Share How the Business Operates with IBM Blueworks Live
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IBM Europe, Middle East, and Africa Software Announcement ZP12-0126, dated April 24, 2012 Share how the business operates with IBM Blueworks Live Table of contents 1 Overview 5 Publications 2 Key prerequisites 5 Technical information 2 Planned availability date 6 Ordering information 2 Description 7 Terms and conditions 3 Product positioning 8 Prices 4 Program number 9 Announcement countries At a glance IBM® Blueworks LiveTM delivers: • The ease that comes with using a cloud-based, On Demand software-as-a- service (SaaS) offering • The tools that enable you to discover and document processes simply, with no extensive training required • The ability to share process information throughout the user community, so that everyone can contribute to process improvements • A single, shared process repository that is continually updated • The ability to document even complex business processes • Support for industry standards that allows you to leverage your business models to jumpstart your business process management (BPM) solutions • A library of predefined templates to accelerate new process-design efforts • An alternative to email as a way to configure and run simple processes Overview One shared repository: In many organizations, employees do not know where they can find the latest version of a business policy, business process, or business rule. Often they spend too much time searching for processes or rules only to find them forgotten on a shelf or on a shared drive or in someone's inbox or, even worse, in someone's head. The nervous system of an organization is made up of its processes and rules, and with the speed at which both the business and the workforce are changing, business cannot afford not knowing where they are documented any longer. Institutionalized innovation: Finding opportunities for and rolling out change within an organization is often limited to a small subset of people, and yet companies desire to tap into the know-how of everyone in the organization. IBM Blueworks Live allows each member of an organization to share their subject matter expertise in the right context. It empowers your teams to contribute to this collective expertise in an environment built from the ground up with participation in mind. Business-led change: Many companies implement strategic initiatives by making changes to business processes or business rules. Often these changes are communicated by email, requiring employees to read the right email at the right time so that they can carry out key decisions that impact the direction of the organization. With the simplicity of building a bulleted list and the accessibility of a IBM Europe, Middle East, and Africa Software IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 1 Announcement ZP12-0126 browser-based interface, IBM Blueworks Live puts the power to implement change in the hands of those responsible for delivering the end results. Key prerequisites Supported environments include: • MicrosoftTM WindowsTM • Mac OS X Planned availability date April 24, 2012 Description The Blueworks Live platform is accessible from any web browser. It is designed to be easy to use and collaborative so that a wide range of stakeholders can work together synchronously or asynchronously to map, refine, and run processes on demand. Blueworks Live helps users to benefit from better control and visibility into key processes, while IT gains the ability provide process improvement tools and technology to all parts of the organization by leveraging the cloud-based platform. Blueworks Live allows users to: • Easily adopt: There are no plug-ins or software to install. Get started today with a free, 30-day trial. • Discover and document processes simply, with no extensive training required. Business processes can be outlined or brainstormed in a Microsoft Office-like interface. – A high-level process map, a Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) workflow diagram, and processes and procedures documentation are automatically generated and synchronized. No drawing is necessary. – Process diagrams are automatically laid out. Additions and changes to the diagrams are made instantly without the need to rewire or reconnect lines. – Diagrams are compliant with industry-standard BPMN. – Business decisions can be identified and described in the context of business process activities using decision tables. – Templates are available for structured, consistent documentation of virtually all processes in an organization. – Processes are viewed on a shared whiteboard. Two or more users can work on the same process at the same time; all changes are shown instantly to all users. • Configure and run simple processes instead of email: It is easy to select and configure an existing process template, such as an approval or a checklist, from the library. Users even have the option to kick-off, collaborate on, and complete work items on the go with IBM Business Process Manager for use with iPhone and iPad. • Allow all users to participate in the process by sharing information in the community: Users post messages, engage in discussions, and make blog posts in private account-level communities. Interactive feeds keep users informed of the latest process activity and allow users to add comments. Follow the latest and most relevant process trends with a curated feed of public process information. An unlimited number of free users can view and share information in the private community. IBM Europe, Middle East, and Africa Software IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 2 Announcement ZP12-0126 • Access a single, shared process repository that is continually updated: A common knowledge repository includes virtually all processes inside an organization. Processes are continually updated with no need to manage different versions of files on shared drives or in emails. Users can link to and reuse other Blueworks Live processes, as well as external assets and documents. Built-in Google-like search capabilities extend across all Blueworks Live process projects. • Support industry standards and influence business models to jumpstart BPM solutions: Create and analyze complex business processes using the Business Process Management Notation (BPMN). • Take advantage of native integration with IBM Business Process Manager: Blueworks Live processes can be downloaded for implementation immediately with no transformation or changes. Blueworks Live also supports BPMN 2.0 and XPDL 2.1 exports for connection to other BPM systems and analysis tools. • Use a template library to accelerate new process design efforts: The library contains template process maps that are based on industry-best practices, and can be used to jump start new process design efforts or new process applications. Accessibility by people with disabilities A US Section 508 Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) containing details on accessibility compliance can be requested at http://www.ibm.com/able/product_accessibility/index.html Product positioning Every company functions based on a set of processes. These processes allow a company to repeat a service or offering with enough efficiency to make money. While every company uses processes, not every company has a high level of visibility into their processes. For example, companies often have to check with individuals every time they need an update on the status of a process, and some companies have only vague notions of what their processes are, how long they take to complete, and how to improve. In addition, many employees do not think about their jobs as processes, and they certainly do not think about BPM. Every day, more and more companies are kicking off process improvement projects. When a process improvement project is successful, the business value delivered can be significant, resulting in less effort, lower costs, lower risks, increased productivity, higher agility, and a more competitive position in their industry. For a process improvement project to be successful, it is imperative that everyone involved in the process is aligned on the fundamentals, and able to collaborate in a tool that accurately reflects the company process. Today, companies have a variety of resources available to deal with process problems. They can visit web-based community sites to read blogs and articles, but often these provide only generic guidance, as companies will not share anything that gives them a competitive advantage. They can use collaboration software to create and assign simple tasks, but there is little tracking and visibility into the state of these processes. They can use traditional or cloud-based offerings to document and diagram processes, but this process documentation is often not shared broadly in the organization. They can purchase a BPM solution to model and execute processes, but these teams have the capacity to implement only the few processes with the largest impact to the business. They can create and deliver process education, but do not have a good way to track education history or the overall skill level of the organization. Blueworks Live enables subject matter experts and analysts to document their processes and provides all users with visibility and the tools to communicate about processes. There are many document-based collaboration tools in the market. IBM Europe, Middle East, and Africa Software IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation 3 Announcement ZP12-0126 Blueworks Live distinguishes itself from