Program for reflecting business processes. How BPM works

Special tools are used to design any technologically complex system. The architect draws up the project plan, the engineer draws the details. Business is the same complex system with many connections, objects and interactions. To build a business architecture, special business modeling systems are used, one of which is the Fox Manager 2.5 BPA program.

Why build a business model?

Without a built business model, we cannot make informed decisions and lose control over our business. Not having a complete picture of what is happening, the leader is engaged in "putting out fires" with the help of the tools available to him: reprimands, "letters", manual coordination of work, personal participation in everyday tasks.

In order to solve problems systematically, and not intuitively, it is necessary to design the business architecture, prescribe the rules and standards of work, distribute responsibility for functions among staff and monitor their implementation.

Below is a diagram of the functionality and steps involved in building an enterprise business architecture in Fox Manager.

Modeling of business processes and distribution of responsibility

At most enterprises, responsibility for the work of personnel is distributed only formally. With the next lost order or failure to meet delivery deadlines, it can be very difficult to find the culprit, since there are no clear standards and work regulations. It turns out that Vasya instructed Petya, Petya handed it to Sasha, and Sasha fell ill and forgot to warn Lyosha. The solution to this problem will be the formation of corporate work standards, regulations and job descriptions, in which the responsible person will be identified for each step and task, the requirements for deadlines and interactions between employees are prescribed.

The most modern and effective way descriptions of the activities of the enterprise are graphical diagrams of business processes. Our program supports two of the simplest and most visual notations for process modeling: Fox Manager FlowChart and Cross Functional FlowChart.

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With the help of graphic diagrams, you can visually display the sequence of work performed, responsibility for them, and also make links to Required documents, software and resources used during the execution of the process. The information embedded in the graphic schemes will then be used to calculate the cost and time of the process, as well as the formation of such regulatory documents as job descriptions, subdivision regulations, process regulations, work instructions, etc. At the same time, all business process schemes are interconnected and form a single integral model of the enterprise. All routine user actions are automated as much as possible; when an element in the database is deleted or changed, information about it is updated throughout the entire business model.

Fox Manager is the only program on the market that can generate process diagrams top level automatically, without the need for multilevel modeling skills and knowledge of complex model decomposition rules.

You can decide for yourself how detailed and how deep you want to describe your model. The program allows you to set the planned and boundary execution time for each function of the process, the frequency with which the function is performed, a short and detailed description of it. You can also specify the requirements for the competencies, professions and personal qualities of the performers who are responsible for performing this function in the process.

Building an organizational structure and recruiting

The organizational structure is the skeleton on which the enterprise management system is built. Without a hierarchical tree of the organizational structure, it is impossible to correctly identify centers of responsibility and competence, delegate authority and implement effective control for the activities of the enterprise.

Organizational structure and business processes are inextricably linked with each other. Managers responsible for the results of business processes should have sufficient authority and hold appropriate positions, and employees should have sufficient qualifications to perform their functions.

Graphic diagrams of the organizational structure are built by the program in real time in a matter of seconds. Forget about manually editing diagrams in MS Visio!

Fox Manager allows you to build a visual tree organizational structure enterprise, displaying the administrative subordination of personnel. For each position, you can define the requirements, rights, responsibilities and penalties, as well as formulate requirements for the competencies, professions and personal qualities of the employees who occupy it. At your disposal a large number of Russian-language templates for typical positions that you can use when building your structure.

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The program will help you select employees for vacant positions in accordance with the specified requirements for knowledge, skills and personal qualities necessary to perform their functions in business processes. For each staff unit, you can calculate its planned workload and optimize staff employment in business processes.

Regulations, reports and web portal

The development of corporate standards and regulations will allow the manager to have the most complete and objective idea of the structure of his company, plan development and implement a control system.

It is impossible to control a process that is not regulated.
You can't manage what you can't measure!

The presence of detailed regulations and standards for the work of the enterprise is necessary not only for managers, but also for ordinary employees. A convenient knowledge base containing methods and algorithms for executing business processes will improve work efficiency and help new employees quickly adapt to the workplace.

The program contains several dozen report templates, including:

Regulations on the division;
Process regulation;
Working instruction;

Regular arrangement;
Job profile;
Process inputs and outputs;
ISO 9001 quality manual;

The program generates documents automatically from the built business model, any changes will be instantly reflected in the reports, so the regulatory documents are always kept up to date.

The design and content of reports can be customized using the template editor.

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If the functionality provided by the default program is not enough for you, then you can add the missing fields in the cards yourself and even create your own reports, for this you do not need to be a programmer and know the database structure thoroughly.

Reports can be generated, saved and printed as regular documents, or saved on a web portal.

Fox Manager Supports Everything modern bases data. You can store your business model on a flash drive or on a corporate network with access to hundreds of workspaces.

There is an opportunity to generate a BPA from the Fox Manager program absolutely free of charge, place it in local network or the Internet and provide access to it to all employees of the enterprise. You can access the portal not only from your workplace, but also using a tablet, smartphone or any other device through a web browser.

For more demanding users who want to have a stand-alone reporting solution right on the portal, there is a separate product - Fox Manager Portal.

Control of key performance indicators of the enterprise

Describing the activities of an enterprise in the form of a business model, developing regulations and corporate standards is not enough. It is also necessary to analyze their implementation and monitor the achievement of goals.

It is not enough to have good regulations, you need to work according to them!

The program allows you to set and monitor the values of key performance indicators of the enterprise. For each indicator, you can assign a responsible employee, determine planned values, boundary limits, and create a schedule for filling.

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I think that the absolute majority of specialists involved in business process modeling have heard of such a program as ARIS. But only a few are familiar with it “live”.

This is due to the high cost and complexity of mastering the program, which grows from the high functionality of the product. However, in 2009, IDS Scheer released ARIS Express- a free simplified version of the program for modeling business processes.

The free version of the program supports only basic chart types, does not have multi-user support, does not use a database, does not contain reporting tools and model analysis tools. And the most important thing: ARIS Express does not support links between the created objects, unlike the full-fledged paid version, that is, there is no control over the integrity and consistency of the model. This means that when editing one model, the program will not make corresponding changes to another model, and will not check whether there are positions indicated as responsible in the process, etc.

The architecture of the program is based on the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), so be prepared for the fact that the program will seriously “slow down”, but theoretically it is possible to run the program under Linux. The interface is designed in a modern minimalist style: beautiful large icons and descriptions for them (Russian localization on this moment No).

ARIS Express supports the following types of models:

Organizational chart
Business process
IT infrastructure (IT infrastructure)
Process landscape
Data model
System landscape
Board (Whiteboard)
BPMN diagram version 2.0 (BPMN diagram)
General diagrams

The first module, as the name implies, is designed to build an organizational structure. Overall, the editor seems very thoughtful and user-friendly (especially for beginners). The main elements are large and bright, are in a conspicuous place, the control is logical and intuitive. I would especially like to highlight the Smart Design technology, which allows you to quickly create a model in a table and instantly synchronize it with graphic display in the editor. When you hover the mouse over an object, the program allows you to minimal effort insert the next element, for example, a subordinate position, using a translucent pop-up menu. One of the most convenient solutions we've seen.

To model processes, you can use the standard business process module, which allows you to draw processes in eEPC notation, or use the BPMN diagram editor. The set of elements is minimal, but everything you need is present. The resulting diagrams are not processed by the system and are not “executed” as in BPM systems, so the choice of notation does not, in fact, affect anything. If desired, the user can customize the colors, font, and some attributes of the model.

As in the case of the Organization Chart module, we can build the process manually or with the help of Smart Design. For added convenience, the developers have provided ready-made fragments of typical diagrams that can be dragged with the mouse to the editor. If desired, the user can prepare and save their fragments of diagrams for further use in modeling. If the model is too large, then you can enable the display of its reduced copy in the settings with the possibility of convenient mouse navigation to the area of interest to you. A text search by model is also provided.

Any chart can be exported to PDF or RTF format, and saved as an image or printed. Moreover, models saved in the "adf" format can be transferred to the full version of ARIS. Saved models can be protected with a password.

The remaining modules of the program are not so remarkable and are variations of various diagrams. With the help of them, a business analyst can design a company's infrastructure or data model.

Our opinion:

ARIS Express is a great product for drawing models, especially if you prefer eEPC or BPMN notation. However, with existing functional limitations this program does not compete with full-fledged business modeling tools, such as or or real BPM systems, for example, . But at the same time, ARIS Express is free and significantly outperforms Microsoft Visio, primarily in terms of ease of use thanks to pre-made diagram fragments and the SmartDesign editor.

March 02, 2012 10:31 am

Sitnikova Olga, IT AnalystDIRECTUM

Today I decided to make a small review of online diagramming tools available to any Internet user for free.

So far, personally, it seems natural to me that the functionality of online “drawers” is poorer than those modeling tools for the distribution and updating of which users spend a certain amount of hard-earned money. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that he is not so poorer. Consider two systems similar to each other: Diagram.ly and yWorks.

Diagram.ly

Diagram.ly gives the impression of a system that is trying to provide the user with functionality that is closest to the capabilities of desktop clients (for example, the same Microsoft Visio). There is almost everything that we are used to:

A very rich selection of stencils to work with. With Diagram.ly, you can draw flowcharts, some types of UML diagrams, ER diagrams, organization charts, BPMN diagrams, database and network diagrams, as well as telecommunications diagrams, geographic information diagrams, electrical circuit diagrams, and social networks, as well as prototyping lightweight interfaces. In fact, perhaps this gives them reason to call themselves "a mini version of Visio, accessible from your favorite browser."

Rich text formatting options. Text can be written in one of five fonts: Verdana, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Garamond or Courier New. The font size can be changed from 6 to 60 points. You can change the boldness of the text, write in italics or underline, change the alignment of the text. The text, by the way, is entered very simply: by double-clicking on the block.

In addition to text formatting, there is also object formatting: grouping, ungrouping, moving to the background / foreground, mutual alignment of objects, changing the orientation of blocks work. You can change the color of the font, background and line for the block, add a shadow and gradient, and also select an image that occupies the block.

3. Selecting several ways to display the connector. For the arrow, you can specify the type, curvature of the connection lines, line type (only solid or dashed), line thickness.

The context menu works on the blocks and the page (by right mouse button).

At each login, the user is prompted to view simple tips on working with her. These "tips and tricks" serve as a reference. Although, by and large, I personally did not need them, the system is so intuitive: objects are added to the board using drag-n-drop technology, the arrow that appears when you hover over the block suggests that it is the connector tool, and the one I already mentioned the context menu closes all other questions, even if somehow the user fails to find the toolbar at the top.

A pleasant surprise for me was that you can work with both XML files created by Diagram.ly and VDX files created by Microsoft Visio. This way, you can modify the diagrams that your colleagues have created in Visio, even if you don't have your own license for the product. The resulting diagram can be saved in the XML format offered by Diagram.ly, or exported to a raster (PNG or JPG) or vector (SVG) image.
There are also preview options. Firstly, a scalable preview of the current scheme is always displayed in the lower left corner of the screen.

And secondly, using the "View" button on the toolbar, you can very easily make a picture that will appear in the next tab and be ready for printing.

Since it is customary to dilute a barrel of honey with a fly in the ointment, I will name the small flaws that I managed to notice in Diagram.ly.

It does not provide sample charts from which you can create your own artwork.
The system is being created, apparently, by a group of enthusiasts, and sometimes rather stupid bugs appear in the system (for example, on the day of writing this, I could not apply the change of fonts). However, this shortcoming more than makes up for having Diagram.ly's own feed in Google Plus where you can openly express your wishes and suggestions.

Well, a new improved version of Diagram.ly is currently in development with a lighter, concise interface, which I like, to be honest, a little more. By the way, it is open for beta testing.

yWorks

yWorks gives the impression of a system that wants to provide the user with the minimum set of stencils and tools to work with them.

Let's note the striking features of the system:

At first glance, you can see that the toolbar of this system is not so rich, you can perform a minimum number of actions in it (roll back or repeat an action, open, save or print a diagram, work with the clipboard, change the scale or view of the board display).
It is worth admitting that without help it is difficult to guess that the text is added to the blocks using the F2 button. I think that if it weren’t for the habit of “smoking mana” at the first difficulty, I would never have guessed before. However, it is worth paying tribute: the help is written well and even with an average level of English it will be quite understandable to the user.
There are not many types of blocks, but enough for drawing, for example, business process diagrams, UML diagrams, ER diagrams and flowcharts. You can also add custom blocks. I didn't really like that you can only open one group of blocks at a time. So, you have to remember which group the block is in, if you suddenly want to use it again. However, it is nice that, for example, all artifact objects for a BPMN schema are hidden behind the same artifact image with the “document” type (the rest are shown by clicking on the small arrow in the lower right corner of the icon). This saves work space.

Regarding the formats of work: only objects with the .Graphml extension can be loaded into the system. You can save diagrams as files without any extension at all (especially since it is not offered), as well as export as a bitmap image in PNG format. It's nice that when you export a chart to a picture, the system offers you to configure export settings.

The upper left corner offers a preview of the diagram you just drew, with which you can quickly change the section of the diagram that is currently displayed on the board (it reminded me of Heroes of Might & Magic).

For beginners, the creators of the system have prepared a bun in the form of an opportunity to see examples of diagrams, which personally seems to me a very reasonable decision. For many people, relying on a model previously created by someone is a great help in their work.
And especially in the end, I left the biggest plus of this system. You can specify a very large number of properties for blocks, for example, quickly change the block type, specify the position of the object on the board and its size with pixel accuracy, set text, background color, borders, and upload an image that will occupy the background.

You can read about the developer company yWorks on its official page.

A little as a conclusion

Summarizing all of the above, I can assume that Diagram.ly will appeal more to young people who are pleased with a great many opportunities, a beautiful intuitive interface, high-quality page layout, etc., and people who are very interested in finding inspiration in yWorks inner part question: properties of objects, saving the workspace, easy navigation.

In this article, we will post short review programs for describing and modeling business processes.
As information becomes available, we will add to the article. short descriptions programs.
If you know a handy business process modeling program that is not included in our list, let us know in a comment or via the feedback form.

1. ARIS Express is a business process modeling tool that is easy to install and use, so that it can be used by both novice users and university students. This product belongs to the ARIS family of modeling tools (ARchitecture of Integrated Information Systems) by IDS Scheer (now part of Software AG), widely represented on Russian market, localized a few years ago and even provided with Russian-language technical support. The ARIS (ARchitecture of Integrated Information Systems) family of products, produced by IDS Scheer, includes not only tools for modeling business processes and publishing models, but also integrating tools for developing a balanced scorecard, evaluating and optimizing the cost of business processes, their simulation modeling, tools that simplify the implementation of ERP systems, the design of distributed applications and IT infrastructure, as well as tools for monitoring the implementation of business processes. Leading analyst firms Gartner Group and Forrester Research rank IDS Scheer as a global market leader in business process modeling and analysis tools.

2. Bizagi Process Modeler - free software for creating process diagrams and documentation in BPMN standard notation.

3. Business Studio - a business modeling system from a domestic manufacturer that allows companies to speed up and simplify the development of their management system, the implementation of a quality management system. There is a free version. Main tasks to be solved:

Formalization of the strategy and control of its achievement
Design and optimization of business processes
Designing the organizational structure and staffing
Formation and distribution among employees of regulatory documentation
Implementation of a quality management system in accordance with ISO standards
Formation of Terms of Reference and support for the implementation of information systems

4. AllFusion Process Modeler - Allows you to describe, analyze and model the data model - the builder of meta-data models. It occupies one of the leading positions in its market segment.
Includes three standard methodologies: IDEF0 (functional modeling), DFD (data flow modeling) and IDEF3 (work flow modeling).

5. - a comprehensive tool with a convenient user interface designed for modeling and organizing joint work both production and IT staff.

Fast and seamless integration of modeling, workflow building and simulation functions.
Storage-based simulation, change reporting, and real-time performance evaluation tools.
Monitor workflows over the Internet using a standard browser.

6.ELMA - Russian development. The business process management system is based on a simple idea: you are building a model of your company's business processes using visual diagrams (BPMN notation), upload these descriptions to the ELMA computer system, and the program allows you to track the execution of processes in the actual practice of the enterprise. There is a free version.
Beyond Management successive tasks that are beneficial to automate, there is a project management module. The existing control system (including through the KPI management module) and reports creates optimal conditions for working in a team, including remotely (especially valuable for branches).
Electronic document management is associated with all modules of the system and provides storage, classification of documents. This saves a lot of time and reduces the concept of an "indispensable worker" to a minimum.
Accounting for clients and access rights is solved in the CRM module: a function of integration with call centers has appeared. For an ordinary user, ELMA can be useful as an alternative to intra-corporate mail and a task management tool.

7. Fox Manager Business Processes Free. A program for building and analyzing business processes, as well as generating reports on the process model of an enterprise. The program allows you to build a single integral process model of the enterprise. The notation used is close to the Basic Flow Chart, which is well known to many for its ease of building business processes. The program automatically builds top-level processes, displaying the interaction between categories and business processes in the form of a visual diagram. The analytical functions of the program allow you to timely notice and eliminate errors made when building the constructed process model, namely, to highlight processes for which no one is responsible, to find links to non-existent documents, positions, suppliers or business processes.

Business process modeling is an objective necessity that does not depend on the company's approach to process management. This is a method and way of analyzing the work of the company as a whole and within the framework of external interaction, searching for and evaluating options for improving performance, predicting and minimizing risks, identifying current and potential problems.

Modern business processes are complex, dynamic and changeable under the influence of various influence factors. Without high-quality modeling, it is impossible to imagine and understand them, not to mention attempts to analyze and make some reasonable predictions. Therefore, the introduction of software solutions for modeling business processes is the way, first of all, to solve these primary tasks. But in modern conditions much more is required than the application of a basic set of tools.

The possibility of modeling business processes in is an issue that has become relevant quite recently, the last two or three years. The main factor in its very formulation was a serious expansion of the functionality of software products and the desire of many companies to use the CRM system as the basis for complex business automation. However, until recently, even taking into account the increase in the level of efficiency of CRM systems and the coverage of an increasing number of tasks, modeling of business processes online or offline was not included in the range of their capabilities.

Many believed that the introduction of such functionality would complicate the software product and, accordingly, make it more expensive. But on the side of both developers, including www.terrasoft.ru, and users, there was a very weighty argument - the need to streamline internal and external interaction in one system, their connections and chains, turning them into easily controlled, managed and automated business processes. It is hardly effective to transfer business processes to other software environments that are directly or indirectly related to the implementation of a customer relationship management strategy, when their modeling and automation can be successfully performed in a single CRM system environment.

CRM systems and online business process modeling: affordable solutions and products

As soon as there was a request for modeling business processes in CRM systems, corresponding developments appeared in this area. True, truly interesting, and, most importantly, satisfying the needs Russian business there are not many solutions.

What you should definitely pay attention to when choosing:

It is necessary to build on your goals and objectives of using the modules built into CRM systems to create business processes and perform other operations with them. This is a matter of both sufficient functionality and reasonable cost.
The scale, complexity of business processes, their specificity is important. Not all vendors are ready to offer diverse solutions, say, for medium-sized businesses and large enterprises with a developed distribution network. But there are also those who are able to take into account different needs. Thus, Terrasoft provides effective online process modeling in BPMN notation with bpm’online CRM, which is relevant both for companies that need powerful functionality and for simple, not overloaded business processes.
When studying the features of the product, based on its required functionality and conditions of use, the following should be taken into account:

system class - CRM or CRM in combination with the functionality of ERP, BPM, ECM and other management systems;
features of the interface of business processes (logic, graphics or only logic);
deployment and operation - modeling of business processes online, in the desktop version and (or) on-site version;
integration is the preferred solution.

4. Primary and operating costs, taking into account their validity.

Modeling business processes online in BPMN notation with CRM bpm’online

The bpm'online CRM system with the ability to model business processes is today recognized as one of the best software solutions for business automation. It combines the functionality of the BPM platform and the ERP system, so it implements an integrated approach. Modeling in the bpm’online CRM system is the ability to build and automate any business processes, both universal and specific, due to the individual characteristics of the business. The graphic editor (designer) provides convenience and visibility of business processes not only for modeling, but also for end users. This is more important for complex, multi-level processes, their effective understanding even by ordinary employees of the company. Building a process is only part of the task of managing. Working in a single software environment and system, they can be automated and control the execution of tasks.