Social BPM: Finding the business value behind the buzzword

There is a debate over the meaning of the term "social BPM," as well as its role in the enterprise. Some say it is simply a new feature in vendor offerings. Others claim it is a business strategy, bringing people into more efficient conversation while consolidating social data for future analysis. As with any new buzzword, CIOs and architects will have to cut through the hype in order to determine whether or not social BPM — and its accompanying technology suites — really coincides with their business strategy.
There is real value to be gained from pairing social technologies with business process management, but only once the abstraction of "social BPM" is grounded in some concrete examples. Social tools can be used to organize and consolidate previously unstructured collaboration methods, such as instant messages. This framework for social collaboration can enhance both customer relationships and internal decision-making, according to BPM experts Malcolm Ross and Ajay Khanna. They bring the term "social BPM" into sharper focus and explain the business problems that might benefit from social solutions.

Social BPM by example

Social BPM is best defined through real-world scenarios. Take Amazon. When buyers shop on its website, their decisions are often influenced by product reviews, said Ross, product marketing vice president for Appian Software, a developer of business management tools. To him, social BPM is an opportunity for the enterprise to take advantage of the same resources that social provides the consumer market. "I don’t think it’s that great a leap to see that the same commentary can also enhance our decisioning inside the enterprise," he said. Read the complete article here.

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