Comments on: Don’t RFP, Just DIY http://itredux.com/2008/10/14/dont-rfp-just-diy/ New Rules for a New IT World Sat, 10 Dec 2011 03:24:58 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: IT|Redux - Why XPDL is Essentially Useless http://itredux.com/2008/10/14/dont-rfp-just-diy/comment-page-1/#comment-997674 IT|Redux - Why XPDL is Essentially Useless Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:08:41 +0000 http://itredux.com/?p=550#comment-997674 [...] time, we receive an RFP requiring support for XPDL. Even though we usually do not answer RFPs (Cf. Don’t RFP, Just DIY), I would like to comment on the need for XPDL, and why we think it’s essentially useless. It [...] […] time, we receive an RFP requiring support for XPDL. Even though we usually do not answer RFPs (Cf. Don’t RFP, Just DIY), I would like to comment on the need for XPDL, and why we think it’s essentially useless. It […]

]]> By: Ismael Ghalimi http://itredux.com/2008/10/14/dont-rfp-just-diy/comment-page-1/#comment-986963 Ismael Ghalimi Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:13:43 +0000 http://itredux.com/?p=550#comment-986963 Scott, These figures are compiled from multiple analyst reports and discussions with vendors, success being defined as a process that went into production, and which core flow was modified by the customer afterward. Remove the later, and you're not talking about BPM, but a custom development that simply happened to use some process-centric technology. Excellent point on the opportunity cost! Best regards -Ismael Scott,

These figures are compiled from multiple analyst reports and discussions with vendors, success being defined as a process that went into production, and which core flow was modified by the customer afterward. Remove the later, and you’re not talking about BPM, but a custom development that simply happened to use some process-centric technology.

Excellent point on the opportunity cost!

Best regards
 -Ismael

]]> By: Scott Francis http://itredux.com/2008/10/14/dont-rfp-just-diy/comment-page-1/#comment-986863 Scott Francis Sun, 19 Oct 2008 03:41:59 +0000 http://itredux.com/?p=550#comment-986863 I can't claim to know the actual success rate of BPM projects, but can you cite a source for the 50% figure? That's considerably worse than what Gartner reports, for example... And I've deployed quite a few of these projects myself, and the teams I've managed have deployed even more, and the failures were minimal — single digits at most. Meanwhile, you also claim that 50% is worse than all other categories of software — another stat that isn't attributed... And I think everyone remembers the stat from a few years back that claimed 80% of ERP installations "failed". Of course, with all statistics, the terms need to be defined. Success, Failure, etc. So, I'm not arguing that it's 45% instead of 50% — there wouldn't be much point in that. I'd argue that the failure rate is much lower than what you've estimated, if success is defined as getting the process deployed. That's based on my personal experience — but also backed up by analysts reports (granted, I'm just seeing the summaries, not the source data). Finally, at the OMG ThinkTank event in Chicago, they cited a statistic that the typical BPM customer had 9 processes in production... Whether or not that represents repeat sales for the software vendors, if that number is accurate, it signifies massive success for BPM as a category. If your 50% figure were right and their 9 deployments number were correct, each of these companies would have 9 failures to pair with the 9 successes, but I suspect that isn't the case... or that the failures would have to be clustered around first-time attempts... Another thought... In an organization that values customer service, the consultants will be top-notch and will create processes that can be maintained by customers. I would argue this is more of a cultural evaluation that needs to happen than a truism about all software companies or services companies. All that said, I agree that too much time can be wasted on RFP's and bake-offs. If that process takes too long, it ignores the time-value of money — and BPM projects have great ROI, so the actual cost of the 6 month evaluation is often in the millions of dollars if you're looking at opportunity cost... ouch! I can’t claim to know the actual success rate of BPM projects, but can you cite a source for the 50% figure? That’s considerably worse than what Gartner reports, for example… And I’ve deployed quite a few of these projects myself, and the teams I’ve managed have deployed even more, and the failures were minimal — single digits at most.

Meanwhile, you also claim that 50% is worse than all other categories of software — another stat that isn’t attributed… And I think everyone remembers the stat from a few years back that claimed 80% of ERP installations “failed”.

Of course, with all statistics, the terms need to be defined. Success, Failure, etc. So, I’m not arguing that it’s 45% instead of 50% — there wouldn’t be much point in that. I’d argue that the failure rate is much lower than what you’ve estimated, if success is defined as getting the process deployed. That’s based on my personal experience — but also backed up by analysts reports (granted, I’m just seeing the summaries, not the source data).

Finally, at the OMG ThinkTank event in Chicago, they cited a statistic that the typical BPM customer had 9 processes in production… Whether or not that represents repeat sales for the software vendors, if that number is accurate, it signifies massive success for BPM as a category. If your 50% figure were right and their 9 deployments number were correct, each of these companies would have 9 failures to pair with the 9 successes, but I suspect that isn’t the case… or that the failures would have to be clustered around first-time attempts…

Another thought… In an organization that values customer service, the consultants will be top-notch and will create processes that can be maintained by customers. I would argue this is more of a cultural evaluation that needs to happen than a truism about all software companies or services companies.

All that said, I agree that too much time can be wasted on RFP’s and bake-offs. If that process takes too long, it ignores the time-value of money — and BPM projects have great ROI, so the actual cost of the 6 month evaluation is often in the millions of dollars if you’re looking at opportunity cost… ouch!

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