| In the business world, it is tautological to assert that | | | | which will provide a natural way to cause escalation of |
| good innovation, whether tangible or conceptual, one | | | | tasks that demand attention. Post-processing of event |
| that reduces operational costs, increases productivity | | | | logs, or process mining, can be used to suggest |
| and improves transparency will receive widespread | | | | improvements. These steps that manage |
| adoption and popularity. One such innovation is the | | | | workflow--creation from anew or by repurposing an |
| concept of Business Process Management (BPM) | | | | existing model, analytic and/or simulated testing, |
| which outlines a process-oriented approach to a | | | | deployment, monitoring, process mining, |
| business model that allows one to examine each | | | | improving--describe a BPM life-cycle for a process. |
| distinct process and propose improvements within the | | | | Depending on the complexity required and the |
| model in a modular fashion. | | | | underlying architecture, actual implementation or |
| Any good business model will invariably incorporate | | | | creation of a business process can be as simple as |
| some concepts inherent to BPM. A creative | | | | choosing an existing model or as involved as creating |
| management will concretely implement ideas outlined | | | | an information system and describing its details from |
| within the BPM framework in terms of offering | | | | scratch. This is followed by process enactment, where |
| flexibility and allowing for potential growth for the | | | | the process is executed, and process monitoring, |
| business. However, such attempts at streamlining the | | | | where various performance indicators are monitored |
| business model do not realize the full potential offered | | | | as well as logged for later use. Afterward, a business |
| by BPM. Instead, by utilizing the guidelines provided by | | | | process may enter the diagnostic phase which draws |
| BPM to create a roadmap towards automating critical | | | | upon information gathered from the monitoring phase |
| business processes, the creative mind is free to think | | | | to suggest improvements. The results from this phase |
| of the big picture rather than get bogged down by | | | | may form a basis for suggesting adaptation to the |
| detail. This important concept of Business Process | | | | process, thereby creating a new model ready for |
| Automation (BPA), or workflow management, allows | | | | testing, and the cycle repeats. Allowing this life-cycle of |
| for monitoring the performance of various business | | | | a process to be automated lets a business adapt |
| processes, identifying troubled tasks that require | | | | readily to changing circumstances. |
| resource reallocation and specifying benchmarks for | | | | Different methods have been prescribed for capturing |
| future performance. | | | | business processes. Opinions vary on the applicability |
| In order to fully achieve BPA, all processes within the | | | | of these methods based on the need to ultimately |
| business model must be identified and described in | | | | analyze and automate processes. This lack of |
| detail. This description of the workflow within a | | | | consensus may be attributable to several reasons |
| process consists of three components: individual tasks | | | | such as inherent complexity and non-adherence to |
| to be performed and their execution order, flow of | | | | standards. It is possible that tasks within a process |
| data and resource dependence. By encapsulating data | | | | may have unusually complicated temporal or resource |
| as well as tasks to be performed using that data and | | | | dependencies, pushing against the limit of ideas |
| available resources, one achieves modularity in a way | | | | describable by process modeling languages. It is also |
| that is inherently consistent and fault-tolerant. | | | | possible that lack of common business standards for |
| Furthermore, information about resources is available | | | | describing processes results in poor BPA |
| throughout the process, thus avoiding unnecessary | | | | implementations. |
| verification each time a resource is required. By | | | | In the field of BPA, when describing business |
| implementing these concepts, each business process | | | | processes, one may notice similar sets of tasks, data |
| achieves flexibility in terms of handling changes in | | | | flow and resource dependencies across various |
| resource availability and task specifications in a timely | | | | processes. This is a workflow pattern and it can be |
| manner. Testing for changes before actual deployment | | | | abstracted out of actual implementations and carefully |
| by performing analysis and simulation can decide | | | | analyzed on its own. This pattern may subsequently |
| whether correctness criteria are met and desirable | | | | be used during process modeling for a variety of |
| outcome is obtained. Problems within a process are | | | | processes, thus making the pattern reusable. |
| detected early and effectively through monitoring, | | | | |