Introduction

Business Optix is described as "A platform-as-a-Service solution to map, redesign and transform your business through documenting information about your systems, processes and methods; publish and share this knowledge across the organisation."

At its core is a simple and effective Process Modeller. Even used as merely a Process design and documentation tool, Business Optix Author is very effective, although the application itself can do a great deal more: Organisation charts linked to system-wide roles; Lean Value Stream; Service Management and Transformation Maps all allow you to develop a comprehensive Enterprise model, especially where Business Transformation is involved. The ability to retrospectively link all these together (both in the modeller and online documentation) gives you a clear ability to start at any level in a Transformation exercise and build a complete model.

The models you create can be organised as an online repository where they can be viewed, organised, reviewed, commented on and approved. The repository even has its own workflow engine to help organise models and approvals, and you are able to create any workflows you wish to supplement the supplied ones.

All components within any model, or any other diagram, of which several types are available, can all reference any additional file or a separate URL to an intranet site.

The result is a very powerful and flexible documentation and collaboration tool. It can also easily be employed as a detailed and dynamic knowledgebase for almost any amount of information about your business processes and projects of any kind.

To follow the example created during this review, please see the output here, although bear in mind that the functionality is limited as this is not in our Library:

Demo Credit Card Application

and download your own free trial version of the software here:

Business Optix Trial Download

Process Modeller

Creating a Process

The best place to start is the BPMN Process Modeller. Using this simple tool, you can very quickly build up a basic process. It is a simple as naming an activity, gateway or event, selecting another activity or gateway, setting it down, naming that, and so on. It really could not be easier.

You start with an empty Process, with one Start event:

an example of a start event from Process Modeller

The placing of activities itself will either extend an existing swim lane if placed within it, or create a new one if placed outside of the existing lanes.

an example of placing activities from Process Modeller

The default links are created for you automatically

an example of default links from Process Modeller

Even the act of adding a sub-process is made as simple as possible. You set an Activity as a sub-process, and then select the sub-process. If you type in a new name, it is automatically created for you, and two-way links created:

an example of adding an activity from Process Modeller

an example of how to set an Activity as a sub-process from Process Modeller

an example of select the sub-process from Process Modeller

Documentation

Documenting all of these various components is also very easy. Each component has a rich text description that can be edited. This documentation can then be easily exported in a variety of formats. The most useful are PDF and HTML. We will show these outputs in more detail as they relate to each area of functionality.

an example of documenting components from Process Modeller

For Process Activities you also have the ability to add Work Instructions, as well as several other attributes we shall demonstrate later on. This, for example, could be used to generate a training guide for users of the system or Process.

an example of add Work Instructions from Process Modeller

Process Output

Now that the Process is designed and documented, let's look at our first Output. These can be in a variety of formats, and use a variety of customisable reporting templates. We shall look at the HTML and PDF Output.

HTML

The HTML output is the most valuable. It is highly interactive, and has a multitude of different sections. This will be discussed in more detail for different properties that we will be adding later, but here is the main Process view:

an example of HTML output from Process Modeller

Hover the mouse over any item for a popup with the description:

an example of a popup from Process Modeller

Clicking on the main body or any component shows a permanent popup window with more detail. This is just a preliminary model with few properties. As we add to the process itself, these details become populated with all the information we add:

an example of a permanent popup window from Process Modeller

If any URL links are defined, these can be selected straight from the information popup.

PDF

The PDF document is less interactive, but is obviously easier to email and store off-line. It is included mainly to allow you to produce regulatory documentation:

an example of a PDF document from Process Modeller

Library

As Output is generated, you are asked if you wish to add them to the library. If you do, these are immediately available to anyone viewing the model in the library, as long as they have been granted the rights. Note that people viewing the model in this way do not need to have Author installed. The Library functionality will be discussed in more detail later.

Text

Because it is rarely possible to describe most things without quite a lot of text, we also have the ability to add text of our own choice. These are quite simple in that they are either at the start or end of the output documentation. They can be any number of sections and subsections, so allowing complete freedom of format.

an example of add text from Process Modeller

Roles

Although we have defined the swim lanes, these are not necessarily roles (although they could be). Roles are firstly defined as those 'Accountable' to an activity. Many different areas of responsibility can be defined per Activity as well. These are the standard Role assignment for an Activity: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed.

Adding Roles

To add roles, we can press in the 'plus' icon to add and remove roles. If the role exists, it can be selected or unselected. If it needs to be added, you can add it at this point.

an example of Adding Roles from Roles

Roles Data

These roles are added as local resources in your Model. These can be documented in full, just like any other component.

an example of Roles Data from Roles

If you have company-wide or department-wide roles, these can all be added into a model in the Master Data section of your Library. These roles are then available for any model in your Library.

Organisation Chart

Once you have your roles configured in your Master Data, which is shared by all models, you can also build an Organisation chart based on these roles:

an example of an Organisation chart from Roles

Here the roles, locations and skills of every position and person in your organisation can be recorded.

an example of how roles, locations and skills can be recorded from Roles

There is also an extremely powerful feature of the Organisation Chart and using Roles in this way: When you view the Chart in your Library, on selecting any person in the Chart, you can see every Activity in every Process they are Responsible for, Accountable for, Consulted and Informed about, with links to the Process and Activity:

an example of how roles can be viewed across the organisation

Roles Output

As these roles are added to the model, they can be viewed in a variety of informative ways.

Activity Roles

Assigned 'Responsible' roles can be viewed on the model:

an example of Assigned 'Responsible' roles from Roles

And in full detail when the Activity is selected:

an example of Activity Roles in full detail from Roles

Role Descriptions

There is a full list of Role descriptions:

an example of Role Descriptions from Roles

RACI Analysis

And a RACI analysis:

an example of a RACI Analysis from Roles

Accountabilities

And Accountabilities, as added to the Lane itself:

an example of Accountabilities from Roles

Transformations

So far, this is all very useful from a documentation point of view. The next part we look at, however, makes it a great deal more useful. This is the Transformation functionality.

The Transformation properties and functionality are also available in many other models. For example in the Organisation chart we saw earlier, Lean Value Stream, Service Management and free-format diagram models. They are particularly effective in the Process Model, as we shall see.

Making Changes

As changes are made to the Process, the transformation property of any component can be set. The options are Keep (the default), Add, Remove and Modify.

In this example, what we intend to do is to add a new 'Quick Credit Check' Activity to be performed if the credit amount requested is below a certain threshold.

In the first instance, we can see that these various components are colour coded to show the Transition:

an example of Making Changes from Transformations

If the Process itself is selected, you can, under the Transition properties, select to view the Current, Future or Changes. Changes is the default:

an example of select to view Changes from Transformations

If you select the Current state, you get the model before the changes are made:

an example of Current state from Transformations

If you select the Future state, you can see the model after the changes have been applied:

an example of Future state from Transformations

Changes Output

The output is also automatically changed to show these three states. The HTML output shows this in an interactive manner:

an example of HTML output from Transformations

And the PDF, not being interactive, shows the current and future states:

an example of the PDF from Transformations

Change Control

While we are talking about changes, we can look at the change control available.

Saving Versions

At any time we can save a different version of the model:

an example of Saving Versions from Transformations

You can also check out models from the library:

an example of check out models from Transformations

When models are checked out, you are prompted for the version and status information when you save it back to the Library.

Generally the saving is very intuitive. When saving to a different location, you are asked if you want to move or copy the model:

an example of move from Transformations

And if you save to a different name, it asks if you want to copy or rename the model:

an example of copy or rename the model from Transformations

Viewing Differences

At any point you can view the versions saved for any particular model in the Library:

an example of Viewing Differences from Transformations

You can select two versions, or indeed two saved models, and compare the differences:

an example of compare the differences from Transformations

All added, removed and modified components are colour-coded in the Table of Contents as we saw previously. Selecting any modified component in the comparison view shows you the original properties:

an example of Selecting any modified component from Transformations

Metrics

So far, we have a process, and quite a lot of documentation. We can change this and view the changes. Probably the most important aspect of the Transformation functionality is in the Metrics we can add to the model.

Recording Metrics

We are able to add the following metrics to an Activity: wait time, work time, number of staff (FTE) and cost, and total cost. To an Event we can add a wait time and cost.

an example of add a wait time and cost from Metrics

For any link going from a multiple path gateway, we can set the probability of that path being followed:

an example of add probability from Metrics

For a Process, we can set the batch size, annual volume and growth:

an example of set the batch size, annual volume and growth from Metrics

This set of Metrics allows the model to calculate the cost and duration of the process in detail.

Transformation Metrics

When we set the transitional properties of any component to modified or added, we can add the new Metrics in the Transformation properties, as well as the details of the Transformation we have made.

In this example, the reason we chose to add a new 'Quick Credit Check' Activity was to process credit applications that are below a certain threshold. This credit check is both quicker and cheaper:

an example of add Transformation properties from Metrics

And we set the probability of this branch being selected:

an example of set the probability from Metrics

We can also set the cost of the planned Transformation, allowing a calculation of the Return on Investment:

an example of set the cost of the planned Transformation from Metrics

Metrics Output

Once the Metrics have been set, you can get some output that gives plenty of detail about the value of the Transformations that have been made.

ROI Calculations

Firstly you have the details of the costs, the expected benefits, and overall expected break-even point:

an example of ROI Calculations from Metrics

Graphs

There are also a number of quite detailed graphs telling you what overall changes in cost and time are expected throughout the system:

an example of a Graph from Metrics

Risk

You are able to set the Risk level, amount and mitigation for all activities. As well as adding a description, you specify that the activity is a Key Control activity, and add a link to any file, model or URL to describe the Risk and Control.

an example of Risk from Metrics

We are currently working on a way we can use this to document Risks and Controls for Risk Management purposes. Given the potential for extensibility the product has (see below), we can see no reason that this would not be possible. Given that adapting processes through Process Improvement to mitigate risk is a very clear and powerful approach to Risk Management, this is an excellent opportunity to combine the two practices.

Deliverables

Many systems are obviously concerned with managing data in some way. To represent this is a Data type of resource. These can be set as inputs and outputs of activities. They can also be treated as a collection, and displayed on the process itself. I very much like this option as it can enhance the readability and usefulness of the process diagram itself, rather than just the documentation.

Adding Data

Any data can be added in exactly the same way as we added roles and other resources:

an example of Adding Data from Deliverables

Once again, these can be local to the process, or from a Master Data store of Deliverables. The Master Data deliverables can be hierarchical, just like the roles:

an example of MasterData deliverables from Deliverables

You can also add an Information component. This allows you to select the data it contains, and a description of that Information, which is very useful for documentation:

an example of add an Information component from Deliverables

You can then specify which activities read from and write to this Information. This gives a very good graphical view of the data requirement of your process:

an example of read from and write to from Deliverables

You can also add full documentation of the Data resource, both for the Master Data and the locally defined data:

an example of Data resource from Deliverables

Systems, Locations and more

For any of the Activities you can specify which systems they use, and at which Locations. Adding these types of resources allows you to fully document them, or they can be selected once again from the Master Data:

an example of Systems, Locations and more from Deliverables

This can give you the data to query the database and discover which activities involve which systems, and occur at which locations.

Note that the visibility of this information can be selectively disabled in the Process Diagram:

an example of Systems, Locations and more from Deliverables

There are several other Resource types that can be added to your Process Model such as Messages, Timers, Signals and Rules. These are specific to the type of Component, and can be documented in the same way as these you have seen.

Resource Output

Once you have added details of the resources required by our process, you can then see these documented quite extensively in the output:

an example of resources from Deliverables

Models in the Library

The Library is where the whole operation comes together. It is one thing to design processes, and even to share the output, but it quite another to allow full participation in the design process without requiring the skillset that Process Designers have. Business Optix have solved this by making the model output interactive within the Library itself.

Within the Library, there are a number of activities that users can perform. These users do not need the Business Optix Author application, as this is all web-based.

Model Roles

Firstly, each model can have various roles assigned. These are to Review, Approve, Distribute and Sponsor a model.

an example of Model Roles from Library

When you go into the Library and view a model, you are given several options, depending on your role set for that model.

Notifications

You can set a notification to be sent to you if a model is changed, or a comment is added:

an example of Notifications from Library

Ratings

You can rate a model:

an example of Ratings from Library

Reviews

You can signify that you have reviewed the model:

an example of Reviews from Library

Approvals

And you can approve the model, or reject it:

an example of Approvals from Library

Comments

Comments can be added to the model, or to any individual component within the model. The comments can also be viewed by component, or for the entire model.

an example of Comments from Library

All of these comments are then visible from within the Business Optix Author application when you are editing the model. This gives a model designer a full view of the discussion, right where it is most required:

an example of Comments from Library

Mobile View

Of course, since this is all just HTML, you can interact perfectly well with the Library using a smart phone or tablet:

an example of Mobile View from Library

Extensibility

There is an additional aspect to Business Optix that makes it just about as flexible as it possibly could be. You can add just about any properties you want to the models.

Change Management

In one case we wanted to use Business Optix as our Change Management tool. Our main desire is to keep the Change documentation embedded within the system documentation itself. We looked at the Transformation aspect of Processes (and many other models), and decided we wanted that elsewhere.

In response to our requests, Business Optix were able to modify the stencil XML to allow this property to be recorded in other models we want to use for documentation, along with the Process model.

This in itself was useful, but we still wanted more. What we really wanted was a way to link any Transformation to a documented Change. Business Optix were able to give us a simple customised 'Change' model for our Master Data. Having added items into this mode, a change to the stencil for other models has allowed us to select any number of Change items from our central model to any component:

an example of Change Management from Extensibility

Outside In

We also like to practice the 'Outside-In' approach promoted by Steve Towers of the BP Group.

In order to do this, we needed several additional properties stored per Activity. With an indication of what we needed to add, and the examples provided so far by Business Optix to make our customisations, we were able to add the properties we need:

an example of Outside In from Extensibility

It is important to realise that in order to make these changes, no code was written, although we did have to add some XML. This gives us the opportunity to add any data for a process that we wish for our documentation efforts.

Methodology

Process Mapping are building a BPM Change Management Methodology. We have been looking for a suitable tool to help us with practicing the Methodology. We have come to the conclusion that Business Optix is not just the best contender; it seems to be the only contender for what we need.

Not only can it be used for the full Change Management documentation we require, it can be customised to allow us to record everything we need now, and just about everything we might need for the future. Right now, we are adding the SMART Goals, Business Rules, Test Cases and Scenarios from our Methodology to supplement the already added Changes.