Combining BPM and BAM for a Holistic Approach to Business Control

Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) are two powerful methodologies that, when combined, offer a holistic approach to managing and controlling business operations. BPM focuses on defining, improving, and automating business processes, while BAM provides real-time insights into these processes as they happen. In this article, we’ll explore how integrating BPM and BAM can provide businesses with a comprehensive viewof their operations, allowing for better decision-making, process optimization, and control.

 What is BPM (Business Process Management)?

Business Process Management (BPM) is a systematic approach to identifying, designing, executing, monitoring, and optimising business processes. It involves improving processes over time to ensure that they are efficient, consistent, and aligned with the organization’s strategic goals.

Key Features of BPM:

• Process Mapping and Documentation: Identifying and documenting workflows.
• Process Optimization: Streamlining processes to reduce inefficiencies.
• Automation: Using technology to automate repetitive tasks.
• Continuous Improvement: Regularly reviewing and enhancing processes to ensure ongoing efficiency.

Example: A financial institution uses BPM to streamline its loan approval process, automating manual tasks like document collection and verification.

 What is BAM (Business Activity Monitoring)?

Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) focuses on the real-time tracking and monitoring of business processes and activities. It provides instant visibility into how processes are performing by continuously measuring key metrics and sending alerts when thresholds are exceeded. BAM is often used to identify bottlenecks, monitor KPIs, and gain operational insights.

Key Features of BAM:

• Real-Time Monitoring: Continuous tracking of performance metrics.
• Alerts and Notifications: Automated alerts when performance deviates from expected outcomes.
• Dashboards and Visualization: Real-time data visualization for instant insights.
• Exception Handling: Identifying and addressing issues as they arise.

Example: A retail company uses BAM to monitor its inventory in real time, receiving alerts when stock levels drop below a certain threshold to prevent stockouts.

 Why Combine BPM and BAM?

1. End-to-End Visibility and Control

By integrating BPM and BAM, businesses can achieve end-to-end visibility over their processes, from the design and execution of workflows (BPM) to real-time performance monitoring and analysis (BAM). This combination provides both long-term process improvement and immediate operational control, ensuring that processes are efficient and effective at all times.

Example: A logistics company uses BPM to design optimal delivery routes and BAM to monitor real-time delivery performance, allowing for adjustments when delays occur.

2. Proactive Issue Resolution

BPM helps businesses design optimal processes, while BAM alerts teams in real time when processes deviate from expected performance. This combination enables proactive issue resolution by allowing businesses to quickly identify and address problems before they impact operations.

Example: In a customer service setting, BPM defines the workflow for handling support tickets, while BAM monitors the time it takes to resolve each ticket, alerting managers when response times exceed service-level agreements (SLAs).

3. Data-Driven Process Optimization

With BPM, businesses can standardize and automate processes, ensuring they run efficiently. BAM complements this by providing real-time data on process performance, allowing companies to continuously monitor and adjust workflows based on actual results. This creates a feedback loop for ongoing process improvement.

Example: A manufacturer uses BPM to automate its production process and BAM to monitor equipment performance in real time, adjusting the production schedule based on machine availability and reducing downtime.

4. Better Decision-Making with Real-Time Data

BAM provides real-time insights into key performance indicators (KPIs), while BPM ensures that processes are designed to meet business objectives. By integrating the two, businesses can make data-driven decisions that are informed by real-time data, improving overall performance and responsiveness.

Example: A healthcare provider uses BPM to optimise patient scheduling and BAM to monitor patient wait times in real time, allowing the clinic to adjust appointments and staffing levels as needed.

 Key Benefits of Integrating BPM and BAM

1. Improved Operational Efficiency

By combining BPM’s process optimization with BAM’s real-time monitoring, businesses can ensure that processes run smoothly and efficiently. Any deviations from the desired process can be immediately addressed, reducing delays and improving overall productivity.

2. Enhanced Agility and Responsiveness

The ability to monitor processes in real time allows businesses to respond quickly to changes or unexpected issues. With BAM, decision-makers can identify and resolve problems as they happen, while BPM ensures that processes remain flexible and adaptable to changes in the market.

3. Reduced Risk and Errors

Integrating BPM and BAM helps businesses reduce risks by ensuring that processes are executed as intended and monitored for performance deviations. BAM alerts teams when there are exceptions or errors in the process, allowing for immediate corrective action.

4. Increased Compliance

Many industries, such as finance, healthcare, and manufacturing, require strict compliance with regulatory standards. BPM ensures that processes are compliant by design, while BAM tracks compliance in real time, ensuring that any deviations are flagged immediately.

Example: A financial services firm uses BPM to ensure that all loan approvals follow regulatory guidelines and BAM to monitor compliance with audit trails and alerts.

 Best Practices for Integrating BPM and BAM

1. Identify Critical Processes for Monitoring

Not all processes require the same level of monitoring. Start by identifying the most critical processes that impact business performance and focus your BAM efforts on these areas.

Example: A retailer might prioritise monitoring its order fulfillment and inventory management processes for real-time visibility.

2. Set Up Real-Time Dashboards and Alerts

Use BAM dashboards to visualise key metrics and set up alerts for when performance thresholds are exceeded. Ensure that these dashboards are accessible to relevant stakeholders and that alerts are actionable.

Example: A manufacturing company sets up dashboards to track production throughput, with alerts triggered when production falls below expected levels.

3. Create a Feedback Loop for Continuous Improvement

Use the data generated by BAM to identify areas for process improvement in BPM. By creating a continuous feedback loop, businesses can ensure that processes are continuously optimized based on real-world performance data.

Example: A financial institution uses BAM to monitor transaction times and adjusts its BPM workflows to improve processing speed and reduce customer wait times.

4. Ensure Scalability

As your business grows, both BPM and BAM systems should be scalable to accommodate more processes and data. Ensure that your BPM platform can handle increased workflow automation and that your BAM system can scale to monitor a larger volume of activities.

 Tools for Implementing BPM and BAM Together

1. ProcessMaker

ProcessMaker is a BPM software that integrates with BAM tools to provide real-time monitoring of workflows. It allows businesses to design, automate, and monitor processes on a single platform.

2. Bizagi

Bizagi is a BPM platform that offers advanced process automation combined with real-time activity monitoring through its BAM capabilities. It helps businesses optimise processes and track performance simultaneously.

3. Nintex

Nintex offers both BPM and BAM functionalities, enabling businesses to design and automate workflows while monitoring their performance through real-time dashboards and alerts.

 Case Study: Combining BPM and BAM for Optimised Customer Service

A telecommunications company used a combination of BPM and BAM to improve its customer service processes:

1. Challenge: The company experienced long wait times and inefficient customer service workflows, leading to poor customer satisfaction.
2. Solution: The company implemented BPM to design and automate the customer support workflow, ensuring consistent handling of customer inquiries. They integrated BAM to monitor call resolution times and customer satisfaction in real time.
3. Outcome: The company reduced average wait times by 25% and improved first-call resolution by 30%, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

 Conclusion: A Holistic Approach to Business Control with BPM and BAM

By integrating Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), businesses can gain a comprehensive view of their operations, ensuring both long-term process optimization and real-time control. This holistic approach allows businesses to remain agile, efficient, and responsive to changes, driving continuous improvement and operational success.

For companies looking to enhance their business control, combining BPM and BAM is a powerful strategy to optimise processes and monitor them effectively.