Message from Hugh Griffiths, Director of Griffiths Waite

"Griffiths Waite has been very successful over the past year in deploying SOA & BPM solutions using Oracle technology. SOA is a major part of organisations strategic IT plan and it is important to mentor customers through SOA adoption with great and visible success. We always promote a collaborative and collegial culture that puts our clients first, so it is really satisfying to receive this award which is voted for by customers."

Today's economic reality is one of increased competition, informed and demanding customers, commoditisation of products and services, and relentless pressure to cut costs. Companies are again being asked to do more with less.

The most compelling SOA business cases establish a direct link between SOA adoption and future revenue, new customers, and increased profits.

Incorporating Business Process Management (BPM) into your SOA plans offers significant opportunity for automation and efficiency gains and return-on-investment across a wide range of business needs and functions; translating the benefits of SOA into numbers the business can understand.

As the table below illustrates, the expected cost savings from fully automating a business process is about half of the current cost of completing the same process.

BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTING AN AUTOMATED BPM/SOA SOLUTION

Sound ambitious? Yes, but this is indeed the new possibility in business automation, a possibility that directly affects the bottom line and competitive advantage in today's challenging economy.

In fact, Griffiths Waite have recently re-engineered a number of key business processes for a client deploying BPM and SOA - the result; substantial process automation and optimisation has led to a massive reduction in cycle times by 90% resulting in lower operational costs and greater customer satisfaction.

To examine how businesses realise these cost savings, it's important to understand how these can be achieved, measured and analysed.

Reduced labour costs
The optimal processes to focus on are those that are repetitive and take a significant amount of labour. Any reduction in labour equates to an immediate cost savings. We look at what we are doing today and whether there is a faster, better way to do it. For example, by automating a task that requires five hours of manual intervention, we can expect to cut that time in half. Thus the 2.5 hours, multiplied by the number of times the process is completed in a cycle, will yield significant cost savings.

Increased productivity
In an environment where we're all asked to do more with less, the best method to achieve the desired result will give companies a competitive advantage. By automating many of the processes that you are currently completing manually, you will allow these same individuals to work more efficiently and take on new tasks.

Shorter cycle times
Time is money. By automating core business process/activities you can expect to significantly shorten the processing time resulting in lower operational costs and greater customer satisfaction. Leading to monies coming in the door much more quickly than by using manual processes.

Reduced error handling
What does it cost your organisation to fix a self-inflicted problem? Manual processes are prone to human error. By automating these processes you will experience a reduction in the number of human errors.

Consistent process handling
Consistency comes from having an established procedure and ensuring this procedure is followed every time. BPM has the additional advantage of enforcing these procedures by automating the routine tasks which otherwise might be completed frequently using a flawed procedure.

Increased customer service
Would your customers like to see fewer mistakes? Would they also be in favuor of more responsive service, or receiving your product faster? BPM/SOA can help you increase the level of service to your customers.

CONCLUSION
The ROI benefits of incorporating BPM with SOA can span the spectrum of "hard costs" such as regulatory compliance, streamlining operations, to "soft costs" along the lines of enhanced customer satisfaction. As organisations increasingly view the process as the basic unit of business value within an organisation - you can expect to significantly cut your costs, increase throughput and ultimately boost the bottom line.

HOW CAN GRIFFITHS WAITE HELP?

Griffiths Waite deliver short, concise BPM/SOA Strategy & Planning engagements that are supported by our "best practice methods" and deliverables. We have also simplified starting BPM/SOA projects by bringing our clients focused, approachable entry points - helping businesses pursue SOA the right-way: by taking a project-based approach.

What business and IT need are tools that allow easy design and development - a "flowchart on steroids" that models the business flow, documents the business flow, and is the execution engine all at the same time. Visit Oracle BPM/SOA for more information on Oracle's tools.

CONTACT US

If you would like to speak to someone about SOA and BPM please contact Griffiths Waite on 0844 800 2782 or complete and submit our enquiry form.