Why Model?

While business process models can be fairly complex and hard to develop, once available they can also be a powerful management tool. These models should:

1. Be data-based, quantitative, specific

2. Make it easy to identify major opportunities

3. Allow easy testing of action ideas ("what-ifs")

4. Weed out action idea non-starters

5. Generate clear, relevant performance metrics

6. Provide baseline (starting point) metrics

7. Identify clear goals and benchmarks

8. Generate management dashboards

9. Track progress of action initiatives

10. Assess action results upon completion

11. Suggest priorities and action focus

12. Communicate simply and clearly

13. Allow low cost testing of ideas and alternatives

14. Allow complex trade-offs among many variables

15. Support continuous process improvement

16. Support process optimization

17. Provide simple views of complex systems

For Complex Processes

The more complex a process is, the more value a model can provide. Changing a complex process without having a clear picture of what the change may affect can be costly and occasionally disastrous.

The understanding most modeling exercises produce is alone often worth the modeling effort and cost.

To reduce risk, experiment with a model rather than with the real thing.

Most complex business processes have an important behavioral component. The model must include this.