Join us for the 2011 Ultimus Interact Web Conference!

 

 

 

Ultimus is proud to announce that it will be hosting the 2011 Interact Web Conference on Thursday, November 17 from 9am-4pm EDT. 

Through this Web Conference, we hope all attendees gain a better understanding of Ultimus’ offerings, how we can help your company achieve future success, and what BPM is as well as how it can be used. Please find the agenda along with registration links here. Each webinar is categorized as either technology- or business-related. Please sign up for any or all Web conferences of interest. Each webinar will feature a Q&A session at the end to ensure all questions and concerns are addressed. 

Topics that will be covered during the Web conferences include: Ultimus Going Forward; How to use Ultimus in Web & SharePoint; Ultimus for Human Resources Management; Common BPM Pitfalls and How to Avoid them; Evolving Workflow into BPM; and Selecting the Right Support Packages.

 We look forward to making the 2011 Interact Web Conference a success!

 

Allison Thiebaud

Senior Marketing Specialist

Lose the Training Wheels in 2011 Through BPM Courses

It is no surprise that BPM related training is a trending topic these days.  Business process management (and all that encompasses it) doesn’t exactly come natural to the vast majority of us.  From LinkedIn debates to discussions on EbizQ, there is commonality (and legitimacy, unfortunately) in the belief that most process improvement initiatives fail.  To establish a win-win relationship in the BPM industry, vendors have to ensure that customers are amply equipped to carry out their BPM venture and, in turn, capitalize on the investment and ensuring success.

Courses are increasingly available in universities throughout the world on this very topic.  However, professionals can get their foot in the door of BPM and gain needed skills through their BPM vendor.  Ultimus Online Training has enabled customers to accelerate time-to-competence allowing for a quick ROI.  Through blended eLearning and instructor-led training, we offer course tracks customized for your specific role, cloud-based lab environments and an online training community where you can engage in discussions and ask questions.  In 2011, we will expand our curricula to include a BPM Management course, focusing on the needs of executives and business analysts with topics covering best practices for discovery, design, automation and optimization. 

Additionally, Ultimus has partnered with several training organizations to provide customers with educational programs, outside of Ultimus product-specific training, at a discounted rate.  Six Sigma eLearning, LLC offers Yellow, Green and Black Belt certification programs in a cost-effective and efficient method through a combination of Live Online and On-Demand self-paced eLearning.  AIIM, the leading non-profit organization to provide education, research and best practices to help organizations find, control and optimize their information, has also teamed up with Ultimus.  This partnership offers special member pricing for customers on the BPM Certificate Program as well as the SharePoint Certificate Program. 

Specifically, AIIM’s BPM Certificate Program encompasses:

• Streamlining and re-engineering
• Requirements gathering and analysis 
• Application integration
• Process design and modeling
• Monitoring and process analysis
• Managing change

To learn more about how Ultimus Training can help accelerate your BPM initiatives, visit our Training Page, and be sure to sign-up for a free eLearning trial membership.  We’ll give you full access to our online courses so you can check them out for yourself.

If you are new to the concept of BPM, take a few minutes to check out BPMvsWorkflow.  This site explains the difference between business process management and workflow and will provide you with a base to build upon for future learning.  It describes how the two technologies are separate and distinct, details commonalities and explores frequent misconceptions regarding both.

 

Relevant Links:

All Bundled Up: Process Management Predictions for 2011

BPM Implementation: Why Training is so Important

Come Join Me on the BPM Playground

 

Taylor Leighton

Marketing Specialist

Ultimus

Webinar Recap: Customer Success with BPM & SharePoint Q&A, Part II

Webinar Recap: Customer Success with BPM and SharePoint, Part I

Last week, Ultimus held a webinar in which customer Kevin Smith, Director of Information and Technology at Pentair Water Pool and Spa, Inc., presented his integration of Microsoft SharePoint and business process management as well as his reasoning behind the unification.

Chris Adams, VP of Product and Technology at Ultimus, kicked off the presentation with a brief background on Ultimus, SharePoint and BPM. He rounded out his introduction by explaining how an organization can leverage their SharePoint investing through the use of a business process management platform. Chris pointed out that, “SharePoint is Microsoft’s fastest growing tech for three years straight. This morning, I read that there are three million people using SharePoint today. In one way or another, SharePoint has permeated all of our companies and is a good platform to help us conduct our work.” Chris stated that BPM extends SharePoint functionality in the areas of document management, application management and portals, information collaboration and document workflows. A business process management tool drives success in dynamic, unstructured processes as well as structured processes, such as a vacation request. Furthermore, BPM provides an enterprise process management solution in one single process management platform.

Next, Kevin introduced himself and gave a brief background of Pentair. He explained that he has twenty years of IT experience, having started in the consulting and systems integration world, he advanced into IT Director positions at several multi-national corporations. He introduced SharePoint in 2001 as an intranet/extranet tool and as a workflow tool in 2002. Upon arriving at Pentair, he quickly introduced SharePoint and, the following year, in 2006, he introduced a BPM tool – Ultimus.

At Pentair, they have branded their SharePoint portal, “The Watercooler”, and it serves as a gateway to Pentair’s information architecture: social content, ERP, BI, CRM, CMS… the list goes on. They use the tool to structure by department or function, as displayed by the screenshots Kevin presented. Kevin revealed, “Workflow is easy… until you try it. Simple flows aren’t usually simple.” He noted the fact that SharePoint does have workflow capability but it is not without limitations. These limitations show up when defining a flow - this is where he found the need for a BPM solution.

One highlight of the webinar came when Kevin asked, “How do you know when to use BPM?” This question is often asked and he came up with a Decision Matrix to help define which toolset should be used, given different criteria. The webinar wrapped up with a round of Q&A.

To view the entire webinar and many useful tips from both Chris and Kevin, click play:

Look for Webinar Recap, Part II next week. The post will highlight the questions attendees asked and our presenters answered. To view the slides (PDF), click here.

Relevant Links:

Business Process Management + Ultimus = Customer Success

Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Expanding on Process Improvement

 

Taylor Leighton

Marketing & PR Specialist

Ultimus

Ultimus BPM in 30 Minutes or Less

 

When I’m evaluating a product, I go to the website and expect three things:

1. Text:  Help me understand product within five minutes.
2. Video:  Show me why I need it within one to two minutes.
3. Plug me in:  Let me play with the product so I can really grasp it.

Over the years, we’ve tried various ways to showcase the value of Ultimus BPM Suite.  Sometimes successfully and other times not.  Technology today, however, is providing us the tools to meet my expectations, and that’s really exciting to me.

You may have noticed lately that we’ve been working hard at taking advantage of these technologies in our marketing, sales and training initiatives.  We all know that BPM is not an easy concept to convey or comprehend, but I try to look at it as I do with training:  “It’s all ones and zeros – you just have the put them in the right order for people to get it.”

So in addition to improving our Ultimus.com website messaging and adding videos to Ultimus TV, we’ve also continued efforts to help “plug you in” through the Ultimus Test Drive. 

Today I am happy to announce the release of our third Test Drive which features a Purchase Request Process – something that all companies use and need. 

Think of this one as more of an “Introduction to Ultimus” and process automation.  Compared to our other Test Drives (SharePoint Integration and Process Designer) it is more simplified.  Our goal is to provide a quick and easy experience that shows the real value of Ultimus BPM and how it can benefit any business.

I’d like to invite you to sign-up and take the Purchase Request Process for a spin.  This Test Drive should only take about 20 minutes; so if we’re doing our job correctly, you should expect to invest only 30 minutes of your time for a good introduction to Ultimus BPM.

 

Relevant Links:

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 is Good for BPM

Come Join me on the BPM Playground!

A BPMS Alone Cannot Improve Your Company's Processes BPM Initiatives Are Yours to Drive

 

Paul Estes

VP, Customer Advocacy & Knowledge Management

Ultimus

Business Process Management Meets Breakfast: Expand on SharePoint

While MS SharePoint is often the answer for various tasks or workflow functions where the process or workflow is kept within a small team of individuals, it falls short in its ability to automate intricate, mission critical processes. For instance, think of an Excel spreadsheet. With only a few people using and updating the information in the spreadsheet, it is rather easy to manage by utilizing SharePoint.

However, expanding this same process of updating and obtaining information from one single Excel sheet across multiple departments or an entire corporation spells chaos. Managing processes, users, and applications across the enterprise is where a BPM suite becomes necessary to implement, as it has several key functions:

• Process administration and management capabilities across the enterprise
• Organization and job function management capabilities distinct from process definitions
• Business rules engine where rules can be reutilized and repurposed across all processes

To learn more about how to improve your business processes using SharePoint and BPM, register to attend our New York City Corporate Efficiency Breakfast on September 29, 2010 at the Microsoft Offices in New York, NY. The event is free for attendees and will begin promptly at 9 am EST.

 

 

During this "Brunch and Learn," attendees will discover how cost savings and productivity improvements can be made by focusing on business processes. Starting with just one process, your company will be on course toward continual process improvement and sustainability.

Experts from Ultimus will address the following questions:

• How can you get a clear view of all processes within your organization?
• Which processes can be automated within your organization and where to begin?
• What is Business Process Management (BPM)? How is it different from workflow?
• How can you make sure that your process improvement system is adapted to your company and not the other way around?

Attendees will also learn to:

• Determine methods to quickly identify which processes are working efficiently and which are not, as well as how to remove the bottlenecks causing inefficiencies.
• Realize how your organization can quickly respond to changes, industry shifts, and new competitive threats.
• Find out how to leverage your investment in SharePoint if you're already using it.

 

 

Relevant links:

Gartner Portals Content & Collaboration Summit: Thoughts and Reflections from Last Week's Conference

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Is Good For BPM

 

Taylor Leighton

Marketing & PR Specialist

Ultimus

Come Join me on the BPM Playground!

If you're like me, there's just no way to fully evaluate a product without touching it, feeling it, and seeing first-hand what it can do.  That's the idea behind http://www.bpmplayground.com/ We want to provide a place where you can come and try out the Ultimus Adaptive BPM Suite and see for yourself how it can benefit your organization.

Using cloud technology, we've setup a virtual playground that you can connect to online.  Then we guide you through each step of a "Test Drive" that showcases a real-life customer process and how our BPM Suite has enabled them to achieve success in process efficiency.

 

We use current customer processes and their success stories for each Test Drive so you can get a glimpse into how Ultimus is improving the way companies are doing business.

Choose from one of our 2 Test Drive options:

1. Process Designer featuring a Patient Scheduling Process

In this Test Drive, you'll see how hospitals are using Ultimus to automate the scheduling of patients, employees and medical equipment. Discover how healthcare clients have saved time, resources and money by ensuring effective scheduling with BPM.

2. SharePoint Integration featuring an Employee Performance Evaluation Process

In this Test Drive, you'll see how companies are using Ultimus to automate their employee review process, and integrate Ultimus with their existing SharePoint Document Management System.

If you'd like to learn more, visit http://www.bpmplayground.com/. 

See you on the playground!

Paul Estes
VP, Customer Advocacy & Knowledge Management
Ultimus

"This (Test Drive) is so much fun!" - Joanna Andreeva, MBA, Medical Clinic of North Texas, P.A.

  

Relevant Links:

Don't Just Consider Complex and Complicated Processes for Automation

Getting Started with Process Modeling

Don't Stop Short With Workflow... Go To The Next Level With BPM

SharePoint and Beyond with BPM! A Boston Breakfast

 

For some tasks and workflows MS SharePoint is the right solution. More often than not, these instances are for less complex, departmental activities where the process or workflow is kept within a small team of workers. For example, the process of using and updating an excel spreadsheet. If there are only 3 or 4 people using and updating the information in the excel sheet then it is fairly easy to manage with SharePoint.

 

However, expanding this same process of updating and obtaining information from a single excel sheet across multiple departments or an enterprise is a recipe for disaster. The ability to manage processes, users, and applications across the enterprise is where it makes sense for a BPM suite to be implemented as it has several key functionalities:

• Process Administration and Management capabilities across the enterprise
• Organization and Job Function Management capabilities distinct from process definitions
• Business Rules Engine where rules can be reutilized and repurposed across all processess

To learn more about how to improve your business processes using SharePoint and BPM register to attend our Boston Corporate Efficiency Breakfast on June29, 2010 at the Microsoft Office in Waltham, MA. The event is free for attendees and will begin promptly at 9 am EST.

During this "Breakfast and Learn," we will show you firsthand how cost savings and productivity improvements can be made by focusing on your processes. Starting with just one process, your company can be on the path to continuous process improvement and sustainability.

Experts from Ultimus will address the following critical questions:

• How can you get a clear view of all processes within your organization?
• Ways to quickly identify which processes are working efficiently and which are not, as well as how to eliminate the bottlenecks preventing efficiency
• Which processes can be automated within your organization and where to begin?
• Show how your organization can quickly respond to changes, industry shifts, and new competitive threats.
• What is Business Process Management (BPM)? How is it different from workflow?
• How can you make sure that your process improvement system is adapted to your company and not the other way around?
• How to leverage your investment in SharePoint if you're already using it

 

 

Relevant links:

Gartner Portals Content & Collaboration Summit: Thoughts and Reflections from Last Week's Conference

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Is Good For BPM

 

Mary Katherine Strupe
Marketing Coordinator
Ultimus

BPM Thoughts and Reflections from Last Week’s Gartner Conference

Fresh off the heels of the Gartner PCC Summit last week I wanted to share some the highpoints in the conference. I feel this is one of the better conferences that I've been to in a LONG time.  Maybe it was the timing of the event and the relevance of web 2.0 at this time frame or maybe it was just a well put together conference. With session titles like, "I Was a Teenage YouTube Star: Strategic, Tactical and Calamitous Futures of Video Inside and Outside the Enterprise" given by Whit Andrews and "Social Software: Demise or Salvation of Knowledge Management?" presented by Debra Logan, how could you not be intrigued to attend?

The sessions were much more than crafty titles though, there were great speakers such as the Panel: "Social Media Best Practices-Purpose, Policy and Etiquette" with Tom Austin and Carol Rozwell. One of the most informative sessions I found was "Taming the SharePoint Beast" with Mark R. Gilbert. This particular session contained a wealth of information on how SharePoint should be used and to what extent you can realistically use it before you need to call in for reinforcements.  This was a particularly hot topic for Ultimus as we work with a great deal of organizations who start off with SharePoint but are looking to go to the next level.  There were some great quotes throughout this session including:

• "SharePoint is like a big vacuum cleaner, going around the company sucking things up but you need tools to make it work"
• "SharePoint is a secure repository, in its basic form. But does this really drive your business in a meaningful way? Build out Processes through tools to see where it shines"

Consequently, if you're in the Raleigh area and want to find out more on SharePoint and BPM we're having a lunch and learn you should attend on Friday, April 23, 2010 at 12 pm EST. 

I'll leave with what I thought was the best quote of the conference in reference to allowing access for employees to use social media forums at work from Booz Allen Hamilton:

"I can't prevent you from being stupid but I can show others that you are".

The background on this was that when Booz Allen was speaking, Walton Smith was saying that at some point you have to trust your employees are smart enough to know what to say and what not to say on social media. It's a good point, and coupled with a quote from MIT Professor, Andrew McAfee "Email is where knowledge goes to die in an organization",You'll see why you want to get your information out there for others to see and learn from whether it's within the organization or outside.

 

Relevant Links:

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Is Good For BPM

Ultimus and Microsoft SharePoint Integration

 

Nicole Contardo
Marketing Director
Ultimus

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Is Good For BPM

The stories about Microsoft SharePoint becoming a popular platform for document based workflow have been out there for many years now.  The fact that Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services being freeware has attracted many customers and partners to look twice at what SharePoint can offer.  From my perspective of the world, I see customers and partners utilizing SharePoint for:

• Document Management and Content Management
• Application Management / Portals
• Information Collaboration
• Document-based Workflow

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 improves in many ways in these areas, especially with a new graphical process modeller.  I recently saw a comment from Clay Richardson from Forrester on Twitter that even his 7 year old could use the new Microsoft SharePoint modeller.  Seeing comments like these are encouraging.  In my role overseeing and leading the product direction for Ultimus, the easier and user-friendly the "process" concept is the more gravity it will gain in the business space.

SharePoint does many things well from a document and workflow perspective.  If your company has the know-how and resources to leverage SharePoint, SharePoint Workflow, and Workflow Foundation, then easy and clear document-based workflows can be developed which will serve your company well.  Part of the success with any software platform, including Microsoft SharePoint, is to understand what the platform does do and what it does not do.  Every software platform has limitations which should be respected and recognized.  If not, the benefits and attractions of the software platform that you enjoy today may ultimately have a "corrosion" effect when you attempt to make the software perform in ways it is not intended (corrosion in terms of user attraction and application effectiveness).

 

Business Process Management is a natural extension of workflow, and thus, a natural extension for anyone who has already invested in Microsoft SharePoint.  While there is a definite value proposition in automating your document based processes, moving away from manual and paper based work styles, and evolving human based operations into web-based activities, at some point, you will ask yourself "Do my processes make sense?"  Once you reach the point where you need to understand if your company is working smart, and not just hard, then you will want to consider BPM.

Every good BPM Suite in the market today integrates with Microsoft SharePoint.  Being able to leverage SharePoint workflows, documents in repositories, and information from SharePoint Team Sites in a BPMS will allow all of your already invested information to be taken to the next level.  BPM Suites provides the tools and features to give you answers to questions like:

• How will by processes and process participant workloads trend over the long term?
• Do I need to invest in more resources (or less resources) to ensure processes execute efficiently?
• If I want to double my output, what additions and changes will I need to make to my processes?

It is true that all good BPM Suites provide the ability to execute both workflow and BPM, and it is not necessary to always invest in both Microsoft SharePoint and a BPMS if you are need to workflow and BPM.  But if you are already utilizing Microsoft SharePoint for document management and enterprise content management, then BPM is something you will eventually want to consider.  If you find yourself currently asking if you need Microsoft SharePoint OR a BPMS, you should take an inventory of what your process and workflow needs are.  From there, make sure you use the right tool for the right job. 

 

Relevant Links:

Chris Adams Responds to: SharePoint, BPM and Document Imaging Article

Avoid Investing in Workflow in Non-Workflow Applications

Don't Stop Short With Workflow... Go To The Next Level With BPM

 

Chris Adams
VP Product and Technology
Ultimus