On the Role of BPM Governance at 'System Group'. The BPM Journey of an Iranian Software Solution Provider

(a) Situation faced: The System Group, a conglomerate of 30 companies, is a leading ERP-solution provider in Iran. The System Group faced several internal and external challenges: Internal sales objectives did not meet executives’ expectations, and customer satisfaction with after-sales services decreased. From an external perspective, they faced the entrance of many new start-ups in the market that could satisfy customers’ needs in a shorter time. A positive challenge lay in the elimination of political sanctions, which offered new market opportunities. (b) Action taken: To retain its leading position, respond to political changes, and meet its customers’ needs, the System Group implemented an enormous business process management (BPM) initiative across all of its companies with the goal of improving processes and organizational performance. The System Group implemented a central “BPM office” to govern this BPM initiative that designed process architectures, appointed process owners, developed process measures, identified process maturity levels, and pushed a shared understanding of the process among employees through communication and workshops. (c) Results achieved: The System Group identified 17 end-to-end processes and, in a first iteration, addressed the 5 highest-priority processes with regard to the overarching organizational strategy. Three of the five improvement process initiatives achieved acceptable results, whereas the remaining two either postponed their work or did not achieve particularly remarkable outcomes. (d) Lessons learned: The most valuable lesson the System Group learned is that BPM is not only a technique but a whole discipline that requires various methods if it is to be implemented successfully in an organization. The company also learned that successful BPM governance requires an agreed strategy and an aligned structure that are clear to everyone.