The process map as an instrument to standardize processes: design and application at a financial service provider

Abstract

The standardization of processes and the identification of shared business services in a service-oriented architecture (SOA) are currently widely discussed. Above all in practice, however, there still is a lack of appropriate instruments to support these tasks. In this paper an approach for a process map is introduced which allows for a systematic presentation -as complete as possible -of the processes in an enterprise (division). After a consistent refinement of the process has taken place by means of aggregation/disaggregation resp. generalization/specialization relations, it is possible to identify primarily functional similarities of the detailed sub-processes. The application of the process map at a financial service provider (FSP) highlights how these similarities can be taken as a basis to standardize processes and to identify shared services.

SOA Adoption Phases

“…SOA was believed to facilitate the alignment of existing IT infrastructure and systems to achieve end-to-end enterprise connectivity by removing redundancies, generating unified collaboration tools, and streamlining IT processes (Bieberstein et al 2005), while providing greater flexibility and quicker implementation of future requirements (Heinrich et al 2009). With SOA, an information system (IS) was thus believed to be more flexible and agile for alignment with a dynamic business environment (Li et al 2007).…”

“…If services are shared, not only the number of redundant services but also the costs of their operation, administration, and development could be reduced (Heinrich et al 2009). …”

“…The identification of services should be preceded by the optimization of a process because otherwise it will end up in the "electronification" of inefficient processes (Groznik et al 2008;Heinrich et al 2009). Namely, an often-cited reason for SOA failure is the non-existence of quality process models that can be used to identify business services (Heinrich et al 2009). The company should thus not focus solely on business process modeling and redesign, but also on other aspects of BPMa.…”

Adaptively Construct Banking Process with Tags Upon Services-Oriented Grid

“…Heinrich [5] proposed an systematic approach for a process map to present the processes in an enterprise(division). After a consistent refinement of the process has taken place by means of aggregation/disaggregation respectively, generalization/specialization relations, it is possible to identify primarily functional similarities of the detailed subprocesses.…”

“…Without modifying any source code or implementation of previous services, the new organizations can efficiently re-use the original services. Comparing with the solution provide in [5], the service components can be highly re-used and the business processes can be quickly reconstructed. Accordingly, the management cost will be decreased significantly.…”