It has been a great last few days here at Appian World 2014, as enterprise IT professionals have shared industry insights and best practices throughout the conference. From customer case studies from some of the largest and most successful companies in the world to panel and networking sessions with peers, all attendees will leave this year's symposium with a great understanding on what the future of BPM holds.
As a close to Appian World 2014, Appian Chief Technology Officer Michael Beckley hosted a wrap-up panel session this afternoon. Joining Michael on the main stage was an esteemed panel of conference presenters including SergoGrigalashvili, Vice President of Information and Communication Technology, Crawford and Company, Matt Richard, Chief Information Officer, LiUNA,Anand Deshpande,CEO, Persistent Systems, and Kevin Dalley, IT Director, Punch Taverns.
Here is a recap of the topics discussed during the final conference discussion, as well as some of the responses from panel members:
Start with data first, then build process models:
"Within short cycles of development you must start with the data," said Deshpande. "From there, you can build, but you must start with the data."
"Without the data in place, what are the processes you can put into place? The key is to first start with the data and analyze, then working your way back to what you want to build," said Richard.
All applications should be built as a mobile application:
"You want mobility in applications, not necessarily mobile-based applications, said Deshpande. "Don't look at this as devices like cell phones we see today. Look at the application itself as being mobile."
Cloud should be the default BPM deployment platform:
"I am the biggest supporter of cloud, but it is not a default BPM deployment," said Grigalashvili. "The reason for this is security. I hope organizations can get past this block and make cloud the norm."
"Cloud brings everyone in an organization together. I can bring my wider group, third party participants into the interaction using the cloud," said Dalley.
BPM should focus on revenue, not cost cutting:
"Our focus is on efficiency revenue," said Dalley. "This approach may result in cost cutting, but the focus must initially be on process efficiencies."
"It's not about revenue; it's about influence. For us (LiUNA) it is about improving the membership. This debate depends on what industry you are in," said Richard.
Should social lead the way to leverage your BPM platform:
"I disagree with this approach," said Richard. "It is such an easy to use platform, but that does not mean it is being leveraged for true social collaboration. It will be implemented more in the coming years, but right now it is not ready for all business. Eventually I want to see everyone using the Appian solution to harness all social and mobile capabilities."
"Social is more about engaging with your stakeholders efficiently," said Deshpande. "I do not think you can keep your stakeholders away from social as a way to communicate. It creates an open forum for engagement."
Mike Ingrisano
Media Relations Manager
Mike Ingrisano
