Leverage

Each project you model from now on needs to be critical, in the eyes of senior management, and related to the previous projects. In this way, much of the information that would normally need to be gathered is already populated. This does two things. First, it saves time, speeding up the work of the project team. Second, it provides a mechanism to validate and update the previous data. Information goes stale, so that even if it was correct three months ago, it might not be now.

Sample development program

Project #1 captures the complete list of products and services of the company and the critical processes which underpin the key products and services.

Some benefits: The complete list of products and services can then be mapped against the corporate website. This will identify gaps. Products and services that don't appear on the website can be added based on the old adage that if you don't tell you won't sell. Redundant products and services can be removed from the website.

Business interaction models provide a clearer image of what the business is about, improving induction training.

Project #2 develops workflow models for the critical processes.

Some benefits: You discover differences in the way that the same process is done in different divisions. There is no need for these variations, which have emerged over time due to silos in the business. Using appreciative inquiry, you identify the best known way to run the processes. This creates a cost reduction of 20% and the process time is cut in half. Because you used appreciative inquiry, the staff involved feel energized by the change.

Project #3 develops system interaction models of the systems that underpin the critical processes identified in Project #2.

Some benefits: The IT department now has a complete list of critical systems. They know who the process owners are in case of a system failure. They leverage this to form the basis of their business continuity plan.

Project #4 develops a business class model of the information that is created, read, updated, and deleted in the critical processes identified in Project #2.

Some benefits: Now the business can see where information is stored in different formats across different systems. By standardizing, the business can have a shared understanding of the customer. Before this project, the same customer might appear in two different systems, and it was nearly impossible to know that they were the same.

Project #5 develops an organization model of the business units and positions that participate in the critical processes. Combining this with the information that came from the workflow models in Project #3, it is now possible to create a grid which maps position descriptions to roles.

Some benefits: Instead of a position description being purely descriptive, it can now be expressed as a collection of roles. If a position needs to change, you can immediately see all the processes that will be impacted. In a business continuity event you can query the repository for all other positions which have the necessary skills.

Each project reveals information in a way that was never available before. Each project builds on the previous ones and makes the repository richer.