There are many more ways to take advantage of RapidValue to improve business operations, long after you used the solution to achieve a smooth, successful ERP deployment. Today, I would like to talk through several other typical high-value scenarios for BPM in the Dynamics AX environment.
In two recent blog posts, I talked about how business process management (BPM) with To-Increase RapidValue for Microsoft Dynamics AX can help companies reduce the risk and strengthen the positive outcomes of their business transformation initiatives. We illustrated the role of RapidValue in one common transformation scenario.
From high-level, strategic planning to detailed execution and results tracking, BPM with RapidValue assists companies in such important efforts as complying with regulatory mandates and quality standards, managing the strategic alignment and the effective combination of processes and systems following a merger or acquisition, and bringing new employees into the company.
RapidValue BPM in quality standards compliance
Two main aspects of compliance are quality standards compliance and compliance with regulatory mandates. Industry- and company-specific quality standards may be stringent, but don’t generally have the complex reporting requirements and penalties associated with regulatory compliance. BPM with RapidValue can accelerate audits for both types of compliance and increase a company’s chances of successful audits.
For example, if you think about compliance with ISO 9001:2008 standards, the companies that operate at this level follow a clearly defined set of quality practices in running their operations. They also must document their quality processes and have clearly documented procedures for such business activities as record and document control or internal audits.
By using RapidValue, companies can create and improve the process flows associated with ISO quality practices and key business activities. They also can rely on the solution to produce and maintain process documentation and guidance for employees as well as external auditors. They can attach highly detailed procedural directions to every step of every process that involves employee actions. Employees can access these documents through Dynamics AX or the RapidValue INTERACT social BPM app on their preferred devices. In the same way, companies can create an auditor role and let auditors use INTERACT to see for themselves how business processes work. Once an audit is past, they can deactivate the auditor role. Auditable processes can be assigned to this role, providing a high, yet controlled, level of transparency. Working in INTERACT, external as well as internal process auditors can provide process-related feedback, attaching files to any segment of a process.
Regulatory compliance and government contracting supported by BPM
Many companies are subject to the mandates of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) for financial controls, including businesses that voluntarily meet SOX requirements to demonstrate their sound financial management. SOX demands processes and documentation to identify and remedy risks and gaps in a company’s control mechanisms. Organizations also need to provide accurate reporting in prescribed formats to demonstrate their compliance.
RapidValue and Microsoft Dynamics AX together provide the capabilities that enable businesses to manage and demonstrate SOX compliance, including reporting, defining and communicating roles and accountabilities, establishing auditable change management processes, and documenting and propagating compliance-related and supporting processes. Using RapidValue, they also can produce needed documentation and close process gaps very efficiently, and perform internal audits before external reporting or audits take place.
Government contractors, who need to meet and report on their compliance with comprehensive, challenging requirements for the management of their finances, resources, contracts, projects, and operations, have much in common with companies that maintain ISO or SOX compliance. They, too, can work with RapidValue to structure their processes and deliver policy and procedural guidance to employees. Auditing entities often demand to be shown such information to get an assessment of a company’s proficiency in managing compliance and the credibility of the company’s financial and operational disclosures.
Managing organizational change in a merger or acquisition
When businesses plan how to bring together operations and processes following a merger or acquisition, RapidValue is a great resource to define processes and gaps, detail the steps required to sync and combine workflows, business groups, and resources, model the results of process and operational changes, and identify and track the metrics that confirm a successful outcome. In RapidValue, companies can establish a functioning process hierarchy, create organizational roles, and enable stakeholders from both entities to review, contribute, and improve the merger strategy and its execution.
Aligning the merging company’s processes and systems with the encompassing entity’s strategy and goals is critical. When it’s time to bring the systems and applications of the acquired or being-merged company into the overall technology infrastructure, RapidValue can again serve to define and align processes, roles, and activities, and to manage stakeholder acceptance. The RapidValue application layer highlights how processes are supported, and how applications impact roles and processes. Already designed processes can be mapped to post-merger application capabilities and organizational roles. Below, you see an illustration of a sample application map that would be used in this event.
Onboarding new employees
In many companies, onboarding a new team member is a complex activity that often turns out to be costly and less than efficient, and which can be inconsistent in different business groups. It is also a strategic effort that makes a vast difference in the productivity and competitiveness of the organization, so it needs to be performed well. Companies can produce and update policy and process guidance for new employees in RapidValue. Even more valuable for new employees could be the effective use of the INTERACT app to learn about processes that involve one’s own role as well as the processes that are only tangentially exposed to it. New employees can see how their work impacts other team members and company workflows, understand how they relate to other people in the company, and how the business as a whole functions. That understanding can help them begin a new job comfortably and productively, and ask the right questions.
I hope these ideas help you envision what you can accomplish with RapidValue BPM in your business. I’d love to hear about your ideas, plans, and questions in this area. Feel free to contact us.
James Smith
