Operating on the Microsoft Windows Azure ™ platform, Metastorm M3 provides users with complete benefits of a private or public cloud, including scalability, performance, security, and elasticity.  Metastorm M3 is designed to be modeling for the masses, offering 11 different modeling types—goal, organization, capability, system, process/workflow, activity, rule, project, requirement, location and deliverable— from the Metastorm Enterprise software suite.  Additionally, Metastorm M3 provides 23 modeling objects and viewpoints, going beyond a traditional process model, to give users more comprehensive and holistic business improvements. 

Metastorm M3 empowers businesses by offering a cloud-based environment through which an unlimited number of users can easily improve their organizations using enterprise modeling and collaboration.  Business and IT users are given a rich, social environment in the Cloud where they are able to utilize social networking tools such as chat, whiteboard, model annotation, sharing, recording, and playback to design and implement business practices.  A distinguishing feature of Metastorm M3 is that it offers secure, cloud-based collaborative enterprise modeling for anyone, anywhere.  Metastorm M3 is an excellent tool for mass deployment because it offers built-in modeling guides and real-time help, requiring no prior knowledge of or training in enterprise modeling and no IT setup.  Additionally, its location in the Cloud allows users to gain unlimited access, opening a broader, global collaboration for businesses to achieve the most optimal results.

Metastorm M3 is designed to be used alone or with the Metastorm Enterprise software suite.  Any input, information and data captured in the Cloud is compatible with Metastorm’s enterprise architecture, business process analysis, business process management and integration products to ensure ongoing, shared visibility and the ability to incorporate user input enterprise-wide process improvements.

“Metastorm M3 is designed to go above and beyond any other tool available today to give our customers a distinct edge over their competition,” said Greg Carter, executive vice president of development and CTO of Metastorm.  “Leveraging our years of best practice experience in modeling, architecture strategy and process improvement, we have compiled a rich set of modeling and collaboration tools to empower users on a global scale to participate in business architecture and process definition activities that were once limited to a specific department or skill level.”

What to know more about Metastorm M3?  Check out the social media version of the press release here, complete with screenshots and other related materials.

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It is an honor to be consistently recognized as an innovative, market leader in enterprise software.  At Metastorm, we strive to design and develop products that deliver the best enterprise effectiveness and business results.   Our main priority is our customers and partners, and we are focused on delivering the most optimal software and solutions for their business practices.  We are always pleased in not only our success, but how our products have empowered the business practices of our customers.

Our deep industry knowledge has positioned Metastorm as a leader in enterprise software for both on-premise and SaaS deployments, and we are excited to continue to build and uphold our progressive reputation.  I encourage you to stay tuned to see the exciting things Metastorm will be doing in the upcoming months.

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A little over 2 years after the first Earth Day in 1969, the single chip microprocessor was introduced to the world. In great part this invention catapulted us into a technological revolution.

To put things into perspective, the crew of the Apollo 13 mission – another 40^th anniversary celebrated this month – were working with a computer that had about as much memory as a pocket calculator; and today, in less than a minute, my cell phone can assess highway traffic, propose a new route, and then provide me with real time instructions as I navigate (I’m sure the crew would have had a much easier trip had they had their smart phones on them).

Our attitude towards technology and its Green capabilities has also changed dramatically.

During the era when “Going Green” was still a grass roots movement it would have been laughable to suggest that computers could help clean up the environment – and the phrase “Green Technology” would have been considered an oxymoron!

Today we have only begun to explore the benefits of green technology.

A few months ago I wrote a post, Lean process agility breeds green viability, which examines the relationship between the business attitudes that make up the New Normal – “we need to ‘Lean out’ and eliminate excess waste; being bulky causes us to operate ineffectively” – and the longstanding mantra of the Green Movement – “we need to change our wasteful ways.”

For businesses, the Green Movement isn’t just a moral choice, but it also makes a lot of sense. In a recent article about pharmaceuticals employing green practices, Mike Whaley, senior director of environmental health and safety at Allergan Inc. noted the business value of being Green – “The more efficient you are the more profitable you are,” he stated.

It’s true – when it comes to “Getting Lean,” and when it comes to “Going Green,” efficiency is the name of the game. At Metastorm we are proud that our software solutions can help organizations do both.

Through the use of our Enterprise Architecture (EA), Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Process Analysis (BPA) software, organizations have been able to identify “Fat” in their organization – or areas where they are wasting resources, and running inefficiently – and adjust their processes to eliminate unnecessary overhead and accelerate their performance; minimizing impact on the environment while maximizing their bottom line and competitive advantage.

And it keeps getting better! With new technologies (like the ones we will be unveiling at the 2010 Metastorm Global User Conference) that enable employees to collaborate more effectively without necessitating as much travel, organizations will also be able to further reduce fuel consumption and other associated costs.

To learn more about how we can help you “Get Lean” and “Go Green,” check out this complimentary eBook, Green BPM- The Best Kept Secret for Meeting Your Company’s Green Mandates. This eBook is absolutely a must-read whether you are looking to Lean out your enterprise for greater business value, to “Go Green,” or both!

Happy Earth Day everyone!

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Because of its ability to help organizations see the big picture of their operations, reduce costs, improve productivity, gain better visibility and control, and adapt more quickly to changing market conditions, our enterprise architecture and business process management software has become increasingly popular over the past several years.

Organizations in Australia and New Zealand seeking tools for business process improvement and business transformation have been quick to recognize Metastorm as a valuable resource for addressing these challenges. Our customers in the region include AMP, Bendigo Bank, Harvey Norman, KPMG, Mallesons, Myer Stores, New Zealand Defense, New Zealand Telecom, and Telstra.

We also have existing, established partnerships in the region, including reseller arrangements with BTP and iOctane – both of which have certified Metastorm consultants on staff and provide a strong local presence for service and support.

“Metastorm has many large customers in Australia and New Zealand deploying our technology on an enterprise basis,” said Bob Farrell, chairman and CEO of Metastorm. “The opening of our Sydney office and the appointment of Mike to run our operations in the region will be extremely valuable in supporting our local customers and partners as well as further accelerating our growth to meet increasing demand for business architecture and process improvement solutions.”

Michael Cawsey brings to Metastorm over 25 years of experience establishing and growing profitable technology businesses and a proven domestic and international track record of successful sales and customer service delivery across Asia Pacific, Australia & New Zealand. He has held leadership positions at Kofax Australia, TIBCO/Staffware, and Modus Media.

“Metastorm is a global leader in a fast growing market, and I am pleased to be joining the company,” said Michael Cawsey. “I am extremely enthusiastic about the opportunity we have in Australasia, and I look forward to working with our key partners in the region to help customers address business challenges through the use of Metastorm’s software and our many years of business process improvement best practice experience.”

We also recently expanded in Asia! Learn more here.

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Great Strides Walks take place in May and June and are held in locations across the United States. Metastorm is fielding teams in four national locations – Baltimore, Maryland; Tampa, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; and San Francisco, California. Each team has set a substantial fundraising goal, and is excited to contribute to the foundation’s success.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) – a non-profit, donor supported organization that seeks to assure the development of the means to cure and control cystic fibrosis and to improve the quality of life for those with the disease – recently became a customer, acquiring our Metastorm BPM software for use in its Pharmacy Services division.

“Metastorm is excited and honored that our software solutions will help further a very important mission, and we’re proud to take our involvement one step further by acting as a national sponsor of the CFF Great Strides Walk,” said Chris Desautelle, chief financial officer for Metastorm.

For more information about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Great Strides Walk, visit http://www.cff.org/GREAT_STRIDES/.

To make a charitable donation to the Metastorm team fundraising effort for Cystic Fibrosis, go to http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?walkid=6759&idUser=379448.

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In Ovum’s report, “Decision Matrix: Selecting a Business Process Management Vendor (Competitor Focus),” Metastorm is placed in the elite, “shortlist” category – “the vanguard of the BPM market” – because it “combine[s] excellence in core technologies with a clear articulated approach to BPM.”

Metastorm also receives accolades for its user satisfaction rating. The report states that “the best indicator” of Metastorm’s success “is its excellent performance in the end-user sentiment survey. Metastorm has achieved the highest overall user sentiment assessment score.” These results are similar to the findings of another recent report – industry analyst firm Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant for Business Process Analysis Tools,” in which Metastorm receives one of the highest rankings in overall customer satisfaction.

In Ovum’s report, Metastorm is also featured among the market leaders in nearly all other assessment categories, has one of the highest overall technology assessment scores, and receives a nod for its “proven process integration layer” that serves customers “regardless of their technology landscape.”

According to the report, “the results of this study clearly demonstrate that Metastorm has the ability to compete at the very top-end of the BPM market.”

Our other recent credentials – being placed in the “Leaders” quadrant in Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant for Business Process Analysis Tools” report, as well as being named to KMWorld’s 100 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management and eWeek’s Products to Watch, March, 2010 lists – have also strengthened Metastorm’s position as a top tier BPMS vendor, and a top competitor in the BPM market.

Still, the greatest testament to the power of Metastorm’s best-of-breed technology offering, and holistic approach to end-to-end process improvement is the overwhelming success of our customers. Ovum’s report comments that, “Clearly, [the] over 150 customer success stories published by Metastorm are ringing true.”

We’d like to second that. With these and countless other customers realizing significant ROI each day, Metastorm delivers real, measurable results to organizations all over the world. And that’s the most important credential of them all.

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A recent report by industry analyst firm, Gartner, positions Metastorm as one of the top business process analysis (BPA) vendors in the world. The Gartner “Magic Quadrant for Business Process Analysis Tools” report positions Metastorm ProVision for BPA as a leader in the business process analysis space, and explains several key differentiators for Metastorm.

The report states that “based on Gartner customer feedback, Metastorm has one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the BPA market.” It also recognizes Metastorm for its ease of use and process discovery capabilities, its pre-built connector to SAP, and its integrated market-leading EA and BPM capabilities.

Metastorm also recently released the newest version of its enterprise modeling, business architecture, and business process analysis tool – Metastorm ProVision Version 6.2. Key features of the new release include support for the latest modeling standards, improved ease of use, and extended support for enterprise collaboration, which includes sharing and reuse of models, objects and libraries, as well as enablers for Process Centers of Excellence.

Bill Aronson, founder of the Enterprise Designer Institute, has even authored a fully-illustrated, third party book entitled Metastorm ProVision Version 6.2 Made Easy, in which he shares tips and tricks about the newest release. To learn more visit Bill’s storefront.

For expert advice and instruction on Metastorm ProVision, we currently have several upcoming, hands on Metastorm ProVision training courses. These are offered in person in the United States and the United Kingdom, or via WebEx where they can be accessed from around the world.

And don’t miss our EA and our BPA boot camps. Both will be held in Baltimore, Maryland from May 20th-21st, 2010.

Still wondering what all the buzz is about? Visit our website to request a trial version of Metastorm ProVision (registration required), and see for yourself why industry analysts rank Metastorm ProVision as a leading tool for Enterprise Architecture and Business Process Modeling and Analysis.

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But what exactly is knowledge? How can a company manage its knowledge?

Let’s pretend I don’t know anything about Major League Baseball—

If I heard a statistic – a piece of data – like, “Player X has a .298 batting average,” it wouldn’t really mean anything to me. Actually, .300 – if I were rounding up – would sound pretty low. Without understanding batting averages, or knowing anything about Player X, I would think he was a terrible batter.

Or, if somebody told me that a particular MLB team won 64 games in the 2009 season, I would probably think, “Wow, that team is great! They won a ton of games last year!” –totally missing the point that winning only 64 games is very bad. That team had the worst record in the entire league.

My point is that data without context is useless, and can be easily misunderstood.

For businesses, data is relatively easy to collect and store, but without knowledge, it really isn’t very valuable.

One very important type of knowledge that businesses must manage is the knowledge from their people. The type of knowledge that organizations rely on comes from experience and is often referred to as intellectual capital. It provides human insight and know-how to teach organizations how their best people do their jobs – how work gets done, and the best way to do it.

Unfortunately, this type of knowledge is fleeting – no employee is going to stay at a company forever, and a new, less experienced worker may very well take his or her place – and this knowledge, which is often abstract – is difficult to collect.

Collaborative technologies are the solution to this problem. By getting knowledge workers involved in documenting day-to-day activities now, companies can capture, and even expand, their intellectual capital, and provide new workers with the context to understand data and business processes and how to do their jobs more effectively.

Enterprise/business architecture (EA) and modeling software like Metastorm ProVision® and business process management (BPM) software like Metastorm BPM® provide this functionality. Using these tools, you can document existing business processes, understand how your best people do their jobs, and capture those best practices in process models that can then be automated and deployed as operating business processes. And with data capture tools like Metastorm Discovery™, it’s easy to get knowledge workers involved in the process so that you don’t miss out on their valuable insights.

Leveraging these software technologies will provide your next generation of workers with the valuable knowledge of their predecessors, as well as with a means to put data – price fluctuations, costs, market changes, etc. – into context while enabling them to better understand the environment in which they are operating. It will also shorten the learning curve, and enable new workers to avoid costly mistakes. This new generation will also be able to leverage the collaborative technology platform that these solutions provide to share ideas and find ways to improve the business.

With technologies like Metastorm ProVision, Metastorm ProVision for BPA and Metastorm BPM, companies can truly go beyond managing, and truly expand their human knowledge to ensure that they continue to move forward without forgetting the lessons learned from past generations.

Perhaps this is why Metastorm ranks as one of the Top 100 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management.

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The use of enterprise architecture and business process management software has grown rapidly over the past several years as a result of its ability to help organizations see the big picture of their operations, reduce costs, improve productivity, gain better visibility and control, and adapt more quickly to changing market conditions.

Organizations in Asia seeking tools for business process improvement and business transformation have been quick to recognize Metastorm as a valuable resource for addressing these challenges. Metastorm currently has many large customers in the region and is committed to expanding that presence.

“I am extremely enthusiastic about the opportunity we have in Asia, and I look forward to helping organizations in the region address their business challenges through the use of our software and our many years of BPM best practice experience,” stated Paul Watts, newly appointed Director of Asia Operations for Metastorm.

Read the official announcement here.

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If not, why wait? The early bird registration discount ends this Sunday, January 31, 2010.

Registering is easy! Just go to the official 2010 Metastorm Global User Conference page found here.

Also, don’t forget that Metastorm is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Metastorm Enterprise Process Advantage award program. Details can be found here.

How to enter: 

In approximately 500 words, tell us how you or your customers have leveraged Metastorm ProVision®, Metastorm BPM®, or Metastorm Integration Manager (or all three!) to deliver efficiency, control, visibility, agility, and innovation in mission-critical ways.

Entries should be sent via email to erin.obrien@metastorm.com.  A team of respected industry leaders will evaluate entries and winners will be recognized at the 2010 Metastorm Global User Conference. 

If you have questions about the award program or your entry, send queries to Erin O’Brien at erin.obrien@metastorm.com.

Learn about last year’s award winners here.

The submission Deadline is approaching quickly! Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase your success!

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Well, one can hope anyways.

Nonetheless, this year’s “winners” certainly faced some serious competition.

My favorite moment on Fortune’s list is number 18- Anthony Armatys being paid a six-figure salary for five years for a job that he didn’t even have (somewhat similar to the character Milton in the movie Office Space).

But seriously—this kind of stuff happens in real life! Although both of the salary mishaps are grotesque examples, costly oversights on a smaller scale happen every day. Added up, these can cause some serious problems—squandered resources, lack of visibility and inefficiency are wasteful at best and disastrous at worse (think about the banking crisis—if banks had a little more visibility it could have played out much differently).

So what can we learn from history to avoid repeating it? If you don’t have visibility and control over your simplest processes (payroll for example) then you could be in for some serious problems.

This is yet another reason why CIOs have made business process management (BPM) a top priority for 2010—BPM enables businesses to optimize their processes for increased agility while providing visibility into who is doing what and how resources are being managed—fostering accountability and control.

Who knows? With the functionality provided by BPM you could have one of the smartest moments in business in 2010—a much more admirable achievement.

Learn how one Metastorm customer used Metastorm BPM® to increase visibility, accountability and control across the organization while achieving greater enterprise agility and efficiency.

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Coinciding with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, IDC released a buzz-generating report that found that 5.8 billion tons of CO2 emissions could be eliminated by 2020 with the help of certain green technologies.

The report examined four major economic sectors including the transport sector, which, according to the findings, needs to focus on supply chain logistics and private transport optimization for emissions reductions, and placed IT investments that enhance supply chain logistics among the most important to CO2 emissions reduction within this sector.

Streamlining supply chains is more than just a green initiative, however. In the new normal economy, technology is making the world smaller while greatly increasing the scope of business operations. Organizations who invest in IT to achieve the most agile and cost and resource effective supply chain will realize exponential ROI to outperform their competition.

Emphasizing this importance, respondents in another recent report Greater Innovation through Closer Collaboration said that it is critical for their corporation to respond to “competitive pressures to improve productivity and performance and customer demands for greater speed and visibility into supply and delivery chains” in order for them to survive in today’s fast-paced global marketplace.

The good news is that innovative technology solutions like business process management (BPM), business process analysis (BPA) and enterprise architecture (EA) can help you holistically model and analyze your supply chain and your entire enterprise, test the effects of potential change, and then execute leaner, meaner, and yes, even greener processes across your organization to achieve overall enterprise optimization by eliminating waste and accelerating performance.

Want to know more?

Metastorm’s complimentary eBook Green BPM- The Best Kept Secret for Meeting Your Company’s Green Mandates explains how BPM can help organizations:

• Reduce paper consumption,
• Reduce fuel and transport costs,
• And, of course achieve greater efficiency in their manufacturing and supply chain processes.

This eBook is absolutely a must-read whether you are looking to purify your enterprise for greater business value, to go green, or both!

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A unique tool, EA creates a physical representation and performs a holistic analysis of the abstract relationships between an organization’s people, systems and processes from both a large and small scale perspective to enable a better understanding, and even a reworking of those relationships for a more agile, productive and streamlined enterprise.

According to Kappelman, EA can enable enterprise-wide integration and coordination. Today’s EA capabilities like “repositories and … modeling tools,” are bringing us closer and closer to “holistic, enterprise integrated model vision,” he said. This will enable organizations to collaborate with more agility and efficiency than ever before.

EA is an innovative solution that allows you to achieve optimal performance in the new normal global economy. By modeling your organization, you can effectively understand its structure and relationship functions to gain real visibility into change before its implementation—ensuring that you make the right changes, at the right time, and in the right places.

To learn more about how EA can help you outperform in today’s economy, check out this complimentary Metastorm ebook: BPM & EA: Two Smart Investments in a Recession & a Rebound.

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• Our many wonderful, innovative customers who drive our success.
• Our global partner network, which continues to help us extend our reach into new geographic markets and new industries.
• Our bright, dedicated employees who are passionate about what we do.
• The press, analysts and industry thought leaders who help us educate the market on the value of EA, BPA and BPM.
• And finally, the fact that Metastorm continues to be a solution of choice for organizations worldwide – even in tumultuous times.

So regardless of where you reside, we would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!   Because we all have something to be thankful for.

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The Metastorm Enterprise Process Advantage Awards program is designed to recognize organizations that are successfully using Metastorm software to realize business objectives, achieve a measurable return on investment, and/or create strategic advantage.

Why Enter?

Winners receive a free pass to the 2011 Metastorm Global User Conference, and will be invited to participate in a thought leadership panel session to help other Metastorm customers learn valuable tips for achieving success.

Winners will also be recognized at the Metastorm Global User Conference and featured both on Metastorm’s website and in a press release that will be sent to technology and business publications.

As a recipient of a Metastorm Enterprise Process Advantage award your organization will gain recognition as a technology leader and a business improvement leader in its industry. You will also gain recognition for your innovative use of technology and your success within your own organization to help in further extending the value of EA, BPA, and BPM to other areas of the business.

So why wait? It’s easy to nominate your customer or your own organization today!

Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase your success!

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