TABLE OF CONTENTS It is often very difficult for organizations to determine where to start a BPM project. The organization may know it has operational inefficiencies and issues within a particular business unit; however, how and where to start can be a very difficult decision.
The Launch pad phase (Figure 15.1) is the platform from which BPM projects are scoped, established and launched (Figure 15.2).
In the case of an operational initiative method, sufficient high-level business and process analysis is completed during this phase to enable the organization to determine a logical place to start the initial review of the effort involved in the BPM project along with the possible benefits to be gained. The process architecture can also help for this purpose. In the case of the strategy-driven method, the starting point will predominantly be known (although it may require some refining).
This phase will not only provide a way of starting; it will also complete the steps necessary to establish the project for success. These include the following: project scope; project team selection and structure; stakeholder expectations, establishment and engagement; the establishment of the initial process goals; and the use of the process start architecture to provide a fast start for the project from an architectural perspective. Each subsequent project launched from this launch pad will be able to benefit from synergies and lessons learned from previous BPM projects, rather than starting from scratch and/or reinventing the wheel every time.
