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250 Chapter 9 • Organizational Change and Business Process Reengineering

this can be accomplished with a test system configuration. If the ERP is not purchased, then
the teams must develop a methodology that will either walk them through the processes or have the
vendors set up a test system that will help to validate the new business processes. It will not be
perfect, but it helps the teams get a sense of what is doable and what is not. This process often iden-
tifies further improvements that can be made. It is essential to set up measurement processes that
are meaningful and measure the goals set out in the preparation phase. It may take a couple of
iterations of BPR to realize the goals fully, but continuing to examine processes and to make adjust-
ments creates a sustainable ERP system environment.
As noted earlier, ERP systems are based on “best practices.” BPR processes are designed to
meet company goals and vision. Even though it must be done, care should be taken to address com-
bining ERP and BPR into a single process. This gets back to the overall implementation methodology
and how the “to be” processes fit into an ERP system. Almost all purchased ERP systems are very
flexible and most of the time can be adjusted to meet organizational vision and goals; however, it is
likely it will not “fit” all “to be” processes. This does bring you back to the discussion of modifying
the system or adjusting the business process, communicating expectations, and overall governance.

Current BPR Tools
There are a number of BPR tools on the market today to assist in mapping out existing and new
business processes. These software packages can help the team analyze the dynamics of existing
processes and can provide greater insight to redesigned processes that meet project goals.
Some packages are comprehensive and take teams through the entire BPR process, whereas
others address certain market niches. The appendix at end of chapter shows some of the BPR tools
currently available on the market.

BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

Over the last decade, business process reengineering has become very complex and difficult to
implement manually or even with business process reengineering tools mentioned in the appen-
dix, without a structured and consistent approach based on best practices. This has increased the
need for business process management (BPM) and similar other approaches that have emerged to
help organization with implementing BPR.
According to Gartner, BPM is defined as

a management discipline that treats processes as assets that directly contribute to
enterprise performance by driving operational excellence and business process agility.
BPM employs methods, policies, metrics, management practices and software tools
to continuously optimize the organization processes to improve business performance
against goals and objectives. 9

The goal of BPM helps achieve “business process improvement (BPI).” BPM improves the
performance of business processes of the firm and also the processes involving external parties
like suppliers and others in the supply chain. BPM helps to keep the business process model in
line the with process execution. BPM tries to increase the agility. The modeling of business
processes improves the transparency and makes it easier to change. 10

9 Gartner Research. (July 27, 2010). Hype Cycle for Business Process Management, 2010.
10 Ibid.