BPM—A Whole New World of Opportunity
not have existed without the first opportunity. You see this effect in everyday life and you see it in business. Doing something new changes the dynamics of your environment, and therefore the chain of events that occurs in the future is altered. If you execute effectively, the future is usually altered for the better. This ongoing cycle of one opportunity leading to another opportunity and so on is what we call the "opportunity snowball effect." Momentum is a powerful thing and the momentum you generate with BPM can open up a whole new world of opportunity.
Many organizations choose to automate process after process on a BPM platform to get quick gains in efficiency and productivity, without ever rounding out the lifecycle to analyze how these processes could be improved even further. This approach certainly constitutes an easy, ongoing way to lower costs. But leadership is not just about taking the easy path—hence the reason that not everyone is a leader. In addition, a low-cost strategy will only get you so far.
So if you have leadership aspirations for yourself and for your organization, you need to take your BPM initiatives to the next level. Try something new; try focusing on designing, analyzing and improving processes for agility, visibility and innovation. Once you do, you will find that you are the one seizing the opportunities and gaining leadership, while your competitors become the ones frustrated by YOUR success. Now that is a change that is easy to manage.
Blue Rhino Process Excellence Sparks New Opportunity
If you own a propane gas grill, you are familiar with the Blue Rhino on the side of the tank. A small but innovative distribution company servicing retailers all over the United States, Blue Rhino first implemented business process management (BPM) software for inventory management across its distribution network—with its distributors and retailers directly accessing the BPM system. They then leveraged BPM for overall corporate governance to help them achieve Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and to support ongoing audits.
As Blue Rhino became experienced in the power that BPM can deliver, it evolved into a true process-driven organization. By creating a platform for repeatable efficiency, visibility and control that supported process excellence, and empowering its people to improve processes, Blue Rhino was able to establish itself as a leader in its market and to demonstrate such extensive process performance that it caught the attention of industry retail giant Wal-Mart. As a result, Wal-Mart approached Blue Rhino as the sole supplier to prototype a new CO2 paint gun cartridge replacement program. This represented a whole new opportunity for Blue Rhino in the form of a completely new line of business.
It was because of BPM that this opportunity presented itself. And more importantly, it was because of its BPM platform and the motivation of its team that Blue Rhino had the flexibility and agility to seize the opportunity. The pilot was so successful that Wal-Mart decided to move forward with the initiative. Blue Rhino has stated that they would never have been able to step up to the challenge without Metastorm BPM software in place. As a result of BPM and a process-centric way of thinking, Blue Rhino increased its standing with one of the most important retailers in the world, benefited from a new line of business, and created a new revenue stream for the company.
Blue Rhino then reaped the benefits of the "opportunity snowball effect." As a result of the success of the CO2 cartridge program, it won its first ever end cap position with Lowes.
This is just one example of how effective business process management—in the form of technology and company philosophy—can be leveraged strategically to maximize and deliver on opportunities for market leadership.
Metastorm is a leader in business process management (BPM) software and best practice methodologies for modeling, automating, integrating and improving both human and system-based processes. With a focus on complex processes that are unique to their organizations, Metastorm's 1,200+ global client base is achieving rapid ROI and unique process advantage. More information is available at
www.metastorm.com