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It is common knowledge that you need to build on top of a good foundation.
That advice may even be biblical but it certainly is part of an favorite old-time
children's story. And even if modern parents don't tell the story of The Three
Little Pigs any longer because of its violence, starting with a good foundation
is still good construction advice. It applies equally to business process management
(BPM) projects.
And the basis of a good BPM foundation is the process discovery effort. Although
no BPM project should proceed without some form of process discovery -- and
at least implicitly there is some kind of process discovery in every BPM project
whether you admit it or not -- process discovery can be used to manage enterprises
even without a BPM sequel. But thinking just in terms of BPM, the process discovery
effort divides among:
- Those of you that use the process discovery features built into your already
acquired BPM suite or sold with that suite. Examples include using the discovery
features in ActionBase; using the integrated features of Metastorm's BPM and
ProVision brands, Lombardi's Teamworks and Blueprint, or Fujitsu's Interstage
BPM product and Automated Process Discovery (APD) service; or using the Mega
discovery software integrated with and marketed jointly with Appian.
- Those of you that look first to freestanding process discovery software,
because you have not yet made a BPM suite decision and/or don't think you
should choose a BPM product before completing process discovery. Examples
in this case include the use of APD, Blueprint, Mega, OpenConnect, OpenSpan,
ProVision, Serena or Stereologic on an a la carte basis.
- Those of you that don't think you should even make a software/technology
decision before beginning process discovery. This is the advice of many management
and BPM consulting firms. Many of the larger companies noted above offer such
a service prior to beginning a BPM project and those that don't partner with
someone that does.
The three approaches have advantages and disadvantages that you need to meld
together in a mix that is unique to your enterprise's BPM needs and plans.
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