Business Process Modeling

Before identifying requirements for an information technology solution to

support a process, it is critical to understand how a process is conducted

currently—this is often referred to as the “as‐is” process. Frequently,

people within a process only understand their part of the process and

even within the same group of users, the process may not be consistently

(or correctly) followed. An important first step is to gather representatives

of the process stakeholders to define collectively the current process.

This information can be gathered through stakeholder interviews and/or a

face‐to‐face session where individuals are together and map out the

process on paper throughout the room. In addition to understanding what

is performed in each step, it is important to understand why. For example,

does the information need to be provided to another area in the

organization to enable a related process to be performed?

Once the current process is documented and understood, it’s time to

focus on the best way to perform the series of steps needed to perform a

task—this is referred to as the “to‐be” process. Otherwise, it’s possible to

implement a technology solution that only succeeds in performing a bad

process faster rather than actually gaining the improvements desired to

help achieve the organization’s strategy. The section Business Processes

provides a simple example of a before (as‐is) process and then an

improved (to‐be) process for purchasing textbooks at a college bookstore.

Understanding how a process can best be accomplished lays the