When it comes to  CRM software, one would think that nowadays this question can only be asked by someone  as disturbed as Hamlet. Considering choices of products available for use on demand (SaaS) or for purchase to use in house, why would anybody even think about building something from scratch?
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A recent post by Kaushal Mashruwala over at Financial Express titled "SOA Strategy and Execution is Failing in Many Companies" inspired this particular post that will look at BPM a little more closely with the use of a tool that I consider critical when discussing BPR.

"the SOA value proposition is fundamentally unimportant to business people. It’s just another way to implement an application. What’s more important to business managers is how they can change, through technology, the way their businesses are run. And that’s where BPM comes in."

TIBCO Business Studio is a Business Process Modelling application by TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TIBX) out of Palo Alto, California.  Simplistically, the software provides two distinct views of a single process model that are relevant to both IT and Business, providing a means of collaboration between the two groups that would have otherwise required the use of multiple applications.  The software also incorporates robust simulation capabilities using either real data or provided algorithms, that integrate quite well with the overall interface.

The purpose of this specific post is to share my personal perspective learning how to use this application that I think many would argue is a relatively advanced piece of software.  It is this advanced functionality that frightens a lot of BPM practitioners and keeps them latching on to the more comfortable tools like VISIO, not allowing them to tap into some of the more useful benefits of a tool like Business Studio. 

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This is continuation of the post published on March 4, 2008.

3. Manage a scope. Usually scope management is understood in a context of balancing the project’s budget, deadline and requirements. I would like to look at scope management in a context of program planning, rather than project management. Establishment of a linear and/or parallel set of projects delivering small sets of processes with limited functionality over short periods of time creates a more productive environment for the initiative to succeed.

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