For some companies, performance is like the horizon line: the further it goes forward, the further it goes back. More often than not, organisational or communicational dispersion is at the root of poor results. In this respect, we should remember what the philosopher Denis Diderot rightly said: “He who scatters his gaze over everything sees nothing, or sees badly”. If entrepreneurial dispersion could be justified in the 18th century, it is hardly conceivable in the era of digitalisation of processes. In this sense, Business Process Management is an essential tool for optimising the organisation, gaining in performance and improving competitiveness.

1. THE NOTIONS OF BPM AND BPMN 2.0

A) BPM

BPM, an acronym for Business Process Management, can be translated as “business process management”. It is an approach consisting of analysing and explaining the procedures implemented by the company when carrying out its activities. This approach focuses on all stages of activities, from incoming flows to the result produced, and is based on the digitalisation of processes and their modelling using an IT solution. More concretely, it is a question of representing actions and exchanges in a modelled way, in order to make the functioning of the company more legible.

 

B) BPMN 2.0

In its standardised version, BPMN 2.0 – for Business Process Model Notation – offers, according to an internationally recognised standard, a graphical modelling of the business procedures of an activity. This IT solution makes it possible to consider all of a company’s potential actions in a complete and simplified way, by means of a graphical notation.

 

2. PERFORMANCE LIMITED BY TRADITIONAL SOLUTIONS

Dispersed data exchanges result in problems related to quality, loss of information, lack of traceability, or delays that hamper company performance. Have you ever lost data when sharing data on Excel via FTP server? Have you ever experienced difficulties when working collaboratively on this type of medium? The answer is certainly positive, given the changing needs and limitations of this type of software. At the time of the General Data Protection Regulations, security issues relating to the loss of information deserve particular attention. Migration to such a model is, therefore, the only way to structure flows and improve exchanges.

 

3. BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT AS A MIRROR OF PERFORMANCE

BPM (Business Process Management) solutions have been designed to provide complete visibility of the company’s operations, to detect difficulties and ultimately to improve performance. By precisely analysing the various procedures implemented in the company and identifying repetitive or time-consuming tasks, illogical and costly sequences, and communication pitfalls, business process management is able to structure exchanges and make procedures more fluid. It also has the added advantage of responding quickly to the company’s needs to evolve and adapt.

 

4. THE BPM OR THE CHALLENGE OF AN EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

The benefits generated by the use of Business Process Management are numerous for both the company and its customers. For the company, this strategy, thanks to the analysis of processes and workflows, allows it to concentrate its efforts on tasks with higher added value, while improving the working conditions of its employees. It is therefore a guarantee of greater productivity and, therefore, financial growth. For clients, structuring processes improves the quality of services and thus their satisfaction. In short, adopting BPM or BPMN 2.0 means betting on success on all sides. However, it must be understood that many other types of solutions incorporate BPM concepts, or at least workflows without defining themselves as BPM software. This is for example the case with PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) in which the concepts of lifecycle and process management play an important part! These solutions thus integrate business processes (change management for the publisher Lascom for example, innovation processes for Selerant, design and manufacturing processes for Dassault Systèmes, etc.). It is necessary to differentiate between “BPM software” and the concept of Business Process Management!