Requirement Excellence Framework

Business Process Analysis

www.enfocussolutions.com

Business Process
Analysis
Business process analysis helps an organization
improve how it conducts its functions and activities in
order to reduce overall costs, provide more efficient
use of scarce resources, and better support
customers. It introduces the notion of process
orientation, of concentrating on and rethinking end-toend activities that create value for customers, while
removing unnecessary, non-value-added work.
Generally technology is implemented to automate or
streamline business processes, so it is important to
conduct a business process analysis to understand
how the process works and how it can be improved.
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What are Outputs of a

Business Process Analysis?

As Is Model
To Be Model
Customer and Supplier Definitions
Process Ownership and Governance
Roles and Responsibilities
Process Impact
Organization Impact
System Impact
Risk
Impact Type
Impact Level
Expected Outcomes
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RequirementPro
Business Process Functionality
Process
Category
Process
Group
Process
Activity
The process structure is organized
using APQCs Process Classification
Structure (PCF). The PCF was
developed by APQC and its member
organizations as an open standard to
facilitate improvement through
process management and
benchmarking, regardless of industry,
size, or geography. The PCF organizes
operating and management
processes into 12 enterprise-level
categories, including process groups
and over 1,000 processes and

Feature
Impact

Project
Business
Process
Impact

Scope
Statement
Functional
Requireme
nt

During Process Analysis,

impacts on existing business
processes from are identified
and documented .
Depending on the size of the
project, AS IS and TO BE
business process models may
need to be created or
updated. The business
process impacts are later
used in the Project Scope
Activity to define scope
statements which are used

Supplemen
tal
Requireme
nt

Since software is used to

provide automated support
for a business process, it is
essential to understand how
the process is going to work
before defining software
requirements.

What is a Business
Process?
A business process is the the set of steps a business
performs to create value for customers.
A process consists of three components: inputs,
activities, and outputs.

Three Types of
Processes
Operating Process
Primary processes are end-to-end, cross-functional processes which directly deliver value
Represent the essential activities an organization performs to fulfill its mission
Make up the value chain where each step adds value to the preceding step as measured by its
contribution to the creation or delivery of a product or service, ultimately delivering value
Primary processes can move across functional organizations, across departments or even between
enterprises and provide a complete end-to-end view of value creation

Support Process
Support primary processes, often by managing resources and/or infrastructure required by primary
processes
Differentiator is that support processes do not directly deliver value- Does not mean that they are
unimportant to an organization
Examples of support processes include information technology management, facilities or capacity
management and human resource management
Support processes are generally associated with functional areas

Management Process

Used to measure, monitor and control business activities

Ensure that a primary or supporting process meets operational, financial, regulatory and legal goals
Do not directly add value
Necessary in order to ensure the organization operates effectively and efficiently

Examples of
Processes
University
Teaching Students
Paying for Classes
Hospital
Emergency Care
Payroll
Manufacturing
Purchasing Material
Training Workers
Federal Government Agency
Procurement
Hiring New Employees
Retail Store
Selling Products
Employee Scheduling

Bank
Opening New Accounts
Statement Distribution
Restaurant
Preparing Meals
Advertising
Construction
Budgeting
Managing Subcontractors
Not for Profit
Distribution of Funds
Employee Recruitment
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Who are the Process

Customers?
Because a transformation process exists to satisfy
customer requirements, process owners need to
understand who their customers are, what they want,
and how to provide what they want.
The customers of a process are the people who require
the products and services that are the result of the
process or one phase of the process. They are classified
as:
External customers-people who ultimately use the products
and/or services (process outputs or work results) of an
organization; and
Internal customersthe owners of the next phases in the
process who must wait for the delivery of a product or service
before completing work.
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Complete View of
Process

A process consists of a mix of automated and manual activities in a

structured or ad-hoc manner to deliver expected outcomes.
Understanding the overall set of activities that comprise a process
and their business rules is essential.
The requirements analyst needs to understand the entire picture to
understand how a solution should operate. Systems/applications
generally only automate a part of the process.
Activities that are to be automated define the scope of the
development and implementation work which may span multiple
applications.

Business Process
Business Rules

Automated
Activity

Application

Manual
Activity

Automated
Activity

Automated
Activity

Manual
Activity

Application
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Process Improvement

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Symptoms of Poor
Business Process Design
No standard process/method for addressing how to define
business requirements and when to improve business
processes.
When automation of processes is commissioned,
Business says that they do not always get what they
think they have asked for.
The processes used to document and communicate
business processes and requirements are neither easy nor
documented.
Business programs frequently exist in a culture of reacting
to cross-functional problems/emergencies.
IT has responsibility for creating and maintaining business
process flows, business requirements and business rules.
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How do you Improve a

Process?

Use a structured and organized approach and methodology.

Eliminate activities that do not add value for the customer. Ask yourself:
"Would the customer want to pay for this activity?" If the answer is no, ask
yourself: "Why are we doing this? Is it a federal law? A state law?" If the
answer is no, ask yourself: "What benefit do we gain by doing this?" At this
point, you are coming close to eliminating the activity.
Eliminate constraintsthings that frustrate employees and slow processes.
Streamline/simplify processes. It is difficult to document and teach people
complex processes.
Once processes are streamlined, automate the process if feasible.
Provide leadership in a positive direction. Function as a strategist. Envision
and invent the future with streamlined processes and relationships.
Act empowered; be accountable. As individuals and members of teams,
function as process owners and consider process management and
improvement an integral part of daily work. Don't say, "They won't let us "
Make decisions, not excuses.
Document and publicize improvements. Success breeds success.
Continue to monitor and evaluate processes to identify additional
opportunities for improvement.
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Ask what, where, why, who, when, and how questions about each step in a

Typical Benefits for

Process Improvement
Typical results of a well-established process
improvement program include:
Productivity improvements of 10% - 50%
Quality improvements: significantly
decreased error rates and field
problems, resulting in reduced rework
Improved ability to plan and control
projects, reduced project delays
Cycle time reductions of 20% -50%
Cost savings average 5:1 ROI
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Other Benefits

Fewer overtime hours

More stable work environment
Improved working conditions
Improved quality of work life
Improved employee morale
Reduced employee turnover
Improved management of project risk
Improved customer satisfaction
Better company image
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Desired Outcomes
Processes are documented, usable and consistent
Schedules and budgets are based on historical
performance and are realistic
Expected results for cost, schedule, functionality
and product quality are usually achieved
Disciplined processes are followed consistently
because all participants understand their value
Broad-scale, active involvement across the
organization in improvement activities
Roles and responsibilities are clear

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Process Reengineering
Principles
Organize around outcomes not tasks - helps eliminate the need for handoffs
and provides a single point of contact for the customer
Have those who use the output of the process perform the process those
who are closest to the work should do the work
Merge information - processing work into the real work that produces the
information - People collecting the work should be responsible for processing
the work instead of handing over to some other individual or system
Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized technology advancements make this a reality through combining dispersed
systems and teams as though they were a single team
Link parallel activities instead of integration their results - helps reduce errors
at the end of the process
Put the decision point where the work is performed and build control into the
process - empowers the performer of the work to get the resources he needs
to get the job done most efficiently
Capture information once - at the source - eliminates costly mistakes of
information not being passed effectively from one handoff to another
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Process Analysis

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Process Analysis
Analysis generates the information necessary for the
organization to make informed decisions assessing the
activities of the business
Due to business change the processes of an organization
can quickly become inconsistent to their original design
and no longer meet the needs of the business
Process analysis is an essential tool to show how well the
business is meeting its objectives
Creates an understanding of how work (the transformation
of inputs to outputs) happens in the organization
Information becomes a valuable resource to management
and leadership to understand how the business is
functioning
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Process Analysis
Analyze the Current Process
At which point doe the process break down or experience delays?
At which points do people typically experience frustration with the
process?
Which parts of the process seem to consume an inordinate amount of
time?
Which parts of the process lead to low quality outcomes?
Which parts of the process incur unacceptable costs?

Envision the New Process

What are things we can do to exceed our customers expectations?
Could the accuracy, speed, and quality of the process be improved?
How might the process be improved to make it easier for customers to do
business with us?
How we can reduce costs?
What can we do to reduce cycle times?
How can we improve quality?
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Questions to Understand
the Process
What?
is there to do?
is being done?
should be done?
can be done?
constraints keep us from
doing what needs to be
done?
Who?
does this job?
should do this job?
knows how to do it?
should know how to do it?

Where?
is this job done?
should it be done?
can it be done?
When?
is this job done?
should it be done?
can it be done?
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Process Analysis
Methods

Interviews
Observations
Process Benchmarking
Process Modeling and Simulation
Value Chain Analysis
SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and
Threats)
Information Flow Analysis
Discrete Event Simulation
Activity Based Costing
Cycle-Time Analysis
Decision Analysis
Sensitivity Analysis
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Hand-Offs
Any point in a process where work or information passes from one
system, person or group to another is a handoff for that process.
Handoffs are very vulnerable to process disconnections and should
be analyzed closely.
Typically, the fewer number of handoffs, the more successful the
process.
Which of the handoffs are most likely to break down the process?
Questions to ask of each handoff:
Are there any bottlenecks of information or services as a result of handoffs
happening too quickly?
Can any handoff be eliminated?
Where do streams of information come together and is the timing
accurate?

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Process Culture
A process culture is a concept in which the business processes are
known, agreed on, communicated and visible to all employees
Characteristics of a process culture include

General agreement on what are the business processes

Understanding how business processes interact and affect each other
Clear definition of what value each process produces
Documentation of how each process produces its results
Understanding of what skills are required for each process
Understanding of how well each process performs
Ongoing measurement of process performance
Management decisions based on process performance knowledge
Owners of each process having responsibility and accountability for process
performance

To promote a process culture, we recommend that business processes be documented and

maintained by business units using the Enfocus Requirement Suite.. The processes will be
available to all stakeholders through the stakeholder portal.

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To Be Process Design
Considerations
Change the process in ways that provide value that the customer wants
for example more speed and efficiency, higher quality, more accuracy, less
cost, or single point of contact between customers and your company.
If input to the process naturally form a cluster, create a separate process
for each cluster
Address the biggest time waster in the process first such as points where
there is extensive waiting or rework.
Consider creating several process that can operate in parallel for steps
that can be done independently and not have to be done in a sequence.
Look for opportunities to remove unnecessary reviews of completed work
Decrease the number of steps in the process; identify opportunities to
simplify steps that are unnecessarily complex.
Involve as few people as possible in performing the process; reduce the
number of hand-offs.
Eliminate signoffs or approvals by individuals on activities they dont know
much about.
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Define the Process

Requirements
Prepare To Be Process Model
Define Process Requirements

Increase customer value by ..

Improve quality by .
Decrease cost by ..
Reduce cycle time by ..
Reduce rework by .
Improve efficiency.

Review To Be Process Model and Process Requirements with

Stakeholders
Prepare functional and supplemental requirements for the To
Be process model
Prepare training and organizational change requirements for
implementation of the new To Be process model
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Process
Benchmarking
Many organizations do not spend enough time optimizing a
business process before automating it; they simply automate
what was done manually or what the previous system did. We call
this paving the cow path.
Benchmarking is a great technique that organizations can use to
determine where a business process is performing well and other
areas where is not performing not so well by comparing their data
against their peers.
Results from a benchmark study helps an organization decide
where to focus their limited resources for long-term sustainable
improvement. Combined with best practices information,
benchmarking can help organizations quickly identify and solve
common business process performance problems.
Enterprise subscriptions receive one free benchmark per year.
Additional benchmarks are available for a fee.
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Define the Process

Requirements

Inputs
Outputs
Workflow
Ownership
Performance Metrics
Business Rules

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Implementing the New

Process
Prepare requirement bundle for the new process requirements
Define appropriate lifecycle events for the new process. Lifecycle events might include:
Validate
Communicate Distribute process requirement bundle to wide audience to get the
message about the upcoming implementation of the new process
Educate and Familiarize Build a more detailed understanding of how the new
process works through role-play, practice, and simulation. Consider making a video.
Pilot If you suspect that some difficulties in the new process need to be worked out,
pilot it.
Implement Put the new process into production by declaring the start of new
operations.
Break from the Past Remove the artifacts of the old process such as old forms
paper stocks, equipment and so forth to reduce any temptation to shift back into
previous habits.
Optimize Measure process performance according metrics that were chosen. Identify
problems and take needed action. Update performance metrics and targets as
necessary
Trace the requirements

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APQC Process Classification

Framework

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Process Classification
Frameworks
There are a number of process reference models available,
including: Accenture, APQCs Process Classification Framework
(PCF), (SAP), Supply Chain Council, the Telecommunications
Management Forum, and the Value Chain Group.
The Process Classification Framework (PCF) developed by
APQC in 1992, is a widely used business tool. This open source
framework is commonly referenced in business books,
incorporated into numerous consulting methodologies for
process improvement and re-engineering,
In business process design, frameworks and reference models
help support process analysis, design, and modeling activities.
Starting with a process framework or reference model can
significantly accelerate these activities, providing analysis
professionals with a sturdy foundation on which to build.
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Process Classification
Frameworks
A framework helps organizations in three
key areas:
benchmarking,
content management, and
business process definition.
The cost of not using a process framework
is the additional time it takes the process
design team to develop their own process
model and obtain process consensus from
the project stakeholders.
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APQC Business Process

Classification
Enfocus Solutions Inc.
organizes most of its
content using APQC
Process Classification
Framework.
This open source
framework is available on
our site as well as APQC
PCF has been translated
into many languages,
including Japanese,
Chinese, Spanish, Polish,
and Portuguese.
Industry specific versions
of the framework are also
available.
The framework is
organized into the 12 32

APQC Process Classification

Framework (PCF)

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Business Process Modeling

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Business Process
Modeling
Set of activities involved in creating
representations of an existing (as-is) or
proposed (to-be) business process
Provides an end-to-end perspective of an
organizations operating, supporting and
management processes
Modeling is a means to an end and not an end
in itself

You model to get results and reach conclusions

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What is a Business
Process Model?
Documentation of a business process using a
combination of text and graphical notation.
Depicts the Process that People employ to provide
value to their Customer with a strong emphasis on
how the work is done.
Defines a process as a specific ordering of work
activities across time and place with a beginning, an
end, and clearly defined inputs and outputs.
A component of the overall Business Architecture that
serves as a reference for Business Analysis activities.

Why Model a Business

Process?

BABOK: Describe the functions associated with the business

activities... and the inputs, controls, outputs, and
mechanisms/resources used of those activities. (v1.4 Sec
2.2.20.1)
Understand how labor and resources are used to create
products or services for a companys Customers. Identify
areas that could be improved, made more efficient and reengineered
Create an understanding of where Systems/Applications can
or do automate or streamline human or mechanized
processes capture requirements
Integrate activities between departments/companies
especially necessary after a merger of different groups of
People producing similar or dependent products/services
Assist in implementation and acceptance of Six Sigma, ISO,
CMM or other standards
What other uses can you see? The list is endless

Common Methods of
Modeling

BPML Business Process Modelling Language

An Extensible Mark-up Language (XM)-based meta-language

developed by the Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI) as a
means of modelling business processes

BPEL Business Process Execution Language

An XML-based language designed to enable task-sharing for a

distributed computing or grid computing environment - even across
multiple organizations - using a combination of Web services.

BPMN Business Process Modelling Notation

A standard graphical notation used to facilitate the understanding of

business transactions between organizations.

UML Unified Modelling Language

A notation that allows the modeller to specify, visualize, and construct

the artefacts of software systems, as well as business models.

USE WHAT WORKS FOR YOUR PROJECT ENVIRONMENT!

Do what you know. Learn to do more. But dont fake it.

Commonly Used Process Standards

and Notations

Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN)

Flow Charting
Swim Lanes
Event Process Chain (EPC)
Value Chain
Unified Modeling Language (UML)
IDEF-0
LOVEM-E
SIPOC
Systems Dynamics
Value Stream Mapping
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Tailor Your Model to

your Project & Self
BPML, BPEL, etc. are well and good if:
You are trained and comfortable with their use
Your target audience (Business and Tech Teams)
understand and are comfortable with their use

Beware! Most organizations are not properly

equipped or trained to produce
documentation with these standards!
Valid alternatives include using Visio, PowerPoint,
Omni Graffle or other tools that can represent
activities graphically or with text!

Diagrams, Maps, and

Models
Diagrams
Process diagram often depicts simple notation of the basic workflow of a
process
Depicts the major elements of a process flow, but omits the minor details
which are not necessary for understanding the overall flow of work

Maps
More precision than a diagram
More detail about process and important relationships to other elements
such as performers (actors), events, results
Provide a comprehensive view of all of the major components of the process

Models
Represents the performance of what is being modeled
Needs greater precision, data about the process and about the factors that
affect its performance
Often done using tools that provide simulation and reporting capability to
analyze and understand the process
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