„Rule number one is that automating an efficient process will multiply its efficiency. Rule number two is that automating an inefficient process will multiply its inefficiency.”

Bill Gates

The optimization of business processes in the organization is a response to the changes in the business environment. In order to remain competitive, an organization has to be able to optimize its processes quickly and with minimum resources. Business process optimization aims at improving the business process in terms of costs, quality, and time. This can be a quite challenging task and it requires that managers have a clear understanding of the process parameters that are most critical for achieving the organization’s strategy.

Investment in ineffective processes is a common mistake when companies implement information systems. This mistake could be avoided if business processes are optimized prior to their automation.

One of the main purposes of business process optimization is to improve the efficiency of the processes. This could be achieved either by continuous improvement or by business process re-engineering. As re-engineering leads to significant changes in the processes, it requires considerable commitment from the company top management as well as substantial financial resources.

The use of modern software tools for business process modeling and analysis, like ARIS platform, allows quicker process optimization. ARIS Platform offers a number of useful tools for analysis, which can be used to analyze as-is as well as to-be process variants, and to select the optimal variant for the organization.

Business process optimization projects include:

• Definition of the organization’s strategy
• Description of the as-is state of the organization
• Identification and analysis of the processes that need to be optimized
• Description of the to-be state of the organization and identification of key performance indicators (KPI)
• Preparing the organization for the change.