Business Process Management (BPM) Definition and Solutions

Business Process Management (BPM) topics covering definition, objectives, systems and solutions.

By Mark Cooper, founder, and Paul Patterson, managing partner, Athens Group
Fri, April 27, 2007
Page 7

How do I measure and actually get ROI from a BPM project?

Success with BPM is almost always measured with a clear, simple business metric, such as:

  • reduced number of returned shipments
  • reduced cycle time for special orders
  • increased dollars recovered from credit disputes
  • increased consistency of task completion/improved productivity
  • reduced time required to onboard new employees

If you can't identify a metric that is meaningful to your business partners, you need to step back and evaluate if you have identified the right target process for BPM.

The right metrics also help keep the project team focused and the business owners engaged. Since BPM is an iterative approach, keeping everyone involved is crucial to working through the limitations of early releases and actually getting the business to use the solution. Measuring and reporting actual results is required, especially when changing the everyday work habits for business users.

For example, if process exceptions are being posted as tasks on a user portal, management needs to monitor the use and throughput of that portal. If users are not going to the portal often enough, the BPM solution can be modified to deliver tasks to the user's e-mail inbox instead of the portal.

In summary, maximizing your return from BPM requires:

  • picking the right process targets
  • assembling the right team
  • following an iterative methodology
  • staying focused on the business goals to drive further improvements and user involvement

Paul Patterson is managing partner of BPM Solutions at Athens Group, a consultancy based in Austin, Texas. He can be reached at ppatterson@athensgroup.com. Mark Cooper is founder of Athens Group. He can be reached at mcooper@athensgroup.com.

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