A webinar we conducted with Jim Sinur of Global 360 on June 18 highlighted some of the most interesting developments in business process management (BPM) in 2008. By the way, you can still listen to the webinar (and the entire conference) and see the presentations by logging on here on the ebizQ events calendar page.
The format of the Q and A that followed the webinar and the methodology of the poll we conducted after the presentations mean the results cannot be considered statistically significant. But I think both indicate some of the strong directions BPM is taking in the marketplace (which means in your enterprise).
First, the poll results. When asked for the reasons our attendees were thinking about BPM, the answers were:
• People productivity 59%
• Competitive advantage 56%
• Process innovation 48%
• Cost savings 48%
• Time 42%
• Compliance 22%
I was not surprised how low compliance ranked given the current state of BPM functionality that I review. Some of you might want to look at suppliers that combine BPM with IT lifecycle management (ITLM) however, which some vendors consider an ITLM subsector and I consider a BPM subsector (BPM for the IT shop).
I was happy to see that solid business reasons were at the top of the list whereas the more theoretical benefits were in the middle of the pack. I am guessing our attendees were primarily IT folks and it’s good to see that you are thinking like your clients and management.
As for the Q and A, as a U.S. taxpayer I was glad to see a lot of interest in government BPM. Questions centered on successful BPM implementations in civilian and defense sides of the Federal government (U.S., I assume) as well as state and city government and all levels of education.
Although you cannot ask a question of Jim and I together by listening to the recording highlighted above, do not hesitate to contact me at dennis@ebizq.net with any questions or ideas for future articles or contact Jim at jim.sinur@global360.com for information on his company’s products or just to tap his wide deep knowledge of BPM.
Michael Dortch has been an analyst, 'information entrepreneur,' speaker, and writer about IT and 'the real world" for the past 30 years. After almost 10 years at the Robert Frances Group (RFG), Michael begins a new position with Aberdeen Group in September.
