It’s not the same: Managing Business Process (MBP) and Business Process Management (BPM)

Sometimes we tend to confuse managing business process with business process management, the latter known universally by BPM. While the first is an activity that helps the smooth processes execution, their control, including its improvement, the second (BPM), is conceived as a comprehensive discipline that defines a model of how a company should organize to achieve their strategic business objectives. I say a model, to emphasize that there are other models different to BPM, such as the orientation of the organization of a company's functions - departments (does this mean that departments make less sense in an organization aimed at BPM?, This doubt I leave it to discuss in future articles).

Managing business processes we can understand how all those management activities aiming at the proper execution of each process of the company that is, their monitoring, provision of resources and sufficient means, its improvement so that subsequent executions of the same process are more efficient, resolution of incidents and problems associated with the process execution, the reengineering of a process (one-shot project on time, etc.). Any task that focused on the process to run as best as possible, we can understand it as framed in the managing business processes.

The business process management or BPM is a discipline / framework upon which a company organizes, operates, produces, derives income, etc., ie it operates in the company over a lifetime (Enterprise Architecture). BPM determines clearly that the fundamental object for the operation of the company is the business process (whether this is so or not, is the orientation of BPM, and it is possible that many business experts do not think the same), and about of this concept (the process) should organize the company. BPM has a clear objective, to promote and facilitate continuous improvement (continuous project). Having a business process view is easier to identify and make the improvements that enhance the activity of the company, according to BPM.

As a result, BPM is not in opposition to the managing business processes and vice versa, but the second is an activity or set of activities necessary but not sufficient for BPM. The business process management complete BPM, but not fully defined it. We are talking on different scopes, both within the BPM, a global company and other specific business processes.

Some examples of scope of different concepts depending on whether you are contextualized in BPM or Managing Business Process:

	BPM	MBP
Organization	Leadership and participant roles in company management and processes. Organization of company.	Responsible and participants roles identification in processes. Organization in processes.
Processes	Characterization and relationship processes. (Horizontal vs. Vertical pej.). Process Architecture.	Processes inventory
Improve	Continuous	Spot. Concrete actions for improvement in a process.
Architecture	Business and Processes Architecture. Common threads.	Technical Architecture with services orchestration of activities.

In my opinion, when we want to refer to managing business process would be more appropriate to speak about process improvement or BPI instead of BPM, and let this last concept to discuss about a framework for Enterprise Architecture.

Raúl Gualberto Tinoco

IT Senior Consultant

rgualberto@yahoo.es

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