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December 5, 2002

On the Same Page

At Allstate Insurance Co., business process management is a product of internal focus and teamwork

by Chris J. Jensen

Continued from Page 1

For example, the technology services organization at Allstate uses the stewardship concept to help ensure processes are examined across traditional reporting relationships and boundaries. Client requests for services aren't just "thrown" over one wall after another; someone is accountable for the process from the time the request is made until the outcome.

All in the Family

As an internal organization, the Process COE focuses on process information, knowledge management, and reuse. This approach was determined in response to the common experience that information created through limited outside consulting engagements often isn't managed effectively after the engagement ends: The knowledge that was captured and the ideas that were created during the engagement are often left on a shelf and lost in the clutter of past projects.

The Process COE maintains this process information using an enterprise repository residing on a network server. The repository serves as a roadmap to the enterprise process architecture and the wealth of information about the objects contained in it.

The Process COE organizes process information in a dynamic architecture framework that resembles the Zachman Framework. (See Figure 1.) The columns of the roadmap represent the categories of information captured in a process model; the rows represent the levels of detail captured from the high-level business scope to the detailed operational workflow. Process objects are linked to the roadmap to help business areas view the enterprise process architecture from a variety of user points of view.

Cultural Challenges

The challenges of championing an enterprise vision at the grassroots level are numerous. Trying to keep an eye on the enterprise vision while meeting the needs of individual business clients during an engagement can create conflicts. During some engagements, the team sees an opportunity to expand the information available in the enterprise business process model but the client is constrained by time and money. In the end, the important thing is that the process framework is captured; any gaps can be filled in later.

Spreading the word can be a slow process in a large company. The Process COE promotes the value of process management through one-on-one conversations with business leaders. They also demonstrate that value by helping business areas meet the business needs through consulting services. As a result, the phone is ringing off the hook and the Process COE is forming alliances with other enterprise-focused functions such as data management, information security, application services, and internal audit.

In one engagement, SMEs from three areas in the company were brought together to analyze a process they all had in common but were performing differently. The facilitated workshops documented the current states of each process, analyzed them, and eventually created a streamlined design that's now considered a best practice.

The Future

The current buzz about the value of BPM assumes the use of commercial BPM software to enable application development. The Process COE has found that you really have to understand the business process before the value of these tools can be fully realized.

The Process COE is working on developing an approach to link the enterprise process architecture with Allstate's application, data, and technology architectures. This approach is designed to ensure linkages between all disciplines and maximize the management of information. The team is designing future services, including methods to provide rapid process design, simulation of process models, and implementation of business process designs. The team is also reviewing linkages to application development and integration tools to see how it can further enhance the value of the enterprise process information. The team hopes to link the business process models owned by the business areas to the technology requirements gathering and development activities.

The New Way

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BPM is a challenging proposition. It implies a shift in the way intelligent enterprises approach business, and requires a change in the traditional spans of control. Business leaders are beginning to see the benefits of BPM not just in theory, but also through proven results. The enterprise process management vision and hard work of the Allstate Process COE are examples of ways to help realize those results.

Acknowledgments: The author wishes to thank the Allstate Process COE team: Gil Accove, Brett Champlin, Rana Cuchra, Nancy Drawer, Geri Joy, Gloria Mayer, Elia Naughton, Mark Simon, Saroniel Torres, Marge Vargas, Mark Wassel, Keith Wiegel, and Bill Yetzer.

Chris J. Jensen [chris.jensen@sbcglobal.net] is currently a business analyst for McDonald's Corp. He is a member of the Store of the Future team, which uses process management practices to enable new business processes. At Allstate Insurance Co., he spent 13 years in internal IT auditing and process management.