© 2008 IBM Corporation

Metaverses and Business Process management Ian Hughes/epredator Metaverse EvangelistIBM Innovate Quick CIO Office

IBM Innovate Quick

Metaverse and Virtual Worlds © 2008 IBM Corporation

What's coming up in this session?

What is Business Process Management?

Different approaches for virtual worlds

Teaching BPM with Innov8 – the game

The future for business process and IT process?

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What is Business Process Management

Business process management (BPM) is a method of efficiently aligning an organization with the wants and needs of clients. It is a holistic management approach that promotes business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility and integration with technology. As organizations strive for attainment of their objectives, BPM attempts to continuously improve processes - the process to define, measure and improve your processes – a ‘process optimization' process. -Wikipedia.org 2008

Think of this in the context of a blog. You can install blogging software, run it on hardware but it needs a cultural change for people to choose to blog and learn how to blog.

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Metaverses are about people

Customers, colleagues, friends, business partners

IBM Innovate Quick

Metaverse and Virtual Worlds © 2008 IBM Corporation

Services Orientated Architecture -SOA

Information as a ServiceConnect, enhance and deliver in-context information across diverse operating systems, applications and legacy systems through reusable services

Interaction and IdeasEnable people to virtually interact and collaborate for dynamic decision making

Process AutomationIntegrate and choreograph business and system activities into reusable process components

IBM Innovate Quick

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BPM with virtual worlds

Identify which elements of virtual worlds are your goal?

● Are you considering or using a virtual world presence as a customer touch point or experience?

● Are you considering virtual worlds as an internal communication tool?

● Is the virtual world platform your actual business?

● Do you need to see and feel your business and make decisions ?

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Chain Model of Needs

Expressiveness

Communication

Instrumentation

Retail Music Meeting

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Metaverse and Virtual Worlds © 2008 IBM Corporation

Chain Model of Needs

Expressiveness

Communication

Instrumentation

Systems Brands Education

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Metaverse and Virtual Worlds © 2008 IBM Corporation

As a touchpoint Easiest of the considerations in process terms

Make sure the virtual world is treated as any other staffed channel

IBM business centre in Second Life – same people, same processes as IBM.com

Remember it is as much about people as providing gadgets.

Consider it a branch office or store, not an offline website.

It needs to be public and easy to get too.

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Internal Communication Common mistake is to assume that virtual worlds are

a place to escape too.

Often treated as a side project

The virtual world platform has to be integrated into the workflow of everyday business life

Treat it as you treat email systems, instant messaging, site services.

A successful enterprise virtual world is wired into the services of the enterprise.

Use as and when needed, bring info in and push info out

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Virtual Worlds as the business As a service provider or tool vendor this is business as usual

Use rigorous product development methods

Use robust middleware

Be as close to open source and open standards as possible

Use what you sell

IBM Innovate Quick

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(Business Analyst) has several process maps, including Call Center process

Level 1: BPM Basics and As-Is Process Discovery

Collect caller info Service call Send email

sat. survey

AFTER Inc support team

VoiceResponseUnit (VRU)

CustomerRelationshipManagement system (CRM)

Validates Logan has correct map

Helps Logan update the As-Is model to reflect recent merger

Level 1: BPM Basics and As-Is Process Discovery

Stella - Call Center Veteran

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Average cost per call

Save

Submit All Changes

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Understanding your business – the future

If everything about your business processes is instrumented then the exciting possibility exists

Virtual World visualization of the entire holistic view of your business in realtime

Think mirror world, but with the business/IT as the model to mirror

If you can see, feel and hear the business you can make decisions and adjust and grow very quickly

Blends people into the equation

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Visualizing what's already there

Physical Business Services

Data/Component Entities SOA view

Complete viewhttp://www.elephanteaters.org

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To quote Douglas Adams “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the drug store, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Virtual Worlds can be at the end of a business processpart of the business processcontrolling your business process

Conclusion