Process Architecture is essentially a commonly understood, shared view of all the business processes that an organization may carry out in order to deliver a product or service to their customers and clients. As business capabilities expand and demands change, processes can become overly complex, garbled or disorganized as they are re-jigged and edited – the nature of a strong process architecture is to ensure these processes remain at their optimal state.
With Lean Six Sigma practises in mind, many wastes, particularly employees replicating their duties, making mistakes, or wasting resources are just a few examples of why Process Architecture is required.
In order to recognise where waste may be taking place, it is key to have a clear map of business processes from start to finish. Once these maps have been creating, they can provide a starting point for leadership to recognise areas for improvement.
In many cases, organizations have met with varied success of Lean Six Sigma, not because of any deficiencies in the methodology, principles or tools, but in the design and execution of the program.
This is where the role of the Process Architect becomes vital. A Process Architect can manipulate the map, critique the current practises, and decide which methods, techniques or tools to implement as they attempt to streamline the business process.