As-Is, TAT and the Delphi Exercise February 19, 2012
Posted by Sanooj Kutty in Business Process Management.Tags: bpm, bpmn, business process improvement, Business Process Management, business process reengineering, social bpm
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Every first entrant to the world of BPM encounters 2 key terminologies without fail; As-Is Process and the Turn Around Time (TAT). By defining the As-Is process and identifying the current TAT, we can go ahead and model the To-Be processes and look at improving the TAT for a better customer experience.
So far so good, and we enter into the world of Process Modeling. The current TAT is mostly defined via an SLA thought to be a safe bet to deliver the services to a customer in a consistent manner. However, is the current TAT a true reflection of the actual performance on the ground? How are these measured and if so, are the measurements captured in a mature and accurate manner?
In most organizations stepping into the world of BPM, this is most likely to be driven by gut feeling or by trying to follow the de jure TAT doing the rounds in the market for those services. If this is to be the case, how do we capture the current TAT and get a healthy reflection of its performance on the ground?
In the absence of scientific measurements, the Delphi Exercise is a good way to capture the current TAT and even use it to gauge the expected improved TAT, especially, when you have a mixed group of stakeholders keen on the process’ improvement.
Below is a simple Delphi Exercise template that can be easily built on Excel:
The Delphi table has 3 key elements; the Most Likely TAT, the Maximum TAT and the Minimum TAT experienced as per the input received from the various stakeholders engaged in the process.
This allows one to eliminate any bias or miscalculations through a democratic input and thus, portraying near-reality. In the above example, it is visible that this process witnesses a minimum of 3.5 days in average from all the inputs. Perhaps, this could be the To-Be TAT that could be targeted as part of the process improvement exercise.
When clear, transparent and scientific measures are lacking, the Delphi Exercise is a very effective mechanism to capture current and identify improved TAT.
Why I drifted away and then got pulled back to AIIM? February 7, 2012
Posted by Sanooj Kutty in Business Process Management, Capture, Electronic Records Management, Enterprise 2.0, Enterprise Content Management.Tags: aiim, Archiving, document management, ecm, electronic records management, Enterprise Content Management, enterprise information management, information management
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While the credit to my foray into unstructured information management; namely DMS and ERM must go to my erstwhile mentor, Mr. P Vidyasagar, I would credit my knowledge mostly to AIIM. Ever since I stepped into the world of AIIM, my knowledge in the world of ECM, ERM and BPM have only been on the increase.
However, pretty soon, after the initial thirst, I realized AIIM was more technology-oriented. With me being more into Information MANAGEMENT than information management SYSTEMS, I found myself drifting away from AIIM. If it wasn’t for my continued interactions with Bryant, I may have even left AIIM.
Then suddenly, AIIM announces a survey for a new information management certification and before I could say Rip Van Winkle, they launched the Certified Information Professional program. One glance at it and I was at once, both excited and nervous. This is what I wanted to be, yet, this is where I was not. A mirror that left me glad for reflecting my aspirations while honestly letting me know there was some journey to go.
However, the real importance of this renewed AIIM struck me when I came across Cheryl McKinnon’s blog post, “New Challenges for 2012: Putting People First” and I saw this picture:
And my expectations from AIIM were all satisfied in one look. From the early days, I have tried to stay technology and vendor agnostic right through my career. The flip side of this is that I don’t understand codes any more. I don’t pay attention to Application Servers, Content Servers, Web Servers, etc. SDLC or Scrum doesn’t matter to me. But, when you want to plan, search, capture, store, process, dispose information, my antennae go up.
I am your quintessential information manager, I repeat.
I am not your information management technologist, I emphasize.
So, what I want to offer my customers is this in their information management, exactly what they want:
And what does the AIIM CIP cover:
Yes, there are gaps I need to fill and yes; information management is not a one-man show. However, for now I am confident AIIM and its CIP is a path that can take me where I want to go.
In UAE, We Love Our Paperwork! January 31, 2012
Posted by Sanooj Kutty in Capture, Electronic Records Management, Enterprise Content Management.Tags: dms, document management, ecm, electronic document and records management, Enterprise Content Management, enterprise information management, enterprise records management, erm, sheikh khalifa bin zayed al nahyan, sheikh mohammed bin rashid al maktoum
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I am someone who rarely bookmarks web pages. However, in September 2011, I could not resist but bookmark a very interesting article. And when it’s titled, “UAE paper use among highest in the world”, how could an aspiring Information Management professional resist.
In football, UAE would have been proud to be on the same status as Italy or Spain. At 200 kg per capita annual consumption of paper, this is not a statistic we should be proud of sharing with them. The significant factor here, though, is that UAE’s consumption is increasing at an average of 5-6% while those of North America and Europe are reducing at 1.8%. We may soon find the world following our paper trails.
The intention of Go Green is very much evident in the visions of the leadership of this country and is reflected in this historical resolution by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-president and prime minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and the launch of the ambitious Masdar City by under the leadership of HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Yet, when it comes to implementations, most organizations have taken a backward step with layoffs and budget cuts in their ECM programs citing recession as the reason. Businesses are still to realize that paper-related costs are not limited to your A4 bundles but also in storage, safety and logistics and it’s a case of being Penny Wise and Pound Foolish.
As an AIIM Ambassador and its Professional Member since 2009, I am extremely disappointed with myself that UAE’s paper consumption is on the rise, especially since document management technologies have been around for around 2 decades. One look at the comments section of this article highlights that the general public is in a cure mode of recycling rather than the prevention mode of adopting DMS or ECM systems.
It is time for the ECM community in the UAE to come together to promote the business and social advantages. Then again, with direct vendor presence from leading players in the domain like IBM, OpenText, EMC, HP (Autonomy) et al, why do I not find enough education or awareness campaigns in the market?
Perhaps, and this is my speculation, is that this is because the UAE is more represented by License-pushers and pure technocrats. The management of content from a business perspective is a gap found wanting in this market. We need more Enterprise Content Managers and less ECM license salesmen.
Until then, UAE will continue to love its “paper” work.
