Businesses today accept that they do have difficulties with cashing in the benefits from investments in IT. Solutions are heavily
customized, projects delayed and business units and end users are not always happy with the delivered solutions.
Usually, the fingers
are pointed at the IT systems and developers, and it is concluded that there is a need for “putting business in the lead”, “focus
on the customer” or for “IT to better understand the needs of the end-user.
A provocative statement would be to say that the statements above reflect generally “accepted misinterpretations". The may immediately
seem reasonable but actually may contribute to pour results. The problem with statements like those is that they are based on the
narrow focus on works within the Value Driver Field “Optimization”.
What the Value Driver Model© tells a BPM function through
the Value Driver Field “Configuration”, is that it holds a key role in the ensuring the value returned from capacity investments.
If not BPM is visible as the guarantee for standardizing business and standardizing IT, BPM and the company value perspective
does not become part of the issue.
But for a value-based company with a developed company Business Process Architecture this
architecture, optimally as a full Enterprise Architecture (EA), will in essence represent a value-based “standard business” for which
the development of a “standard IT solution” has the best of conditions. This goes for the design of various capacities, but in particularly
for IT systems.
The BPM function will have the responsibility to inform new projects about the business process architecture
and assist with the design and definition of IT requirements and related master data. The process architecture should also be brought
into play when designing test scenarios.The BPM function must as part of the “Configuration” be in continuous dialogue with IT solution
architects and contribute to the monitoring of performance, and ensuring that solutions, also post-project, are kept on track.
One
move for a company to make to ensure the "Configuration" Value Driver Field actually cam create value, is to accept
that some elements of the company’s management of assets and capacities are to be dealt with – without the direct involvement of the
core business.
