Comments on: Do Process Exchanges Really Work?

By: Steve Bogner

Steve Bogner — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:39:16 +0000

I think it depends on a few factors. My focus is on HRIS consulting, and even though we try to get customers to standardize or adopt some best-practice sorts of approaches to the way they hire, fire, move and manage employees they always come down to the line of ‘we do it differently here’. 80% of the process may be the same as everyone else, but they insist on that 20% difference. Maybe it’s just the nature of HR processes or the HR function.

I have also noticed substantial differences between public and private sector companies, driven not so much by preference but by regulations and environment.

Sure, an exchange could provide a jump-start, but experienced consultants have that sort of stuff memorized/ingrained already. An exchange may lend some credibility, making it easier to get a process change started.

By: Tweets that mention Do Process Exchanges Really Work? -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Do Process Exchanges Really Work? -- Topsy.com — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:08:34 +0000

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By: Bob Twomey

Bob Twomey — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:54:11 +0000

It’s possible that the value of the exchanges will come only if it is REQUIRED that any iterations (including “improvements”) of a shared process are subsequently made available to the exchange. If this is true, an organization might recognize that there could be future value by exposing an existing process to the collaborative thinking of the exchange participants, resulting in an improved process which was created on someone else’s nickel.

By: Sam Gong

Sam Gong — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:01:16 +0000

I’ll say process exchanges are valuable, and I believe both positions illustrate how.

The quality and suitability of the business processes that a vendor or enthusiastic customer creates as give-aways will always be suspect, and I expect that the primary value here will be in free examples of elegant, generic internal processes or very loosely defined flexible vertical templates.

What’s more interesting to me is your point that no organization is going to build anything of value and give it away for free. This is a commentary on the marketplace for processes, which acknowledges there would be value in a platform that allows an exchange of potentially differentiating, high value-add business processes and complete process applications.

When the technology is mature enough to attract third party developers, I think we will see process-based offerings from SMEs that deliver the benefits of BPM solutions to areas previously addressed by off-the-shelf software packages. This model is especially attractive when the process application platform is available as a service. Once process portability is proven as a real technical possibility, the buyer’s maturity and the design quality of the solutions determine whether it becomes a true business boon or only moderately helpful.