Business Process Management

Business Process Management (BPM) Business Process Management (BPM) is a field of knowledge at the intersection between Management and Information technology, encompassing methods, techniques and tools to design, enact, control, and analyze operational business processes involving humans, organizations, applications, documents and other sources of information. The term "operational business processes" refers to repetitive business processes performed by organizations in the context of their day-to-day operations, as opposed to strategic decision-making processes which are performed by the top-level management of an organization. BPM differs from business process reengineering.BPM covers activities performed by organizations to manage and, if necessary, to improve their business processes. While such a goal is hardly new, software tools called business process management systems (BPM systems) have made such activities faster and cheaper. BPM systems monitor the execution of the business processes so that managers can analyze and change processes in response to data, rather than just a hunch. Process design encompasses the design and capture of existing business processes, as well as the simulation of new ones. The software used to do this includes graphical editors that document processes, repositories that store process models, and business process simulation tools to run a process a large number of times in order to measure performance parameters such as average time and cost.Good design reduces the number of problems over the lifetime of the system. Changes to business processes, resulting from changes in the context that a business operates in, are a current research area. The integration of software used to create graphical representations of workflows, as well as to implement and maintain these workflows makes evolution of business processes less stressful. Process execution is the traditional way to automate processes is to develop or purchase an application that executes the required steps of the process. However, in practice, these applications rarely execute all the steps of the process accurately or completely. Another approach is to use a federation of software and human intervention. Due to the complexity of the federated approach, documenting a process is difficult. This makes changing or improving the process difficult.

Business Process Management Software

The term "business process management" (BPM) is often encountered in conjunction with Six Sigma and Lean initiatives. Typically it refers to identification of core business processes, assignment of process ownership and definition of measures (and perhaps benchmarks) that indicate the health of a particular process. These measures are often influential in selection of Six Sigma or Lean projects. Ideally, processes are defined in a way that is independent of the specific organization structure used to execute those processes. Hence, they are best described in terms of what is being done – without regard to who or how – in a solution-free, action-verb form. Though BPM is less frequently encountered in software development organizations, it can be equally powerful as a guide to identification and prioritization of improvement opportunities in software companies.Core Process in Software Development Software development processes may be grouped into two process areas – lifecycle processes (analogous to core business processes) and cross-lifecycle processes (analogous to supporting business processes). Primary lifecycle processes in software organizations might be described as follows: Discovering requirements,Designing solutions,Constructing solutions,Validating solutions, Implementing (or deploying) solutions, Supporting deployed solutions (including defect repairs, minor enhancements, changes dictated by evolution of underlying technologies).

Business Process Automation

As most IT systems are inherently automation engines in themselves, a valid option is to extend their functionality to enable the desired automation, creating customised linkages between the disparate application systems where needed. This approach means that the automation can be tailored specifically to the exact environment of the organisation, on the down-side it can be time-consuming to find the necessary skills either internally or in the marketplace. Purchase of a specialist BPA tool is Specialist companies are now bringing toolsets to market which are purpose-built for the function of BPA. These companies tend to focus on different industry sectors but their underlying approach tends to be similar in that they will attempt to provide the shortest route to automation by exploiting the user interface layer rather than going deeply into the application code or databases sitting behind them. They also simplify their own interface to the extent that these tools can be used directly by non-technically qualified staff. The main advantage of these toolsets is therefore their speed of deployment, the drawback is that it brings yet another IT supplier to the organisation. Purchase of a Business Process Management solution with BPA extensions from the discussion below, it can be seen that a Business Process Management system is quite a different animal from BPA, however it is possible to build automation on the back of a BPM implementation. The actual tools to achieve this will vary, from writing custom application code to using specialist BPA tools as described above. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach are inextricably linked – the BPM implementation provides an architecture for all processes in the business to be mapped, but this in itself delays the automation of individual processes and so benefits may be lost in the meantime. Purchase of a Middleware solution is ‘Middleware’ is a generic IT term which describes infrastructural solutions for tying disparate application systems together. It can provide a method of automating the replication and synchronisation of separate databases and so provide a robust solution which will be invisible to end users. Its main drawback is that it is a highly technical approach and therefore dependent upon specialist skills, both for the initial implementation and to effect changes later

Business Process Management Certification

IDS Scheer North America, the leading provider of business process excellence services and tools, today announced that it is offering customers, partners, and consultants a web-based exam designed to test their levels of knowledge and experience on the ARIS Framework and Toolset to become a Certified ARIS Professional (CAP). The exam targets business process management professionals who have completed an ARIS Basics class and some level of project work. The CAP exam enables business process professionals to accurately gauge themselves on their skill set and proficiency in ARIS. Once certified, users become a member of the official ARIS Professional community, and have access to resource sharing with other CAPs, speaking opportunities, and updates on releases and new products. Users can also expand their ARIS knowledge and skill level with continuous certifications from IDS Scheer. "We are excited to offer our customers, partners and employees an ARIS certification program that provides them with a barometer of their expertise and proficiency and ultimately enhances their knowledge of the market-leading tool for business process management," said Dr. Mathias Kirchmer, CEO of IDS Scheer North America. "We will add more levels of certification to our community of ARIS users beyond the CAP Basics exam and introduce advanced, administration and other certification in the future."

IBM Business Process Management, BPM software

The new offerings, based on IBM's experience with nearly 3,000 SOA customers and 2,500 business partners, are focused on the following four areas: the use of business process management (BPM) to exploit the benefits of a standards-based SOA; governance as the cornerstone of SOA success; preparing IT infrastructures for SOA; and creating industry-specialized SOA services. In total, IBM is announcing 21 new and enhanced products and 13 new professional services offerings. IBM also announced the results from its Institute for Business Values Study. The new study, 'The Business Value of Service-Oriented Architecture,' found that 92 percent of IBM SOA customers stated that cost reduction was the initial justification for initiating an SOA project and that, on average, customers realized 51 percent revenue growth as a result of an SOA strategy. 'SOA is a fundamental shift in technology that will continue to significantly impact business, said Bashar Kilani, Software Group manager IBM Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan. 'With the early adopter phase behind us and SOA software capabilities deemed as table stakes, the next logical evolution in this market will be ensuring that vendors and customers have the resources and skills available to make the most of their SOA investments.' Ensuring BPM Success with Standards-based SOA strategy Companies use business process management software to gain greater insight and better manage, monitor and improve business processes to drive innovation. However, the true value of BPM is delivered through the combination of software and services expertise. This strategy enables customers to facilitate business innovation in the BPM lifecycle of business modeling, collaborative development, business monitoring and continuous process improvement within a flexible architecture that can easily adapt to planned and unplanned changes that impact business.TIBCO Business Studio in Brief: TIBCO Business Studio software unifies three key elements of business process management in one environment: modeling, management and simulation. Easy-to-use, business-level modeling, combined with robust simulation make it an ideal tool for modeling business processes. Because it is standards-compliant, the models created can be executed using any XPDL-compliant process engine.

BPM software Details

BPM (BSD Ports Manipulator) is a graphical ports collection manager for FreeBSD.It has a GTK+ 2.0 interface and allows you to add, remove, or upgrade software packages on your system without requiring you to use a command-line. In addition, it can display details about available, installed, and out-of-date ports, as well as allowing you to search based on port descriptions. BPM efficently uses the existing ports collection structure, allowing it to build ports from source and integrate seamlessly with other tools. This project started out as a clone of the Ports Manager.app for DarwinPorts.Features Provides a front-end for the ports collection, sorting by category and port state (installed/uninstalled/stale).Allows you to perform individual actions on ports; fetch, checksum, build, install, uninstall, clean.Builds compressed packages from installed ports for use on other machines or backup purposes. More extreme BPMs are achievable at the same underlying tempo with a very fast drum patterns, or a drum roll. Again, these have a much slower underlying tempo, but increase the BPM by adding additional percussive beats. The Speedcore subgenre claims to top 1000 BPM[citation needed] using this method. The human ear can distinguish separate pulses up to a frequency of around 15Hz (900 BPM)[citation needed], thereafter the pulses are perceived as a single sound, and beyond around 1200 BPM (20Hz) as a bass frequency and harmonics.This places a natural perceptual limit on the actual BPM of a track, although the PR value of claiming a high BPM is unaffected by whether it can actually be discerned by a human listener.In today's competitive environment, organizations are merging, consolidating and streamlining their business processes to reduce costs and increase business productivity. In a recent Network Computing reader's poll, several factors were identified as driving the current need for Business Process Management (BPM).

Top Business Related Concepts

The business performance management(BPM) on consists of comprehensive scorecarding, reporting, analysis,and dashboard applications that provide employees with deep contextual insight into business data. Using the BPM solution, companies can align action with strategy to improve performance by enabling every employee, process, and system to understand business drivers, shape solutions, and execute shared plans. The BPM solution provides an environment for collaboration and analysis,where you expose a process that can be used by other parts of the organization, empowers employees to build and manage scorecards, and provides the ability to deploy scorecards to a MS SharePoint Products and Technologies site or a MS SQL Server Reporting Services report.In the Host Analytics Web-based budget management and financial planning applications, you can more effectively plan, budget, and measure the financial performance of the organization. Our suite of software contains a single data model and a flexible architecture, and is easy to use for all levels of users across the entire organization.
This monitoring encompasses the tracking of individual processes so that information on their state can be easily seen and These measures tend to fit into three categories# cycle time, defect rate and productivity. the provision of statistics on the performance of one or more processes. An example of the tracking is being able to determine the state of a customer order so that problems in its operation can be identified and corrected. In addition, this information can be used to work with customers and suppliers to improve their connected processes. Examples of the statistics are the generation of measures on how quickly a customer order is processed,how many orders were processed in the last month etc. in business activity monitoring Low-level reuse of external systems, where many business processes will access the same Web service,Medium-level reuse of BPM, extend and expand the monitoring tools in BPMS.Increased ROI, Reduce risk in your processes, Deliver consistent, quality output, Extends life of existing infrastructure, Drives process improvement, Simplified training .

Business Planning Software

Starting on a new project or checking in or helping out with an existing one , often means substantial time in coming up to speed as to what's going on and why. But project-management software such as Project and Visio can provide a consistent framework that offers a clear picture of precisely what to do and what's going on time after time. A lot of people starting a new project wonder How can I get this done'" says Ed Boyce, vice president of Nimbus Partners North America, a software development concern in Stamford, Conn. "With project management software, you just go right to the software. It also gives you a way to look at projects you really know nothing about.Get advice from experts on how to handle the books – from managing cash flow to creating an estate plan and see accounting solutions that can make a big difference. It may be more thorough than you. Every businessperson worth his or her salt tries to be as comprehensive as possible in his thinking. A great goal, but not one that's always realistic. Project-management software can provide the fail-safe to help ensure that no essential piece be it a particular element of a project or a person who should be involved — is overlooked

Business Software Concepts

BSA has been heavily criticized about the yearly study it publishes about copyright infringement of software. This study, produced in collaboration with the International Data Corporation, tries to estimate the level of copyright infringement of software in different countries, as well as the resulting losses for the software industry.[1] The methodology consists in estimating the number of computers shipped in a given country, as well as the average quantity of software installed on these machines. Separately, an estimation of the quantity of legitimate software sold in the country is produced, and the difference between the total amount of software estimated to be in use in the country and the estimation of software sold is used as an indicator of the rate of unauthorized copy. A estimation of the total amount lost is produced by multiplying the estimator number of unauthorized copies by the price of the original software. These estimates have been criticised as being overexagerated and many flaws of the methodology have been pointed out; some of the figures seem to be guesses rather than solid data, and some data may not be representative. The calculation of the losses, in particular, assumes that each piece of copied software represents a direct loss of sale for software companies, a very contested assumption.[2] The study's assumptions have been described as being unworthy of a first year student of statistics.

Project Management Software

May not be derived from a sound project management method. For example, displaying the Gantt chart view by default encourages users to focus on task scheduling too early, rather than identifying objectives and deliverables. Focuses primarily on the planning phase and does not offer enough functionality for project tracking, control and in particular plan-adjustment. Does not make a clear distinction between the planning phase and post planning phase, leading to user confusion and frustration when the software does not behave as expected. For example, shortening the duration of a task when an additional human resource is assigned to it while the project is still being planned. Offer complicated features to meet the needs of project management professionals, which must be understood in order to effectively use the product. Additional features may be so complicated as to be of no use to anyone. Complex task prioritization and resource leveling algorithms for example can produce results that make no intuitive sense, and overallocation is often more simply resolved manually. Some people may achieve better results using simpler technique, (e.g. pen and paper), yet feel pressured into using project management software by company policy (discussion). Similar to PowerPoint, project management software might shield the manager from important interpersonal contact. . Consider as well what employees see in a business that breaks the law to save a buck. "Employees have access to the software that you're using," says Westerheim.

Project Management Solution

Project Management Solution Some people are confused on the difference between project management and the project lifecycle. It takes both types of work to complete a project successfully. The general difference is that project management is used to define, plan, control, monitor and close the project. The work associated with actually building the project deliverables is accomplished . Harden the security lifecycle of Windows systems Hardening Windows systems is not a one-time operation, but a continuous process of monitoring and appropriately adjusting security measures. This sample chapter, taken from McGraw-Hill's Hacking Exposed Windows Server 2003, outlines a seven-stage, security lifecycle for Windows systems. The lifecycle covers, business continuity planning, security policy generation, hardened operating system ... Tags: auditing, business continuity, business continuity planning, change management, data protection, disaster recovery, hacking, Hacking Exposed Windows Server 2003, McGraw-Hill Companies, Microsoft Windows, monitoring, operating system, security, security policy Download Resources Workstation lifecycle and database help build a manageable inventory process One of the most basic requirements for computer support staff—an accurate hardware inventory of all workstations—can be one of the most difficult things to implement and maintain. For IT pros, making sure that systems are secure and running smoothly and that no support issues stand in the way of business ... Software Decommissioning Process is my agency is looking to create process to retire COTS and home grown software. Can anyone point me in the direction of some resources?DirectionsWhat information is it you are seeking? Project management plans for updating software? Hiring a PM to handle the project? Software to replace what you have already?Process, process, processI'm looking for ,Discussion threads is Server Lifecycle Costs Hi, I need a template or some white papers which detail/calculate a Windows 2003 server lifecycle costs

Database Management System

DBMS is a complex set of software programs that controls the organization, storage and retrieval of data in a database. A DBMS includes A modeling language to define the schema(relational model) of each database hosted in the DBMS, according to the DBMS data model. The three most common organizations are the hierarchical, network and relational models. A database management system may provide one, two or all three methods. Inverted lists and other methods are also used. The most suitable structure depends on the application and on the transaction rate and the number of inquiries that will be made. The dominant model in use today is the ad hoc one embedded in SQL, a corruption of the relational model by violating several of its fundamental principles. Many DBMSs also support the Open Database Connectivity API that supports a standard way for programmers to access the DBMS. Data structures (fields, records and files) optimized to deal with very large amounts of data stored on a permanent data storage device (which implies very slow access compared to volatile main memory). A database query language and report writer to allow users to interactively interrogate the database, analyse its data and update it according to the users privileges on data. It also controls the security of the database. Data security prevents unauthorised users from viewing or updating the database. Using passwords, users are allowed access to the entire database or subsets of it called subschemas. For example, an employee database can contain all the data about an individual employee, but one group of users may be authorized to view only payroll data, while others are allowed access to only work history and medical data. If the DBMS provides a way to interactively enter and update the database, as well as interrogate it, this capability allows for managing personal databases. However, it may not leave an audit trail of actions or provide the kinds of controls necessary in a multi-user organisation. These controls are only available when a set of application programs are customised for each data entry and updating function. A transaction mechanism, that ideally would guarantee the ACID properties, in order to ensure data integrity, despite concurrent user accesses (concurrency control), and faults (fault tolerance). It also maintains the integrity of the data in the database. The DBMS can maintain the integrity of the database by not allowing more than one user to update the same record at the same time. The DBMS can help prevent duplicate records via unique index constraints; for example, no two customers with the same customer numbers (key fields) can be entered into the database. See ACID properties for more information (Redundancy avoidance). The DBMS accepts requests for data from the application program and instructs the operating system to transfer the appropriate data. When a DBMS is used, information systems can be changed much more easily as the organization's information requirements change. New categories of data can be added to the database without disruption to the existing system.

Relational Database Management system (RDBMS)

A relational database management system (RDBMS) is a database management system (DBMS) that is based on the relational model as introduced by E. F. Codd . Relational databases are the most common kind of database in use today (assuming one does not count a file system as a database).[citation needed] A short definition of a RDBMS may be a DBMS in which data is stored in the form of tables and the relationship among the data is also stored in the form of tables.Here are criticisms and complaints that can be found with regard to current RDBMS: Vendors don't explore optional query languages outside of SQL. Many feel that SQL needs an update or overhaul, being about 30 years old and not being relational in the first place[1]. They are usually statically-typed. Some feel that dynamically-typed or optional columns may make RDBMS more useful for prototyping or for domains where being nimble in a market is important. (Optional columns are implemented by returning null or blank for columns not defined in a given record.) Over-ubiquity — Not all data models require a relational data store, but most developers will pick one up and run with it anyway. As a result, most non-relational DBMS have been starved of development time and innovation. In this paper the design criteria and the overall organization of MORIS, a new general purpose data management system, are illustrated. The system is based on a relational model of data, in which the data base is viewed as a collection of time varying relations of assorted degrees. The capabilities offered by this model are discussed. The architecture of the system is illustrated, which is designed to provide independence of application programs from growths in data types and changes in data representation, convertibility of data among different storage structures, and ability to provide solutions to a wide variety of unanticipated user's problems in fast and uniform retrieval times. The relational model allows the formal definition of an user oriented language, based on applied predicate calculus. The capabilities of this language for retrieving any information which is, implicitly or explicitly, represented in the data base, are discussed.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Digital rights management (DRM) is an umbrella term referring to technologies used by publishers or copyright owners to control access to or usage of digital data or hardware, and to restrictions associated with a specific instance of a digital work or device. The term is often confused with copy protection and technical protection measures, which refer to technologies that control or restrict the use and access of digital content on electronic devices with such technologies installed, acting as components of a DRM design. The use of digital rights management has been controversial. Advocates argue it is necessary for copyright holders to prevent unauthorized duplication of their work to ensure continued revenue streams.The Free Software Foundation suggests that the use of the word "Rights" is misleading and suggest that people instead use the term digital restrictions management.Their position is essentially that copyright holders are attempting to restrict use of copyrighted material in ways not included in the statutory, common law, or Constitutional grant of exclusive commercial use to them. The Electronic Frontier Foundation considers some DRM schemes to also be anti-competitive practices, citing the iTunes Store as an example.Digital rights management technologies attempt to control or prevent access to or copying of digital media, which can otherwise be copied with very little cost or effort. Copyright holders, content producers, or other financially or artistically interested parties have historically objected to copying technologies, even before the advent of digital media. Examples have included player piano rolls early in the 20th century, audio tape recording, and video tape recording (e.g. the "Betamax case" in the U.S.). Digital media has only increased these concerns. While analog media inevitably loses quality with each copy generation, and in some cases even during normal use, digital media files may be copied an unlimited number of times with no degradation in the quality of subsequent copies. Digital Audio Tape, thought by many observers of the time to be a probable replacement for the audio cassette, was a market failure in part due to opposition to it on grounds of unauthorized copying potential[citation needed]. The advent of personal computers, the ease of ripping media files from CDs or from radio broadcasts, combined with the internet and popular file sharing tools, has made unauthorized dissemination of copies of digital files (often referred to as digital piracy) much easier. This has concerned some digital content publishers, leading them to pursue DRM technologies that attempt to prevent those actions.

Business Related Knowlege Management

Knowledge Management System(KMS) Knowledge Management System (KM System)' is a system for managing knowledge in organizations, supporting creation, capture, storage and dissemination of expertise and knowledge. The idea of a KM system is to enable employees to have access to the organization's knowledge of facts, sources of information, and solutions. For example, an engineer could know the metallurgical composition of an alloy that reduces sound in gear systems. Sharing this organization wide can lead to more effective engine design and it could also lead to ideas for new or improved equipment. A KM system could be any of the following: 1. Document based i.e. any technology that permits creation/management/sharing of formatted documents such as Lotus Notes, web, distributed databases etc. 2. Ontology based: these are similar to document technologies in the sense that a system of terminologies (i.e. ontology) are used to summarize the document e.g. Author, Subj, Organization etc. as in DAML & other XML based ontologies 3. Based on AI technologies which use a customized representation scheme to represent the problem domain. In one research project, RST theory was utilized to represent automotive problems (Rosner et al. 1998).Except for the first case, technologies based on ontologies and AI are still under development.

More Details About KMS Knowledge management comprises a range of practices used by organisations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge for reuse, awareness, and learning across the organisations. Knowledge Management programs are typically tied to organisational objectives and are intended to lead to the achievement of specific outcomes, such as shared intelligence, improved performance, competitive advantage, or higher levels of innovation. Knowledge transfer (one aspect of Knowledge Management) has always existed in one form or another. Examples include on-the-job peer discussions, formal apprenticeship, corporate libraries, professional training, and mentoring programs. However, since the late twentieth century, additional technology has been applied to this task, such as knowledge bases, expert systems, and knowledge repositories. Knowledge Management programs attempt to manage the process of creation or identification, accumulation, and application of knowledge or intellectual capital across an organisation. Knowledge Management, therefore, attempts to bring under one set of practices various strands of thought and practice relating to: intellectual capital and the knowledge worker in the knowledge economy the idea of the learning organization various enabling organizational practices such as Communities of Practice and corporate Yellow Page directories for accessing key personnel and expertise various enabling technologies such as knowledge bases and expert systems, help desks, corporate intranets and extranets, Content Management, wikis and Document Management below.