Let Your Content Work For You! Part Two
The second in a three part series (read Part 1 here)
By David Dye, Co-Founder
Since the industrial revolution, businesses and trades of all sizes have been developing new ways to streamline their mechanizations, from the internal workings of the office to assembly lines, to putting products into the grasp of their customers.
However, Business Process Management (BPM) really started in the 1980s with FileNet, a digital workflow management system that routed scanned documents through a predefined process, which was eventually bought by IBM.
BPM grew in tandem with the adoption of desktop computers in the office. As computers continued to grow in use and ability, modern BPM was born, where computers began to model, optimize, and analyze end-to-end business processes. Today, BPM can be described as using a combination of digital tools and methods to manage and streamline an organization’s business operations.
The Types of BPM
The purpose of BPM is to streamline as many business operations as possible to improve processes, achieve peak workflow efficiency, increase customer engagement, and realize time and cost savings.
At ClearCadence, we use Alfresco to provide superior BPM services. Even though intake management is typically handled on the Enterprise Content Management side (read more about ECM here), it is one of the first steps of BPM adoption. Content goes through autoclassification to identify the document type and set rules for user access. Business processes are then tested to ensure proper performance before being available to all users.
Initial tracking measurements like key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) are analyzed to steer your organization to business process optimization. The result is a high-performance, business process engine (open-source and/or proprietary license based) that optimizes process activities and improves the health and standing of your organization.
The Automations of BPM
There are two main types of automations used in BPM – business process automation (BPA) and robotic process automation (RPA). BPA has a larger scope than RPA, focusing on the organization’s end-to-end processes as a whole instead of on specific tasks.
BPA automations integrate these diversified processes, allowing for the exchange of information between automated tasks. Examples include automated provisioning, order entry, file transfers, report generation and distribution, claims processing, and business application integration.
RPA consists of automations that perform the tasks of humans in the workforce. By including tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning, RPA automations emulate humans in terms of comprehension to complete tasks such as sales contracting, processing invoices, onboarding new employees, chatbots to assist with customer requests, credit card applications, and appointment scheduling.
Additionally, backend functions like ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and CRP (Customer Relationship Planning) use BPA. As a complete, integrated platform, ERP uses BPA to manage and track all aspects of production, supply chains, financial management, logistics, and more.
CRP commonly uses BPA for account management, customer service, the sales process, and support automation. The benefits of BPA to both these functions include increased productivity, lower costs, and elevated customer satisfaction.
Why Adopt a Process Management Solution in Alfresco?
The business environment throughout the world has undergone rapid change in the last few decades, and competition has only gotten fiercer. Technology keeps advancing, and consumers demand better service and more choices. The departments that support Information Technology also demand flexibility in the solution platforms they deploy whether it be on-premise like Alfresco Process Services (APS) or in the cloud via a Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution like Alfresco Process Automation (APA).
With a well-defined set of business processes, your Alfresco solution will provide clarity on the strategic direction and governance of your organization. Process efficiencies will be realized to allow your workforce to focus on activities that generate ROI.
Your organization will also gain a third-party view of processes from a trained and experienced source, bringing an impartial take on the effectiveness of your BPM solutions from an issue management perspective.
The ClearCadence Advantage
Our team of seasoned professionals has a proven track record in delivering successful Alfresco Process Services (APS) and Alfresco Process Automation (APA) that will transform your business. The first step is consulting, so we can get to know your business and put forth the strategy to streamline your operations.
We’ll perform a full analysis of your business and systems processes, then implement effective and efficient solutions to eliminate errors and bottlenecks, improve your speed of business, and help you maximize your ROI.
Ready to learn more about ClearCadence and Alfresco Solutions?
David Dye, co-founder and partner of ClearCadence, has over 20 years of successfully developing, selling, growing, maturing and managing profitable professional services practices for Digital Business Process Automation, Content, and Integration software companies.
ClearCadence has a long track record of assisting customers with analyzing, planning, designing, and implementing solutions. Visit the link above to received more information about our organization.
