3 Discuss the need for a concept such as BPM when all new information systems and information management initiatives are ultimately driven by process improvement. With competition becoming seemingly tougher every quarter, companies are starting to experiment with a series of interlinked technologies that allow them to optimise their business processes and to react quickly when market conditions change.

These technologies are collectively known as business process management (BPM). They include tools for business process modelling, workflow management, process monitoring, enterprise application integration and managing organisational change, all of which greatly help information to flow through organisations by co-ordinating and sometimes supplementing companies’ key enterprise software packages, such as application suites supplied by SAP, Oracle and Siebel.

A furniture manufacturer, for example, could plan how it wants its customer orders processed, from initial confirmation to cash in the bank, using a process modelling tool that designs each stage in the order’s evolution.