Kyoto, Japan, Jan. 17th, 2022, Questetra, Inc., the global SaaS provider of Business Process Management (BPM), today announced that they have published the new version 13.3 of the Cloud-based Workflow product Questetra BPM Suite. This new version 13.3 allows you to automate the invitation of collaborators to Box.（Box: Cloud storage service）
Box is a cloud service that provides a safe and efficient way to use files of all formats. You can not only save the file, but also invite Box users outside your organization to collaborate on the file. This feature allows you to quickly share files with teams that include members outside your organization.
Starting with the new version 13.3, Business Processes can incorporate the ability to invite collaborators to Box files and folders. For example, when the outsourcing procedure for a system development project is completed, it will be possible to build a mechanism in which the editing authority for project-related files is automatically granted to the person in charge of the outsourced company without coding.
Questetra BPM Suite
Cloud-based Workflow Questetra BPM Suite is a business platform for realizing paperless environments and remote-working. Business issues are controlled according to a Business Flow Diagram. When a Process reaches a Human Task the user will be asked to add their input. Also, when an issue reaches an automated Step the predetermined processing (server-side processing) such as generating a PDF and saving it to cloud storage is performed automatically. (BPM: Business Process Management)）
You can apply it to various business operations such as an Approval request flow, Document translation flow, Quality check process, and Invoice issuance process. Process owners of each Business Process can practice the Improvement of Business Processes little by little in daily work. (Examples of Business Flow Diagrams: https://questetra.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012492211 ）
Box: Add Collaboration
You will be able to use this item to automatically invite Box users outside your organization to your Box files and folders as editors or viewers. * Available in Advanced, Professional
Box: Add Collaboration
Other Improvements
Box: Delete Collaboration
You will be able to use this item to automatically delete the collaborator settings set for Box files and folders. This allows you to build a mechanism, for example, that prevents the person in charge of the contractor from accessing the files that could be viewed and edited when the system development project is terminated. * Available in Advanced, Professional
Google Sheets: Delete Sheet
You will be able to delete sheets in Google Sheets using this item. If you are building a mechanism that automatically adds the sheet of the month every month and inserts the data extracted from other systems, for example, it allows you to add a mechanism that will automatically delete the sheet of the previous month to prevent the file size from becoming too large. * Available in Advanced, Professional
Improved ease of specifying Issues data filtering conditions
When specifying the filter conditions with the function to search the Issue data, it is now possible to select and specify relative values for the date and time from the options.
クラウド型ワークフロー『Questetra BPM Suite』は、ペーパーレス環境やリモートワーク環境を推進するための業務プラットフォームです。業務案件は業務フロー図に従ってコントロールされ、案件が人間工程に到達すれば担当者はアウトプットを求められます。また、案件が自動工程に到達した際には、「PDFの生成」や「クラウドストレージへの保存」といった既定の処理（サーバサイド処理）が自動的に行われます。（BPM: Business Process Management）
サービス工程を利用して、Box のファイルやフォルダに設定されていた共同作業者設定（コラボレーション）を削除できるようになります。例えば、システム開発プロジェクトが終了処理されると、委託先担当者がそれまで閲覧編集できたファイルにアクセスできなくなる仕組みを構築できるようになります。※対象エディション: Advanced, Professional
Google スプレッドシート: シート削除
サービス工程を利用して、Google スプレッドシートのシートを削除できるようになります。例えば、毎月その月のシートが自動的に追加され、他のシステムから抽出されたデータが挿入される仕組みを構築している場合、ファイルサイズが大きくなりすぎることを防ぐために、前月のシートが自動的に削除される仕組みを追加できるようになります。※対象エディション: Advanced, Professional
In this article I will write about APIs (Application Programming Interface).
In the past few years businesses have been using cloud services like Google Workspace and Salesforce, and APIs are essential for leveraging data from these cloud services.
If you are using multiple cloud services in your business, such as Google Workspace for groupware and Box for cloud storage, and you feel that it would be nice if they worked well together, you may want to learn more about APIs.
1 What is an API?
API stands for Application Programming Interface, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article. Even if the abbreviation is explained though, it still might not make sense.
If you look up the word “Interface” in the dictionary, you will find the following:
interface 1. contact surface, interface 1a. 《computers》 interface (something that mediates the exchange of information between two parties; hardware [software, user] interface); 《physics》 interface (a surface where two phases meet) 2. common matter (between research fields, etc.)
As described in section 1a, APIs also mediate the exchange of information between two parties. The two parties to be mediated are software and software.
You should first have a rough understanding that APIs are designed to connect software to software.
2 So, are APIs good?
In the business world where various cloud services are used, there is a demand to utilize the data stored in them.
There are a variety of possible requirements, for example:
You may want to extract customer masters from kintone (database) and use them in SendGrid (email distribution).
You may want to make the history of responses to inquiries stored in Zendesk (Contact Management) available in Salesforce.
You may want to extract business partner information from Salesforce (sales force automation) on a daily basis and use it in Questetra BPM Suite (workflow).
There are many, many more besides these.
In order to meet these requirements each service has created its own API and made this information available to the public.
Thanks to the public API, it is possible to do the following:
Extract stored data
Add data
Execute a specific process (e.g. email delivery)
APIs are also used in the development of smart phone applications.
If the API is not public it is not possible to create software that can do the following.
Extract customer masters from kintone and make them available for SendGrid.
If you think about the following requirements
Download the kintone customer master manually and upload it to SendGrid manually
If you want to automate the process, you can build your own email distribution system that can be linked to kintone without using SendGrid
This will require a lot of time and money.
Each cloud service exposes its APIs to the public, which makes software development easier.
So APIs are pretty tasty!
3 What do APIs actually do?
The API format for cloud services is called Web API, and among the various methods REST is often used. Basically, HTTP communication is used, which is the same communication protocol as when viewing a website, but for now you don’t need to worry about what REST is.
API users: Sends HTTP requests
API provider: Returns an HTTP response
The API provider receives the request, checks the extraction conditions included in the request, and returns the extraction results in the response.
The API manual for each cloud service will tell you what kind of request you need to send in this basic form.
There are also other topics such as authentication and authorization to ensure secure communication, but that gets a bit more complicated so we will not discuss them at this time.
API and Workflow
At Questetra we provide a cloud-based Workflow “Questetra BPM Suite”, and the compatibility between the Workflow and API is quite good. The reason is that there are so many usage scenarios, such as
When an order is approved, the order information is stored in salesforce.
When a seminar application is accepted, the reception information is stored in kintone.
Once the quote is approved, the quote PDF will be uploaded to Box.
There are many situations where you need to collaborate with other cloud services. Thanks to the APIs provided by each cloud service, it is easy to link with them from the workflow.
The following workflow diagram shows an item placed at the end of the flow where a record is automatically added to kintone.
Inside this item, a request is sent to the kintone API and a record is added. This process is packaged in such a way that the user of the item does not need to have detailed knowledge of the kintone API or how to process the response.
In addition to kintone, Questetra BPM Suite includes the items to access APIs of the following services as the standard:
Google Drive
Google Sheets
Google Calendar
Gmail
Google BigQuery
Microsoft OneDrive for Business
Microsoft Excel
Box
Slack
Also, more services will be available to access by using add-ons in the Professional Edition.
【引用原文】 Business process management (BPM) is a discipline that uses various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve and optimize business processes. A business process coordinates the behavior of people, systems, information and things to produce business outcomes in support of a business strategy. Processes can be structured and repeatable, or unstructured and variable. Though not required, technologies are often used with BPM. BPM is key to align IT/OT investments to business strategy.
押さえておくべきこと（大切なこと）は、
『ビジネスプロセス管理（BPM）』は、 基本的には「ITツールを指す言葉」ではない
という点です。
【筆者ぼやき】 “BPM is a discipline.” この “discipline” を翻訳するのは難しいです。本稿では敢えて『行動規範』と訳しています。辞書には「集団の規律」「組織内の統制」「キリスト教の法規」「学問分野」といった訳語もありますが、どれもシックリきません。ちなみに「BPMは学問分野である」と翻訳されているケースをよく目にします。が、その日本語訳は「シックリこない」を通り越して「誤訳だ」と感じています。原義的・哲学的〔e.g. Mフーコーの「ディシプリン」, Wikipedia En〕に言えば、「権威からの教え」といった強いニュアンスなハズです。つまり「教義」「行動指針」「行動規範」などの方が適訳だと思っています。
IT業界やコンサル業界では、BPMの理論基盤は、Fテイラーの『科学的管理法』（1910年頃）を源流とするという考え方が広く支持されています。つまり、テイラーは “労働者管理の方法論” の中で「工具手順の標準化」や「標準的作業時間の設定」などを提唱しました。100年以上経った今日に至ってもなお『組織内のワークフローを分析し調和させるマネージメント理論』として広く知られています〔科学的管理法: Wikipedia EnJa〕。そして、その「プロセスを管理する」という考え方が、1960年代の「カイゼン活動」（品質管理の方法論）、1980年代の「CMMI」（ソフトウェア開発の方法論）、1990年代の「COBIT」（ITガバナンスの方法論）などに引き継がれている、と言われています。
ここで大切なことは、
『ビジネスプロセス管理（BPM）』は、 この10年・20年に湧いて出てきた新しい考え方ではない
という点です。
よく考えれば「プロセスを管理したい」という表現自体、極めて普通のフレーズです。長い歴史の上に存在し続けている『普遍的な行動規範』なのだと思います。そして、この『ビジネスプロセス管理（BPM）』という言葉自体は、2000年代に入って注目されるようになります。それは、Gartner 社自身が『Business Process Management Suite』（BPMS）という造語を発表したことがキッカケとなります。
【筆者ぼやき】 常々思っている事ですが、「ビジネスプロセスを管理する」という行為は、社会性が高い人類にとって “極めて自然な欲求” です。極端な話、「”ビジネスプロセス管理の歴史” なんて “人類の歴史” と同じなんでわ？」などと思ってしまいます。たとえば豊臣秀吉が全国の農耕地の測量を命じた時、プロセスの概念はあったように思います。「測量手順」「役割分担」「報告書式」くらいは定義されていた（管理されていた）ような気がします。〔知らんけど〕 〔太閤検地, Wikipedia Ja〕
1-4. ところで “BPMS” というコトバは必要だったの？
『Business Process Management Suite』（BPMS）という言葉についても、米ガートナー社による定義を確認しておきましょう。
【引用原文】 Business process management suites (BPMSs) are the leading application infrastructures to support BPM projects and programs. A BPMS supports the entire process improvement life cycle – from process discovery, definition and design to implementation, monitoring and analysis, and through ongoing optimization. Its model-driven approach enables business and IT professionals to work together more collaboratively throughout the life cycle than is possible with other approaches to solution delivery.
【引用原文】 Business Process Management: The services and tools that support process management (for example, process analysis, definition, processing, monitoring and administration), including support for human and application-level interaction. BPM tools can eliminate manual processes and automate the routing of requests between departments and applications.
It can be considered as an extension of classical Workflow Management (WFM) systems and approaches. … Many people consider Business Process Management (BPM) to be the “next step” after the workflow wave of the nineties… There exist many definitions of BPM but in most cases it clearly includes Workflow Management (WFM).
BPM can be seen as an extension of Workflow Management (WFM). WFM primarily focuses on the automation of business processes, whereas BPM has a broader scope: from process automation and process analysis to operations management and the organization of work… Traditional WFM technology aimed at the automation of business processes in a rather mechanistic manner without much attention for human factors and management support.
ちなみに、ガートナー社の用語集に「Workflow Automation」は存在していません。ガートナー社は、むしろ “iPaaS オシ” （Integration Platform as a Service）です。 〔そして「Workflow Automation」と「Robotic Process Automation」(RPA) の違いについては、またの機会に…。〕
【筆者ぼやき】 言葉としての「フロー図」は、外にも様々な表現が使われます。プロセス図・業務の流れ図・ワークフロー図・フローダイアグラム・フローチャート・工程表・などなど。私見ながら、それらに大きな違いは無いと思っています。（さすがに、それらの「違い」を考察するのは不毛に…）。なお、具体的な表記法としては『BPMN』（Business Process Model and Notation）が国際標準化されています。
What is the difference between BPM and Workflow? What do they have in common? We look back at the definitions and origins of the terms and discuss the relationship between BPM and Workflow. The author: 20 years of experience in corporate software. Master (Informatics). Certified Information Security Specialist by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Project manager certified by METI.
In order to compare the two terms it is necessary to define each of them. First we would like to discuss the definition of BPM. The term “Business Process Management” (BPM) has been defined in various ways by various organisations and bodies.
1-1. Gartner’s definition of BPM
The definition by Gartner Inc, one of the most influential companies in the IT industry, is important to note. (Gartner, Inc: IT advisory firm, Wikipedia En)
Original quote: Business process management (BPM) is a discipline that uses various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve and optimize business processes. A business process coordinates the behavior of people, systems, information and things to produce business outcomes in support of a business strategy. Processes can be structured and repeatable, or unstructured and variable. Though not required, technologies are often used with BPM. BPM is key to align IT/OT investments to business strategy.
Gartner Glossary of Terms “Business Process Management (BPM)”
The first and most improtant thing to keep in mind is that Business Process Management is not just a word that refers to IT tools.
Author’s note: BPM is a discipline. This discipline is difficult to translate. In this article, we dare to translate it as a code of conduct. Some dictionaries translate it as “group discipline”, “organizational control”, or “academic discipline”, but none of these are quite right. Incidentally, we often see BPM described as an academic discipline. However, I feel that the Japanese translation is not only uncomfortable but also a mistranslation. In the original and philosophical sense (e.g. M. Foucault’s discipline (Wikipedia En)), there should be a strong nuance of teaching from authority. I think that a better translation would be doctrine, guidelines and a code of conduct.
1-2. How we approach BPM
We know that BPM is a code of conduct and that it refers to initiatives within a department or across the company. But how are these initiatives put into practice?
Many corporate initiatives are based on indicators or goals. In business process management activities, the maturity of an organization is often referred to. It varies from company to company and depends on the consulting company supporting it, but basically it refers to five stages from one to five. In some cases there is a stage 0 which assumes that there is nothing to manage (Reproduction).
Incidentally, I think that 0: chaos, 1: definition, 2: control, 3: governance, 4: control and 5: adaptation are appropriate expressions.
Unlike other management activities (QMS, EMS, ISMS, etc.) there is no international standard (ISO) for business process management. In the first place, business process is an expression that encompasses various processes such as quality management, environmental assessment, etc. It seems to be too broad in scope.
Notes: Maturity-related standards
QMS: Quality Management System
Control of the quality of manufactured goods and services provided. International standardization since 1987 (ISO 9000)
Phase 2: Establish Intraprocess Automation and Control
Phase 3: Establish Interprocess Automation and Control
Phase 4: Establish Enterprise Valuation Control
Phase 5: Create an Agile Business Structure
1-3. History of BPM
By the way, when did business process management activities come into practice?
In the IT and consulting industries, there is widespread support for the idea that the theoretical basis of BPM originates from F. Taylor’s Scientific Management Method (circa 1910).
More than 100 years later, it is still widely recognised as a management theory for analysing and harmonising workflows in organisations〔Scientific Management: Wikipedia EnJa〕. It is said that the idea of managing processes has been inherited by Kaizen activities (quality management methodology) in the 1960s, CMMI (software development methodology) in the 1980s, and COBIT (IT governance methodology) in the 1990s.
What is important here is that BPM is not a new way of thinking that has emerged in the last 10 or 20 years.
If you think about it, the expression “I want to manage the process” is a very common phrase. I think it is a universal code of conduct that has existed over a long history. And the term Business Process Management (BPM) itself came to be noticed in the 2000s. This was when Gartner itself coined the term Business Process Management Suite (BPMS).
Author’s note: I’ve always thought that the act of managing business processes is a very natural desire for highly social humans. To put it another way, the history of business process management is the same as the history of mankind I think. For example, when Hideyoshi Toyotomi ordered the surveying of all the agricultural land in Japan, the concept of process seemed to exist. I think there was at least a defined (and controlled) procedure for surveying and a reporting format for assigning roles (but who knows for sure).〔Taikou Kenshi, Japanese Wiki Corpus En〕
1-4. BPMS definition by Gartner
So why did we need the term Business Process Management Suite again?
I would like to review Gartner’s definition of BPMS.
Original quote: Business process management suites (BPMSs) are the leading application infrastructures to support BPM projects and programs. A BPMS supports the entire process improvement life cycle – from process discovery, definition and design to implementation, monitoring and analysis, and through ongoing optimization. Its model-driven approach enables business and IT professionals to work together more collaboratively throughout the life cycle than is possible with other approaches to solution delivery.
Gartner Glossary of Terms “Business Process Management Suites (BPMSs)”
Once again, the term Business Process Management Suite was necessary because we wanted to promote a model-driven approach, which is, in short, a new technological trend.
The term Model-Driven Approach has a very deep meaning. I will try to explain it in more detail in the next chapters.
Just keep in mind here that Business Process Management Suite is a term that refers to IT tools.
The word “suite” means a set of rooms. A hotel suite is a collection of different rooms. A suite of office software includes Word, Power Point, and many more.
1-5. BPM definition by various organisations
How do other organisations define Business Process Management?
In general the wording is similar to “1-1. Gartner’s definition of BPM” (← not a term referring to IT tools).
Quote: BPM is one of the methods of business management.
On the other hand, there are some definitions that refer to IT tools, such as the glossary of the international standard BPMN 2.0.
Quote: Business Process Management: The services and tools that support process management (for example, process analysis, definition, processing, monitoring and administration), including support for human and application-level interaction. BPM tools can eliminate manual processes and automate the routing of requests between departments and applications.
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), Glossary informative
It is important to note that the term Business Process Management basically refers to a business management method, but in some contexts it can also refer to a set of IT tools.
Image of a business process
2. Workflow Definition
In this chapter we will focus on the term “workflow” in comparison with “BPM”.
2-1. Workflow definition by Prof. Aalst
Professor Aalst, world famous for his workflows research, says in the beginning of his article BPM: A Survey of Trends (2003) (He is particularly famous for his work on workflow patterns in the 2000s and his work on process mining in the 2010s.) 〔Win van der Aalst, Wikipedia En〕
Original quote 1: It can be considered as an extension of classical Workflow Management (WFM) systems and approaches.
Survey of BPM trends
The text of the article goes into more detail.
Original quote 2: Many people consider Business Process Management (BPM) to be the next step after the workflow wave of the nineties… There exist many definitions of BPM but in most cases it clearly includes Workflow Management (WFM).
Survey of BPM Trends
I believe that this idea is still the basis of thinking within the IT industry in the 2020s. In other words, there is a deep-rooted perception that Workflow is an element of BPM Workflow is an integral part of BPM
A decade later, in his paper BPM: A Survey of Widespread Trends (2013), he gives a similar explanation.
Original quote: BPM can be seen as an extension of Workflow Management (WFM). WFM primarily focuses on the automation of business processes, whereas BPM has a broader scope: from process automation and process analysis to operations management and the organization of work… Traditional WFM technology aimed at the automation of business processes in a rather mechanistic manner without much attention for human factors and management support.
BPM’s extensive trend research
Author’s note: The professor’s article “Business Process Management: A Survey” describes the BPM definition from the point of view of a workflow researcher (applied research in graph theory, applied research in formal languages, etc.). Interestingly, it rejects the idea of invisible processes. Our definition of BPM is limited to operational processes, i.e. it excludes strategic processes and processes that cannot be made explicit. Please note that the process must be known. We cannot provide support without having information about the operational processes (yes, I know the feeling).
2-2. Workflow definition by Gartner
Gartner also states in its “Selection Criteria for BPMS Products” (2009) and “Selection Criteria for iBPMS Products” (2011);
Author’s note: BPMS has 10 functional areas, and workflow technology is just one component.
It’s not an official document, but in my blog “Do you understand the difference between workflow and BPM?”(2010), where we claimed that they are completely different.
Author’s note: BPMS is an evolution of workflow. To put it another way, workflow is just one of the 10 technologies in BPMS.
As you would expect from a research firm, it’s a very logical argument. They call their component the Process Orchestration Engine, and they have been using the term “workflow engine” for some time, but I think they needed to graduate to workflow as well. (CF: Workflow Reference Model)
Original quote: This research examines the key features to consider when evaluating an iBPMS.
the 10 iBPMS Core Components
The Process Orchestration Engine Drives the Process From One Activity to Another
The Model-Driven Composition Environment Helps Design Processes and Their Supporting Activities
Content Interaction Management Supports the Content Needed to Complete Process Activities
Human Interaction Management Enables People to Interact Naturally With Processes
Connectivity Links Processes to the Resources They Control
Active Analytics Are Needed to Monitor Activity, Progress and Changes in Processes
On-Demand Analytics Are Needed to Measure and Project Process Outcomes
Business Rule Management Is Needed to Guide and Implement Process Agility
Management and Administration Features Help Monitor and Adjust the iBPMS
The Process Component Registry/Repository Provides Component Leverage and Reuse
Author’s note: Gartner divides the products that support BPM activities (BPM products) into more detailed categories. Specifically, it investigates them in three categories (BPM platform => BPMS => intelligent BPMS). To put it crudely, it is argued that if you value the ability to predict the future you should use an intelligent BPMS (←This is important for large-scale organizations).
2-3. The term Workflow Automation
So what is workflow automation, a term we are seeing more and more in the 2020s?
In Japan the term workflow product has a strong impression of something that requires human involvement, and more specifically it often refers to application approval flows and expense reimbursement flows. In other words, “Human-Centric Workflow”.
Workflow products are a generic term for products that digitize the administrative flow of a company’s various business operations, from agreement and application to approval and decision, in order to improve the efficiency and automation of business processes and strengthen internal controls.
Annual Securities Report of Eight Red Co.
However, if you look back at the history of definitions up to the previous section, you can somewhat imagine that workflow in workflow automation is a nuance of machine-oriented (Integration-Centric) workflow.
I think it would be better to think of it as the full automation of a series of processes. It can be done without human involvement and greatly improves the productivity of routine tasks. (e.g. IFTTT, Zapier, kissflow, Pipefy, Box Relay, WorkFusion, K2 Software, etc.). The difference between workflow automation and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) will be explained another time.
By the way, Workflow Automation does not exist in Gartner’s glossary. Gartner is more about iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service). Basically, I think it should be used (and understood) as a universal language.
3. About Model Driven Approaches
So what is it about the model-driven approach that makes Workflow systems different from BPMS?
3-1. What is a model?
To begin with, the word “model” has two main meanings: model and example.
Plastic models: imitation objects. Not the real thing.
Molecular model: imitation. Not real.
Role model: An ideal person. Different from yourself.
Fashion: Ideal person. Different from yourself.
I think that model-driven, which is a feature of business process management (BPM), should be taken in the sense of a simplified diagram for recognizing the target. In other words, it can be said that it is not fully described, but it defines the characteristic points.
3-2. What is a Process Model?
So, does the expression “modeling” a process refer only to flow diagrams?
Today, process models are conceptually defined by the following three elements:
Process model
Business flow: how each process is connected in what order (flow modeling)
Business data: what kind of data is passed from one process to another (data modeling)
Underwriting rules: who (an individual, a team member, a machine, etc.) will take over (resource modeling)
In other words, in order to schematize the business process it is necessary to define not only the flow diagram, but also the business data such as address, name, telephone number and the rules of undertaking, such as Mr. Suzuki and the leader of the department to which Mr. Suzuki belongs.
Author’s note: The term “flow diagram” is also used in various other ways. There are process diagrams, business flow diagrams, workflow diagrams, flow diagrams, flow charts, process tables, and so on. In my opinion, there is no significant difference between them. In addition, BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) has been internationally standardized as a specific notation method.
3-3. What is model-driven?
I often see and hear the expression “Model-Driven”, but I’m not sure what it means.
“Drive” means to give momentum in the original sense. There are also expressions such as “drive” in tennis and soccer. Therefore, I think it is better to recognize it as a system development style where modeling is done first.
Specifically, as shown in the previous section, we model the business flow business data underwriting rules. Then the system is implemented based on the process model.
Traditionally, BPMS which requires implementation by programmers after modeling/designing has been the mainstream. However, in recent years, No-Code development (system/software development that does not require programming) has become the trend. Today, there are many organizations that prefer a BPMS that can be implemented immediately after the process model (also called a “workflow app”) is completed.
4. Difference between Workflow and BPM
Each product has its own personality. Therefore, it is not easy to describe the differences between Workflow category products and BPM category products. Please understand that the following differences can only be broadly described.
As mentioned earlier, BPM products can direct both humans and machines/computers. However, the essential difference is the presence or absence of modeling. In other words, the difference between Workflow and BPM is to consider the advantages and disadvantages of having a model.
4-1. Differences in business flow settings
In the case of BPM products, the core of the modeling process is the workflow diagram.
This is certainly an extremely big advantage. However, it can also be a disadvantage. In other words, the aspect of being able to describe any kind of flow is directly related to the cost of learning it. (BPMN is easy to read, but may not be so easy to draw.)
However, there is no end to kaizen activities.
Settings for changing the route depending on the case
Settings for proceeding to the next process upon timeout
Settings for diverting to multiple processes in the middle
Settings for automating default data editing
Settings for calling a child processes automatically
Settings for automatically communicating with other cloud services
Etc.
BPM products can realize various flows (or control patterns) and various controls (i.e. API Orchestration).
4-2. Differences in setting underwriting rules
In the case of BPM products, it is possible to set up complex underwriting rules.
Designate one person to be in charge of the process (already assigned when the case arrives)
Designate multiple operators for the process (someone else will take over)
Designate a person in charge of the process by role name (if more than one person, someone else will take over)
BPM products allow you to realize various ways of assigning work.
4-3. Differences in sharing business processes with internal and external parties
In the case of BPM products, graphical workflow diagrams (BPMN diagrams) are created for all business processes. In addition, modeling results can be saved as a process model. (In the case of Questetra BPM Suite .qar files are used)
Process owners can easily explain the business process of their department. In addition, the management and related departments can check the current business process at any time.
4-4. Differences in the processing of incoming cases
In the case of BPM products, the current location of a case as well as its previous destinations can be checked on the workflow diagram. The person in charge of operating each process can check the operator in the upstream process if necessary.
4-5. Differences in monitoring the flow of cases
In the case of BPM products, the current location of all in-process projects can be checked on a workflow diagram. For example, you can identify the processes that tend to be stagnant and take actions such as increasing the number of staff or automating them, or change the flow of the business. We call this Status Monitoring.
4-6. Differences in the aggregation of processed forms
In the case of BPM products, performance values can be aggregated for each person in charge of a case or for each case route. For example, you can automate performance reports for each person in charge. This is called Performance Monitoring.
4-7. Differences in detecting problems when they occur
In the case of BPM products, permissions for viewing business data can be set in detail. This makes it easier for case handlers to consult with colleagues and related departments, and to get advice and feedback from colleagues and related departments.
5. Conclusion
BPM activities are only meaningful if we continue to make Kaizen improvements. A lot of issues are hidden even in small administrative procedures.
Let’s face not only the business processes that are visible to the process owners at each site (business processes that are modeled) but also the business processes that are not yet visible (business processes that are not yet modeled). And let’s work together to make small improvements little by little.
PS: Common Misconceptions
Workflow systems specialize in the application process, while BPM tools target larger business processes such as order-taking systems and manufacturing systems.
That’s a misconception. There are many companies that continue to improve their application process with BPM tools.
Workflow is a tool that facilitates quick and smooth application and approval processes, while BPM is a tool that analyzes the entire business and reconfigures operations to improve efficiency by analyzing problem areas.
BPM also encompasses workflow functions, so it is a tool for smooth progress. In other words, I don’t think I’ve expressed the fact that it is an inclusive relationship.
Workflow systems are executed manually, whereas BPM tools are executed both manually and also by business applications.
There is nothing wrong with a BPM tool being able to handle both human and machine processing. However, the first half of the sentence assumes that there are many workflow products that control human work (human-centric products). In particular, from a global perspective there are many contexts for workflow products that control machine work (integration-centric products), so you need to be careful.
If you want to improve your paper-based operation, a workflow system is recommended…
This may be right, but basically it depends on whether you want to keep improving or not.
