Someone posed the following question on one of the LinkedIn Groups:
What is the biggest BPM [business process management] Challenge?
Good Question...
Implementing BPM software is the easy part of your project - gathering the requirements is difficult. If you have selected the process you wish to manage and you have documented that process [gathered all of the requirements], configuring/coding up the solution isn't hard.
Taking on a BPM project is challenging. There are steps you can take that will increase your chances for success? In my experience, if I covered these bases in advance, the project went smoothly:
• Identify an Internal Champion - This person will be the internal sales person for this project. This is not a one time sales activity, it is ongoing. And, he/she can help you wade through the internal politics.
• Manage Change - People hate change. A BPM project will not only change the way a person works, it can change the corporate culture. Typically, the Champion leads your company through the changes.
• Manage the Project - You will need to identify a [good] project manager. In order to secure success, select a cross functional team so that they can feel some ownership. Be sure to involve potential nay-sayers - if they have some ownership, the nay-saying will be greatly reduced. It only takes one unhappy person to derail a project like this - I have seen it happen.
• Selecting the initial Process to be managed - Projects that take a long time are hard to manage and can go wrong for many reasons. Choose a process that is not too large or too small but has some visibility so that your success will be noted. Choose one that can be completed in 3-6 months so that people don't forget about the project and so that success can be seen fairly quickly.
From a project perspective, it would not be unusual to spend 5 months gathering requirements and only one month on the actual implementation.
Your BPM project, managed properly, can bring your company some significant financial benefits. Now is a good time to get started.
Your Thoughts...
What has been your experience? What might you add to this list?
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