the REAL information that they should be
harvesting – see
my article “Effective
Discovery is Essential” for an approach that actually works.
The
most extreme case I have ever investigated was an ERP
implementation which, after 2 years and over a million pounds
had produced
numerous large files of meticulous flow charts, swim-lanes, etc. The project had also
produced a number of
tearful and frustrated client staff who had been marginalized because
of their
long hours of dedicated work away from the workplace such that their
permanent
positions had been filled by others.
The
project had one of the most toxic project environments I have ever
encountered. People
in tears, others
refusing to speak to me except off the record.
The
implementer blamed the client but inaccurately described the
client’s actual requirement and was developing a solution which was
TOTALLY off
the mark relative to the requirement that the client CEO clearly
articulated to
me within ten minutes of my first meeting with her!
The
client CEO and management were intensely frustrated that their
reasonably simple requirement for a small piece of clever web-based
software was
NO closer to being met than when the implementers were appointed two
years
earlier. The BRUTAL
truth was that
NOTHING that had been done in any way moved the client an inch closer
to
meeting their requirement.
The
implementer? – the IT arm of one of the Big 4 Accounting firms –
trusted advisors whose incompetence, indifference and process obsession
was staggering!
Hence
I concluded that the business process activity on this project
had totally DISTRACTED all involved from the REAL objective of the
project and
wasted huge amounts of time and money and seriously jeopardized honest
and
hardworking personnel!
Were
the consultants incompetent and process obsessed or greedy and
using process to milk the client?
That
is a conversation for another day!
Dangerous?
The
above example massively compromised needed client competitiveness,
cost the client major expenditure and removed the best personnel from
the
workplace for a large portion of two years.
The project never went live so client losses were
contained.
The
Bridgestone
example evidences what happens when a system badly designed
and executed on
the basis of Business Process goes live, see the reference in the Failure
Catalogue. Tires
stacked in parking
lots, a huge warehouse rented to store stock.
Orders unfulfilled and frustrated customers going
elsewhere for
desperately needed supplies. Remember
that it is the nature of things that once you lose a customer through
this sort
of problem the customer virtually NEVER comes back – so the IT failure
resulted
in long term sustained loss of revenue and damage to profitability and
competitiveness. See
the Failure
Catalogue for further examples of the things that are
happening. Follow
the links for more examples and more
examples and more examples …
Business
process is NOT the only culprit, it is but ONE component of
consistently ineffective and unreliable methods and incompetent
practitioners
associated with a massive lack of accountability and questionable
ethics.
There
is a huge need for statutory regulation of the industry and
licensing of practitioners.
So
I conclude that business process mapping and other business process
related obsession is DANGEROUS!
Conclusion
Having
hesitated to stick my neck out for over eleven years I have
concluded that to all intents and purposes business process related
activities
on business information system projects, an area in which I can justly
claim
expertise, is irrelevant, distracting and dangerous and should be
avoided.
My
article, “What
to do INSTEAD of Business Process” discusses the approach
that I advocate
to achieving high value practical system outcomes.
The
articles "The
RIGHT Information to the RIGHT Person at the RIGHT Time Enabling THRIVE
Decisions – THE Fundamental Requirement" and "Answers
to the Questions YOU have NOT yet thought to ask – NOW! -- from your
Business
Information Systems" provide further detailed discussion of
the CORRECT
way to implement business systems and ERP.
In
considering the above articles please keep in mind that it is
humanly impossible on ANY project in ANY business to do Precision
Configuration
AND Business Process MAPPING concurrently.
Either Precision Configuration leads and Workflow is an
output of a
well-structured engineering project done my way or BPM leads and
Precision
Configuration gets ignored (the industry norm).
Both need the same people in the same room at the same
time for the same
length of time so it is one OR the other.
See
also my article on "The
Critical Human Foundation" for a further discussion of some
of the
reasons why BPM is so totally inappropriate as a discovery,
communication and
design method. Also
read the Bridgestone
articles for more comment on process obsession.
See
"Introducing
Dr James Robertson -- My Passion for Executive Information Excellence"
for an overview of my credentials and interests. For more detail about
my
credentials see the "About"
page on the website.
Should
you be battling with a business process orientated project that
is NOT performing and needing to understand where you are and how the
project
can be turned around, or be planning a new system implementation,
please email
me or call me to discuss how I can be of assistance.
Dr James A Robertson PrEng
Tel
:
0044-776-862-2875
Email
: James@James-A-Robertson-and-Associates.eu
Website : http://www.James-A-Robertson-and-Associates.eu
LinkedIn : http://uk.linkedin.com/in/DrJamesARobertsonERPDoctor