AI is *the* hot thing these days and you cannot pass any tool that does not have these two characters attached to it.

That is also true for the BPM space, and this week we have the pleasure to speak with a person who is working in this space for over 20 years and his tool has built in AI already, while other vendors are still thinking about how to integrate it in their stack.

The guest in this episode is Scott Armstrong, CEO of Interfacing, a BPM tool provider. He is a entrepreneur and investor at heart and also a partner in various consulting groups. In addition to this he is an avid skier.

In this episode of the podcast we are talking about:

• Scott's background (and a lot of Canadian geography ;-)
• The evolution of BPM and the AI hype cycle
• How AI is currently implemented in tools and where things will go
• How to implement AI in your program
• Ethical concerns and other potential drawbacks

Scott can be reached via LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/solution/ or via email at scott.armstrong@interfacing.com.

Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here.

The age old question: how do you make your processes "evergreen". Well, one way is to update your models on a regular basis (for example to comply with regulations), but is that really "the process" or is it just a picture of it? Your processes come to life when someone performs them and for this you need to be able measure them.

To support the process execution you can use an automation tool (a "heavy" BPMS, RPA, etc.) or you can use a lightweight low-code/no-code tool for this that business units can use themselves to solve their automation needs.

Our guest in this episode is Maximilian Neumaier, who is leading the Professional Services group at TIM Solutions and is implementing their low-code/no-code automation platform for over a decade now - starting as a working student and growing into his current leadership role.

In this episode of the podcast we are talking about:

• Maximilian's background
• Workflow philosophy and some examples
• Benefits of automating things in a dedicated workflow tool
• Process as the starting point for every automation initiative
• How to implement a process using low-code/no-code automation
• General recommendations for your project

You can reach Maximilian via LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximilian-neumaier/) or TIM's website at https://tim-solutions.de.

Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here.

You have chosen to start your BPM journey and are now asking yourself the question "how *DO* I get started?".

Well, one way is to look at a BPM Adoption Framework, the other is to ask someone who has done that before.

We are lucky to speak with someone who fulfills both criteria - our guest today is Caspar Jans, who also already has been a guest in an earlier episode on the show before :-)

Since then he has raised his profile in the BPM space and was recognized as a thought leader and Top 50 voice in operational excellence by the PEX / Process Excellence Network in 2023. In this year he not only continuous to publish his thoughts in his newsletter, but also starts a podcast in which he and his co-host look at BPM from a holistic perspective / from every angle.

In this episode of the podcast we are talking about:

• The evolution of Caspar's thinking about BPM since the first episode we had him as a guest
• The origins of his BPM Adoption Framework
• Where it can be used (green-field or brown-field BPM implementations)
• The areas of the framework

Caspar is easy to reach on LinkedIn and also has a website that contains his writings (and his newsletter "Process Extraordinaire Weekly" on LinkedIn here). He also starts a new podcast BPM360 which you can find here: https://www.bpm360podcast.com/.

Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here.

This episode closes out the mini series about data, and this time we talk about data modeling. Data models are some of the things that I have seen the least often in projects over the last two decades. Why is that? Is it because it is too geeky, or not interesting enough compared to, say, a process model in BPMN?

But being clear about data is important when it comes to designing solution architectures (and in other use cases, such as regulatory compliance), and the three questions that you have to answer are:

• What is the data that we are talking about?
• Where do I store data and how is it transformed?
• Where do I ask for the data?

In this episode of the What's Your Baseline Podcast we talk about:

• Conceptual / logical data modeling
• Canonical data models versus information asset views
• Application and data (from a logical perspective) - interface designs
• Data used in the context of processes
• Application diagrams and physical data models
• Data mapping in screen diagrams (wireframes)
• Screen navigation models for context

Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here.

A lot of projects are just looking at processes and applications. One thing that typically does not get the limelight is the data that is needed to empower these two things. But why is that? Is it because data is "invisible" and cannot be touched or felt?

Our guest today is Wiebke Apitzsch, who is working in "data" for over 15 years with companies like the Boston Consulting Group. Currently she is working in a small organization named "Datahearts" that focusses on the combination of business, data, and change expertise.
Her role is the head of data strategy, in which she defines the use cases (that match the client strategy), looks at the systems that support the data strategy, and set up project and change management to make the project a success.

In this episode of the podcast we are talking about:

• Wiebke's background
• Why you should focus on data in your projects
• Data as solid basis for discussions
• Change management as key for data project success
• Data strategy
• How to implement data (the example of a brick wall)
• How to manage stakeholders and their potential objections

Wiebke is very active on LinkeIn and you can contact her here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wiebke-apitzsch/.

Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here.

As we all know, the majority of time in a process mining project is in some form or fashion related to data preparation and a significant lower share of time is spent on the actual analysis. There are multiple ways of getting you data into shape (SQL, visual data modeling tools, etc.), but our guest today has developed an approach and a tool to flip this time relation and shorten process mining projects significantly.

Our guest today is Lotte Vugs, who, after 5 years working as a process mining consultant, co-founded Konekti to speed up data preparation for process mining.

In this episode of the podcast we are talking about:

• Lotte's background
• A quick reminder on what process mining is
• Time as a critical factor in every process improvement initiative
• Why data preparation takes so much time
• Why organizations are increasingly looking for ways to reduce the time spent on data preparation: it's all about effort vs benefit
• Time-efficient data preparation strategies: Now we know that data preparation is the problem, how to fix it?
• Managing time in large datasets

You can reach Lotte via email, her LinkedIn, or go to her website getkonekti.io.

Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here.

This episode is a first for the podcast - we are not talking about something from an external perspective, but speak with someone "in the trenches" who is actively implementing BPM in an 160-year old organization.

Our guest today is Martin Holling, who is working at Kemna (a road construction company in northern Germany) and who has worked at Siemens, as well as a consultant in the BPM space before. His main objective is to figure out processes and how they should be designed and implemented to be efficient and effective. Then you should think about tools that can help you digitalize your work with continual improvement and automation.

Martin is also very active in the German BPM scene and is the co-host of the "BPM Stammtisch" (a regular meetup of BPM enthusiasts in Hamburg) that is organized via the New Process Pro community.

In this episode of the podcast we are talking about:

• Martin's background
• His transition from Siemens to a consulting role, and his current BPM Lead role in a road construction company
• Challenges in road construction industry, including competition and thin profit margins
• Importance of efficiency and process improvement
• Martin's approach to introducing process management in a new organization
• Importance of employee engagement in the process
• Encouragement for listeners to stay open to new ideas and strategies

You can reach Martin via LinkedIn, and also via his website here: living-processes.de.

Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here.

We had a couple of episodes where we discussed the Solution / Process Lifecycle, but this time we look at it from the perspective of Business Process organizations. What we see is a distinction between the different disciplines that are needed to deliver a full solution and there are organizations that see a "them" and "us" between those.
Unfortunately, I see a lot of these organizations also display a "mercenary approach" ("I am just here to create this artifact") and don't show the ownership of their part of an solution architecture and the following implementation, roll-out, and monitoring steps. This hinders them being seen as valuable parts of the team that changes the larger organization, the IT landscape, the capabilities of the enterprise. And I have seen BPM orgs struggling because of that lack of acceptance by others.

In this episode of the What's Your Baseline Podcast we talk about:

• Phases of a BPM / Transformation project
• Where Processes and BPM (as discipline) intersect
• Other considerations in Process projects
• Team to assemble
• Deliverables to expect

Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or leaving us a voice message by clicking here.