Modeling - what's it for?
Modeling and simulation are crucial disciplines for any successful BPM implementation. Modeling and simulation can be as simple as a series of diagrams on a whiteboard, and a paper-based run-through of a scenario, but modeling tools provide a much better solution to this problem.
During Modeling, information, activities, external systems, and human users of the system are defined. Flows through the business process management system are also carefully defined, as well as splits and joins, parallel processes, and sub-processes. Exception handling, and escalations are also captured.
Modeling provides the following benefits:
- Communication. It is critical that the analysis of the business process be properly communicated to others. The notation must be clear and simple, so that the future business users of the system can satisfy themselves that the analysis done by the business analyst accurately represents the real process. It also serves as an invaluable communication mechanism during the analysis phase itself.
- Design. Whether the model of the system results from the initial analysis phase, or subsequent iterations and improvements of the process, the model serves as the input to the implementation phase. It is also useful to verify in the user acceptance phase to ensure that the implementation actually matches the initial design. Models are also one of the best ways to train new users how to use the system.
- Optimization. A bird's eye view of the process encourages analysis of the value of the process itself. Can it be simplified without losing any features? Are there any paths that could occur in parallel? Are there any non-value-added activities that could be eliminated completely?
Simulation - try before you buy
Prior to the simulation of a business process, costs and resources are associated with activities in the process, and arrival rates are defined for the information entering into the process. Simple rules (or sometimes complex expressions) are be used to determine the specific route that a particular piece of information will take through the system. Based on this information, a simulation of the system can be performed.
Simulation provides the following benefits:
- Visualization. Ahahh! Is that how my system really operates!
- Bottlenecks. Are there any bottlenecks in the system? Are there any staff scheduling problems?
- What if scenarios. How can the system be improved? You have several ideas that may work, which will have the greatest impact. With a simulation, you can determine the effect that a change is going to have on the running system without having to actually make that change to the production system.
- Quantitative. The simulation provides data in the form of numbers, rather than fuzzy metrics. This allows you to be quite precise with your solutions.
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I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of Science, whatever the matter may be.
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), 1824 to 1907 |
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Business Process Management
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