In this post I wish to summarize the opinions and the discussions on the hot topic Social BPM. I think this provides a good understanding of the topic and a feeling on the debate that is still ongoing. If you know about other useful references, feel free to add them (self-citations are also welcome). Also, if you are cited and you think your position is not well represented by the quote, feel free to detail it.
One further valuable resource is the Social BPM handbook that will be available starting June 2011,on which I also wrote a chapter on A Model-driven Approach to Social BPM Applications.
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| Uhoh. Social BPM in the real world? [Thanks to Jim Sinur for pointing this out. Credits for Dilbert: Scott Adams] |
Who is socializing in Social BPM, Keith Swenson
http://social-biz.org/2010/05/12/who-is-socializing-in-social-bpm-2/
“Proper use of social software will be about individuals producing, publishing and running their own processes. Not collaboration on the design phase, but designing individually, and collaborating with a completed process. This won’t just be the BPM lifecycle using social software, it will be the elimination of the BPM lifecycle, the elimination of a design phase, the elimination of the separation between designers and workers.”
Will Social Revive Interest In BPM? Will BPM Make Social Relevant?, Sandy Kemsley
“Everyone could be a writer in the blogosphere, but in reality, only a tiny fraction of those who read blogs actually write blogs, or even comment on blogs. The same will likely occur in runtime collaboration in BPM: only a fraction of users will design processes, even though all have the capability to do so, but all will benefit from it.”
Knowledge Management, Social Media, Social BPM and Control, Sandy Kemsley
http://www.column2.com/2011/03/knowledge-management-social-media-social-bpm-and-control/
“There is a paradigm shift happening in the way that organizations understand control. Control no longer means that management dictates every action that every employee takes, but rather that appropriate levels of control are given to everyone so that they can control their environment and make it most effective for their tasks at hand.”
The Continuum of Social BPM, Marco Brambilla
http://www.modeldrivenstar.org/2011/05/continuum-of-social-bpm.html
“The introduction of social features in business processes can be achieved at different levels, according to a spectrum of possibilities: from closed BPM to Participatory Design, Participatory enactment, Social enactment, and Process Mining.”
Want Value From Social? Add Structure, Tom Davenport
http://blogs.hbr.org/davenport/2010/11/want_value_from_social_add_str.html
“I’m becoming convinced that the way to gain value is to combine computer-based sociality with computer-based structure. […] The combination of the social and structuring aspects of technology ensures that online social activities are oriented to getting work done. The addition of structure makes everyone more conscious of the work tasks at hand, which limits the desire for purely social interaction. ”
The BPM Game Changer, Adam Deane
http://adamdeane.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/the-bpm-game-changer/
“It’s just a matter of time before organisations will be purchasing Twitter-like software for their internal use, and BPM will need to adapt to this new environment. Yes, Google Wave failed. But that doesn’t mean that the trend is dead.. Other companies are building Twitter for Business applications”
Is Social BPM A Methodology, A Technology, Or Just A Lot Of Hype?, Clay Richardson
http://blogs.forrester.com/clay_richardson/10-05-20-social_bpm_methodology_technology_or_just_lot_hype
“On the one hand, some feel that social BPM is all about tools and technology (i.e., process wikis, process mashups, etc.). And on the other hand, I see another camp emerging that believes social BPM should focus on transforming the organization and the organization’s processes. I say, they’re both right. We see customers adopting social BPM along a continuum.”
http://www.infoq.com/news/2010/05/SocialBPM
“Social networks have already profoundly changed our lives. Usage of social media will create a similar impact on BPM design and implementation. Will it create a new type of BPM or just a new way of BPM implementation remains to be seen.”
Social BPM: Is It Social, or is It BPM?
Open question by Peter Schooff (with some responses below)
http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/ebizq_forum/2010/03/social-bpm-is-it-social-or-is-it-bpm.php
Michael zur Muehlen:
“If you only focus on streamlining process execution and making it as efficient as possible the social aspect diminishes. But if you consider process discovery, the development of a shared understanding of what your operations look like, and monitoring your process environment, then social plays a big role. Social is all about providing context, a rich environment of data points that a streamlined workflow would be lacking otherwise. The challenge is to make this context useful, both from a social networking perspective and from an unstructured data perspective.”
Tom Allanson:
“Social BPM is basically just collaborative business process management utilizing a collective network environment – it’s about extending BPM access and decision-making to partners and select external parties without compromising the exclusivity of the core group.”
Clay Richardson:
“Basically social capabilities are now assumed to be baked into BPM offerings. I think the real question now is how do you move your organization to harness social BPM capabilities.”
“The future of social BPM lies in developing the best way to leverage social media tools to promote collaboration and coordination in the workplace – on an enterprise basis with a meaningful contribution to the business.”
Social has no future (Yet), Keith Swenson
http://social-biz.org/2010/12/11/social-has-no-future-yet/
“In general, social software systems record what is happening now and in the past, but for the most part completely lack any representation of the future. Enterprise Social Software, or Social Business Software, will succeed only if it has some representation of goals or other future activities.”
Will social BPM supercharge BPM?, Thomas J. Olbrich.
“My view would be that we need to become more social where it helps. But let’s not overreach and hold company-wide opinion polls during process design and implementation. Social in the sense of making room for qualified input is fine, process anarchy is not.”
Social BPM is a Methodology FIRST, Just like BPMhttp://www.ultimus.com/Blog/bid/37265/Social-BPM-is-a-Methodology-FIRST-Just-like-BPM
“I will argue that more than 50% of the information and data used to complete business processes is communicated outside of the formality of business process technologies today. Chat programs, emails, standing in front of the coffee machine in the AM, and passing people in the hall are easy and convenient channels of vital information exchange. […] There is no reason to start employing any existing Social BPM or Social Technology application today without first understanding the state of “chaos” you have today.”
Realizing the Promise of BPM Software: Forrester Says Social BPM Extends Process Participation, Ben Farrell http://www.appian.com/blog/2011/05/04/realizing-the-promise-of-bpm-software-forrester-says-social-bpm-extends-process-participation
“BPM software will only reach its true potential when more people inside (and outside) the organization get involved. Social BPM is a great way to extend the reach and impact of the technology across an organization – to get more people to “Be Part of the Process”. […] Run-time social BPM means you get real-time feedback on how well a process is working. It means process bottlenecks can be identified and resolved, and processes improved, faster.”
Social Breaks The Logjam On Business Process Improvement Initiatives, Clay Richardson
http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/social_breaks_logjam_on_business_process_improvement/q/id/55887/t/2
During process design, teams leverage social tools to more easily engage stakeholders in process discovery and definition, including frontline workers, customers, and partners. For process development, some process pros turn to social and Web 2.0 tools by using BPM software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings. And during process execution, teams leverage social to support dynamic business processes.
What are the boundaries of social BPM?, Chris Taylor
http://bpmforreal.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/what-are-the-boundaries-of-social-bpm/
“I’ll admit, ‘social’ can strike fear into the hearts of the traditionalist (and/or control freak), and social BPM is no different. Will making my processes open to all lead to chaos and anarchy? I would argue the opposite is true.”
Tapping into Collective Knowledge Will Drive Unstructured Process Activity, Jim Sinur
http://blogs.gartner.com/jim_sinur/2009/09/16/tapping-into-collective-knowledge-will-drive-unstructured-process-activity/
“When organizations aggressively tap into collective knowledge inside and out side their organizations, BPM will have to behave differently. BPM will have to support morphing work driven by emerging goals and dynamic decisions and be able to identify potential best practices.”
Social BPM – Responding to Business Uncertainties, Arun Ravindran
http://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/social-bpm-responding-to-business-uncertainties-008645.php
“If refining in Business Processes Management (BPM) was all the rage in the eighties, then leveraging the power of emergent processes seems to be the focus and challenge of today’s businesses. “
Making BPM “Social”: Flexibility First, Sociability Follows, Andy Wang
http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-cms/making-bpm-social-flexibility-first-sociability-follows-008538.php
“To enable organizational agility, decision makers need to be able to adapt quickly in the face of change. An ECM system with flexible BPM tools is a necessary foundation to have in place before putting a Social BPM methodology into practice.”
Social BPM and the new IT stack, Keith Harrison-Broninski
http://harrison-broninski.com/keith/blog/?p=181
“If you need to fuse the structural benefits of BPM with the collaborative potential of social technology, you won’t find it in the products currently being marketed as “social BPM”. Rather, you need to look elsewhere, for […] “collaborative planning””
Social BPM and the HIMS, Keith Harrison-Broninski
http://harrison-broninski.com/keith/blog/?p=185
“My purpose is to point out that the current hype for social BPM is unjustified, which cannot be a good thing either for consumers or vendors. If you try Blueworks Live expecting a solution for high-level knowledge work, you will only come away disappointed.”
What constitutes a social BPMS, by Sameer Jejurkar
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/techreflections/what-constitutes-a-social-bpms-46937
“So what is social BPM(S)? At its core “social” means collaboration and communication. It can mean collaboration and communication that occurs during normal course of business i.e. when a business process is in flight. This is interaction (such as email, phone conversations etc.) between users that usually happens outside the context of a typical (non-social?) BPMS. The ability to collaborate with others in the organization is a definite plus for all internal users.”
Brilliant collation of current thinking on Social BPM. Good job, Marco.
When we bring out the enhanced digital edition of the book “Social BPM” I'd like to see more papers from authors you cite here.
Regards, Layna Fischer, Publisher
One need look no further for an excellent collection of links on Social BPM.
Thanks Marco!
Thank you, Craig.
Actually, due to the high interest in the field, this list should be continuously updated with the new posts that every day appear on the web. I'll try to keep up with this by posting new lists from time to time.