The Business Process Framework

Live from Team Action Week Baltimore - Wed, July 21, 2010

Mike Kelly — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:13:39 GMT

Hi,

Below is a summary of the meetings so far at TAW - some great discussion and ideas for ongoing activity.

1. Level 4s and eTOM/ITIL; contribution from Huawei Managed Services reviewed and welcomed on visualising ITIL within the ongoing L4 process element development activity

2. Cable; agreed plan for developing a “Cable View” that maps into the Business Process Framework,

3. Network Defense; agreement on bringing security process lifecycle into the Business Process Framework.

4. Workforce Management; Business Agreement overviewed, now going to Frameworx teams for review and comment

4. Regional activity (China); Status; positive feedback from regional companies, translated materials planned, MW Asia presentation

Mike

eTOM Flows

Georg Vitt — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:57:09 GMT

Hello eTOM Team,

I have uploaded two new documents regarding the eTOM Flows. They are available under the following links and will be reviewed at TAW Lisboa:

"Process Flows" at

http://collab.tmforum.org/sf/docman/do/createDocument/projects.the_business_process_framework/docman.root.etom_team.process_flows

(the folder structure is

Documents > Root Folder > eTOM Team > Process Flows )

The links for the actual documents are:

http://collab.tmforum.org/sf/go/doc10920?nav=1 (C2C) and

http://collab.tmforum.org/sf/go/doc10921?nav=1 (N-domain)

The Customer to Customer eTOM Flows document as well as the N-Domain eTOM Flows document is updated and concentrates on 4 Slides for each Customer to Customer process. These versions will be discussed at Lisboa.

For those who are not attending TAW please feel free to give your comments prior to Thursday 28.

Thank you very much and best regards

Georg Vitt

Detecon International GmbH

Crossing Points

Mike Kelly — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:42:36 GMT

The recent Management World in Orlando has been a big focus of attention for us over the last few weeks. It's a chance for all within TM Forum to see what's new and what's being talked about, and also to meet face-to-face.

For the Collaboration Program, and the Business Process Framework, a hot topic is strengthening the ties amongst the Frameworks, and we are seeing a new opportunity on this in Cross-Framework Modelling. There was some discussion on this at the Management World, and agreement on creating a tool-based "super model" that encompasses the Business Process Framework and the Application Framework (which are already developed using the same tool environment), together with an import of the Information Framework (that is based in a separate UML tool). This Cross-Framework Model can also host the linkages from these Frameworks to the Business Services that are being defined within the Integration Framework, so we have a way of linking all of the four "Solution Frameworks" together within an integrated model.

The aim is for this model to become the core for publishing new releases of the Business Process Framework and the Application Framework, at least, and will also mean that the ongoing development will intrinsically support mapping between the Frameworks, as well as the individual views as at present.

This looks to be an important new development, with some exciting possibilities for using the Frameworks as an integrated whole, as well as individually. There will be a session on this at the upcoming Team Action Week event in Portugal at the end of January, if you have the chance to be there and take part.

I can see clearly now?

Mike Kelly — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:51:15 GMT

Hi,

There's been a flurry of blogging and posting on the Communities here around Cloud Services and Cloud Computing, triggered it seems by the announcement that Los Angeles City Council is moving its email services to use Google - see http://www.tmforum.org/community/groups/forum_developers_group/blog/archive/2009/10/30/the-city-of-angels-steps-into-the-clouds.aspx

From the Business Process perspective, Cloud is a very interesting direction - what happens to the enterprise processes when cloud servuces are used? Are they the same processes? Are some of them "outsourced" or "partnered" with the cloud provider? Is the impact hidden down in the support/middleware environment so that they shift is invisible or minimal from a process point of view? Or, do issues around security and confidentiality just create additional emphasis in these areas, but otherwise it's "business as usual"?

Interestingly, we are now looking at the Secuity Management area in conjunction with the Defense community, where naturally this is a major focus, so it may be that this will prove to be significant for how we evolve to handle Cloud also.

There's a lot of rapid change in our industry at the moment, and new technical and commercial opportunities like Cloud are part of this - but hopefully these clouds will help us get a clearer view of the way ahead!

regards Mike

What's the Process?

Mike Kelly — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:53:27 GMT

Hi,

Just to vary the tone in these blog postings, here’s a bit of practical information on how to get at all the material that's available around the Business Process Framework, or eTOM if you're on friendly terms!

Traditionally, we posted the Framework and all the supporting materials as PDF files through the Document Library at:
http://www.tmforum.org/DocumentLibrary/733/home.html
specifically, within the Document Catalog there at:
http://www.tmforum.org/Resources/DocumentCatalog/860/Home.html

Note that all the Business Process Framework artefacts are coded as “GB921” although we now try to emphasis names rather than codes to make the material easier to recognise.

You’ll find a number of relevant entries here, addressing the current release, Release 8.0, and some older releases also, but note that much of this is available to TM Forum members only.

More recently, we have widened the range of publications available, since we manage the core Framework as a Model within a process tool, and can then publish from this in a variety of formats. You’ll find MS Word documents, XML and MDB model files, HTML structures (that you can host on your own computers, and browse locally), MS Excel spreadsheets (as a convenient interchange format to move the Framework into your won tool environments), etc.

The most recent entries are:

http://www.tmforum.org/Guidebooks/GB921BusinessProcess/36651/article.html

where the “document” type artefacts are lodged and:

http://www.tmforum.org/Guidebooks/GB921BusinessProcess/36655/article.html

where other publications are available.

For information, there is also a source within the Business Process Framework Community Project Workspace, in the “Documents” area
http://collab.tmforum.org/sf/docman/do/listDocuments/projects.the_business_process_framework/docman.root

You can look under “Approved Documents” to find copies of the artefacts listed above.

Hopefully, there’s enough choice here, that you can find what you need!

Building for the Future

Mike Kelly — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:50:49 GMT

My daughter was married last weekend in Oxford, and of course this was a very happy family event, but there was also a link that occurred to me with our work together here in TM Forum.

The wedding reception was in a hall that is part of the Bodleian Library at Oxford - it's a magnificent building that dates back many hundreds of years - you can see more about it at http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/bodley/about/history - and it has extensive ornate stone decorations in the vaulted ceiling. The old stonemasons and architects were master craftsmen and wanted to show off their art in works like this.

Now, we all are architects too, although we work in more abstract materials than stone. Like the builders of this library, we want to show what we can create, and to leave if possible a monument that endures - although we will do pretty well if any of our works lasts as long as the beautiful Oxford University buildings!

Nevertheless, we want not just to design and craft solutions and software, but to leave our mark and demonstrate excellence. What I was struck by, looking at that ornate ceiling, is that some aspects of what we do may throw up challenges that those stoneworkers didn't have. There is, perhaps, more of a tension for us than for them, in balancing the excellence and effectiveness of our designs with the desire to add extra detail and embellish the work. It is always important to stop and think if we are producing the most economical and focused answer to business needs, without unnecessary complications and distractions. While the decorations on that ceiling add to its beauty and do not detract from its function, too much complexity in the structures for system and software that we build, can often slow down and complicate their use.

A great deal has improved in the hundreds of years since the Bodleian Library was finished, and Oxford University itself has contributed much to the advancement of learning and understanding that has made our lives more comfortable. However, not everything has become easier - meeting a need with the right solution still demands a great deal of work and judgement. The monument to those earlier architects is still standing in Oxford. We need to do our best to craft solutions that stand the test of time too.

Processes vs Flows?

Mike Kelly — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:10:19 GMT

I'm struck that as the world changes, and as this eTOM Business Process Framework grows in use, that one of the design ideas that lay behind it may need also to change.

Originally, the focus of the companies that developed eTOM within TM Forum was to get a common view on the process elements - i.e. of the components in the process hierarchy that the framework defines. How these were then used - in process flows that linked together a number of these process elements into an end-end chain - was regarded as much more an individual company decision.

So far, so good. We have the eTOM framework, and a lot of time and effort from many, many companies has gone into developing and improving the process content, and the structure and hierarchy of those process elements. This work continues, and we see new refinements and features being proposed and included all the time. Around this, though, I think the climate has shifted on how those process flows are regarded.

These days, we have a lot of companies using the eTOM Business Process Framework that have not been part of the original development, and many of these are looking for solutions to common business scenarios, in the form of targeted process flows that address these. Even for those involved all long the way, the business environment is ever more complex, and "off the shelf" flows that can provide a common base for interworking with others are now very valuable.

We need room for differentiation and competition, of course - which is what lay behind the early reluctance to "standardise" the flows. We have learned how to handle this, though, and would now see agreed process flows as providing a "core" for interworking, with companies free to innovate and differentiate by adjusting or adding to these flows. Naturally, there will always be a balance to be struck between the convenience of a standard approach and the commercial opportunities of proprietary extensions, but this is manageable, and it must be helpful to have a centre of gravity - or maybe more than one in some areas, but not an infinite number!

TM Forum isn't looking to force folks down a path here, but there is an opportunity through our Collaborative Program to identify good choices for interworking and let these grow into "standards" as they are used and prove themselves.

Within the Business Process Framework area, we have several strands of activity developing process flows with this way of working in mind. We expect to see some of these reach agreement soon, and be published within the next few months as Team deliverables that can then be picked up and applied widely.

Based on this, the opportunity then emerges to access the Business Process Framework in the traditional way, via the process hierarchy and the process elements, and also via process flows for specific business scenarios, say like Concept-To-Market or Customer Interaction/Handling. For many of the newer users, it seems that process flows may be a more natural starting point, which then leads through to the process elements and back to the hierarchy.

So, it looks as if we will be going with the flow more and more in the time ahead!

Getting the Big Picture

Mike Kelly — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:57:31 GMT

TM Forum – and that means all of you out there - has been working on business processes, together with a lot of other topics, for a long time now. If you look back over the history, you can see how the Business Process Framework, eTOM, has matured as a powerful representation of an enterprise from the process perspective. You can also see how it has expanded, and evolved, to address more and more of the concerns of the businesses it models, and how the nature of these businesses has also changed. A Service Provider back in the 90s, when this work was getting underway, was a very different beast from today! We are also now addressing service provider types of business, and also other types of enterprise, beyond the initial narrow focus of telecommunications, and on into media, entertainment, content and information, and targeted domains like defense, cable, government communications, etc. We are even seeing a growing interest in our work from way outside of our early focus, in areas like utilities, finance, healthcare, and so on.

But it’s not just the business process area that has grown and matured. You can look across the TM Forum Collaboration Program, through these web communities, and through the rich structure of information and downloadable artefacts on our website generally, and see that all the topic areas have made huge advances over recent years.

Success can raise its own issues. When we started all those years ago, the individual work areas were separate and distinct, like small islands dotted in a vast ocean - that we were trying not to boil! We could grow a view of the business processes, working with your companies and all the others along the way, which was initially focused almost completely on the processes in isolation from other concerns. As we have progressed, these islands have expanded - I guess that means they would have to be volcanic, like Hawaii (and we have seen some eruptions before reaching safe ground …). The result is that these islands are coalescing into a larger mass that represents a multi-perspective view of the challenges we face in industry, with the opportunity to come at problems now from any appropriate angle and find a pathway through to other useful views.

Co-ordinating this is a big task for all of us. We have seen a lot of effort in tracing the linkages and dependencies between topic areas – e.g. in mapping the Business Process Framework and the Information Framework (SID) together – that multiplies the value of the individual areas alone. Increasingly, through initiatives now underway like Blueprint, we are gathering momentum on joining the topic areas together, and progressing work on a broad front. This is reflected, for example, in the growing proportion of time spent in joint discussions between individual working teams at our Team Action Week events. We are also seeing that more and more work items are being set up and developed jointly by two or more teams.

So, it’s getting important to be aware of this big picture. In the end, the Business Process Framework, like TM Forum in general, is not about looking inwards at some interesting technical issue, but about helping us all to get our arms around the real world problems of understanding what businesses need, and how we can establish some structure and consensus in addressing these. We have always seen the Forum’s role as identifying where companies can benefit from applying a common approach, and avoiding the areas where companies want, and need, to compete. This means stepping back from detailed issues and looking at that big picture, so we all focus our efforts where we get the most from working together.