What Is BPM?
BPM is the acronym for business process management. But that doesn’t really clear up the confusion. So, what is BPM really? Simply put, BPM is a systematic method used to improve an organization’s business processes. A closer look finds that “BPM activities seek to make business processes more effective, more efficient and more capable of adapting to an ever-changing environment. BPM is a subset of infrastructure management, the administrative area of concern dealing with maintenance and optimization of an organization’s equipment and core operations*.” BPM offers a company the capacity to design, implement, monitor and modify processes that:
- Require human interaction
- Utilize several applications
- Deal with dynamic process rules and changes
The Many Meanings of BPM
Since the phrase business process management (BPM) is comprised of recognizable words, it often takes on a different meaning for distinct groups of people, such as executives, consultants, business analysts, Six Sigma professionals, HR managers, CIOs and software developers. “Some use BPM to refer to a general approach to the management of business process change, while others use it more narrowly, to refer to the use of software techniques to control the runtime execution of business processes,” according to the BPTrends The State of Business Process Management 2010 report, published February 2010. For a clearer understanding of how the survey respondents use the term, BPTrends posed the question, “Which of the following best describes your organization’s understanding of BPM?” The results are as follows:
| A top-down methodology designed to organize, manage and measure the organization based on the organization’s core processes | 36% |
| A systematic approach to analyzing, redesigning, improving and managing a specific process | 34% |
| A cost-saving initiative focused on increasing productivity of specific processes | 13% |
| A set of new software technologies that make it easier for IT to manage and measure the execution of process workflow and process software applications | 8% |
| Other | 9% |
What Are the Main Business Drivers For BPM?
There are many reasons for organizations to want to change and/or streamline their business processes. The BPTrends The State of Business Process Management 2010 report revealed the main business drivers to be, “a situation, strategy or goal that motivates management to support business process change.” Respondents largely agreed that they primarily wanted to save money, while they also wanted to increase management coordination and improve customer satisfaction. A breakdown of the major business drivers causing organizations to focus on business process change:
| Need to save money by reducing costs and/or improving productivity | 58% |
| Need to improve management coordination or organizational responsiveness | 45% |
| Need to improve customer satisfaction to remain competitive | 32% |
| Need to improve existing products, create new products or enter new lines of business to remain competitive | 25% |
| Need to improve management of IT resources (ERP applications) | 18% |
| Government or business risk management (Sarbanes-Oxley, ISO 9000) | 14% |
| One time event (merger or acquisition) | 5% |
| Other | 7% |
What Is the Current BPM Focus for Organizations?
Whether business process management efforts are department-specific or enterprise-wide, many organizations are generally focused on improving a specific departmental process or are working to incrementally improve current corporate processes. When the BPTrends The State of Business Process Management 2010 report posed the question, “How would you describe the overall focus of your organization at this time?” respondents reported their organization’s BPM focus as follows:
| Improving specific departmental level processes | 32% |
| Incrementally improving existing processes | 32% |
| Redesigning enterprise-wide processes | 25% |
| Automating departmental or enterprise-wide processes | 23% |
| Defining an enterprise-wide process architecture/measurement system | 18% |
| Defining an enterprise-wide process management/governance system | 17% |
Do Managers Get BPM Training?
As mentioned above, companies want to do what it takes to save money, increase management coordination and improve customer satisfaction. However, are they providing quality BPM training to make these goals more attainable? The BPTrends The State of Business Process Management 2010 report asked respondents if managers are trained to analyze, design and manage business processes. This question revealed these surprising results:
| Always (100%) | 3% |
| Most Times (61-99%) | 13% |
| Frequently (31-60%) | 21% |
| Occasionally (1-30%) | 49% |
| Never (0%) | 14% |
Finding the Right BPM Training for You
How can you get your BPM Training? Choose a BPM program with high-quality content that’s flexible enough to fit your busy schedule. To make sure you’re also achieving a credible credential, you should always pick a program offered by a reputable university. For example, the University of San Francisco’s (USF) Master Certificate in Business Process Management provides a dynamic, 100% online program covering all phases of BPM, key optimization tactics, critical BPM documents and tools, processed-based organizations and vital links to business strategy. U.S. News & World Report-ranked USF is a traditional, accredited university with a reputation for academic excellence.
Earn Your Master Certificate in Business Process Management – 100% Online
Enhance your expertise with the most effective BPM tools and techniques. Whether you need to implement process improvements or evolve your organization into a process-based company, the University of San Francisco’s Master Certificate in Business Process Management gives you the strategies you need. This comprehensive 100% online certificate program provides you with proven BPM solutions so you can quickly implement, manage, monitor and analyze process improvement efforts. You’ll gain the critical knowledge and strategies for BPM success with these three dynamic online courses:
- Applied Business Process Management
- Advanced Business Process Management Methodology
- Business Process Management Design & Implementation
Experience the Advantages of USF’s BPM Training – 100% Online
Through the University of San Francisco’s dynamic video-based e-learning system, you’ll be immersed in a multimedia environment that lets you study at your convenience, around your busy schedule. And you won’t be alone. Each BPM course is carefully designed to maximize your interaction with fellow students and instructors alike. All of USF’s 100% online certificate programs provide these unmatched benefits:
- Benefit from 24/7 access that lets you learn anytime, anywhere
- Watch lectures via streaming video or CD-ROM
- Download MP3 audio lectures and listen when you’re on the go
- Transfer MP4 video lectures to your mobile device
- Collaborate in real time with faculty and classmates through virtual office hours and study sessions
- Complete projects individually and with other students
Find out how you can learn more about business process management with USF’s 100% online master certificate program!
* Source: SearchCIO.com definitions: SearchCIO.com is part of the CIO Decisions Network of sites from TechTarget, a leading online technology media company. Information accessed November 12, 2010.
