Heartbeats of Transformation: Process Transformation Through Reference Points, Just Like in Healthcare

[Peyman]

In the world of healthcare, a doctor's expertise is magnified when they have access to reference points like a patient's normal heart rate or a standard range of blood pressure. The outcome of every experiment and evaluation depends on having reference points or so-called control factors. These reference values provide crucial context, enabling medical professionals to diagnose ailments accurately and chart a path to recovery. Similarly, in the realm of process transformation, the concept of reference holds just as much significance. Just as a reference heartbeat can indicate health status, references play a vital role in process transformation by guiding organizations to diagnose inefficiencies, identify good practices, and create a roadmap for achieving operational excellence.  

The Parallel in Process Transformation: 

• Benchmarks: Learning from the Best: In healthcare, benchmarks such as average cholesterol levels help gauge patient health. Likewise, organizations use benchmarks to measure their processes against industry standards, competitors, or even high performers within the organization. Whether it's comparing the efficiency of different company locations or analyzing departmental metrics, benchmarks provide a reference for organizations to set targets, select opportunities, track progress, and optimize processes. SAP Signavio Process Insights provides a comprehensive list of performance indicators and both internal and external benchmarks that support process professionals in analyzing their process performance.  

Process metrics and benchmarks - SAP Signavio Process Insights

• Conformance Checking and Process Mining: Just as medical tests check vital signs against reference ranges, conformance checking relies on reference models and rules. These models & rules represent an optimal or a target process flow and are used to compare against real-world execution data. Deviations from the reference model signal process inefficiencies and risks, thus empowering organizations to pinpoint bottlenecks and streamline workflows for improved outcomes. SAP Signavio Process Intelligence provides conformance checking capability that allows comparing target BPMN models against discovered processes based on execution data. 

Conformance checking - SAP Signavio Process Intelligence

• Process Simulation and Predicting Outcomes: Process simulation, akin to medical prognosis, involves modeling various scenarios. But without references, how can one evaluate success? Reference scenarios provide the baseline against which organizations assess the impact of process changes. Much like predicting a patient's health trajectory using historical data, process simulation with reference scenarios aids in decision-making and strategy formulation. SAP Signavio Process Manager provides process simulation capabilities that allow for the design, analysis, and comparison of multiple simulation scenarios. 

Process simulation - SAP Signavio Process Manager

• Best Practice Models: A Beacon for Improvement: In healthcare, best practice guidelines shape treatment plans. Similarly, best practice models in process transformation offer proven strategies to achieve excellence. Comparable to a reference genome in genomics, these models serve as a starting point, guiding organizations towards optimization and continuous improvement. These models, such as SAP best practice models, can be used for various objectives such as guidelines for to-be process definition, system configurations and a baseline for process comparison, among others. SAP Signavio Value Accelerators provide you with ready-to-use resources, such as SAP best practice diagrams and reference models, that can help you speed up the time to value of your transformation initiatives. For getting a better understanding and browsing the best practices and reference models, you can leverage the SAP Signavio Process Explorer. 

Reference & best practice models - SAP Signavio Value Accelerators

• Compliance and Regulation: Following the Rules: In regulated industries, such as pharmaceuticals, adherence to guidelines is paramount. Just as healthcare professionals rely on standardized medical codes, reference frameworks, and regulatory standards to ensure organizations comply with legal requirements and industry norms. Besides conformance checking in process mining, there are multiple capabilities that support controlling the adherence to compliance such as the process comparison capabilities and Decision Modeling Notation (DMN) test and simulation provided by SAP Signavio Process Manager.  

Test DMN - SAP Signavio Process Manager

Side-by-side process comparison - SAP Signavio Process Manager

• Knowledge Transfer and Training: The significance of reference models is not limited to analytical pursuits. They also serve as essential tools for training and knowledge transfer. Just as they enable medical professionals to communicate complex medical information, reference models help organizations standardize process representation, facilitating smooth onboarding for new employees and effective communication across different teams and departments. 

Summary & Conclusion 

Much like how references anchor medical diagnoses and treatments, they are an essential compass in the process transformation journey. From benchmarks and conformance checking to simulation and best practice models, references provide the necessary context for organizations to measure, optimize, and innovate. Just as reference values enable medical professionals to understand and improve health, references empower businesses to diagnose inefficiencies and drive operational excellence, resulting in a healthier, more efficient, and more competitive organizational landscape. 

Moreover, it's important to highlight that the emphasis on references does not diminish the role of innovation; rather, it paves the way for it. Just as medical research builds upon established knowledge to pioneer breakthrough treatments, reference models in process transformation serve as the foundation from which innovation can flourish. These models spark creativity by providing a structured starting point, enabling teams to explore new avenues and experiment with novel ideas while having a reliable benchmark for comparison. Just as medical pioneers redefine healthcare with a blend of tradition and innovation, businesses can use references as a launchpad to drive transformative and inventive changes that redefine their processes for a dynamic future. 

 

What other examples, capabilities, and initiatives do you know that require references? please share them in the comments.