Setting the foundation for the future

I recently came upon the notion of gathering support for a ‘manifesto’ for BPM after recently reading about the furore the Open Cloud Manifesto was creating in the software/ IT space. Reasons ?

Well, I thought because we have BPMS, BPMN, BPEL, Six Sigma, ECM, ERP etc etc all clamoring for attention yet claiming to ‘be’ extensions of BPM I’ve never really seen anything which sets up the foundation of WHAT BPM is. Ask 10 people their opinion on what BPM means and you’ll get 10 different answers. This erodes the message and ROI on what BPM can truly deliver to clients if we can’t even agree on the what, why, where, how and who.

I mean, we have ERP saying they’re a replacement for BPM.

We have ECM teaching ‘certification’ courses in BPM.

We have $500 Black Belt Certification courses in Six Sigma……uhuh….

I started a discussion across in several groups on LinkedIn and there’s a good movement started, with support from some very good professionals. I’ve also started speaking with some vendors who are interested in adding their voice to the debate. Collaboration is the key to the future of this endeavor and I’m pleased its gathered pace so quickly.

Now, interestingly there’s a BPM BOK (Book of Knowledge) being worked on by the ABPMP (Association of Business Process Management Professionals) and I thought ‘great, I can go home and relax now with a glass of wine’.

But to access this, I have to pay money. Pardon ?

This is exactly why these kind of efforts are doomed to fail. They become closed systems, worked on by the few for the few. Collaboration and transparency are key for any attempt to create an evolution (or revolution) in BPM and finally create a harmony so we can all move forward.