BPM: BPMN, Case Management, …

WfmC meeting November 3, Maidenhead

OMG business modeling - Cordys interests and context

Business motivation (BMM)

Performance metrics (SMM)Value chain (VDM)Organization (OSM)

Business process (BPMN) Case management (CM)

Business service (SOA-ML)

Cordys strongly involved

BPMN sufficient ?

• Characteristics of “occupational disability claim handling”:

• No fixed pattern in the process !

• Everything that is performed in the case relates to the insured person that is or

becomes ill (the “case”)

• Activity is performed when information is received or when due dates are reached

• The case manager decides on possible follow-up or waits for new, possibly

requested, information

• Is this a workflow process ?

• NO, not really, but what type of process is it ?

Source: Peter Klapwijk, De Amersfoortse (ASR)

Definition: Case management

Case management is a coordinative and goal-oriented process, to handle

cases*) from opening to closure, interactively between an internal or external

client and a case manager or case team.

Typically based on (tracked by) what’s called a case file.

Typically suited to empower knowledge workers.

*) case: situation or set of conditions requiring a service or intervention.  

Case management versus “production” workflow

Source: Derek Miers

Focus is on the work to be done, not the process to support it.

“Case management inherently carries with it fluidity of structure in an ad-hoc manner.”

Shared case file, as opposed to a routed process instance. Event & rule-driven.

Case management, case file & collaboration

The notion of a shared case file gives case management the flavor of team collaboration as well.

Electronic case folder or case file as single container for all processes, tasks, data, and documents for the case.

Knowledge work: no predefined flowcharts like in BPMN

• Davenport (2005): knowledge workers like autonomy, and specifying detailed

steps and flow of knowledge-intensive processes is less valuable and more

difficult than for other types of work.

• Fingar (2007): Creative and innovative forms of business processes cannot be

predefined or "flowcharted" in advance. They are "organic". That is to say,

they represent "emergent processes" that change not only their state, but also

their structure as they are born, and then grow and evolve. Process definition

is an intrinsic part of the process itself, and this happens continually

throughout the life of the process.

If it’s no flowchart, what is it then that you model ?

• Case management is about higher-level coordination, which cannot simply be

tracked by a single process instance.

• It focuses on guiding decisions, in order to reach the goal of the case

effectively and efficiently.

• Modeling of case management is not concerned with laying out sequences of

activities. It is rather concerned with constraining the choices that can be

made with respect to the work to be done, and with respect to how the case

evolves.

Typical case proceeding

There are multiple ways to achieve the goal !

Impression of Cordys case management model

More elements are in the works: see http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/02-09-ART-BPTrends%20-%20Case%20Management-DeMan%20-final.doc.pdf

Case management & process maturity

• Case instances may first evolve based on case worker decisions.

• Exploring (or "mining") case instance history might reveal certain recurring

patterns.

• Sometimes, procedural workflows (sub-processes) might be abstracted from

these patterns, and sometimes state- and rule based constructs might be

abstracted.

• In this way, case models might evolve over time.

Polar star: “ERP 2.0”, in the cloud !

• ERP:

• Manages, monitors and audits processes for “blue collar” workers only

• Processes are hidden and not enabled for continuous improvement.

• “ERP 2.0”:

• Manages, monitors and audits ALL processes. Case management to support

“white collar” workers.

• Model-driven and supporting continuous improvement.

• Typical ERP-functions linked to case management processes, e.g. to support:

• Forecasting, load balancing, scheduling, hours accounting, labor/cost

accounting, activity-based costing, …

• In the cloud !

Case management: Lean Office in action !

Ideal vehicle for lean:• “Pull and flow”• Organized work place• Empowered work team• Standardized knowledge work

Case flow management as opposed to case management

Case management automation: benefits

• Make work processes more efficient

• Leverage knowledge worker creativity and empower work teams

• Increase quality: better informed decisions and reduced errors and oversights

• Improve accountability and ensure compliance to policies and regulations

• Improve record keeping

• Integrate with related processes

• Evolve towards more repeatable processes

Case management: standardization is hot !

• Potential submitters to OMG RFP:

• Vendors:

• Axway, Fair Isaac, IBM, Tibco

• Cordys *), Global360, Pallas-Athena, Singularity, Sword-Ciboodle, …

• Consultants: HP, Unisys, ..

• End user organizations: Wells-Fargo, ..

• Further networking: HL7, CMSA, GSA.GOV, Gartner, …

*) OMG initiative triggered by Cordys

Some references

• Case management RFP of OMG:• http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?bmi/2009-09-23

• Blogs on case management RFP of OMG:• http://www.brsilver.com/bpmncase/?p=31

• http://www.communities.hp.com/online/blogs/nextbigthingeds/archive/2009/09/28/case-management-process-modeling-challenges.aspx

• Articles on case management:• http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/01-09-ART-%20Case%20Management-1-DeMan.%20d

oc--final.pdf

• http://www.bptrends.com/publicationfiles/02-09-ART-BPTrends%20-%20Case%20Management-DeMan%20-final.doc.pdf

• Thesis on case management and Lean Office:• http://www.ru.nl/aspx/download.aspx?File=/contents/pages/530003/bjornvisserscriptie.pdf

• More information on Cordys Professionals Cloud (registration free):• https://wiki.cordys.com/display/cma/Home

• https://wiki.cordys.com/display/cim/Home