
A business process is a series of steps and decisions used to transform an object from one thing to another. Different examples of business processes include:
- filling out paperwork to grant a loan
- collecting orders to create a report
- analyzing data to make a decision
- asking a customer questions to fill out a work order
Each of these tasks is a process because it includes a sequence of steps and decisions to transform raw information into a finished result.
Business Process Optimization
Business Process Optimization is a term often used by consultants. It means they will analyze and improve your processes to create consistency, efficiency and margins in your business. Software can be developed to create and optimize business processes with the following 4 steps:
- Analysis: Analysis defines what the project is, what the intended results are to be and what the existing process is.
- Development: Development takes the project blueprints created in the analysis phase and creates the technology to improve the business process.
- Adoption: Adoption involves training the staff and management on how to take advantage of the new technology created in development.
- Support: A business process evolves over time and so the support phase involves making any feature enhancements or modifications to improve the technology that was already create.