What is BPM?

You can only improve what you can manage, can only manage what you can assess and can only assess what you truly know how to execute.

Why?

A company that doesn’t know in a clear way its processes is in total disadvantage against the ones that are aware of how they manage their business and uses this to implement constant improvements.

Without understanding the daily processes of a company, it is virtually impossible to implement changes and improvements in an organized, manageable and predictable manner.

So, if your goal is to understand what BPM is, have in mind that it is fundamentally important to organizations and business, because its aim is to recognize the processes that are being executed, intending to assess and manage them, so that it is possible to enforce betterments on these processes.

After all, what is BPM?

BPM is an abbreviation for Business Process Management, and it is a management discipline that treats business processes as assets. For this purpose, a company has to analyze, design, control, and provide continuous improvement of business processes.

The most significant advantage of BPM to a company is the continuous improvement of the processes, which allows the organization to be more efficient, more assertive and more capable of change than the ones with a merely functional focus and a traditional management approach.

Innovation, flexibility, and integration with technology are what BPM is all about.

Keep in mind these concepts of the BPM meaning:

Want to know more meanings or definitions of BPM?

Next, you are going to know the best I have seen.

How experts answer the question “What is BPM?”

The Definition of what BPM is according to the BPM CBOK (Common Body of Knowledge) Guide:

Business Process Management or BPM – Business Process Modelling is a disciplined approach to identify, draw (or design), execute, measure, monitor and control business processes, automated or otherwise, to achieve consistency and results aligned with the strategic organizational objectives. It also involves technological help and other ways to add value, improvements, innovations and management of end-to-end processes, leading to improved organizational performance and business results. (2009)

By the way, this guide is one of the best books on Business Process Management, and you can read more on this or other books on 10 BPMN PDF books, articles, and brochures.

The Definition of what BPM is according to Gartner:

Business process management (BPM) is a discipline that uses various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, and optimize business processes. A business process coordinates the behavior of people, systems, information, and things to produce business outcomes in support of a business strategy. Processes can be structured and repeatable or unstructured and variable. Though not required, technologies are often used with BPM. BPM is key to align IT/OT investments to business strategy

An interpretation of what BPM is according to Gregory Varvakis

The management process is the definition, analysis and continuous improvement of processes in order to meet the needs and expectations of customers. – Gregory Varvakis

The Definition of Business Process Management according to John Jaston and Johan Nelis

BPM is the realization of the objectives of an organization through the improvement of the management and control of your critical business processes. – John Jeston and Johan Nelis

In a study by Teresa Jones and John Dixon in 2011, the Gartner Group said about the meaning of BPM:

BPM is a management approach that requires organizations to become process oriented and reduce their dependence on traditional functional and territorial structures.

The Definition of what Business Process Management is according to De Toro and McCabe

Process management is a “process-oriented management structure, in which the manager, team and executors of the process are all performing and thinking, whilst designing their work, inspecting their results and redesigning their work system to achieve better results – DeToro and McCabe

The Definition of what Business Process Management is according to Shane Schick

BPM is the ability to understand and control the many parts of a complex process. – Shane Schick

The Definition of BPM according to José Osvaldo de Sordi

One of the objectives of the administrative practice of process management is to ensure the continuous improvement of organizational performance, by raising the quality levels of their business processes. – José Osvaldo de Sordi

The Definition of what Process Management is according to Rafael Scucuglia

Conceptually, process management means much more than simply mapping the organizational activities. It means much more than just naming each job step with a name that identifies it […] In short, every organization is a system. That is, it functions as a set of processes. The identification and mapping of these processes allows for proper planning of activities, assignment of responsibilities and the proper use of available resources. – Rafael Scucuglia

The Definition of what Business Process Management is according to William J. Kettinger and Varun Grover

Process management is a program that involves the formalization or institutionalization of planning, structuring and evaluating processes, radically (Reengineering) or incrementally (continuous improvement). […] Companies that engage in process management must apply multiple methods to gather information, to assess and redesign their processes. – William J. Kettinger and Varun Grover

Read more definitions of terms related to BPM on our Glossary.

Some of the benefits that the BPM technology will bring into your company:

There are uncountable benefits when working with businesses processes. Here are some examples:

  • Transparency in all stages – all the data is disclosed, the results, the numbers, the profitability. Transparency results in a higher understanding from the staff since it gives a sense of responsibility and a vision of what his/her actions will impact on the company. It also gives the clients a sense of reliability and honesty.
  • Higher administrative control – with that, there is no wastage of resources. It is easy to know which area of the company spends more money, what are the payables now and in the future, where are the best investments, and to understand the business as a whole.
  • Increase in productivity – the productivity increases because the processes are optimized. A report that before would take an hour to be done, now takes thirty minutes, a meeting that would take two hours now takes one, because all those involved are aware of the information, etc., and more is done with the same (or less) amount of time.
  • Cost reduction – with the BPM technology you can do more with less personal, fewer tools, you control your processes and avoid resource wastage, resulting in big costs cut.
  • Process automation and evidence generation – with the automation there is less repetition, there is no rework, the process does not accumulate, and the data is easily accessed. With information, it is simple to know exactly which area of the company is not achieving its goals, the results are measured, and it is easy to improve and optimize.

Watch the video below and find out more benefits of BPM for your company.

Now that you know what BPM is, continue on our website and keep learning about BPM and its many advantages and resources that it will bring to your company.

Do you know any other definition of BPM?

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