Hyperprocess

Have just published a demonstration video of the Hyperprocess BPMN Process Model builder prototype I developed for the ACIS 2009 paper.

Video is here at the BPMVE Youtube channel.

Ross

Disney Company Process Models

Was sent an article on an early Walt Disney process oriented organisation chart.

An interesting debate has ensued on the site about on what this shows about the nature of the Walt Disney company in the 40's. In effect, were they more strongly process oriented?

However, I feel as though this may be a slight misnomer to see the organisation chart as a real indicator of company ethos. My observation is that the process oriented vs hierarchy simply shows different views of the same sets of processes and resources interacting. A simple assumption would be that people gather around processes that they are naturally involved with, due to their skill sets. The more common hierarchy diagram is quite valid; I would use it if I needed to answer a question about who my manager is at the time.

While I'm sure a business would benefit from such visualisations of their processes, I wonder if they show what obviously happens anyway, when a group of people in a company work together. I've never thought about my work as a hierarchy, more as a social network gathered around a set of tasks; in my case, to teach and to research. But then again I work in a University, where we are driven strongly by our own interests. The private sector will, of course, differ strongly on this point. So, I will leave the deep analysis to the management experts.

Ross

ACIS 2009 Paper

My latest paper, co-written with Jan Recker at QUT, is now available from QUT ePrints.

Ross

Business Virtual Worlds - ProtoSphere

Much has been made of the generalised virtual worlds developed so far, including Second Life, Open Simulator, et al. Interesting now that a number of more specialised worlds are being developed for business collaboration purposes. ProtoSphere is one that I have come across here.

It provides sharepoint document integration (nice), but is still a server solution, so you have to open up your firewall for it to run. It reminds me somewhat of Google Lively for business applications.

Ross

3DSee WebSite

I have commented before about the difficulty of modelling 3D environments with typical virtual environment toolsets offered by Second Life et al. Another approach is the use of image-based modelling methods using computer vision techniques to generate 3D models from CCD imagery. This means that a business analyst can create a model of an enterprise from camera imagery, a technology well within reach of non-IT people.

At ACID, a QUT research centre, a colleague of mine, Dr David McKinnon, has developed just such a system, which is available as a web service - www.3dsee.net.

Well worth a visit.

Ross

Supply Chain Real Time Sensor Data

FedEx have taken the step of developing sensor bundles that you can drop into a package for real-time tracking of your precious cargo. Sensors on the device tell you where the package is, its temperature, and whether the package has been opened.

$120 US a month is a little pricy for the laity, but would be worth it for special cargo in the area of life sciences, which is the target market.

However, if this information can be sent via such simple tracking devices, and the price goes down, then these devices could be used for so much data logging of sensor information.

So, apropos of nothing. Maybe when the temperature sensors come to people's iPhones, instead of folding at home, we could have "Weather at Home." Crowd sourcing micro climate information from people's mobile phones.

Now that would be the BOM!

Ross

We interrupt this business blog with a gratuitous picture

Usually I write about the visualisation of business process models. However, this week I have just come across some truly beautiful pictures of the 3D Mandelbrot set, and they made my computer graphics heart go all a quiver. So I thought I would share the URL with the 2.5 people who read my blog.

Enjoy.

Ross