When you have been around as long as I have this debate breaks out periodically. Sure enough that early version of BPM, espoused by Hammer and Champy is dead and buried. Who wants to examine everything they do and build

a process architecture? Ok, wait a minute some of the vendors still want you to do that but that’s about selling software product. Let’s come back to reality…. BPM is dead…Yes I would have to say Inside-Out BPM is terminal, however let’s not be too harsh on those who are still banging that drum with process analysis toolkits and the like. I would even include the fabled 8 Omega, and as one of the co-creators of that we do have to ‘put it away’. Why? Inside-Out that is why. The reality of the globalized, consumerized, ever changing world is that we need a new BPM.

It isn’t even business process management these days it is all about performance improvement. It is about Outside-In, the Successful Customer Outcome (SCO), in fact it is – the customer! Everything should be aligned to achieving the SCO, from Easyjets ‘bums on seats’ to Disneys ‘Simply magic’.

If the stuff you are doing isn’t helping you do that then it isn’t improving performance enough. The new BPM does do that. Our variation of this is Customer Expectation Management (see the book from 2006) and there are other emergent approaches led by the world’s best performing companies. So out with the old and in with the new.

Make sure what you’re doing is based on real world practical evidence of success. Make sure the people who help you have ‘been there’ and understand the internal politics and budgetary constraints. Get you and your folks professionally qualified and seek those ‘outside-in’ tools to get that SCO alignment. BPM is dead – you decide.