Manage the increased complexity of critical business processes, says John Cachat, President of Silico Corporation. BPM will help.
A wide range of companies are investing in Business Process Management (BPM), recognizing that implementing business process improvements may be one of the major deciding factors in determining which organizations are best able to weather the current economic storm and be efficient when the economy turns around. Companies leveraging BPM as part of their corporate strategy in the face of such difficult times will likely be among the top performers in the coming years as the economy improves.
In the current economic climate, many companies are primarily focused on the bottom-line benefits of BPM for controlling costs and improving operational efficiencies. The emphasis at these organizations is toward quick value, bite-size investments that will provide the fastest impact. Even as these short-term priorities dominate the current market, long-term strategies focusing on initiatives critical for business success, including eliminating waste from global processes, must exist today.
When the economy begins its turn-around, companies are also looking for a technology framework that may provide the opportunity to do more with less, which means they will not have to bring back all the employees that have been laid off or bring on all the new hires that are planned.
"As companies try to find cost optimization opportunities during the economic downturn, business process management (BPM) investments can provide a cost savings of as much as 20 percent within the first year of implementation, according to Gartner, Inc. Analysts have said enterprises can achieve the payback from their BPM implementation within a year."
Cachat recommends a proven approach:
• Start small and grow
• Start with labor intensive processes with high volume of documents/forms
• Look for technology that will allow end user configuration under a controlled IT environment and allows easy integration with existing enterprise applications.
Forrester Research defines Business Process Management (BPM) as designing, executing and optimizing cross-functional business activities that incorporate people, application systems and even business partners. This definition means that BPM is more than just workflow technology or collaboration with a SharePoint site. The technology to support BPM must provide the following capabilities:
• Cross functional processes (Human to Human)
• Integration with business systems (Human to System)
• Software integration (System to System)
• Integration with business partners (Customer, Suppliers, Internal)
Cachat further suggests the following technology deployment goals:
• Do things through the most well known interface in the world—email
• Provide people with a link from email that asks them to do something, they do it, and the “app” does the rest
• Zero based training— customers, employees, and suppliers will not even realize they are using an “app”
SummaryEven though companies have implemented spending freezes, now is the time to review and prepare for BPM investments so that when the budgets open up again, the BPM proposal is on the top of the stack.
About the AuthorJohn Cachat is President of Silico Corporation (www.silicocorp.com). Silico helps organizations improve by focusing on people, processes, and then technology. Silico's business process management (BPM) services include state of the art technology for rapid solution development®. We do this by helping with leadership, teamwork and problem solving. The results are continuous improvement throughout the organization by focusing on the needs of the customer, empowering employees, and optimizing existing activities in the process.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
International Quality Expert Launches New Business
Former Founder of IQS, Inc. is free to start new business
Cleveland, Ohio, February 23, 2010: John M. Cachat, the former Chairman of IQS, announced today that he has started a new company, Silico Corporation (www.silicocorp.com). Silico is based on the vision that business process management, or BPM, needs to focus on people, processes, and then the technology. Silico also believes that technology must support rapid application development that does not require programmers to create and maintain software. Cachat announced back in November that all the restrictive agreements with IQS, Inc., the company he founded over 20 years ago, have expired. The new company name, Silico, is from the Latin term, which is loosely translated as “by means of a computer.”
Silico has received a significant investment in the seven figure range from a group of private investors. The investment group, lead by Sue-Fen Chen, is based in Taiwan. “We were looking for a technology company to support several of our existing manufacturing companies. When our team heard that Mr. Cachat was available for a project of this nature, we immediately began discussions on how his ideas could be used to create a new company,” indicated Ms. Chen. “The investment is only a small part of the relationship with the Taiwanese group,” stated Cachat. “Silico will share an existing partner network. For example, one of the companies in Chen’s group, Ardent Products will enable the introduction of handheld devices as part of the service offering. Another partner, Platform International will assist Silico customers in sourcing business process improvement. In addition, Silico will be able to immediately open an office in Taiwan to support the Asia Pacific marketplace.”
Cachat has been busy for the last year listening to the needs of the marketplace and researching state of the art software technology. In general, Cachat has realized that his previous approach regarding software is obsolete. The traditional software process that focuses on the database, the menus, the screens, and reporting was needed twenty years ago. Today, the focus must be on the people, the processes, and then how technology can support people and process. “I find it very rewarding to leave behind the old habits of trying to sell customers off the shelf software and to change the focus to helping customers create solutions to their problems,” stated Cachat.
Regarding the specific area of quality management software, the marketplace Cachat has been a leader in for over two decades, his research indicates that the currently available software is too complicated, especially for small businesses.
The marketplace expectations have made most existing quality management software tools obsolete. Companies in the quality management software space need to completely re-think their technology and most will have to start over from scratch. This is a whole new software approach that puts people and process first and forces the technology to adapt.
Silico will be hosting a webinar on Weds March 10th at 2 PM EST to provide information on the new company and its offerings. You can register by going to https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/143137370 or emailing jcachat@silicocorp.com.
Cleveland, Ohio, February 23, 2010: John M. Cachat, the former Chairman of IQS, announced today that he has started a new company, Silico Corporation (www.silicocorp.com). Silico is based on the vision that business process management, or BPM, needs to focus on people, processes, and then the technology. Silico also believes that technology must support rapid application development that does not require programmers to create and maintain software. Cachat announced back in November that all the restrictive agreements with IQS, Inc., the company he founded over 20 years ago, have expired. The new company name, Silico, is from the Latin term, which is loosely translated as “by means of a computer.”
Silico has received a significant investment in the seven figure range from a group of private investors. The investment group, lead by Sue-Fen Chen, is based in Taiwan. “We were looking for a technology company to support several of our existing manufacturing companies. When our team heard that Mr. Cachat was available for a project of this nature, we immediately began discussions on how his ideas could be used to create a new company,” indicated Ms. Chen. “The investment is only a small part of the relationship with the Taiwanese group,” stated Cachat. “Silico will share an existing partner network. For example, one of the companies in Chen’s group, Ardent Products will enable the introduction of handheld devices as part of the service offering. Another partner, Platform International will assist Silico customers in sourcing business process improvement. In addition, Silico will be able to immediately open an office in Taiwan to support the Asia Pacific marketplace.”
Cachat has been busy for the last year listening to the needs of the marketplace and researching state of the art software technology. In general, Cachat has realized that his previous approach regarding software is obsolete. The traditional software process that focuses on the database, the menus, the screens, and reporting was needed twenty years ago. Today, the focus must be on the people, the processes, and then how technology can support people and process. “I find it very rewarding to leave behind the old habits of trying to sell customers off the shelf software and to change the focus to helping customers create solutions to their problems,” stated Cachat.
Regarding the specific area of quality management software, the marketplace Cachat has been a leader in for over two decades, his research indicates that the currently available software is too complicated, especially for small businesses.
The marketplace expectations have made most existing quality management software tools obsolete. Companies in the quality management software space need to completely re-think their technology and most will have to start over from scratch. This is a whole new software approach that puts people and process first and forces the technology to adapt.
Silico will be hosting a webinar on Weds March 10th at 2 PM EST to provide information on the new company and its offerings. You can register by going to https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/143137370 or emailing jcachat@silicocorp.com.
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