Aligning Business Process Management, Service-Oriented Architecture, and Lean Six Sigma for Real Business Results

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) produces real results in difficult economic times by uncovering process waste, reducing non-value adding activity, and increasing productivity. The benefits are even felt in IT. Business process management (BPM) and service-oriented architectures (SOAs) combine with LSS to accelerate improvements and results. At the same time, they increase organizational flexibility and technology enabled responsiveness. Many successful companies have found that the linkages are clear. Early adopters who have worked their way past cultural and organizational barriers are seeing impressive performance and financial results. The rewards can be great, especially for those who take action now.

This IBM® Redguide™ publication is intended to help companies that are leaders in their markets and are looking for new ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors. In this guide, we describe the key BPM, SOA, and LSS components, highlight the linkages between them, and summarize the results that leading firms have achieved. We outline the think big, start now steps that are needed to move your own initiative forward. In this guide, we also suggest ways to successfully avoid some of the barriers that have hampered others by focusing on the tools that deliver measurable results quickly.

• WebSphere Business Process Management V6.1.2 Production Topologies, SG24-7665-00
• WebSphere MQ V7.0 Features and Enhancements, SG24-7583-00
• IBM Business Process Management Reviewer's Guide, REDP-4433-01

Publish Date
06 October 2008

Last Update
17 March 2009

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Author(s)

Hans Skalle is a Senior BPM Sales Representative based in Minnesota in the US. He is a past Master Evaluator and Senior Site Team Lead for Minnesota's Malcolm Baldrige-based Quality Award and has more than 25 years of process improvement design experience. His areas of expertise include process modeling, process improvement, and improvement frameworks and methods including LSS, change management, project management, BPM technology, and business case development. Hans written extensively on process improvement and technology including Lotus Notes Application Development: Solving Business Problems and Increasing Competitiveness, (Prentice Hall, 1995, ISBN: 0131614991) and an ASQC white paper called Groupware Technologies: Bridging Functional Islands and Minds (1990). He holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin.

• Hans Skalle

Seshadri Ramachandran is a Master Black Belt with the IBM Process Excellence Program Management Office with responsibility for deployment of LSS across IBM. He has over 25 years of experience in process improvement, research, product development and introduction, global supervisory experience, project management, team facilitation and customer relationship management. His previous responsibilities included business, operations and R&D management in a Fortune 500 company. He also has experience in deploying Lean sigma initiative across a large organization and training development both as a Master Black Belt and Director of Process Excellence. He has a strong background in change management, including strategic alignment and project prioritization, stakeholder analysis and communication, and business performance improvement. Seshadri has developed curricula and trained Black Belts, Green Belts, and executives in Lean, Six Sigma, and Design for Six Sigma. His industry specialization is chemical, retail, and financial services. He has a Ph. D. in chemical engineering and is a certified LSS Master Black Belt and Black Belt.

• Seshadri Ramachandran

Marc Schuster is a consulting engineer in Germany. He has five years experience in the BPM and workflow technology area. He has worked for IBM for 11 years. His areas of expertise include BPM and data integration technologies. He has previously written white papers about how to integrate SAP systems with IBM WebSphere products. Marc holds a degree in Information Technology from the University of Corporative Education in Stuttgart, Germany.

• Marc Schuster

Vincent Szaloky is a senior software developer in Canada. He has more than 25 years of experience in business software development field. He has worked at IBM for 10 years. His areas of expertise include Six Sigma, simulation, component architecture, software security, software optimization and infrastructure. Vincent holds several patents in the area of business process simulation.

• Vincent Szaloky

Samuel Antoun is an executive solution architect based in the Ohio in the U.S. He has over 17 years of experience in enterprise solution architecture, BPM, SOA, and Business & IT Strategy formulation. This experience encompasses enterprise-wide transaction-based solutions, e-business Internet/intranet Web infrastructure architecture and development primarily in the insurance, banking, government, and manufacturing industries. Sam holds an Executive MBA from Case Western University and a Master of Science in Computer Science degree from Cleveland State University.

• Samuel Antoun

IBM Form Number
REDP-4447-00

Number of pages

50