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A Practical Look at Business Process Management

1. YOU AND YOUR ORGANISATION

1.1 Which of the following best describes your role?

IT Manager/Executive

IT Practitioner

Business Analyst

Business Practitioner

Business Manager/Executive

Other

1.2 What is your actual job title?

1.3 What type of organisation do you work in?

Public sector organisation

Company with more than 5000 employees

Company with 250 to 5000 employees

Company with 10 to 250 employees

Company with less than 10 employees

Other

1.4 What does organisation actually do (i.e. industry)?

Other (please state)

2. OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW

Many of our questions refer to 'business processes', by which we mean the way your organisation gets things done. Examples include customer account creation, on-boarding of new suppliers, order to cash management, claims/case management, incident/complaint handling, and/or the many other processes that are relevant to the operation of your organisation. With this in mind:

2.1 How common is it for business processes within your organisation to operate across multiple departments or functions?

This is usual

True in quite a few cases

Generally not the case

2.2 How common is it for a single business process to be dependent on multiple IT systems or applications?

This is usual

True in quite a few cases

Generally not the case

2.3 How common is it for business processes to involve the manual handling of documents, information or activity that falls outside the scope of core transactional systems?

This is usual

True in quite a few cases

Generally not the case

2.4 In general, how would you regard the balance between manual and automated activities across the organisation among white-collar business professionals?

There's still plenty more manual processing that we could automate

We have a reasonable balance between manual and automated activities

As an organisation, we have tended to take automation too far in many instances

3. MANAGING BUSINESS PROCESSES

3.1 Do you have the concept of process owners, i.e. specific individuals or groups who are responsible for the operation and performance of a process end to end?

Yes, for all or most significant processes

For some key processes only

Ownership generally assigned on a transient basis when a process needs implementing, changing or improving

Don't have the concept of process owners, but would be useful

Don't think this is necessary

3.2 To what degree do you map or model business processes using formal techniques, e.g. to capture process flows, hand-offs between systems, hand-offs between people and departments, rules for routing, approvals, etc?

We maintain up to date maps/models for all or most significant processes

We maintain up to date maps/models for some key processes

We map/model new processes or processes that need changing or improving, but do not attempt to maintain those maps or models once projects are complete

We don't do much formal process mapping/modelling, but it would be useful

Don't think formal process mapping/modelling is necessary

3.3 How often do you use the following for process mapping/modelling activity?

Often

Sometimes

Never

Don't know what
this means

Standard 'office' tools (e.g. PowerPoint, Excel, Word)

Visio or some other mapping/diagramming tool

Full repository based process modelling environment

Process simulation capability specifically

3.4 How extensively are the following used to control parts of processes that fall outside the scope of specific applications or cut across system/function boundaries?

In many areas

In some areas

Not at all

Don't know what
this means

Manual processing based on documented procedures

Manual processing based on employee judgement/discretion

DIY applications put together by users, e.g. using office tools

Custom integration built by IT using generic portal software

Process integration based on a 'BPM' solution

Other (please specify)

3.5 Does it make sense to pull the various aspects of process modelling and ongoing process review and optimisation into a coordinated 'Business Process Management' (BPM) strategy?

Already done this

Work in progress

Likely to be heading in this direction

Not sure this is practical

Don't think this is necessary

Haven't even thought about it

3.6 In general, how well does your organisation manage the design, implementation, optimisation and evolution of business processes?

Very effectively and efficiently

Significant room for improvement

We are relatively weak in this area

Unsure

3.7 In your organisation does IT activity around business process improvements mainly involve...?

Improving how applications integrate together

Improving how business users work with applications

It's both of these on a project by project basis

It's both of these within a formal change program

Impossible to generalise

A Practical Look at Business Process Management

1. YOU AND YOUR ORGANISATION

1.1 Which of the following best describes your role?

1.2 What is your actual job title?

1.3 What type of organisation do you work in?

1.4 What does organisation actually do (i.e. industry)?

2. OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW

2.1 How common is it for business processes within your organisation to operate across multiple departments or functions?

2.2 How common is it for a single business process to be dependent on multiple IT systems or applications?

2.3 How common is it for business processes to involve the manual handling of documents, information or activity that falls outside the scope of core transactional systems?

2.4 In general, how would you regard the balance between manual and automated activities across the organisation among white-collar business professionals?

3. MANAGING BUSINESS PROCESSES

3.1 Do you have the concept of process owners, i.e. specific individuals or groups who are responsible for the operation and performance of a process end to end?

3.2 To what degree do you map or model business processes using formal techniques, e.g. to capture process flows, hand-offs between systems, hand-offs between people and departments, rules for routing, approvals, etc?

3.3 How often do you use the following for process mapping/modelling activity?

3.4 How extensively are the following used to control parts of processes that fall outside the scope of specific applications or cut across system/function boundaries?

3.5 Does it make sense to pull the various aspects of process modelling and ongoing process review and optimisation into a coordinated 'Business Process Management' (BPM) strategy?

3.6 In general, how well does your organisation manage the design, implementation, optimisation and evolution of business processes?

3.7 In your organisation does IT activity around business process improvements mainly involve...?

Thanks very much for your responses so far. You can now either finish here or go on to answer a few more questions on BPM technology specifically.