Business Process Management Taking ERP Beyond Departmental and Data Centric Boundaries

8/6/2019 Business Process Management Taking ERP Beyond Departmental and Data Centric Boundaries

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Business Process Management:Taking ERP Beyond Departmental and Data-Centric Boundaries

Business Unified™

A White Paper by Exact Software



A White Paper by Exact Software

1 ©2004 Exact Software, Inc.

Taking ERP Beyond Departmental

and Data-Centric BoundariesThe ERP technology boom in the 1990’s gave organizations a means to start obtaining

much needed operational visibility but was limited to product and order processing with

other related functions and thus did not provide a complete, consolidated view of their

entire business. In today’s global enterprise, numerous business processes occur each

day that are outside the scope of ERP—from filling out a purchase request, to interacting

with business partners, to assigning documents for review and approval: the effectiveness

of each one, and the overall efficiency of your organization, is dependant on integrating

these different tasks throughout your entire business and with ERP systems.

Business Process Management (BPM) is a term that many organizations are using to

define a means to solve the challenges facing a company’s procedural needs in tying

these different operations together. However, as technology vendors are establishing BPM solutions, they often fail to focus on the entire organization, leaving certain

segments of the enterprise fragmented and fending for themselves.

This White Paper will provide the essential background required to understand how

Business Process Management has evolved and how, by understanding BPM as a

philosophy and concept, not a technology solution, companies can bring the

employees and processes that live outside of your ERP system into the organization.

Executive Overview

All businesses embrace processes. Whether these processes are documented on

spreadsheets, Post-It® notes, or in employees’ heads, they are what keep businessmoving forward on a daily basis. Companies first turned to ERP solutions in an attempt

to capture the data and information associated with their business processes. However,

the expectation that ERP solutions could impact all the processes required to run a

business efficiently has never materialized.

With the typical ERP solution reaching approximately 15 to 20 percent of an organiza-

tion, ERP never transcended into a solution for the entire “enterprise”. It has been

this failure of ERP that has been the primary driver in the rise of a new generation

of solutions, led by a diverse group of providers all claiming to deliver BPM. It is due

to this diverse group of solutions, that a clear definition of BPM has never truly been

established. Therefore, a diverse group of limited functionality solutions are all

claiming to deliver true BPM.

The goal of BPM should not only focus on solving processes through technology, but

also on a cultural shift within a company that encourages the sharing of information.

BPM promotes the notion that a business moves forward based on the collective infor-

mation that is stored, shared, and circulated amongst employees. Making information

available to all those who can utilize it, and enhancing on the investment that some

businesses have already made through the implementation of ERP solutions, allowing

for greater efficiencies throughout the entire value cycle of a business.

The goal of BPM should

not only focus on solving

processes through

technology, but also on

a cultural shift within a

company that encourages

the sharing of information.




The Evolution of ERP

ERP solutions were designed to achieve automation across several departments of an

organization, to help facilitate the manufacturing process. ERP addressed the issuesof raw materials, inventory, order entry, and distribution, but was unable to extend to

other staff members who were working on sales, marketing, services, non-transaction-

al relationships with external partners and vendors, and other non-inventory, non-order

operations. ERP did not tie in any customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities

that would allow organizations to capture customer specific information, nor did it

work with the development of Websites or portals for customer service orders. Call center

or quality assurance staff could not tap into the ERP solution, nor could this solution

handle document management, such as cataloging contracts and purchase orders.

As the idea of the extended enterprise emerged, it raised serious questions about how

to most effectively integrate partners, service vendors and the entire value cycle with

documents and workflow driving the business and capturing all the information

involved. Today’s enterprise has evolved and expanded beyond internal influences

and organizational boarders. With global expansions, economic downturns, mobile

workforces, and a partner-driven economy, there are many real-time demands on busi-

nesses. Internal demands and competitive pressures have necessitated a consolidated

view of the organization—both internally and externally—to ensure supreme cost and

process efficiencies. Unfortunately, this consolidated view of the organization can not

be accomplished solely through ERP deployment, leading to the materialization of the

BPM philosophy.

The Emergence of BPMIn the era of the extended enterprise, organizations are now being asked to focus on

initiatives they never had to before. The ability to capture, store, and locate information

has become critical. Increased regulatory factors and compliance issues are forcing

companies to provide a broader view of their businesses. To accomplish this task, it

has become clear that horizontal, as well as vertical management techniques are

required—techniques supported by specialized technology solutions.

Businesses are also being pushed to operate in what is rapidly becoming known

as “zero latency mode,” or more recognizably: “Internet time.” Customers, partners,

and even internal constituents are demanding real-time access and visibility into

the processes running the company. Instant access to critical information createsan environment in which businesses are better prepared to react to changes, and

can adopt a “plan anytime” mind set.

What is being promised by vendors of BPM solutions is the ability to operate in

real-time. They talk about the capacity to replace manual processes and create new

efficiencies across the enterprise. They highlight the ability of BPM solutions to

enhance decision making, while at the same time reduce overhead. They extol the

BPM: Taking ERP Beyond Departmental and Data-Centric Boundarie



virtues of simplifying complex, mission-critical business processes. BPM promises

to help manage organizational change, keep businesses agile, and become a strong

foundation for ongoing improvement. BPM solutions also promise to centralizecorporate information, seamlessly integrating with previously deployed ERP systems,

becoming a critical element of overall business success. BPM providers have made

a great deal of promises that they have yet to deliver on, which is why a clear vision

beyond all the BPM clutter is needed to offer businesses what they truly need, and

should be looking for.

Taking BPM to the Next Level

What most organizations, and most BPM vendors, do not realize is that to obtain full

value from BPM solutions, enterprises need to utilize an integrated suite approach that

extends seamlessly across the enterprise, providing a holistic view of the business.

The majority of BPM solutions available today look and behave more like extensions

of the “islands of automation” paradigm often associated with ERP deployments. They

do not go far enough toward understanding that business processes are intrinsically

linked, and that a “departmental approach” to BPM will eventually fall short of the

intended goals. Companies, and their technology vendors, need to understand that

business processes should not be viewed within the confines of departmental or even

organizational boundaries. As we have already discussed, businesses are becoming

increasingly horizontal and role-based, and thus, the rules for structuring these

organizations must be based on how people interact on a daily basis.

P o r t a l a n d W e b s i t e

R a w M a t e r i a l s

M a n u f a c t u r i n g

I n v e n t o r y

O r d e r E n t r y

D o c u m e n t M a n a g e m e n t

W o r k f l o w

P r o j e c t s S a l e s H R

L o g i s t i c s

F i n a n c i a l s

ERP

Database

e-S ynerg y



The Exact Software Business Operations System (BOS) combines the ERP functionality of Macola ES (or any existing ERP solution)

with the extended process capabilities of e-Synergy, to provide a comprehensive, collaborative platform for the entire organization.

Operating on one database, the Exact BOS makes information immediately accessible to those in the value cycle who need it most.The addition of Exact Event Manager to this system enables business activity monitoring and exception management functionality

across the entire platform.

EXACT Business Operations System



33

2

1

23

123Clearance

Clearance

Clearance

User Security Level

Document Security Level


Exact Software has long understood that BPM cannot achieve its fullpotential until both ven-

dors and their customers begin to look at their businesses from a different perspective and

redirect the belief that business processes exist in a vacuum. With the introduction of theExact e-Synergy solution, ExactSoftware provides companies with the means to unify the

people, processesand knowledge that matter most to a business. The result is the creation

of an accurate, up-to-the-moment view of the organization, that enhances decision-making,

analysis, scenario planning, and ongoing management across the organization. It is thisphilos-

ophyof unification of the overall businesswhich drivesthe successthatBPM hopesto achieve.

Exact Software’s integrated solution set, consisting of Exact e-Synergy’s Web-based

collaboration platform, Exact Macola ES ERP solution and Exact Event Manager offers

companies the technology foundation from which to implement a truly effective and

all inclusive BPM strategy.

How does Exact accomplish this where other vendors fall short? To begin, Exact Softwareis able to support a holistic view of the enterprise. Powerful integration capabilities

within the platform enable companies to unify the enterprise across departmental and

functional boundaries, providing new clarity into the processes that drive the business.

The ability to see where processes intersect, how they impact each other, and the

workflow that drives them provides a clear picture of the business—leading to major

cost savings and operational efficiencies.

Exact also creates an environment in which companies can not only model, but effectively

streamline workflow and automate manual, unsecured processes into a secure central-

ized environment. Since access to information and documents within the Exact Software

environment are based on roles and a rules-based schema, business managers can

control access to data on a need-to-know and need-to-access basis for projects andoutside managed operations. This roles and rules-based approach eliminates the

“islands of automation” inherent in most, if not all, ERP and BPM deployments.


With Exact e-Synergy, information is accessible

to all via the product’s collaboration platform.

With all employees operating off of one platform,

security can be an issue. The e-Synergy

document security model demonstratesthe role based security functionality within

Exact e-Synergy. Items saved are given certain

security clearance ratings, and only those

who possess the defined rating or higher

are able to access that material.

e-Synergy Document Security Model




In the new era of regulations and compliance, real-time access to the vital information

driving the business is crucial. Exact Software has replaced the traditional reporting

paradigm with one that offers continuous monitoring capability. CEOs, departmentheads and other managers can manipulate hundreds of Exact’s pre-defined report

“views” in real-time or create their own. Access to information and flexibility to view

and understand it in the ways that are most relevant provide the ideal environment

needed to best manage every aspect of your business.

Moving Toward a People-CentricBusinessOperations System (BOS)

Exact Software believes that businesses must view the software and technologies that

run their enterprises as a tightly integrated Business Operations System (BOS). A natural

outgrowth of today’s BPM solutions, a BOS is characterized by a comprehensive work

environment, only achieved through seamless, total integration of the data, informa-tion and processes—internal and external—crucial to the business. The comprehensive

work environment will be accessed by a self-service desktop that can be easily person-

alized to provide the most useful information to the employee, the information needed

to best do their jobs on a daily basis.

Further, the desktop, through application integration, will link organizations together.

Providing not only a holistic view of the business, but a holistic view of how people

throughout your entire value-chain (i.e. employees, partners, suppliers and customers)

are interacting within and across your organization.

But most importantly, a true BOS will be built on powerful workflow. Workflow that provides

each employee, based on their roles and responsibilities, with a process-centric viewof the business. Workflow that does not depend upon a crude “send”-only model like

email, but on a business-rules system which automates the flow of communication

and tasks. Workflow that can ensure that assigned tasks are completed, or elevated if

need be. Workflow that can be used in conjunction with advanced alert management

technology to make certain that potential problems do not become crises.

Exact Software offers companies all of this today. Exact’s e-Synergy works with an

organization’s ERP solution to provide a holistic view of a business, as well as its entire

value cycle. e-Synergy is able to share information with the ERP solution as well as tie

in additional functionality that manages, processes, and stores information across the

entire organization. With Exact, 100-percent of a company’s employees (as well as

external stakeholders) can access information critical to their job function if they

meet the required security criteria. Exact’s e-Synergy has enabled users to create a

higher level of efficiency, which has allowed them to realize a competitive advantages

in the marketplace.


CEOs, department heads

and other managers can

manipulate hundreds of

Exact’s pre-defined report

“views” in real-time or

create their own.



6

Summary

Technology has made great strides in offering businesses greater efficiencies. The

problem with the majority of BPM solutions is that they were too specific in function tobring these efficiencies to all employees. Through such implementations, all depart-

ments were operating on individual plains in regards to the solutions they were using

to address their specific needs.

Exact Software believes that through unifying these individual plains which depart-

ments and employees are operating, yet another level of efficiency can be reached. In

essence, technology can be combined to create a platform which an entire business

can utilize and operate off of. Such a platform can also extend beyond the organization

to involve anyone who may be associated with the company’s value cycle.

Exact Software, through its family of products and ability to integrate with other indus-

try leading back-end solutions, provides today’s organization with the means to imple-ment a Business Operations System from which to most effectively and efficiently man-

age the demanding requirements of the entire enterprise. Exact Software provides a

complete, holistic view of businesses on a standard platform. More importantly, Exact

Software offers unprecedented levels of centralization, communication and collabora-

tion between individuals, departments, locations, vendors, partners and customers.

Through greater centralization of critical business information for real-time decision

making, companies put themselves in a better position to boost profitability and

reduce operational costs, increase accuracy and timeliness of cost allocations, and

ultimately maximize financial decisions that shape the future of the company.

For more information about how Exact Software can have a positive impact on your

business operations, please visit www.exactamerica.com or call 1.800.468.0834.


Exact Software offers

unprecedented levels

of centralization,

communication and

collaboration between

individuals, departments,

locations, vendors,

partners and customers.

Exact Software North Americawww.exactamerica.com

1.800.468.0834 Ext. 2650

Business Process Management Taking ERP Beyond Departmental and Data Centric Boundaries

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