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ECM meets BCG Matrix December 6, 2009

Posted by Sanooj Kutty in Business Process Management, Enterprise Content Management.
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2 comments

Although the BCG Matrix is primarily a product life-cycle matrix, it has always captured a special position from my university and marketing days. Even with its constraints, it provides a good overview and has hence survived time and challenges from other models.

One of the key challenges for me in ECM has been to map the role of various content and their role in terms of regulatory compliance and operational performance. Here I find a modified BCG Matrix has a good start as depicted in the sample diagram below:

When used in a  Business Process, placing the content in the BCG Matrix creates 4 categories in the content portfolio of the process:

Question Marks

Question Marks are content that have high regulatory importance and as a result requires attention while managing them. At the same time, they may seem to be a hinderance or have a slow-down effect on the operational performance of a process.

Dogs

Dogs have low compliance requirements and low operational performance benefits and this gives a better insight into prioritization of managing these content.

Stars

Stars are those content that, as is obvious, have high compliance requirements and are also the backbone to the operational performance of the process.When identifying your BPM and ERM needs, these content must be handled with care.

Stars are those content that, as is obvious, have high compliance requirements and are also the backbone to the operational performance of the process.When identifying your BPM and ERM needs, these content must be handled with care.

Cash Cows

These content are not required from a compliance perspective but have great value of the operational needs of the process and hence, need not be marked as a record for retention. Nonetheless, it is always advised to keep such content in retention for a while if not long-term.

Cons:

So what are the cons of this model? Well, it does not address the strategic necessity of content. For e.g., while Marketing Materials have been ranked as a Dog, it need not be so as strategically marketing content have a strong role of play for the organisation. 

Also, the compliance laws of various countries may differ and hence, some of the content shown as low may not be so according to some laws.

This post, much like my earlier 5W post, is also just a starting step into evaluating your content. This provides one with a decent start, if not a fully detailed analysis of your content and their relevance in the organization and the process at hand.

First Steps to BPM Analysis with the 5 Ws November 25, 2009

Posted by Sanooj Kutty in Business Process Management, Project Management.
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No Use Cases. No Workflow Diagrams. No Notations and Standards. Not even a Project Charter (well, maybe). No Systems. No Automation. No Sandman. No Freddie Krueger.

I kept wondering many a time if I could start my Requirements Gathering without any of these and make it simple for my Business Users. I wanted them to start their BPM Journey as I help them define or re-engineer their Business Process.

When in a meeting or a discussion, it was never that difficult, as we spoke casually and liberally and knowledge share was comparatively very comfortable. Yet, the moment this got translated into a document for review and approval, they became lost and confused.

The same elements branded as a No became part of these documents and all the understanding of their processes went for a toss. We have to keep in mind that at least 80% of their processes are activities they work with on a day to day basis. Something was wrong and I just was not able to put my finger to it.

I have tried UML, BPMN, EPC, Excel, PowerPoint, and HTML Wireframes and yet somewhere something was missing and changes kept coming uninvited. These changes soon became shape-changers as they took on the form of Delays and Scope Creeps.

I don’t believe I have cracked it yet, but, I felt maybe it’s the beginning that has its set of problems. Maybe, we don’t take off on the right note. And then I had an opportunity to explain to someone how eDiscovery helps legal and I think that’s when I had my Eureka Moment (with the clothes on, of course).

And that age old principle was added to it, KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid or in my case – Keep It Simple Sanooj!

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing to you the “5 W Approach”:

Walk in. Take your Pen and Pad and simply ask these simple questions for starters (I aim to improve them over time and your contributions are most welcome). Let them answer freely and openly and simply jot it down without battling an eyelid. Let it all pour, rather, let it rain!

  • Why?
    A great starter because every Business Process has a reason why it exists or needs to exist.

    •  Why do you want this or have this Business Process?
  • What?
    Here you identify freely, what elements constitute the process.

    • What is the first thing you do in this process?
    • What is the last thing you do in this process?
      Helps one identify where to start and where to finish.  
    • What systems do you currently use in the process?
    • What documents do you currently use in the process?
    • What does it cost currently? 
  •  When?
    Well, obviously you need to know when? Some processes maybe seasonal.

    • When do you use the process? Everyday or Seasonal?
    •  When does the process have to end after it starts? Is there any regulatory or internal compliance? Current SLA?
  •  Where?
    Don’t you think we need to know if this centralized or de-centralized? Is it internal or external? I am sure we do.

    • Where do you work on this process? Central or not?
    • Where do you store your documents/records? (Compliance and Audit friendly)
  • Who?|
    I felt its best to bring the people towards the end. Simply because, we don’t want them to start thinking selfishly, do we?

    • Who all work in this process?
    • Who monitors the activities?
    • Who audits and regulates the process?
    • Who decides during crisis and exceptions?

Hoping these simple and open approaches is useful. I haven’t practiced it formally yet, but, have actually been taking this approach informally and unknowingly. Aiming to fine-tune it and practice it more often in the belief that this eases the Business users to travel the BPM Journey comfortably.

Practice BPM before you Preach! November 19, 2009

Posted by Sanooj Kutty in Business Process Management, Project Management.
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Shane Warne versus John Buchanan.

Few linen have been washed in dirty waters the way Warne and Buchanan have had a go at each other in public over the years.

One , cricket’s most successful leg-spinner  (and a successful coach with the Rajasthan Royals in Indian Premier League), and the Other, an acclaimed and hugely successful coach of the legendary Australian cricket team of the 90s (failure as the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League and a nobody as a player himself).

So how do Cricket, Warne and Buchanan fit in with this BPM blog? Well, while there has never been any doubt of Warne’s skills and performances (ask Mr. Gatting), there have been quite a few critics of Buchanan’s credibility. A view I personally endorse is that Buchanan has surely been sleeping with Lady Luck to have been in the right place (Australia), right time (1990s) and the right team (a team where each was a legend in their own right). Later, when Buchanan with his “heavy on theory” approach had to manage less stellar players, he has fallen flat on his face.

Honestly, BPM faces the same set of challenges in organizations where BPM projects are rolled out to end users but neither does the senior management nor project management really become active users of the new solution. I believe it is time to change that. Start with the ones who introduce the change and not the ones who get affected by it.

Business Process Management is truly an effective and very positive change. As I read recently in my favorite blog on Business Process, “Process Café”, implementing processes by stealth is a very good way to introduce BPM into the organization. And what better way, than to start with defining a process to run the BPM Project and having the first deployment to be the Project Management processes.

This would help the PMO to understand the solution that has been procured and the capability of the vendor contracted to deploy it without upsetting the existing way of working or forcing core operations through a difficult transition period.

Sadly, this is as true as politicians changing our governance policies, as the higher you are up the ladder, the more you are connected to instructions and less to actions. I also have to be honest here that neither have I been a part of any project where this has been practiced nor have I ever been empowered to practice this. But, rest assured, when that stage in my career comes when I have full ownership or leadership over a BPM project, my first process would be the process of the BPM project management.

Until then, I wish any one of the few readers of my blog, start “practicing what they preach.” (If they don’t already do!)