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So…you can create the model. But can you manage the change?

2010-05-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

[This blog post was written by a GSU student after taking a Business Process Modeling class. Its purpose is to provide others with more insight on why process improvement is important and to outline the organizational impacts of process changes.]

Introduction:

As technology improves, our daily tasks and responsibilities change, meaning that our processes must change as well. Processes are simply a series of steps and decisions that are considered when completing a task. They can be anything from driving to school, getting your car serviced or handling a technical support line at work. It is easy to realize the many ways that technology has changed our personal lives; and in the business world, technology has revolutionized almost beyond recognition. Due to advances in communication and information technology, organizations are facing new competition, new markets and more demand from customers than ever before, making it challenging for any business to achieve or sustain a competitive advantage. As the need for organizational efficiency increases, business process reengineering has been one of the key methods of attaining these goals. Below, I will address why business process innovation is important, examples of how companies have improved their processes, and the common reasons why business process change can fail.

BPR Innovation:

When the goal of an organization is to reduce expenses, avoid lay-offs, and improve customer satisfaction, the way in which the organization handles its day to day activities will determine its success. Business process modeling and Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is an organizational method that entails redesigning business processes in order to achieve greater efficiency. BPR involves analyzing a process to find errors and to determine how they can be improved. Business processes must be agile in order to provide the speed and efficiency to be able to adapt to the changing environment in which we live. Though, more important than the current focus on organizational efficiency, is the need for a business to allow for creativity and flexibility within their processes. Process models represent people, technologies, and the interactions between them and each step. [*Click her to see an example process model]. They’re immediately executable and allow employees to view graphical representations of a process within their organization. This gives the employees an opportunity to see what’s happening throughout the entire process as a whole, rather than them only understanding the tasks for which they’re responsible. With this type of process coherence, all the key leaders will become involved in improving the process helping to eliminate redundancies, reduce costs, and reduce customer dissatisfaction. Without the ability to visualize a process, it’s difficult to see where and how they can be improved.

In my opinion, the only way a company can be successful is by staying innovative. However, this often becomes difficult because we’re an outcome based society, concentrating all of our time and energy on achieving results, rather than focusing on the process itself. However, Toyota Co. has the right idea when they say that “improving and managing are one and the same.” Toyota manages its processes and its people from day to day, where many other companies tend to see managing as a separate activity and improvement as something extra added to managing.[1] Like Toyota, in order to achieve our desired results, we must consider and understand the details of our processes; rather than merely focusing on the task at hand.

How Companies Improve Their Processes:

One of my professors used to tell me that having 20 years of work experience is the same as having 5 years of work experience. To me, this meant that as people, it’s our natural tendency become accustomed to our routines, and when we get so used to a particular way of completing a task, we neglect to consider newer ways of doing that task. The same applies to processes, we can improve our processes as a natural part of our routine, or we can wait until disaster strikes. In the case of Taco Bell, the CEO John Martin decided to transform their business processes when they were losing 500 million dollars with negative 16% annual return to a company that has since grown 22% with over 3 billion dollars in sales.[2] In this instance, the executives at Taco Bell waited until the company was in severe distraught by repeating the same routines and didn’t actually manage to salvage their business until they changed their processes. Though they were still able to transform their key business processes in order to save their company, it’s unrealistic to assume that this will always happen and ignorant to wait until the last second to focus on improving your process.

According to an article written by Lowell Greenberg, IBM’s Credit Corporation (who now handles credit insurance), re-engineered their process through a series of activities. IBM’s Credit Corporation was encountering a very common problem; Customers complaining that it takes too long for a credit approval (typically 6 to 2 weeks to complete).So what steps did IBM take to mitigate these complaints? Initially, to fix the process, they put computer terminals on everyone’s desk in order to pass information electronically and then attempted queuing theory and linear programming techniques. Then they instituted performance standards for each employee. In each attempt, their changes did not reduce the credit approval times. Eventually, they decided to work through all steps of the approval process to discover that the actual process only took 90 minutes. They discovered this by making the workers put aside everything they were doing so that they could actually process the requests and once they did that, they noticed that the forms had to have unnecessary transfers from department to department. So after this realization and revision, one person was able to complete the entire approval process from beginning to end.[3] These examples demonstrate that if we consider how our business processes are being handled before jumping to ideas of what might solve the problem, we could save time and money.

The beauty of changing processes is that anyone can be involved. Take a project that my team and I worked on for a company called Wandering Wifi. Wandering Wifi is a leader in providing wireless infrastructure solutions of which technical support is a very critical role in the organization. Wandering Wifi, unlike the previous examples, is a company that is doing excellent but yet, still recognizes that their processes can be improved to provide better customer satisfaction. Essentially, the process focuses on the interactions and separations of duties between the technical support team and the end users. The process was thoroughly analyzed by two technical support Wandering Wifi employees and by me, an external source unfamiliar with the company. This perspective has given us the opportunity to attain a true fundamental understanding of what really goes on within the process, including the happy-path and exceptions flow, and provides for an unbiased view point (since I am not employed at Wandering Wifi). To create their “as-is” model [Model A1 Below], we observed all the participants involved and talked with them about their processes. Just by doing this, we were able to see that Wandering Wifi’s main problems are heavily in accordance with a lack of task separation and an inability to determine the status of in-bound calls. To rectify these major problems, we redesigned [Model A2 Below]the current process to integrate a vertical team management technique and an automated in-bound call system to process call statuses.

[Current Model "As-Is" A1]

[Model "To-Be" A2]

[Please Note, if you would like more information about this project, please see my blog called Wandering Wifi].

As you can see, just like how creating a model helped me understand Wandering Wifi’s process, it even helped my project team members who are currently employed to see not just their responsibilities, but everyone’s as a whole. However, with BPR, a process requires not only restructuring, improving, and innovating the actual process, but it also demands an enormous cultural change and readiness of the organization. BPR is a complex and difficult task and has a high-failure rate. Various surveys and assessments reported as many as 60-80 percent of BPR initiatives having been unsuccessful.[4]

The Oppsy’s Of Process Change:

The idea of changing a business process and implementing management initiatives might seem like a simple task, but many companies make common mistakes while innovating and implementing their new processes. Below is a list of common reasons process change can fail.

-Not Preparing for Change:

One of most common mistakes, in my opinion, is that not enough focus is put onto the fact that people are creatures of habit. Simply redesigning a process and expecting everyone to follow it just does not work. People resist change. For example, if a company is implementing a new system or a new way of doing things, the users will be reluctant to adapt to that new system unless they are comfortable with it. The employees need to be trained on how to use the new system which will more gradually prepare them for the transition to the new system. Providing training for employees might sound like an obvious task, but often when IT workers are focused on changing the process, they can easily forget that some things are not intuitive for others.

-Not Having the Right Team Members:

Depending on the nature of the process, team members might come from differing departments, divisions, or offices. According to an article from, The Handbook for Basic Process Improvement, the key factor in determining BPR success is that the people selected for the team should be closely involved with the process. [5] This is key because people who are concerned with how things are done will be more willing to change the process and be more entitled toward a successful project completion. While this is true, it is also very important that you have members who are natural leaders. Having team members who people look up to and who possess the talent of inspiring others, will ultimately make the transition to the new process easier and will increase the chances of the process change being accepted.

-Not Accessing the Readiness for Change:

Also, it is important that the employees trust their top leaders. If the employees do not trust their leaders or feel as if they have hidden agendas, they will be very reluctant to change. Senior management MUST accept change themselves and if this level of personal commitment is absent, BPR is destined to fail. Since BPR requires such a drastic cultural change, it is essential that the assessment of readiness not only be throughout the organization, but should also start with the top management team.

-Not Having a Team Charter:

Another BPR Oppsy is not having a team charter because it can easily help solve some of the problems listed above. According to The Handbook for Basic Process Improvement, a project charter is critical for teams who are working on a process that crosses departmental lines. A project charter is a document that describes the boundaries expected and the resources that can be used for the process improvement team. It identifies the process to be improved, time constrains, the teams decision making authority, and the resources to be provided. [6] In my opinion, the project charter is the most important component of BPR because it allows for top management support and aids in organizational alignment. Because the charter requires stakeholders and key managers to sign onto the agreement, it helps ensure that organizational goals are aligned with the companies needs. It also provides a mean for establishing top management support. Without top management support, if a hiccup occurs throughout the project (for example, you need additional resources), managers might be reluctant to help. However, if they’re signed onto the project and are aware of its importance, the change will have a higher chance of being completed. Click the link ahead if you would like to see an example of a project charter that I completed for the Hubble Mirror, see my previous blog post.

[Note: Or go here to see a blank project charter worksheet].

Conclusion:

Business process innovation is very important and processes must change in order to keep up with a changing environment. Companies can go about improving their processes in many ways, however, it’s critical that they do not wait until drastic measures have to be take. Instead, companies should always consider their business processes and not just make guesses on what should be improved within the organization. And since process change is inevitable, it is important to keep in mind the simple reasons that process changes can fail so that you will be more prepared to handle a process change. And remember, that in order for any company to keep or attain a competitive advantage, they must always continuously innovate!!

I hope this information has provided you with some insight and help toward any future improvements. To learn more about processes, take a Business Process Modeling Nation or Systems Analysis class! Also, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

[1] http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:EY8exF2Ve0QJ:www.ineak.com/2010/02/the-companys-business-philosophy/+what+happens+if+a+company+does+not+continously+improve+their+processes%3F&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

[2] http://earthrenewal.org/bpr.htm

[3] http://earthrenewal.org/bpr.htm

[4] http://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/detail?vid=19&hid=109&sid=508466ac-ee3b-455d-b460-1b46aaec0d4e@sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#db=bth&AN=9299469

[5] http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/navy/bpi_manual/handbook.htm#Step 2: Organize the right Team

[6] http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/navy/bpi_manual/handbook.htm#Step 2: Organize the right Team

Blank Project Charter WS

2010-05-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

TEAM CHARTER WORKSHEET

PROCESS:

PROCESS OWNER:

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT OBJECTIVE :

Team Leader:

Facilitator/Quality Advisor:

TEAM MEMBER	OFC CODE	PHONE	TEAM MEMBER	OFC CODE	PHONE

TEAM BOUNDARIES

DATE BEGIN:

DATE END:

MEETING FREQUENCY:

DECISION-MAKING AUTHORITY:

RESOURCES AVAILABLE:

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:

OTHER INFORMATION:

CHARTERED BY :

D ATE:

Wandering Wifi Process Improvement

2010-05-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

Executive Summary

Wandering WiFi is a leading provider of wireless infrastructure solutions. This document is intended to describe the process of Wandering Wifi’s technical support team, analyze their problems, and revamp their current business process with new and innovative way of thinking to attain upper level-managerial support for the new process. We believe that by allowing our proposed revision to be implemented, we would help eliminate major problems that are currently creating an inefficient work environment. In addition, we will outline service and process related metrics and how they will be affected by our proposed process solution.

At wondering WiFi, having excellent technical support is top priority. The technical support business process at Wandering WiFi involves interactions with the end user(s), the client(s), and tier one and tier two support technicians. Essentially, our process focuses on the interactions and separation of duties between the technical support team and the end users. The process has been thoroughly analyzed by two current technical support Wandering Wifi employees and by an external source unfamiliar with the company. This perspective has given us the opportunity to attain a true fundamental understanding of what really goes on within the process, including the happy-path and exceptions flow, and provides for an unbiased view point.

Upon investigation of the participants and monitoring each of their actions, we were able to develop a current, or “as-is,” business process model. This allowed us to see that Wandering Wifi’s problems are heavily in accordance with a lack of task separation and an inability to determine the status of in-bound calls. To rectify these major problems, we redesigned the current process to integrate a vertical team management technique and an automated in-bound calls system.

Glossary & Key Terms

1. RA: Remote Access is where we have access to equipment remotely on our end.

2. GW: Gateway or router is where we can monitor users and networks around that equipment.

3. AP: Access Point is where the wifi is extended to increase coverage at locations.

4. AW: Air Watch is the online console that we use to monitor down sites and create cases.

5. Tier 1: Low level technician that answers calls.

6. Tier 1.5: Mid-level technician that configures GW, monitor sites, speaks to corporate and does outbound calls.

7. Tier 2: High level technician that checks off on all sites and monitors sites as well. Managers.

8. Vertical Team Management: is the process where Tier 1.5 technicians monitor down sites and work on escalated sites.

9. In-House System Monitoring: This responsibility is for Tier 1.5 and Tier 2 technicians.

10. KPI’s: The important factors that will make the business process more efficient and better.

11. Power Cycle- is where we physically reboot the equipment to fix the problem.

12. Hard Reboot- is another term for physically rebooting the equipment to fix the problem.

Business Context

Wandering WiFi, LLC, is a leading provider of wireless infrastructure solutions. The company was founded in 2003 by former employees (John Marshall and Alan J. Dabbiere) of Manhattan Associates, a corporate pioneer that first began using and installing wireless networks for the logistics industry in 1990[1]. They serve customers in airports, hospitals, grocery chains, hotels, retail stores and corporate offices. Wandering Wi-Fi provides software and services to thousands of locations and millions of users to meet the needs of employees, partners, vendors and guests. They have over 500 customers in the U.S., and provide WiFi hotspot solutions to businesses in retail, government, healthcare, education, transportation and more.[2] Wandering WiFi implements and provides support for wireless services to companies worldwide and as this company continues to grow, we want to help improve their technical support process to help improve their competitive edge.

Wandering Wifi has many departments including finance, accounting, sales, development, consulting, marketing, and information technology (IT) support. Among these departments, our focus is on IT Support as it plays a critical role in the company’s success. The IT Support representatives are responsible for answering questions from customers and clients regarding the use and trouble shooting of equipment. On average, 95% of their services involve answering calls for which they use hardware, software, and other applications to handle a customers’ request. The technical support employees also use an In-House System Monitoring that is available 24/ 7/ 365 days a year which allows them to correct network complications remotely without being at the actual location.

In order for Wandering Wifi to maintain superior services, management must monitor their key performance indicators. This allows allow them to measure the effectiveness of their business process.
From Wandering Wifi’s perspective, the following KPIs must be measured:

· % of calls answered before 3 rings

· % of request that could be handled immediately

· % of network errors caught and fixed before customer notices, and

· Creating case notes that have accurate information on end-user location

From the end users perspective, the KPIs are:

· Cost and ease of attaining services being provided

· Options in service selection

· Network speed and downtime

· Time to resolve issue

· Availability of technical support

Though these KPIs are only representing components of the technical support department, if they’re not carefully monitored and constantly improved upon, they will affect the organization as a whole. It is critical not only for management to monitor these activities, but also for the management team to make sure that their employees are fully aware of the KPIs are to update on where they need to improve.

Examined Service

Wandering WiFis main focus is to better serve the customer, so we decided to improve the Tech Support Tier 1 inbound call process/duties. The reason why we wanted to improve this process is to better improve our efficiency and professionalism of dealing with customers. While improving this process, we focused on dealing with the customer/client, which can be anyone who uses our service to get online. We have Tier 1 tech support employees, who take calls pertaining to WiFi related questions/problems. Each technician collects the information about the customer for example: name, location, phone number, and problem description. All the information that the technician will collect will be documented in a case for the specific location they specify. The reason why each technician does this is to have documentation of issues at the different sites. This helps the tier 2 technicians better understand common issues at sites and based upon that they can either fix common issues at a site or improve on the service. The problem to be solved is if the end-user/corporate-user can get online. If they can't get online, then an escalation will be sent to the higher up technician and they will look into the problem.

The main problems about this process is that Tier 1 tech support employees are highly understaff, they are trying to a 80 person job with only 20 people. With this problem customers might have to wait on hold for a while before they will even be able to talk to a technician that can assist them. Tier 1 technicians deal with end-user/corporate-user, which makes up 100% of the call volume within Tech Support. This is a problem because many of the Tier 1 Techs might not be able to help out specific clients that call in. Corporate-user is either a general manager at the location or a district manager reporting an issue at a specific location. Tier 1 taking a call from a corporate-user will most likely result in an escalation up to Tier 1.5 technician.

This problem can be easily fixed by separating the duties of specific inbound calls coming in. For example: we can have Tier 1 technicians taking only end-user calls, while Tier 1.5 will be taking corporate-user related calls. These calls will be forwarded to the appropriate technicians through an automated system that specifies the user as either a customer or a client. This will also improve in the customer service of the corporate-user because Tier 1.5 technicians are more professional and better at dealing with problems than the Tier 1 technicians. Also to help eliminate calls we can have the Tier 1.5 technicians monitor specific sites based upon specific location groups that are assigned to them. This process will catch down sites faster and that will most likely lead to fixing the problem at the site before people calling in saying there is something wrong at the location.

As-Is Business Model

Diagram

Text Description:

1. The Tier 1 technician will receive a complaint from a client/customer.

2. The Tier 1 technician will need to identify the type of user, either an end-user or corporate user.

a. If the user is a corporate user, then follow the corporate troubleshooting path.

b. If the user is an end-user, then follow the end-user troubleshooting path.

(Note: Both Paths go through the same process of troubleshooting, so the identification process is to document the type of user you are working with.)

3. The Tier 1 technician will need to identify what type of complaint is it, either a phone call or an email.

a. If the complaint is an email verify if email has a contact number.

i. If email does not have a contact number then process cannot continue.

END

ii. If email has a contact number, then continue to 3b.

b. If the complaint is a phone call verify user’s information and issue.

4. The Tier 1 technician will be opening a case pertaining to the user’s information provided. The information in the case will be name, location, phone number, and issue.

5. The Tier 1 technician verifies if the problem is just a General Question?

a. If the problem is a general question, then Tier 1 technician will answer question.

END

b. If the problem is not a general question, then Tier 1 technician will need to troubleshoot the location.

6. The Tier 1 technician will need to verify if the site has RA (Remote Access) to the equipment on site.

a. If the site does not have remote access, then Tier 1 technician will have to call up the site to troubleshoot.

i. The Tier 1 technician will verify equipment lights and make sure cabling is correct as well.

ia. If all lights and cabling is correct, then the Tier 1 technician will escalate it up Tier 2 to verify configuration of equipment on-site.

END

Ib. If lights are and cabling is not correct, then power cycle equipment.

iba. After power cycling equipment, if RA (Remote Access) is restored, proceed to 6b.

ibb. If power cycling equipment, did not fix RA (Remote Access), then escalate it up to Tier 2 to verify configuration of equipment on-site.

END

b. If the site does have remote access, then verify configuration.

7. The Tier 1 technician will need to verify if the configuration with that equipment is correct or not.

a. If the configuration is correct, then the Tier 1 technician will be troubleshooting the user’s computer.

b. If the configure is not correct, then fix the configuration issue.

i. If the configuration fixes the issue, then close the case.

END

ii. If the configuration does not fix the issue, then go to 7a.

8. The Tier 1 technician will need to verify if troubleshooting the user’s computer fixed the issue.

a. If the troubleshooting fixed the issue, then close the case.

END

b. If the troubleshooting did not fix the issue, then escalate it up to the Tier 2 technicians.

END

Metrics

Service Metrics:

There are several vital service metrics that needs to be accounted for to have an ongoing customer based relationship with end-users.

1. The first service metric is to fix the problem in a timely manner. If this is done, then the end user will greatly appreciate your professionalism and good customer service.

2. Give the end-user an option to take a survey to verify the performance of the technician that they worked with. This will help identify when technicians are performing over and beyond and also when they fall short of fixing the problem.

3. The last service metric is to make sure you use proper grammar, have energy, and be patient with the user. Not all users will be computer savvy, so you need to know what to say and how to say it depending on the type of user you have on the phone. Patience will get you a long way, while talking to some users on the phone.

If these service metrics are met, it will increase the customer experience with the process and you will retain loyal customers that can be long term users. In the long run the company will most likely be more profitable and will have a happier customer based relationship with its end users.

Process Metrics:

There are several vital process metrics that needs to be identified to increase the efficiency of our process.

1. The first process metric is to make sure that every Tier 1 technician answers the inbound call before 3 rings, if not on a call. The reason for this is to make sure the process is constantly being done in a timely manner. The faster you pick up the phone, the quicker you can solve the issue of the user.

2. The second process metric is to make sure service is up and running. If this is done, then the chances of a call being generated from that location will drastically decrease. It will save money by not having high inbound calls and having locations with little or no problems with the system.

3. Another process metric is to make sure the Tier 1 technician verifies all the information in the case is accurate. This is vital for escalations and for auditing purposes, if it’s not accurate, then it could cause issues with internal projects.

4. Last process metric is to make sure the problem has been solved or been escalated up by a Tier 1 technician. If the problem has not been fixed, tier 1 technician should communicate appropriately to the escalated group that needs to be aware of the issue.

These metrics will increase productivity within the inbound call process. Productivity will save the company money and it will keep its employees and customers happy with good efficiency.

Critique/Diagnosis

The flaws in the current system are few and far between. It was hard for us to be able to identify how to improve the system, but after excessive calibration we were able to figure out some vital flaws in the process.

1. The first flaw in the system was having Tier 1 technicians handling every inbound task. This might not seem that bad, unless you realize they take inbound emails, inbound projects, and inbound calls all at once. This can spread the Tier 1 technicians a little thin based upon the responsibilities that they have.

2. The next flaw in the system is not having the man power to tackle the process appropriately. They are right now having 20 Tier 1 technicians doing an 80 man job with the current process.

3. The last flaw in the system is not having designated technicians to solely deal with corporate inbound calls and monitoring specific locations status. This would help relieve the amount of calls coming into the call center and it will decrease amount of down sites as well.

How we found out the flaws in the system was not by interviewing managers, but by

talking with the Tier 1 technicians. The nice thing about this process is that Ryan and Peter are currently Tier 1 technicians at the company and were able to give there insight about the Tier 1 work that was done. After a couple of group conversations with them, we were able to identify that they could barely get anything done other than taking calls.

Improvements/Innovation

After we figured out what was wrong with the current process it was actually not that hard to figure out ways to improve it. These will be some of the ideas on how to improve the process model to be more cost effective and productive.

1. The first way to improve the process was to separate the duties for specific roles. The company is currently going to implement a new Tier group called Tier 1.5. These technicians have not been assigned a certain task yet, so we setup specific tasks to decrease the work load of the Tier 1 technicians. The responsibilities of the Tier 1.5 technicians is to have corporate inbound calls/emails transferred to them directly, so the more experienced technicians will be able to work with them.

2. The second way to improve the process was to create another process that would help decrease the call volume for the Tier 1 technicians. This process is called Vertical Management Process. This process will be performed by Tier 1.5 technicians, which there responsibility will be to fix and monitor specific locations that they are assigned to. This way it will help fix sites faster and in a timelier manner.

3. The last way to improve the process is to do other projects that will help increase performance at specific sites. They can do this by auditing sites by looking at previous cases at locations. Also they can go through sites equipment to make sure everything is up to date and working properly. These projects will help improve the service and by doing this the calls should decrease for Tier 1 technicians.

With those adjustments, we will be able to increase productivity and increase possibly

expansion with good customer service. In the long run it will lead to more clients and more clients mean more money.

To-Be Process Model

Creating the to-be was a bit more troubling then one would realize. We all knew what needed to be done, but actually implementing it was the true task. With the help of Professor Olsen, we came to conclusion on creating a whole new process within the process model. Dividing the tasks would lead to a more efficient way to do things. Think about an assembly line. If you had one person making the entire car would not be put together effectively and not as efficiently. On the other hand, if the car was sent through an assembly line, in which, each person had a specific job then there would be more cars and the quality of the car would be increased. Also, it would seem that training the technicians to do what needed to be done would have another effect. As a lower tech, the tech would do low level troubleshooting and communication with end-users and would be trained as such. As a higher tech, the tech would have more experience and training in dealing with remote installs, communication with corporate and clients, and ability to fix sites before they happen.

So we created 2 new techs out of the tier 1 techs: tier 1 and tier 1.5. In doing so, we can effectively create a way for each level of support to focus on their own task at hand and we implemented this as shown on the next page.

So essentially, what we have is the model creating an extra process: the process of monitoring down sites, creating an open case and fixing the open cases. So, we start out with the tier 1 technician taking the call or receiving the email and identifying if he/she is from corporate or end-user. If he/she is an end-user then it will be fixed just like the process in the “as-is.” The only difference is that the escalation would go to the tier 1.5 rather than the tier 2, if the issue is not resolved. If the caller or email is from corporate then it is escalated to tier 1.5 and the process would then continue to be fixed as in the “as-is.”

The most indefinite change would be the site monitoring. In which the tier 1.5 would monitor sites using Airwatch. If a site is seen to go down then a case is created and a new process starts. From then on the tier 1.5 would take care of all cases. The ones escalated from tier 1 and the ones that the technician has found showing down in Airwatch. The tier 1.5 tech would then have to decide which issue is more important. The cases are labeled as low, normal and high. The business rules show which has higher priority. Then the tier 1.5 tech would start to troubleshoot the issue. First the tech would check to see if he/she has remote access, if so the technician would check the configuration if the configuration is correct then the case is closed and he site is called for verification. If there is no remote access, then the site is called to check cabling and the lights on the equipment. If the cabling is correct and the lights on the equipment are correct, then the equipment has to be hard rebooted. If the cabling is not correct, then the cabling has to be plugged in correctly. If the lights are not correct, then the equipment has to be rebooted. Once the issues are resolved, then the technician would work on other projects.

Business Rule Table

Task	Rule
The client does not have enough information.	Return message requesting more information.
No RA to GW.	Hard Reboot the equipment or call to hard reboot the GW and troubleshoot equipment.
All equipment is plugged in correctly and lights are correct.	Escalate to tier 1.5
Equipment is not plugged in correctly.	Plug in equipment correctly.
Lights are not correct on the modem, GW, or switch.	Hard Reboot the equipment.
If the client has not paid in 3 months.	The site status is switched to Accounts Recievable Hold and WiFi is restricted.
High priority cases are shown.	High priority cases are taken care of first.
Normal priority cases are shown.	Normal priority cases are taken care of if there are no high priorty cases.
Low priority cases are shown	Low priority cases are taken care of if there are no high or normal priority cases.

Obstacles/Issues

The only real obstacles that we found are the amount of employees that are going to be attached to this new process. To effectively implement this process the man power has to be provided. Currently there are 20 tier 1 techs present during each hour the working day of the office. There are a total of 40 tier 1 technicians. In order to implement this there has to be at least 80 technicians: 40 tier 1.5 technicians and 40 tier 1 technicians. If a tier 1.5 is not present then the process can be down. Another problem is management. Tier 2 technicians are supposed to manage the employees, but that would be hard if the employees moral is down and do not work, which takes away from the man power. It would be in the best interest to have some tier 2 workers focus on management only and have it so that motivation in the work place increases. There are a lot of irate customers and sometimes that can be taxing for a technician. So motivation driven manager is needed to implement this process.

“The job of a manager is to find solutions, not find excuses.” –Horst Schulze former CEO of the Ritz Carlton.

[1] http://www.wanderingwifi.com/company.html

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandering_WiFi

This Project Charter Could have Saved the Hubble!

2010-05-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hubble Mirror Project Charter

5 May, 2010

Developed bHubble Mirror Project Charter

Developed by:

1. Project Overview:

1.1. Goal

The goal of this project is to create a perfect mirror that will be used by NASA in attempt to extend human’s knowledge of the universe. With the creation of a mirror that is more precise than ever before, the earth’s surface will no longer prevent images from being blurred. The photos that will be attained will provide for new insights into earth’s distant galaxy and cosmic beauty. The project is expected to be completed on time, on budget, and with fully functionality. We will gain experience in the creation, implementation, and usage of the Hubble Space Telescope.

1.2. Statement of Objectives:

Meet specific budget constraints
Set up milestones to monitor progress
Gather accurate specifications
Allow for an environment that provides for a favorable project completion

1.2.1. Business

This project is a cooperative effort between NASA, The European Space Agency, private contractors, and astronomers that will provide for major advances. By completing this project successfully, we will be a worldwide leader in innovation allowing us to have a competitive edge as the premier precision manufacturer. Expected demand for our services will increase as well as validation, respect, and publicity. We will be working alongside Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, INC., Marshall Flight Space Center in Alabama, and Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

1.2.2. Technical

134 titanium nails to simulate the gravity free environment of space.
8 foot mirror with a 2 foot center cut
Computers that control the speed, pressure, and direction of the Optical Telescope
Reflective Null Corrector
Support Systems Module
Systems Engineering and Project Scientist are also take charge in this project.

1.3. Assumptions, including:

It is assumed that all newly designed equipment will function as intended.
Production of the Hubble Telescope will move through phases on time and extensive tests will be performed to ensure that all requirements are being met. Any relevant changes towards the project will require approval before acting upon that change. Team members should work collaboratively together and actively engage and promote successful completion of this project.

1.3.1. Key Stakeholders

NASA
Perkin Elmer Corporation of Connecticut - designed and developed the Optical Telescope Assembly and responsible for testing and delivering.
Marshall Space Fight Center - Responsible for meeting the technical performance and make sure that the project is on track.
Goddard Space flight Center - responsible for verifying the performance of the science instruments.
John D. Regnberg (head of the division that held the space telescope contract)
Richard C Babish (Perkin -Elmer technical director, meetings at which U.S. officials would coach corporate officers on winning contracts)
Micralign (business that created microlithography equipment needed for electronic miniaturization)

1.3.2. Constraints

-Getting additional funding approval if need be will also be a critical to a successful outcome.

-Making sure all team members and project stakeholders are aligned with the projects objectives will be a challenging and thus will require continuous oversight.

-Many tasks involved in this project are unprecedented and will require that project managers take personal responsibility for the safety and completion of all tasks.

-The time that the project managers established for this project only allows for perfection and does not provide room for errors. Pressure to meet NASA’s specifications for the perfect mirror will be challenging given these time constraints.

1.3.3. Out of Scope

Beside the Hubble's mirror project, there are two more projects as parts in the Perkin - Elmer's contract;
The graphite epoxy structure that will hold the telescope's two mirrors and
the fine guidance sensors that would keep the telescope steady.
No other project has been done with such strict and demanding requirements.

2. Proposed Solution Approach or Solution:

2.1. Proposed acquisition approach and optional solution statement

Our company will create two mirrors; one 8 feet in diameter with a 2 feet center (which would be the main mirror) and one 12.5 inches in diameter. The team will consists of engineers, opticians, scientists, quality control inspectors,optical designer,etc. The project is estimated to be completed in two years at a cost seventy million dollars. Due to size, the mirrors are to be constructed and polished by machine rather than hand. The polishing will be done for six to seven hours at a time to which the progress will be checked by a optician to see how close they are to the desired smoothness. The optician will use a polishing machine called the null corrector along with a special camera designed by scientist.The mirror will lay on a bed of 134 titanium nails to simulate a gravity-free setting such as space. Most of the testing will be done at night to eliminate the possibility of vibrations from out interfering with the polishing process. Once the mirrors are polished as desired, testing will be performed by bouncing light off the null corrector and then off the glass of to the mirror creating a pattern on the mirror of black and white lines. The pattern would be photographed and analyzed to see if farther polishing is needed. This step-by-step approach will require continuous testing using the most advance technology to ensure that the established goals have been met. A quality assurance specialist should be on hand at the completion of each phase of the process to maintain the projects integrity. The mirror will then be coated with aluminum on the face of the glass. A final review of the mirror will be done and if all is good the mirror will be sent to be assembled with the telescope.

3. Project Authorizing Statement:

3.1. Sponsorship for the project

NASA, US Government

3.2. Resources to perform project activities that are provided by the sponsors

Financial Funding, Scientist, Engineers, Polishing Room, Truck, Opticans, Technicans, Null Corrector, Project Managers, Astronauts

4. Anticipated Resources (for developing the detail project plan)

4.1. Key Stakeholders:

- NASA
- Congress- Approved or disapproved funding provided to NASA for the project
-Parker Elmer (Held contract with NASA)

- Astronomer’s (Convinced NASA of the space telescopes value)
- Charles W. Elmer & Richard S. Perkin (Invested $5,000 each after attending a world conference of astronomers)

- Marshall Flight Space Center in Alabama (responsible for optics) and Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland (responsible for science instruments)

- Richard C Babish (Perkin -Elmer technical director, meetings at which U.S. officials would coach corporate officers on winning contracts)
-John D. Regnberg (head of the division that held the space telescope contract)

4.2. Key Project Team Members:

-Bud Rigby (Managed the team in charge of making the mirror that would go into the telescope)
-David Burch (Responsible for quality control)
-Donald Fordyce (Become project manager in 1982)
-Daniel J. McCarthy (Ridgby’s boss that was constantly pressing for tight time constraints)
-Wilhelm R. Geissler (Master Optician who pressed “1.0” instead of “.1” which caused computers to dig a grove into the mirror that never completely went away)
-Lucian A. Montagnino (Engineer who was responsible for making sure the retooling was right but made critical mistakes)
-Chester W. Nimitz (CEO that replaced Elmer after he died in 1954)
-James C. Welch (Hubble program manager in 1983)
-Roderic M. Scott (an optical designer, back at Perkin - Elmer's Danbury plant, who worked as a part time consultant)
-Carl Fuller (NASA employee who is in charge of observing the project)
-Albert F. Slomba (senior optical engineer who was the first to notice something was not right with the big mirror.

4.3. Other Significant Resources

-Additional resources will be necessary to complete this project. This includes scientist, specialist, consultants, business analyst, etc..

BPMS (BizAgi Xpress) on an AWS Instance!

2010-04-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be honest, this process gave me a headache for numerous reasons. After I created my instance on AWS it asked me to input my 2 page long password, for which it was incorrect (though copied and pasted directly). I then terminated my process and attempted the process again. After waiting 30 minutes to retrieve my Windows Password for the second time, my 2 page password was finally accepted. I continued to follow the step-by-step process which was very well documented and easy to understand. The task was nearing an end once I completed my installation of the IIS and BizAgi Express with no problems (suprisingly enough). However, just when I think I am done, I encounter another problem which has yet to be solved. After loading BizAgi Xpress and choosing the option of using a project template, I was asked to type my server name, username and login. With many trail and error combination attempts, no additional information provided, and 5 new grey hairs later, I discovered that other students encountered the same problem as well and couldn't solve it either.

Even though my AWS BizAgi Instance failed me, I still feel that being in the cloud made for a very interesting experience.

Decision Table, Student Registration

2010-04-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

2. If this logic were implemented using gateways in BPMN, it would primarily use X-OR gateways and parallel gateways. That is because these activities can be analyzed at the same time (parallel) and only one- decision can be made (X-OR).

Ok, Lets Negotiate!

2010-04-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Over the past week, I have can recall four great instances of when I had negotiate with others. Below is a list of the four instances and a description of whether they were "Distributive" or "Integrative" (Win-Win) negotiations.

Interview Time: (Integrative)
Upon receving a call from a potential employer, he informed me that on April 20th his HR group is flying from VA to GA for interviews and that I have to take an exam before being eligible for an interview. I informed him that I was not available that day, to which he stated that was the only day they'll be around. After discusing our options, he is going to arrive early before everyone else so that I can take the exam and still be able to go to class. This approach allowed for a win-win situation because I will be able to take the test and he will have the opportunity to interview me and potentially have a future employee for the company in which he works.
No Air Conditioning: (Distributive)
On an unusually hot April day, I came home to my apartment to find it to be blistering hot. Upon calling the matientence office, he informed me that he had too many people to see that day and he would not be able to get to my house until the next (maybe even later). I told him that these living conditions are not acceptable and that it is his responsibility to attend to tasks that are of highest priority (fixing a garbage dispoal is NOT a top priority). He came to fix my AC within the next hour.
Test Make-Up: (Integrative)
My teacher had asked me to re-take the test during a time for which I had to take a different test. We discussed other days that we were both available, and they were not in the forseen future since she was taking a trip to New York. However, once she got back, we found a time that complicated both of our schedules.
Project Topic: (Distributive)
For one of my classes, my group members and I had numerous ideas about the topic for our project. We each provided our explanations and design ideas for the project, and were able to narrow down our options to 3 different topics. Once we finally decided on one, even though it wasn't (in my opinion), the best topic, we finalized our decision and submitted the proposal to the teacher. In this case, there could only be one topic and I had be on-board with our finalized topic.

Amazon Web Server (AWS) Initiation

2010-03-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Upon following the guidelines from EC2 for Poets, I was able to successfully set up my Amazon Web Server (AWS). I felt that the instructions provided were really specific which allowed for an easy set-up. There were only a few areas for which I had complications due to differences in his instructions and my options. For example, once I create a "Key Pair," the file with the 'all mighty powers' would not save and would not open with any program that I used. However, after playing around with it a while, I was able to open and locate the file. Woot! The remote desktop was pretty neat, though not practical for me at this point.

In my opinion, the set-up process was tedious (which I assumed after reading it can take "10 minutes to an hour") and I almost developed a head ache. However, in the end, I was able to complete my mission and had a little extra time to review some of the technical jargon necessary for me to better understand AWS.

http://ec2-72-44-63-92.compute-1.amazonaws.com/helloWorld/

Thanks for reading!

Yay for Field Trips!

2010-03-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

From our field trip experience, I learned that business processes are absolutely everywhere and are very useful! I really enjoyed that I got to see how BPMN can be applied in a real job situation. Our group interviewed one of the workers responsible for handing the customer complaints for Blackberry & Student/Staffing e-mails here at GSU. With her 13 years of experience with this process, she was able to easily walk us through all the steps required to resolve a customer complaint.

The process of maintaining customers complaints overall was pretty good. Whenever a call is received, a ticket is generated for that customer and if the problem cannot be resolved right away, the customer will be updated automatically allowing them to know the status of their issue. I think this is a great technique because often, the customer doesn’t know if the complaint is being resolved, if the worker forgot, or if it is a complex problem that is taking a long time. Without this method, a company’s process would be slower because customers would constantly call-in to see why their problem has yet to be resolved.

However, on the downside, when a problem cannot be resolved within the company, they are to inform the appropriate vendor so they can resolve the issue. This is not bad except for the fact that they do not have a predefined time frame to stop the event in case the problem goes untouched or just can’t be resolved. Lacking a predefined time frame means that there is not an end event (timer) and therefore, if the process is not resolved, the process cannot continue and will be stuck. This goes against BPMN’s “Best Practices.” In our process model, you can see that we have timer events; however, these have not been established within the company and are just rough estimates for how long our interviewer thinks the process might go-on.

Overall, I feel that this field trip has been an excellent “real-life” experience that has allowed me to see how I can apply BPMN principals to help resolve and improve business processes.

Models, Models, and BPMN Tests!

2010-02-24T20:45:00.000-08:00

TheBruce Silver's and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Technische Universiteit Eindhoven's TestTest are two very different tests.

The Bruce Silver's test gave a series of question with 4 different diagram options. The Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Technische Universiteit Eindhoven's Test had enormous diagrams for which each diagram had a true or false question to answer. The Bruce Silver's test was timed (30 minutes) and the other test was not, though it has a huge survey to be completed in the beginning. The Bruce Silver's test focused on a larger variety of concepts and for me, the other test seemed to use diagrams that were too complex. The negative aspect of Bruce Silver's test is that it is not well organized. Upon completing the test, one is only provided the correct answers without their associate diagrams.

In the end, as a review for the exam, I would recommend the Bruce Silver's test 100% over the other test. Even though one is not provided the answers with their diagrams, the Bruce Silver test provides video descriptions of each question with detailed explanation of why each choice is either correct or incorrect (X-OR). The video descriptions is an excellent tool for studying for the exam!!

At-Home Assignment 5: Events

2010-02-17T23:22:00.001-08:00

Employee On-Boarding Business Process:

Assignment 4- Customer Pricing

2010-02-10T21:07:00.000-08:00

My failed attempt with parallelism......which looks worse than the first. :( Guess I need more practice.

At-Home Assignment 4: Customer Pricing

2010-02-10T17:47:00.001-08:00

Without Parallelism

Student Registration Business Process

2010-02-03T17:24:00.000-08:00

Process Encapsulation and Metrics, Exercise 2

2010-01-28T00:10:00.000-08:00

Define what you believe to be the service(s) in this process:

To schedule appointments, to collect and validate patients information, to update patients information after doctor evaluation, to send information to insurance company and send customer a Super Bill

A.) To schedule appointments
1.) The client: Patient, doctor, personnel
2.)The client’s PTBS: Finding a time that is right for both the patient and the doctor, accurate and fast scheduling
3.) Client satisfaction metrics: Convenience in requesting an appointment, the time until the patient can see the doctor, and ability for patient to change appointment date/time if needed.
4.) Corresponding steps: Patient initiates appointment request, personnel finds time slot convenient for customer, inputs needed information, reminds patient of appointment time, then the patient should arrive.
5.) The process owner metrics: Wait time on the phone and the time it takes to make an appointment.

B.) To collect and validate patient’s information (Internal and external)
1.) The client: personnel, patient
2.) The client’s PTBS: validate patient schedule and insurance/driver’s license information
3.)Client satisfaction metrics: all previous data should be accurate and easily accessible, insurance processing should be quick
4.)Corresponding steps: pull patient data, request info/validate information, input additional information
5.)The process owner metrics: data accuracy, availability, processing speed

C.) Update patient’s information after doctor evaluation
1.) The clients: patient, personnel
2.) The client’s PTBS: making sure the personnel is aware of the procedure that was completed and any new prescriptions
3.) Client satisfaction metrics: immediate staff availability, no additional forms
4.) Corresponding steps: Input vitals, diagnosis, and prescription data
5.) The process owner metrics: input time/patient, and processing time/patient

D.) Request Co-payment:
1.) The client: patient, personnel
2.) The client’s PTBS: paying for services
3.) Client satisfaction metrics: the service cost is within expectations, no waiting to pay
4.) Corresponding steps: requesting co-payment from patient and generating receipt
5.) The process owner’s metrics: check/cash/card payments are processed quickly so new patient can be handled

E.) Send Information to Insurance Company (external) and bill customer a Super Bill
1.) The client: personnel
2.) The client’s PTBS: Update insurance company on patients procedures and collect money for services
3.) Client satisfaction metrics: Insurance provider is readily accessible, and collecting money without hassle
4.) Corresponding steps: send information to insurance company
5.) The process owner’s metrics: the time between processing claim and sending information to customer and doctor’s office

INNOV8

2010-01-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

As BPM is a new subject to me, the INNOV8 game greatly improved my understandings. From this game, I learn that business processes are a set of interrelated activities designed to achieve a specific business output or objective. I also learned that BPM is an approach that is focused on aligning all aspects of an organization to help promote effectiveness and efficiency. It was to my understanding that models were more simplistic in that they only modeled process flow. However, they also involve having lots of data like statistics, resource levels of each activity, and the cost of these resources.

In my opinion, the game provides an excellent and unique approach for teaching students about business processes.

Like most games, though, there are pluses and minuses:

Overall, I liked that the game is so informative. It starts with basic principles and continues to build on concepts. I also like that the game provides optional textual descriptions so that if you are already aware of the concept, you do not have to waste time. However, the game annoyed me in a few ways. The avatars were not involved enough and did not have many new things to say. It was also WAY to slow to walk. Why not run, or fly? In the end, I wish that they would make additional fun and educational games on related topics.

Two words that I learned:

1. An Activity is a unit of work performed in a business process. For example, sub-process, tasks, and services.

2. Simulation is a software facility for strong basic information about services, including how to interact with the service, who has access right to the service, and which application currently uses the service.

Bleeding Edge Technology:

2010-01-16T17:00:00.001-08:00