Process modelling with
is very easy, even for people with little prior experience of using computers. It addresses not just the components and scale of change, but also the need to implement the changes quickly and smoothly. As a result,
provides strong support for change management by:
Groups of business managers or combined teams of business managers and BPR specialists can create accurate and meaningful models of existing or proposed processes, quickly and easily. The simple concepts and easy-to-learn user interface make the tool very effective in such modelling sessions, but, such a model must be examined, maybe challenged and certainly explained to a wide constituency of process owners and participants before it can be accepted as the appropriate vision for the future. Creating and modifying process models is only the start. The proposed new models must be communicated; the vision must be shared.
excels as a communication aid when its animation and multimedia facilities are utilised.
Annotation
Adding sound, image and video to process models provides vital links with the real world that the model is intended to represent. Traditional approaches to communicating models rely heavily on the presenter's ability to create a realistic vision around the bare bones of the model. Oracle Process Modeller brings this capability to a wider constituency. It is no longer necessary to demand that the listener imagine how the model relates to reality. Scanned images of documents, or even of the person involved, sound recordings and video clips bring immediacy to the vision. The audience quickly gets a feel for the process being described; if it is a flawed model the flaws become obvious and it can be improved, if it is a sound model the audience soon shares the vision, which is the first essential step to effective change.
Because
is built to Microsoft's OLE2 standard any OLE object can be included as additional annotation, for example to add extra images or a text document providing a full process description.
Execution
There are other objects that it might be useful to invoke from a specific step in the process model. For example when explaining a proposed new process design, it might be helpful to run prototypes of the associated new computer systems at each point. The prototype can be linked to with the model and executed at the push of a button. The prototype may evolve over time, but as long as the link location remains the same then execution will invoke the latest version.
Animation
Animation shows how the process flows from a selected process step in the model. Each step is brought to life by animating the icon representing it and playing any associated sound clip. This continues for a time proportional to the total time recorded for the step. Subsequent flows, process steps and stores along the direction of flow are animated automatically in turn, each for the appropriate time. Modellers specify what happens after a process step completes and before it can start: do all the outgoing flows occur immediately on completion? must all the incoming flows have arrived before commencement? Animation provides very visual feedback of the dependencies and relative timings of the process steps. When parallel process steps are involved, Critical Path Analysis (CPA) provides a mechanism for identifying potential bottlenecks and for determining the targets for process improvement.
provides CPA and objects on the critical path are then highlighted by colour change.
Data Export
Information in the model can be exported to standard spreadsheet packages, such as Microsoft Excel and Lotus 1-2-3. For example in order to analyse information on time and costs, and present results using graph or chart formats. Spreadsheets can also be used for more complex analysis, such as the application of Activity-Based Costing techniques.
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