Mastering BPM and ERP Success

Timothy Chester shares insights from his 12 years teaching Business Process Management at the University of Georgia. This episode explores the importance of BPMN skills, the pitfalls of rushing ERP implementations, and why disciplined process improvement is crucial for project success.

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Chapter 1

Introduction to BPM Course

Timothy Chester

I’m teaching business process management this semester. It’s a crash course in ERP implementation consulting, focused on process discovery, redesign, and financial modeling. Early in the course, we cover BPMN: Business Process Management Notation. BPMN is an essential skill for diagraming processes as a first step before configuring systems like Workday.

Chapter 2

Student's Perspective on BPMN

Timothy Chester

A student once told me, “My mom’s a systems implementation consultant. I mentioned we’re learning BPMN, and she said, ‘That’s a great skill but most clients won’t pay for it anymore. They just want to go straight to implementation.’” That led to conversation about the consequences of skipping process improvement. Everyone wants the benefits of transformation, but few want to pay for the discipline it requires.

Chapter 3

Why ERP Projects Fail

Timothy Chester

That mindset reflects why ERP implementations fail. When you rush design, skip discovery, and treat the system as an IT project, the result is always the same: missed deadlines and exploding costs.

Timothy Chester

In today’s Dispatch, we discuss why ERP projects fail. And, if you treat them like construction projects, you're more likely to get them right.