Updated BPM Focus Site

Just like the buses - there’s none for ages, then all of a sudden two come past in a row.

The new BPM Focus web site has been in the works for some time. We have been implementing a BPM Suite under the hood to support our interactions with members. This will allow us to have individual conversations with members, to customise their indiviudal experience in the site and to tailor the email interactions we have with members (making sure we only send them stuff that is relevant to their interests).

As with all of these things, getting a complex software environment up and running can be complicated, especially when you are asking it to do things that it wasn’t originally designed to do. So, in the next few days, we will have a BPMS underpinning all interaction in the site. The user wont necessarily be aware of it, as they will still see HTML forms.

Its just that even when they select a White Paper to download, or register for a course, they will be interacting with a process. So to change the way the site works, or any of the interactions–from logging in, to downloading a doc, to updating their own details, to establishing a consulting profile–its all a process. And as anyone knows who has had to build processes to support this sort of behavior, there are lots of wrinkles. But I think we have now cracked it, and by next Monday at least we will have the new site up — but in the meantime, its testing, testing, testing …

There are a couple of new white papers that will be available, a sample case study or two (for those who want to submit a case study to the “Global Excellence Awards in BPM and Workflow”). There is also a summary/white paper that outlines the standards stack being developed at the OMG, explaining the rational of each standard, its functional use, where/how it is beign used and the status of the standard.

But more of that next week …

BPM Think Tank is shaping up

Despite my best intentions and efforts, maintaining any sort of consistency on this blog has proved almost impossible. For those of us who like to think deeply about a posting (as against a stream of conciousness approach that some others follow), the ability to post seems inversely proportional to the amount of work you have on the go. For me, I have had all sorts of different things pulling me in different directions. And it is not about to change much. After a gruelling month or two of travel providing training in the four corners of the globe, we had the OMG meeting in Brussels where a one day version of BPM Think Tank was held (June 27th).

The week after next we have BPM Think Tank which I have been intimately involved in planning and running (recruiting speakers, cajoling program committee into making decisions, etc). But it is certainly looking like a great program (indeed the best so far).

Late additions include the CTO of the US DoD (yes that one), Colin Tuebner of Forrester (doing a panel with me, running a Round Table and lunchtime keynote), Brenda Michelson (SOA Consortium), and Clear Channel Communications. Add that to the existing program contributors …

These organisations are either providing keynotes, case studies or sitting on panels:

• Analysts & Consultants - Accenture, BPM Focus, BP Trends, Capability Measurement, Forrester Research, onStrategies, Weber Consulting
• Users - AFLAC, Allianz, Maritz Travel, McAfee, Nedbank, VISA,
• Vendors - HandySoft, IBM, Lombardi Software, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP

The list of Roundtables is now truly awesome:

• What are the Barriers to Starting a Process Improvement Program?
  John Alden, Capability Measurement
• How Do We Get More Business Involvement in BPM? John Jeston, ManagementbyProcess
• How Do You Organize and Manage for BPM Success? Derek Miers, BPM Focus
• How Does Lean / Six Sigma Play a Role in BPM? Lance Gibbs, Lombardi Software
• How Do You Develop an Effective Business Architecture? Bruce Douglas, Telelogic
• How Does Regulatory Compliance Fit into BPM? Dennis Davidson, Emerging Technologies
• Using BPDM to Implement BPMN Antoine Lonjon, MEGA International & Stephen White, IBM
• Model-driven Organizations: Fred Cummins, EDS
• BPM and the Microsoft Desktop: Burley Kawasaki, Microsoft
• Why is BPEL Relevant and what is its Future? Ismael Ghalimi, Intalio
• The Relationship between BPM and Business Intelligence: Colin Tuebner, Forrester Research
• BPM in Federal Government: George Thomas, General Services Agency
• BPM and Business Frameworks: Joe Francis, Process Core Group
• Metrics and BPM: Michael zur Muehlen, Stevens Institute of Technology
• Competencies and Skills for BPM: Alan Ramias, PDL
• Expanding the Innovation Horizon Using BPM: Angel Diaz, IBM
• The Relationship Between Process & Business Rules: Paul Vincent, TIBCO
• Security and BPM: What are the Problems with Today’s BPM Approaches? Philip Larson, Appian
• What are the Similarities and Differences between ERP and BPM? Dave Frankel, SAP
• Enterprise 2.0 and BPM Mash-Ups: Sandy Kemsley, Kemsley Design
• What Should be the Goals of BPM Standards Organizations? Bruce Silver, Bruce Silver and Assocs.

For those in the know, you will probably recognize these are the worlds experts … who are going to sit at a table with you and help you think and talk about the issues that matter most. Each Round Table only has 10 chairs … and each round of discussions go on for an hour.

So if you are not going to be there … well you’ll miss out on probably the biggest learning opportunity you will have this year in the BPM space. Registration is here.