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When the process approach began to gain certain positions, many were euphoric: a universal management tool had been found! Many people contrast functional and process approaches and consider them mutually exclusive. They say: “you need to forget functions! And you need to work only with processes!” But the nature of the company did not change because we were able to look at it differently. This is a mechanism that still performs a certain set of functions. And depending on what specific set of functions it performs, such processes form the basis of the control system. Therefore, from our point of view, one cannot simply discard one of the approaches. This is not a opposition, but two views on management that complement each other. And now, dear readers, we will prove this to you.

Refusal of the functional approach requires removing the concept of “function” and, accordingly, the “functional principle of creating an organizational structure.” Then only the process structure is built. The question arises - what will be considered the organizational unit of such a structure in this case and how to distribute the employees who are participants in these processes? It turns out that the distribution of specialists will be carried out based on their belonging to the processes. But in an enterprise, as a rule, each employee is multifunctional. For example, a storekeeper receives and ships goods, that is, he participates in the logistics process - purchasing or sales, but at the same time keeps records. In this case, two processes “intersect” on it. The logic of the process approach requires two employees - one is involved in the logistics process, the other is involved in accounting. There are many more people, which contradicts our task - to make the enterprise management system the most effective.

Based on all this, the following approach to business engineering has emerged: the function and organizational structure “do not disappear” because employees are still grouped according to the principle of professional specialization. Another thing is that they participate in different processes. And therefore, in each process, the roles performed by the personnel in it are determined. And how many roles this or that employee will combine is a matter of rational use of the organization’s resources. It is the combination of a functional and process approach to enterprise management that, as a rule, is the “golden mean”. The functional structure of an enterprise determines “what to do,” and the process structure determines “how to do it.” These are two inseparable aspects of management. If a manager, executive, or head of a company can look at the organization from this point of view, then business engineering will become a truly useful and effective management tool for him.

All enterprises involved in the production and sale of goods or services can be considered as production systems. Such systems consume resources, transform them and as a result receive a product - goods or services. This production chain is a set of processes within which certain actions are carried out that lead to the achievement of results and, thus, the goals of the organization. The goal of the company (target corporate setting) in this case determines the content and form of the production process.

A functional organization is characterized by static elements, such as functions, organizational structure, and regulations. The process is dynamic. Despite this, there is a close relationship between them: specific actions within the processes are performed by employees located in various functional departments. This connection is established through regulatory documents - Regulations on services, departments and job descriptions. They, on the one hand, define the functional composition and distribution of functions between departments and employees, and on the other, in the description of the processes, a clear sequence of actions of specific employees is established in fulfilling their functional responsibilities. Each process has its own purpose. The criterion for the effectiveness of a process is how optimal the path is chosen to achieve it. The goals of all processes are low-level goals. Through their implementation, top-level goals - the company's goals - are achieved. By managing processes and constantly improving them, the company achieves high efficiency of its activities.

All activities to manage and improve business processes are carried out using business engineering technology, which implements the following capabilities:

Creation (design) of business processes

For this purpose, a special language for describing business processes is used. It allows you to describe existing processes (“as is”), as well as create models of the future. The model includes a description of all components of the process - functions, resources, participants, goals, information, results, events, direction and sequence of actions - thus reflecting the existing reality or the idea of ​​it in the future. All participants in the process perform their functional responsibilities in accordance with this model. Each employee clearly knows all his actions within all processes in which he is involved. Since the description has a multi-level structure (first the process is described at the macro level, i.e. at the enterprise level, and then moves on to a description of the lower level with a higher degree of detail), this ensures consistency and structural interconnectedness. The actions of all departments and employees performing their duties in accordance with this model are streamlined, coordinated and directed towards the overall process to achieve a common result.

Changing business processes

Any changes in business conditions - the emergence of a new line of activity, expansion of the product line, changes in the supply chain, installation of equipment with different technology - all this requires immediate transformation of the affected business processes. The existing model is adjusted, the changes are communicated to the performers, and they begin to perform functions in accordance with the new conditions. Constant adaptation of business processes to changing conditions is an effective mechanism for business management.

Business process analysis

A process model (existing or designed), thanks to the clarity of the description, makes it possible to effectively analyze how optimally it leads to the set goal. The analyzed factors may include the logistics of the process, its duration and cost (including their distribution among stages), and others, on which the efficiency of implementation may depend. Analysis data allows you to change the process, constantly improving its quality.

Business Process Optimization

By constantly monitoring and analyzing business processes, the enterprise finds reserves for increasing the efficiency of its activities by optimizing business processes. The following factors can be identified and eliminated: duplication of functions, bottlenecks, excessive cost of any operations, low quality of operations, the presence of unnecessary operations, inconsistency in the actions of participants, etc. Optimization can be of two types - constant improvement of processes (evolutionary path) and periodic radical change (revolutionary path). The first method is used within the framework of current activities, when the company does not need drastic changes. The second way is used when transformations are necessary due to a significantly changed order of activities, for example, complex automation. In such cases, the task is set to “start everything from scratch.” This approach avoids the application of new technologies to old processes. The technique of revolutionary optimization of business processes is called reengineering, we talked about this in the previous article.

When we talk about creating business processes, many people mean building business process flowcharts. In this regard, one of the frequently asked questions is what tools are best to use? After all, without good tools, modeling business processes becomes a difficult task.

I have prepared for you a selection and brief description of tools for managing and modeling business processes.

Of course, there are a large number of different process modeling and management tools. My goal was to talk about those that do not require huge integration projects and can be used at minimal cost. By the way, for this reason I did not consider the ARIS, IBM, etc. platforms.

The title of each section is the name of the instrument and a link to the manufacturer's page. You can immediately get acquainted with the details.

Business process management tools

BizAgi Suite

If you want to receive not only models and descriptions of business processes, but also create executable applications based on them, then this is exactly what you need. BizAgi Suite essentially consists of two modules - BizAgi Modeler, which is used to model and describe business processes, and BizAgi Studio, which allows you to turn models into executable applications. The cool thing is that it doesn't require programming skills, i.e. Everyone can make applications.

ELMA BPM

The highlight of the program is the ability to integrate with the 1C platform, which is certainly very attractive for Russian companies. What does it mean? This means that everything that happens in 1C will be reflected in ELMA. And vice versa)

ELMA allows you to execute and monitor the execution of processes in real time. BPMN 2.0 notation is used to build models. By the way, it was thanks to the ELMA staff that the notation was translated into Russian. For which we thank them very much.

The document flow system in the system works very powerfully. All documents are classified by type, sorted into folders, have rules for creation and operation, etc. Of course, it will take time to get your documents into the required form and into compliance with the system, but it will be worth it. If everything is done correctly, then you can easily track the life cycle of any document.

There are additional modules - Projects, CRM, etc. But I haven't tried them, so I can't say anything.

The company handles integration and training on working with ELMA independently. Judging by the completed projects, we can say that they know their business.

Functionality and features

• Building business process models
• Assigning business process roles to employees
• Execute and monitor processes in real time
• Systematic work with document flow
• Convenient “help”
• Great support
• Integration with 1C

Price

• 77,000 rubles for 10 ELMA Standard licenses. This is the minimum amount. In my opinion, the cost is quite adequate to the functionality.

Summary

Have you firmly decided to engage in business process management, automation and improvement? Are you tied to 1C? Then ELMA is what you need.

Business Studio

Just like ELMA, this is a Russian development. Probably the most popular tool for managing business processes on the domestic market. The first version was released in 2004. I first came across this program in 2006. At that time it was the best solution.

In principle, everything in the program is quite standard - we define the company’s goals, model the processes that allow us to achieve the goals, assign those responsible from the organizational structure tree, and mark the resources used in the processes.

It is very noteworthy that the concept of the Balanced Scorecard is used to set goals. This is one of the most successful techniques for translating a company's strategy into a tangible and understandable form.

The construction of business processes, as often happens, is done from top to bottom. The program supports several modeling notations: IDEF, eEPC, BPMN and several others.

There is the possibility of simulation modeling, functional cost analysis and automatic generation of documents, for example, job descriptions. The documents comply with legal requirements, which greatly facilitates the work. Execution and monitoring of processes occurs through integration with other systems, for example, ELMA.

Functionality and features

• Modeling processes in different notations
• Setting company goals using the Balanced Scorecard
• Integration with third-party systems.
• Process execution control
• Knowledge base

Price

• Pricing is flexible, so to determine the cost you need to contact the company's consultants. Because I have not encountered the purchase of this software in the last couple of years, so the order of the numbers is unknown to me.

Summary

The system is powerful. But complicated. Serious expenses will be required, primarily temporary ones - for debugging and integrating the system. It is best if you have a department or just a few business analysts who will take on this work. Working with the program requires a deep understanding of the methods and specifics of the program.

Business process modeling

Visual Paradigm

Frankly, this is the best program for modeling and describing business processes. I have never seen a more convenient, functional and flexible modeling tool.

To begin with, VP supports a large number of notations, flowcharts and models. Starting from standard notations to database schemas, interaction diagrams and matrices.

The actual modeling is very convenient. The program completely lacks the disadvantages inherent in others, for example: overlapping of diagram elements on each other, intersection of arrows, failures when dragging objects, pools, etc. The interface is convenient, understandable and can be customized by the user.

All models can be connected to each other, so modeling the entire business system is not a problem. In addition, it is possible to carry out simulation modeling and diagram testing.

VP allows you to control element attributes in detail, which in turn allows you to automatically generate great descriptions. Because the program is initially aimed at information system developers; each element can be set with conditions for behavior in the system, business rules, etc. By the way, document templates are also customizable.

Finally, the program allows you to download the resulting models in the form of program code. And in different languages! Of course, this function is of high value when developing information systems and automating business processes.

Functionality and features

• Modeling business processes in different notations
• Building other models
• Model checking
• Automatic document generation
• Creating and assigning model behavior rules
• Relationship between models
• Uploading models as program code
• Version for Mac OS X

Price

• By subscription – $35 per month
• Full license – $800

Summary

The best program for modeling and describing business processes.

BizAgi Modeler

This is part of the aforementioned BizAgi Suite. The program is independent of the complete set and can be supplied separately.

Very simple, concise and user-friendly interface.

A good working tool for modeling, which is also often updated and improved. Models built in BizAgi Modeler are fully compatible with the full version - Suite. There are certain modeling limitations unique to this program that are not in the BPMN notation, but in principle they are avoided.

Working with models is very convenient. True, sometimes annoying displacements of model elements can occur. Especially when dragging a large number of elements. In my opinion, the optimization of the location of arrows and elements has not been sufficiently developed. This leads to the fact that sometimes you have to tinker a little to arrange the elements harmoniously.

The relationship between the diagrams is not sufficiently developed. Those. You can connect, but not directly. You can assign any attributes to elements - you determine the name and properties of the attribute yourself.

It is possible to check models and generate descriptions based on a template.

Despite some shortcomings, this tool deserves a solid five and is suitable for small companies. Especially since the tool is completely free.

Functionality and features

• BPMN Notation
• Model checking
• Automatic document generation
• Managing Model Element Attributes
• Ability to add your own elements to models
• Uploading the model in graphical form
• User-friendly interface
• In Russian
• Collaboration on models is possible

Price

• Completely free

Summary

Suitable for both beginners and companies already involved in modeling and describing processes. Easy to learn. Highly recommend.

In April in Moscow I am teaching a course on Managing Business Processes in an Organization, which covers modeling business processes in BizAgi Modeler. .

ARIS Express

A free and simple “drawing” of processes from a monster called ARIS. More precisely, Software AG.

It has several model options at its disposal - in particular: business process models in eEPC and BPMN notations, organizational models, process maps, etc. It is notable for the presence of the Smart Design function, which allows you to quickly enter the necessary data into a table and the program will independently create a diagram. Very convenient for quick sketches.

Unfortunately, Express is only a graphical tool. Models cannot be linked to each other, attributes cannot be assigned, and the like. The composition of diagram elements is very limited, so it will not be possible to create a model in Express and export it to ARIS BA. By the way, do not under any circumstances use this software to work with BPMN notation. Despite the fact that such models can be created here, their limitations give a fundamentally wrong impression of the functionality of BPMN.

However, I know of very serious companies that use this tool. Moreover, some argue that it is more convenient than MS Visio. This is wrong. Visio is a powerful tool that allows you to actually create your own process management environment. But more about this some other time.

Functionality and features

• eEPC and BPMN notations
• Process map
• Organizational structure
• Smart Design Feature
• Uploading the model in graphical form
• Simple interface

Price

• Completely free

Summary

Choose ARIS Express if all the above restrictions do not bother you. Well, if you prefer eEPC notation.

At the end of March, modeling of business processes based on ARIS Express will take place in Moscow. Registration is open.

Online services for modeling business processes

Gliffy

Excellent service with a variety of functionality. Allows you to create not only models in BPMN notation, but also workflows, design a user interface, create UML diagrams, organizational charts, site maps, etc.

What is very important, the service allows for collective work on diagrams, and all versions of the model are saved. Additionally, you can embed the chart as a shortcode on your website. By the way, my map of articles was made in this service.

When modeling processes, it is possible to connect diagrams with each other through hyperlinks, because one diagram is, in fact, one page.

All elements of the BPMN notation are already present in the service. It is also possible to independently change the appearance of elements and add your own. In the free version, you can only export charts as graphic files.

Functionality and features

• Full BPMN support
• Model relationships via hyperlinks
• Convenient model building
• Flexible customization of the appearance of elements

Price

• Free with few restrictions
• $4.95 per month for standard version and $9.95 for business version

Summary

A convenient and functional service for creating business process diagrams and more.

BPsimulator

Well, a very interesting service, in which the emphasis is not on models, but on simulation and evaluation of the model.

It works as follows: you model the process -> set the properties of flows, cost, duration and employee employment -> run the simulation -> look at the process indicators based on the simulation results.

What does this give? A lot, actually. Simulation makes it easy to detect process bottlenecks, calculate the cost of resources in a process, estimate resource utilization, etc.

The simulator is not complicated, or rather, it has certain limitations, but you can benefit from it. And with skill, a considerable amount.

The controls are quite convenient. The arrows have tunnels (I always pay attention to this point). The resulting reports and models can be saved to your computer, Google Drive or One Drive.

Functionality and features

• Process modeling
• Estimation of cost / duration of the process
• Simulation
• Convenient model building
• Reports
• Saving models to Google Drive or One Drive

Price

• Free with ads
• 300 rub/month without advertising and with small bonuses

Summary

I highly recommend trying it.

Draw io

The service allows you to build a huge number of diagrams and has a large set of elements. Including kits for creating BPMN and eEPC diagrams.

It is possible to link models via hyperlinks. In addition, you can attach files from cloud data storage to elements.

Working with models is relatively convenient. You can customize the appearance of elements in every possible way. But this is also inconvenient, there is no tunneling of arrows, as well as repulsion of objects. Those. one element can be placed on top of another. Which leads to the need to spend time manually arranging the elements of the diagram.

The service allows you to save models to Google Drive, Dropbox, One Drive or to your computer. It is possible to export models in graphic file formats, PDF, HTML, XLS.

Functionality and features

• Construction of various diagrams
• Saving models to Google Drive, Dropbox or One Drive
• There is no possibility of teamwork

Price

• For free

Summary

A simple and free drawing game. Thanks to integration with cloud storage, it can be used within a group of employees.

That's all I wanted to say.

“First Form” contains a flexible business process designer with which you can quickly and easily configure almost any route through a task or document.

For administrators

Built-in visual modeling tools

The process is represented as a sequence statuses And transitions between them - in the "First Form" this is called route process. To create a route, just add the necessary statuses and then connect them with transitions (it’s most convenient to do this using the drag-and-drop method).

Visual route editor.

At transitions, certain actions are performed - the correctness of the task parameters is checked, calculations are performed, additional tasks are created, deadlines and executors are assigned. Most settings can be made parametrically, without programming: change time, performers, request comments, send notifications. For more complex actions, the functionality is used.

Coordination route

For many processes, at a certain step it is necessary to coordinate prepared documents or decisions made with managers and related departments. To do this, configure coordination routes— list and order of requested signatures. The approval procedure can be configured separately for each step of the process, and logic of almost any complexity is supported for processing signatures and resolutions.

Reconciliation route with sequential and parallel request for signatures.

Business process routes can be anything, from the simplest to the quite complex.


Example of a contract approval route

For users

Main route tape

To make it easier for users to navigate the process, the task card displays main route tape- the most typical sequence of transitions. The ribbon shows which steps of the process have already been completed and which remain to be completed. You can move to the next status by clicking on its name in the route feed or on the desired transition button.

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Business process management

A business process is a set of interrelated activities or tasks aimed at creating a specific product or service for consumers.

A business process can be decomposed into several subprocesses that have their own attributes, but are also aimed at achieving the goal of the main business process. Business process design usually involves drawing up a model of the business process and its subprocesses.

Business processes must be structured in such a way as to create value and value for consumers and eliminate any unnecessary or completely unnecessary activities. The output of properly constructed business processes increases consumer value and profitability (lower cost of producing a product or service).

The ELMA BPM platform implements the BPM concept, which allows you to build flexible adaptive information systems that can quickly change along with changes in the company's business processes. Thanks to the use of the ELMA BPM application, you can bring order to the organization’s business processes, make their implementation clear and formalized.

The ELMA BPM platform has a huge number of capabilities for managing business processes, however, all functions of the system can easily be divided into four groups in accordance with the stages of the life cycle (Deming cycle) of the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) process:

Before starting modeling, it is necessary to identify the organization's business processes. Classification of business processes helps determine how exactly a specific process can be distinguished from the crowd.

The main processes are identified based on the result that is valuable to the consumer. Auxiliary processes are allocated according to the resource with which they supply the organization. And finally, control processes can be determined by the object over which the control action is carried out.

At the same time, it is important not to make the classic mistake: not to distinguish business processes according to the operating principle of a specific department. In the vast majority of cases, business processes are cross-cutting for the organization, i.e., they affect several departments. After all, departments cannot help but interact with each other, since they are elements of one system. This interaction is, simply put, business processes.

Rice. 1. Example of a graphical process model

On the ELMA BPM platform, business processes are modeled and improved in ELMA Designer. All created, configured and published processes are executed in the web application. Moreover, each business process created in the Designer can be executed an arbitrary number of times in a web application.

To avoid confusion, the business process created in ELMA Designer is called a business process model, a business process, or simply a process. A business process running in a web application is called a business process instance or simply a process instance.

The process life cycle in relation to the ELMA BPM platform contains the following stages:

Control and monitoring of the execution of business process instances in a web application. Process cost analysis ;

Documenting the new business process design

Describe in detail the final version of the updated business process in the form of a functional diagram. Omit details regarding who exactly will perform certain tasks. You will clarify this information later. At this point, you need to present a relatively simple version of the business process to all stakeholders so that they can express their opinions and ideas.

A general who wins battles makes many mental calculations before the battle

begins.

Adjusting the updated process design

Present the new functional diagram and how you generated ideas for business process innovation to key stakeholders. It is advisable to include your manager and other company employees whose activities will be affected by the changes. Ask them the following questions:

• Will the proposed business process change improve operational efficiency, which is the ultimate goal of the entire project? Will it help you take advantage of emerging opportunities?
• What potential problems do you think will arise if the proposed process is put into practice?
• What would you suggest to make the updated process more effective in achieving its goals?
• Do you think we've missed anything important? If so, what exactly?

By inviting input from key stakeholders, you will ensure support for the implementation of the business process your team has come up with. When people themselves come up with ideas for changing a process, they tend to warm to it. Consider whether it is worth modifying the new process design by implementing some of the proposed changes. For more information, see Business Process Redesign: Helpful Tips.

Business process redesign: useful tips

• Change the process so that improvements best meet customer wishes - for example, increase the speed, efficiency and accuracy of work, reduce costs, or reduce the number of contacts between the client and the company to one.
• Do not be bound by factors such as existing staffing, distribution of responsibilities, or place of work. If a new staff member needs to be introduced to improve process efficiency, plan for it.
• If the underlying resources for a process naturally form groups, create a separate process for each group.
• The first step is to change those parts of the process where the most time is lost - where there is a lot of waiting, moving, or redoing work.
• In cases where certain steps within a process can be taken independently of each other and out of sequence, it may make sense to create several processes that can occur in parallel.
• Review the validity of the current sequence of steps within the process. Consider whether it will become faster and more efficient if it is changed.
• Look for opportunities to let go of excessive control over work already done. When people know that the results of their work will be checked many times, they stop trying to do everything right the first time.
• To reduce the number of steps in the process, eliminate all cases of approval of documents and approval of actions by employees who do not particularly understand the content of the work being performed. Move the decision-making process down to a lower level, where the main activity takes place.
• Look for opportunities to simplify unnecessarily complex steps.
• Make sure that as few people as possible are involved in the process. In this way, you reduce the number of possible difficulties and the likelihood of problems occurring in advance.
• To identify problem areas within a process, ask those involved

people about in what cases they experience dissatisfaction and what specifically does not suit them. You may receive, for example, answers such as: “When I receive this piece of work, it lacks the necessary information.”

To identify bottlenecks in organizing a process, add additional basic resources to it and increase the speed of its implementation. Under these conditions, bottlenecks will appear most clearly.