Transforming an organisation into a business process enterprise involves a fundamental mindset shift. In order to realise the objectives and benefits - and these are substantial - the business has to accept the fact that it is no longer measured on the success of individual activities, but on the entire process and what is important to the customer.
The key question is: how do you transform your organisation to get to this point? And can you change your people to embrace a new way of thinking?
While people, processes and systems are all core elements in an organisation`s make-up, when any one of them changes, the most important aspect to consider is people. Be prepared - you will lose people as you embark on this transformation initiative. It is therefore recommended that you focus 60% of your change efforts on the human capital component of your organisation.
Successful transition starts with a clear "end state". At enterprise level the organisation needs to know what it will look like in terms of the desired culture, structure, communication requirements, human resources and change management, rewards, processes, information systems, future principles, and roles and responsibilities.
Once the end state has been defined, several elements, outlined below, become critical to the change implementation.
Business objectives
A clear roadmap, addressing all aspects of the business process enterprise and showing how the organisation will get from one state to another, must be developed. Agree upon delivery dates, realign existing projects and clarify roles.
Employees need to understand why the organisation wants the end state and what the end state means. The transition has to be about reaching clear business objectives which are defined and explained before the change process begins. It is important to identify the core and non-core processes that will be changed. Some of these processes may be changed over time because all processes cannot be halted simultaneously. Achieving the end state will involve a culture transformation that makes the organisation performance-based, transparent, working within service level agreements, process-centric, paperless, mobile and customer-focused.
Reviewing best practice models offers insight into how other organisations are becoming business process enterprises and provides a benchmark for success. Using "neutral" best practice examples also eliminates the risk that one silo will not buy into a process developed by another silo.
A successful transformation rests on executive buy-in. The change process needs to be driven from the top so when resistance is encountered - and there will be resistance - those at the top will be able to say: you will change. It`s simply a matter of either being on or off the bus.
Top-level buy-in is also required to halt projects that do not contribute to the overall end state.
The end state and each area undergoing change have a value proposition. Develop a clearly defined business benefits measurement process to identify, quantify, deliver and monitor planned benefits.
Process managers and process owners must be assigned upfront. Process owners must be strong individuals who do not have a silo mentality. They must be innovative and drive change.
Shared vision
Despite the importance of systems, a business process enterprise initiative must be driven by the business and not by technology.
Gys Hyman, Consulting Services Director, Ovations
A process centre of excellence must be established to manage processes and create skills within the organisation. The centre of excellence provides a coordinated group approach, lives the ethos of client centricity and becomes a resource pool for current and future delivery teams. It also ensures that key skills acquired during the programme implementation are retained.
To manage burning business issues, the organisation will be required to implement both short- and long-term projects during the transformation. The business must have a shared vision of the future while recognising that long-term success is as important as results delivered today.
In a business process enterprise, the systems architecture focuses on the total solution. A common front-end that serves as the presentation layer for the enterprise must be developed. Constructing the systems architecture involves defining key attributes, characteristics and requirements for each architectural component and selecting the best-fit solution to support the organisation`s future end state.
Despite the importance of systems, a business process enterprise initiative must be driven by the business and not by technology. The objective of the project should never be to implement the workflow, front-end, content, business intelligence and/or rules system - the focus must be on benefit rather than capability.
Appoint experienced resources into key positions within the programme. These key positions are also mentor positions, and a dedicated shadow programme can be initiated to effectively transfer critical business process knowledge. It is important to assess skill levels upfront, determine potential gaps and ensure appropriate training is conducted timeously.
While there are undoubtedly several fundamental components to the transformation process, there is no magic formula for change. Although a structured phased approach with rapid execution forms the basis for change, successful transformation ultimately depends on how quickly - and how badly - the organisation wants to achieve its desired end state.
Ovations sponsors ITWeb`s workflow and BPM portal. Workflow applications originally set out to automate routing of documents to the users responsible for working on them. They have now become "glueware" by evolving into underlying business operations systems - while BPM occupies an enterprise-wide space.
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