I met with a vendor earlier this week and one of the services they are selling was Business Process Management (BPM).  I realized that the e-Business team has been doing this for several years now, before it was the new thing.  We have been building applications that are designed with the process in mind.  We build applications that improve process and workflow.  Our applications work within the process workflow already created.

On the other hand, IT in many organizations builds or buys an application and fits the process to it, or tries to.  One reason for project failure with applications and vendor product purchases is that they don't match the process previously developed in the organization.  The project fails because there is an attempt that doesn't succeed to change the process or the process isn't understood.

In our requirements gathering we review the current process and sometimes make suggestions to improve the process.  But then take the process requirements and build an application that meets the requirements and matches the predefined process.  I think that is a major factor in our success in this organization and outside it.

I believe this is especially true in the health care field.  The medical staff is very busy and there checks in place that need to be met to insure quality health care.  Processes have been created and in place for some time and it can be difficult to change them.  Health care technology systems generally don’t work together well and there are difficulties with interoperability.  Forcing a system into this environment without considering the work flows and processes already in place will ultimately fail.  Failure can mean a lack of usage of the system, a break down in work flow or issues with patient care.