Analysis for e-business is concerned with understanding the business and user requirements for a new system. Typical analysis activity can be broken down into: understanding the current process and then reviewing possible alternatives for implementing the e-business solution. In the following sections we will review different techniques that enable us to summarize the operation of current processes and proposed e-business processes. In this section we focus on using diagrams to demonstrate the business processes. User requirements capture techniques that help determine the function required by a system are described in the Focus on user-centred site design section.
Analysts recognize that delivering quality information to employees and partners, or exchanging it between processes, is the key to building information systems that improve efficiency and customer service. Pant and Ravichandran (2001) say:
Information is an agent of coordination and control and serves as a glue that holds together organisations, franchises, supply chains and distribution channels. Along with material and other resource flows, information flows must also be handled effectively in any organisation.
This shows that in the era of e-business analysis should be used as a tool to optimize the flow of information both inside and outside organizations. In this chapter we start by looking at how workflow management is a key to managing time-based information flows. We then review how process modelling is used to analyse information flows to optimize business processes and then look at information storage analysis through a brief review of data modelling.
1. Workflow management
Analysing and revising an organization’s workflow as part of workflow management (WFM) is a concept that is integral to many e-business applications, so before we look at process analysis techniques, let us look at why workflow is integral to e-business.
WFM was defined by the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC, 1996) as
the automation of a business process, in whole or part during which documents, information or tasks are passed from one participant to another for action, according to a set of procedural rules.
Workflow systems automate e-business processes by providing a structured framework to support a process. Applications of workflow in e-business include actioning queries from external customer queries or internal support queries. These queries may arrive by e-mail, phone or letter. E-mail enquiries can be analysed and routed to the right person depending on their subject. Letters may need to be scanned before being added to the workflow queue.
Workflow helps manage business processes by ensuring that tasks are prioritized to be performed:
→ as soon as possible
→ by the right people
→ in the right order.
The workflow approach gives a consistent, uniform approach for improved efficiency and better customer service. Workflow software provides functions to:
- assign tasks to people
- remind people about their tasks which are part of a workflow queue
- allow collaboration between people sharing tasks
- retrieve information needed to complete the task such as a customer’s personal details
- provide an overview for managers of the status of each task and the team’s performance.
What type of workflow applications will exist in a company? For a B2B company, e-business applications of workflow might include:
- Administrative workflow. This concerns internal administrative tasks. Examples include managing purchase orders for procurement and booking holidays and training.
- Production workflows. These are customer-facing or supplier-facing workflows. An intranet- or extranet-based customer support database and stock management system integrated with a supplier’s system is an example of production workflow.
Source: Dave Chaffey (2010), E-Business and E-Commerce Management: Strategy, Implementation and Practice, Prentice Hall (4th Edition).
Great article.