SPA Conference session: Business Process Management and Agile

One-line description:How Business Process Management (BPM) Systems mix with agile techniques
 
Session format: Workshop (75 mins) [read about the different session types]
 
Abstract:Business processes are a key part of any commercial organization and for some they are their key differentiator. However, there is little focus in much software development iterature around encoding business process. Many software development languages and environments are not well suited to encoding or describing business process.
Why is BPMN (Business Process Management Notation) not as familiar to developers and designers as UML and ERD diagrams? Can you really let busines people loose on a BPM tool and get something you can develop from? What happens about the agile development process you have built up based on Java/C#/Ruby etc?
This session explores what we mean by business processes and brings some tales from the frontline in one organization where BPM met agile. Come along to find out which one won…
 
Audience background:Architects, designers, developers, analysts and managers involved in any aspect of software development.
 
Benefits of participating:• Insights into why BPM shoulc be core to most organizations
• An overview of BPM notation and patterns.
• Learn where BPM and agile work together and where they don’t.
• Some pitfalls and best practices for BPM implementation.
 
Materials provided:• Presentation slides.
 
Process:➢ Presentation: Business Processes in organizations
1. What constitutes a business process
2. Why they should be important to most organizations
3. Business Process Management Notation (BPMN)
4. Taxonomy of BPM tools and how you might decide which one is appropriate
5. Example applications and patterns
➢ Exercise: Processes in your organization
1. Work individually
2. Write up names of potential processes in your organization on cards (e.g. “Expense approval”) and stick them on a board alongside similar ones
3. Comment as a whole on any patterns and clusters (anyone who could not identify possible applications in their organization?)
➢ Presentation: Inside a BPM tool – IBM BPM
1. The sales pitch…
2. Why the agile developers didn’t like it…
3. Why the designers and business like it…
4. You’re not in Kansas anymore: error handling, in-flight upgrade, etc.
➢ Presentation: BPM and agile
1. Why they fit together: rapid delivery, dirt track implementations, etc.
2. Why they don’t: prototyping, unit tests, etc.
3. Some examples of things that worked well and things that caused problems
➢ Exercise: Would it work for you?
1. Work in groups
2. Answer the questions “Do you use BPM methods?”, “Would BPM work for you?”, “Why might it not work for you?”
3. Each gruoup quickly presents their answers
➢ Summary and conclusions
1. Could BPM work for you?
 
Detailed timetable:00:00 – 00:15 Introductions, session objectives and Presentation: Business Processes in organizations
00:15 – 00:25 Exercise: Processes in your organization
00:25 – 00:40 Presentation: Inside a BPM tool – IBM BPM
00:40 – 00:55 Presentation: BPM and agile
00:55 – 01:10 Exercise: Would it work for you?
01:10 – 01:15 Summary and conclusions
 
Outputs:• Collated answers and document structures from exercises.
• Source materials provided to groups.
The outputs will be presented as posters at the event, with summaries written up for the SPA2012 Outputs Wiki.
 
History:None
 
Presenters
1. Andy Longshaw
Blue Skyline
2. Chris Cooper-Bland
Endava (UK) Ltd
3.