In part (2) of the business process engineering and SDLC series , we have seen some of the real problems and questions raised in industry about the process model. In this post let us have a look at what exactly business process engineering represents. and what are the key areas it put emphasis on.
Business Process Engineering (BPE) / Business Process Re-engineering
What is Business Process Engineering (BPE) ?
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Business process engineering (BPE) is a method for reconstructing the functioning model of any given business from the ground up, with a special focus on workflow.
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Popularized by Hammer and Champy in the early 1990s.
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It put an emphasis on :
- Information Flow
- Objectives
- Outcomes
- Processes
“More recently, the concept of Business Process Management (BPM) has gained major attention in the corporate world and can be considered as a successor to the BPE/ BPR wave of the 1990s, as it is evenly driven by a striving for process efficiency supported by information technology. Equivalently to the critique brought forward against BPE/ BPR, BPM is now accused of focusing on technology and disregarding the people aspects of change.”[wikipedia]
The importance of information technology (IT)
“Information technology (IT) has historically played an important role in the re-engineering concept. It is considered by some as a major enabler for new forms of working and collaborating within an organization and across organizational borders.
BPR/BPE literature identified several so called disruptive technologies that were supposed to challenge traditional wisdom about how work should be performed.
- Shared databases, making information available at many places
- Expert systems, allowing generalists to perform specialist tasks
- Telecommunication networks, allowing organizations to be centralized and decentralized at the same time
- Decision-support tools, allowing decision-making to be a part of everybody’s job
- Wireless data communication and portable computers, allowing field personnel to work office independent
- Interactive videodisk, to get in immediate contact with potential buyers
- Automatic identification and tracking, allowing things to tell where they are, instead of requiring to be found
- High performance computing, allowing on-the-fly planning and re-visioning
In the mid-1990s, especially workflow management systems were considered as a significant contributor to improved process efficiency. Also ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) vendors, such as SAP, JD Edwards, Oracle, PeopleSoft, positioned their solutions as vehicles for business process redesign and improvement.”[wikipedia]
In the next part-4 of the business process engineering and SDLC series we will look at the “General Steps of Business Process Engineering (BPE)” .