Process discovery and process validation are interesting topics and ones that have challenged executives, corporate strategists, and business analysts time and time again: whether things are going well or poorly, knowing the steps you followed helps you both repeat successes and avoid costly mistakes.

In his recent post Dan Woods makes the point:

“But in order to be successful, the processes that arrive for implementation in a BPM system have to be high quality. How are these processes going to be designed and created? Developing the processes incrementally is the only way we can be confident. The head of Zeus or the head of anyone else is pretty clearly not going to work.”

And then Dan proceeds to offer 3 approaches to solving this dilemma.

I think the answer to how these process models appear is easy: one step (activity) at a time.

But I would suggest that simply focusing on processes is too narrow – understanding processes without being able to capture and comprehend the interrelationships between processes, people, technology, and target objectives is an incomplete story.

Making the drawing of process pictures easier is a gallant goal – whether it is hosted or on premises – but this is a very narrow– what about my organization structure? How do I capture my goals? The most effective process modeling efforts often start without any process models at all – but rather with models that show organizational structure and goals – why do we come into work and what assets are available to us? Only with this knowledge can you truly understand where to focus and how to structure your processes most effectively.

In the last few months I have worked closely with several customers on various BPM projects. One customer has over 10,000 different models that are accessed, updated, and used (via the web) every day by 1000s of non-IT people. I don’t have the exact number but I suspect that less than half of these models are process models and even fewer are executable models – demonstrating the reality that successful business operations are driven by a lot more than just process.

Going into any effort with the big picture in mind is always the best approach, and BPM projects are no exception. Organizations would be well-served to align enterprise and business architecture efforts with their BPM endeavors. Enterprise models provide the support for meaningful and effective process models, and they provide the means for smarter business decisions all the way around.

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