Chapter 6. Process Optimization

The second activity of BTM, process optimization, serves as the critical link between business model definition and technology automation. It is during process optimization that business objectives are translated from the business model into operational processes ”a coordinated set of tasks designed to produce a specific outcome. These processes are then broken down (i.e., "decomposed") into sub-processes and activities in order to map functional requirements to the technology that will eventually support them. Our discussion of process optimization begins by describing what goes into a process model. Then, this chapter moves on to discuss some of the primary tasks associated with process optimization and to explain why they are important in the context of BTM's two other models (business and technology). It also revisits the simulated case of Rauha Communications to illustrate how process optimization takes inputs from business model definition and creates outputs for technology automation, before concluding with a discussion of the party responsible for this go-between activity.