Business process management/The charters for bpm program governance - an overview

Executive summary
The BPM market has achieved an evolutionary milestone - BPM is no longer optional. BPM is an enabler that can provide increased efficiency, higher returns, lower costs, and better compliance. These can be accomplished with a regular cadence and agility previously not possible. However, the competitive advantage provided by BPM is not in the decision to pursue BPM. Instead, it lies in the implementation and execution of a BPM strategy. The challenge is in realizing that competitive advantage with higher confidence for success and lower risk.

Companies, and the organizations within those companies, who already have BPM experiences have furnished us with some data. Reviewing, mining, and rationalizing this data allows us to posit a governance model for BPM programs. This governance doctrine defines the institutions and mechanisms by which one oversees the development, implementation, and growth of a given body. The model is naturally different from previous governance models because of the inherent differences found with BPM:


 * Business and IT collaborate to deliver more nimble, cross-functional, value-add solutions,
 * Projects are regularly evaluated for alignment with (possibly changing) business objectives, and
 * End-users and the corporate population all participate in the improvement of the business.

The Charters form the structure for this new governance model. This doctrine is a combination of collective common-sense and empirical data which should expedite adoption of BPM - getting to results sooner. The Charters provide a coordination mechanism - a checklist of things that need to be in place. The actual implementation of the governance model remains the challenging part, but with the Charters the task should be more easily addressed.

Objectives
As a general observation, organizations are not yet implementing large-scale BPM programs - numerous solutions all delivering strategic business benefit. These Charters have been written to reduce or to remove the barriers to BPM program implementation. Each charter attempts to


 * Describe the set of interactions for different elements of a BPM program,
 * Define the success criteria for certain activities, and
 * Provide suggestions for managing those activities for optimum results.

Scope
The Charters provide a framework to manage a BPM program - a set of opportunities, active projects, production solutions, and the engine (people, tools, and methods) supporting that portfolio. Each of the five charters addresses interactions between these items and the influence of external elements like market conditions, regulatory restrictions, and related non-BPM programs.

The topic of process governance is excluded from these Charters. Instead, these Charters focus on program governance - providing an efficient mechanism by which the Business can achieve its objectives. While business input and participation is required in governing the engine and its outputs, the program lives outside of the Business. Ultimately, the program is a tool for the Business to leverage. The solutions are deployed into and applied by the Business.



There is value in presenting the entire landscape of program governance even if tactics are not detailed herein. An organization's culture makes it impossible to prescribe or to dictate how every organization should implement the Charters. Instead, these Charters are presented in a manner that begins the discussion. Consider the Charters as a set of top-level requirements for a BPM program. The exact implementation and execution must be decided by the organization.

It is expected that these Charters will evolve over time, as have other governance doctrines. This publication is a starting point, from which the BPM community can begin and can further enhance the doctrine. As more empirical evidence becomes available these Charters will naturally change.

There is also no stipulation that a BPM program must include execution in a BPM Suite (BPMS). Process management offers improved efficiency by managing the execution of process steps, and that can occur without a BPMS. Implementation in these documents refers to implementation of a solution, in the generic sense.

Tenets
Every doctrine has a core set of fundamental principles, which are assumed to be true. These tenets establish the framework from which further conclusions and observations can be deduced. Additional principles of each specific charter presented here are premised on the following tenets.

 
 * Tenet 1: Agility is Key - A charter's implementation should encourage a regular challenge to the status quo. If an organization is not regularly re-evaluating itself against its competitors and the business environment, identifying strategic opportunities, and providing a setting in which those opportunities can be realized, it is failing to leverage BPM.
 * Tenet 2: Right versus Wrong - The success of a charter is determined on a sliding scale - there is no absolute right and wrong. Implementation according to Tenet 1 allows an organization to improve upon previous success or correct deficiencies.  This process is continuous and requires regular evaluation.

Format
Each charter will be presented in the following format. After reading the charter, it should be clear how the relevant activities impact the ultimate goals. Each charter will have requirements and suggestions for satisfying those requirements.

Some scenarios then provide tangible possibilities for how an organization might implement the charter. Other scenarios demonstrate pitfalls to avoid. Throughout these Charters, these will be referenced as behaviors and anti-behaviors, respectively.

Objectives

 * What are the problems being addressed by the charter?
 * What is the objective of the charter?
 * What benefits will be realized by implementing the charter successfully?

Scope

 * What is the general structure for the charter?
 * What are the boundaries of the charter?

Plan

 * What are the requirements for the charter implementation?
 * What is the implementation plan for the charter?
 * Who is involved in the implementation?
 * What communication is involved?
 * How is the implementation assessed?
 * How are issues resolved?
 * How does the implementation of the charter change over time?

Assumptions

 * What are the known pitfalls and risks, and how can they be avoided or minimized?

(Anti-)Behaviors

 * What are some real-world scenarios for how this charter applies?
 * What did the participants in the scenario do for their program?
 * What were the results of their actions?
 * What were the implications of their inaction?
 * What changes could they make, or have they made, since the first implementation?

Lesson exercises

 * Exercises you can try to apply the information presented in the Charter.

Background
The original idea for The Five Charters was proposed by Phil Gilbert in his Perspectives in Process. Since that time, Wikiversity was selected as an appropriate education-oriented medium to host the Charters. The content you see here has been evolved from the original concept by various contributors.

Lesson exercises

 * Identify obstacles facing your organization's increased usage of BPM.