Software AG Launches New Advisory Council to Strengthen BPM’s Role in Improving Corporate Performance

LAS VEGAS--Software AG, a global leader in business infrastructure software, today introduced the Software AG BPM Advisory Council. This independent panel of esteemed practitioners and thought leaders will help Software AG develop new strategies for the use of business process management (BPM) technology to improve customers’ operational performance. Their insight and expertise will also contribute to the ongoing development of webMethods BPMS, Software AG’s top-ranked process design, execution, monitoring and management platform.

“Working with other industry leaders, our goal is to make quantum leaps in corporate performance more readily achievable by our global customer base of more than 4,000 enterprises,” said Ivo Totev, Chief Marketing Officer, Software AG. “The experience and perspective of our BPM Advisory Council will play an important role in our continued development of methodologies, best practices and process frameworks that fully capitalize on BPM’s huge potential. At the same time, they will also help us identify additional innovations that will further enhance the performance and value offered by our industry-leading business process management suite and related solutions.”

Business process management is a technology-enabled management discipline for transforming targeted business strategies into continuous and sustainable process improvements. As with other management disciplines, it is objective-based in its use of real-time, statistical analysis to measure, manage and improve core business processes. This helps enterprises manage to standard so that practitioners can focus their resources on the operational criteria of greatest importance to their organization. Using BPM to tie business strategy to the underlying IT architecture also means that business change can be more readily detected and subsequent improvements more easily enacted.

“We’re honored by the caliber of industry leaders that are contributing to our efforts as their vision and passion for what’s possible with BPM is unmatched. This is truly an All-Star team for our industry,” said Bruce Williams, Software AG’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of BPM Solutions for the webMethods Business Division. “BPM is a powerful and proven platform for making continuous process improvements core to enterprise operations. Working with our advisory council, our goal is to create new strategies that build upon these capabilities to shape and improve corporate performance.”

Members of the Software AG BPM Advisory Council include:

• Roger T. Burlton (Co-founder of the Process Renewal Group and BPTrends Associates, and Chair of the Shared Insights/IIR’s BPM Conferences) – Burlton is recognized internationally for his pioneering contributions to the development of the business process management discipline. In addition to providing global organizations with the expertise needed to implement BPM strategically, Burlton created and has led the industry’s longest-running, continuous BPM conference series since 1991. His highly acclaimed book, Business Process Management: Profiting from Process, is considered the reference book for those seeking to conduct process architecture initiatives, process renewals projects and to implement process governance across the enterprise.
• Peter Fingar (Executive Partner in the digital strategy firm the Greystone Group) – With over thirty years of hands-on experience spanning a number of global organizations, Fingar is an internationally recognized expert and prolific author on business process management. His nine widely-read business strategy books include Extreme Competition: Innovation and the Great 21st Century Business Reformation, The Real-Time Enterprise: Competing on Time, and Business Process Management: The Third Wave. In addition, he has taught graduate and undergraduate computing studies at business schools around the world, and serves as a frequent industry keynoter.
• Joseph (Joe) Francis (Managing Director of the Process Core Group and CTO of the Supply Chain Council) – With over 15 years of experience in supply chain management, Francis directs business transformation and supply chain optimization programs for numerous Global 2000 enterprises and leading public institutions. As the CTO of the Supply Chain Council, he manages over two hundred researchers that are working to develop global training programs for The Supply-Chain Operations Reference-model (SCOR) and its many offshoots. Francis also co-authored the DCOR(R) and CCOR(R) process standard frameworks for Product Design and Sales Management, and he speaks frequently on framework-based BPM.
• Paul Harmon (Executive Editor and Founder, Business Process Trends) – In addition to his role with BPTrends, Paul Harmon is Chief Consultant and founder of Enterprise Alignment, a professional services company providing educational and consulting services to managers interested in understanding and implementing business process change. He is also the author of Business Process Change: A Manager's Guide to Improving, Redesigning, and Automating Processes (2003). He had previously co-authored Developing E-business Systems and Architectures (2001), Understanding UML (1998), and Intelligent Software Systems Development (1993). Harmon has served as a senior consultant and head of Cutter Consortium's Distributed Architecture practice. Between 1985 and 2000 he led several Cutter newsletters, including Expert Systems Strategies, CASE Strategies, and Component Development Strategies.
• Roxanne O’Brasky (Founder and President of the International Society of Six Sigma Professionals) – In 2001, O’Brasky founded the International Society of Six Sigma Professionals (ISSSP) as the industry’s first professional membership society dedicated to the advancement of education, research, and implementation of the Six Sigma methodology. Over her 20+ year career, she has led Six Sigma initiatives at numerous Global 2000 enterprises. As the founder of two Six Sigma support companies, O’Brasky was responsible for the design of several widely used tools that have become industry standards for the deployment of Six Sigma.
• Dr. Richard Welke (Founder and Director of the Center for Process Innovation, and a professor in the Computer Information Systems Department at the Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University) – Dr. Welke founded and helps lead the Center for Process Innovation, a multi-perspective research and outreach program focused on IT-enabled innovation in business processes and services. During his current tenure at Georgia State University, Dr. Welke built the CIS department into one of the top IS departments in the country, and he established the Center for Digital Commerce/e-Commerce Institute. Earlier in his career, he led two CASE software development and consulting companies, served as the CIO for several companies and has lived, worked, and consulted globally. His research has been published in over fifty books, reference journals and conference proceedings.

“While BPM technology has already delivered significant benefits for early adopters, we’ve just scratched the surface for what’s possible long-term in terms of improved competitiveness, better responsiveness, and greater efficiencies,” said Dr. Kiran Garimella, Vice President for BPM Solutions, Software AG, and Chair of the BPM Advisory Council. “By creating an automated, measurable, and replicable framework for implementing core business strategies, BPM can dramatically improve operational performance. Working with a team of global experts—well-versed in both leading management disciplines as well as the power of IT—our goal is to help enterprises more fully capitalize on BPM’s potential.”

In addition to their roles with Software AG, Williams is the co-author of Six Sigma for Dummies and Lean for Dummies, and Garimella is the author of The Power of Process: Unleashing the Source of Competitive Advantage.

About Software AG

Software AG’s 4,000 global customers achieve measurable business results by modernizing and automating their IT systems and rapidly building new systems to meet growing business demands. The company’s industry-leading product portfolio includes best-in-class solutions for managing data, enabling service oriented architecture, and improving business processes. By combining proven technology with industry expertise and best practices, our customers improve and differentiate their businesses – faster. Software AG has more than 37 years of global IT experience and approx. 3,800 employees serving customers in 70 countries. The company is headquartered in Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE 0003304002 / SOW). Software AG posted total revenues of €483 million in 2006.