PEX Network brings you the latest news in process and operational excellence (OPEX), business process management (BPM), digital transformation, process mining/intelligence, low-code technology, intelligent document processing (IDP), Lean Six Sigma, Kaizen and more.
Week of 04/15, 2024, includes:
- Centreon commits to optimal monitoring performance during 2024 Olympic Games
- Volition Capital appoints Pete Lamson to drive operational excellence
- Appian announces new platform features and strategic partnerships
- IBM releases 2023 Impact report summarizing ESG initiatives
- Ten Oaks Group strengthens operational excellence with new additions
- process.science unveils new process mining analysis features
- New book explores operational excellence and continuous improvement
- Digital transformation firm Version 1 acquires UK consulting company Farsight
- SAP users at risk as hackers exploit application vulnerabilities
Centreon commits to optimal monitoring performance during 2024 Olympic Games
Digital performance monitoring company Centreon launched Centreon Guard 24x7 – a service offering designed to ensure uptime and performance of critical IT infrastructure and an optimal user experience during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. With the Olympic Games bringing thousands of athletes, staff, spectators and media to France, great demand will be placed on local networks and IT infrastructure. Centreon Guard 24x7 aims to meet the operational needs of organizations and companies in the context of the Games, according to a press release.
“The 2024 Olympic Games represent a major challenge for IT infrastructure and often the project of a lifetime for our customers,” commented Julien Mathis, CEO of Centreon. “We offer them the peace of mind they need to ensure the smooth running of their operations during this iconic global event.”
Volition Capital appoints Pete Lamson to drive operational excellence
Leading growth equity firm Volition Capital announced the appointment of Pete Lamson as chief operating officer and head of portfolio operations. Lamson brings over 35 years of leadership experience and a track record of driving accelerated revenue growth, operational excellence and shareholder value creation. Lamson will focus on providing strategic guidance to portfolio companies, enhancing Volition’s operational efficiency, strengthening internal processes and fostering a culture of excellence across the organization, the company stated.
“I believe that building great companies requires a combination of strategic vision, operational excellence and unwavering commitment to customer success,” said Lamson. “I look forward to partnering with Volition’s talented team and portfolio company leaders to unlock new opportunities and drive sustainable, industry leading value creation.”
Lamson’s operational expertise, metrics-driven approach to accelerated profitable revenue growth and people-driven leadership will be invaluable assets to Volition and its portfolio as it supports growing investments, added Sean Cantwell, managing partner at Volition Capital.
READ: 5 operational excellence trends for 2024
Appian announces new platform features and strategic partnerships
Process automation software provider Appian announced the latest version of the Appian Platform. The new release introduces Process HQ, a combination of process mining and enterprise AI unified with the Appian data fabric. Process HQ provides visibility into business operations to enable data-driven decisions and process improvements. The latest version of Appian also extends the practical value of generative AI through enhancements to Appian AI Copilot and the prompt builder AI skill, the firm stated.
“Process mining has been held back by two problems – expensive and often subjective manual data prep because even ‘standard’ systems have been customized, and then limited tools to resolve the process bottlenecks you uncover,” said Michael Beckley, CTO and founder, Appian. “Process HQ integrates Appian Data Fabric to reduce manual data prep and is unified with Appian process automation so getting from insight to action has never been easier.”
Appian also revealed a new strategic collaboration agreement with AWS to deliver private AI for end-to-end process automation and an expanded partnership with TELUS International to help companies simplify complex business processes through a low-code automation platform.
IBM releases 2023 Impact report summarizing ESG initiatives
Technology giant and process mining provider IBM released its 2023 Impact Report, summarizing the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, partnerships and investments last year. IBM has leveraged adoption of AI and other emerging technologies to create new ways to address rising ethical challenges, empowering communities with skills and protecting the environment while supporting clients, the firm said.
Highlights from the 2023 IBM Impact Report include:
- Released watsonx.governance, a component of watsonx designed to accelerate responsible, transparent and explainable AI workflows, and leading the creation of the AI Alliance, an open community to accelerate responsible AI innovation.
- Trained more than 600 suppliers in technology ethics.
- Invested over $100 million towards apprenticeships and new-collar programs, since 2022.
- Reduced operational greenhouse gas emissions by 68.5 percent against base year 2010 and on track to meet operational net zero emissions goal by 2030.
- Completed, since 2021, 2,130 energy conservation projects, avoiding an estimated 256,000 MWh of energy consumption.
“At IBM, we believe that technology is a catalyst to unlock new and more powerful ways to make a positive impact,” commented Justina Nixon-Saintil, VP and chief impact officer at IBM. “Innovation can address evolving demands and create a better future as new ethical, societal and environmental challenges arise.”
Ten Oaks Group strengthens operational excellence with new additions
Ten Oaks Group announced new additions to its operations team to strengthen its operational excellence. These include Sam Dundon as head of information security and Alexis Schackman as tax manager, as well as Randy Fields in the form’s inaugural hire from the Ten Oaks Operating Partner Program. This is aimed at providing career opportunities for exceptional athletes post-athletics.
“We are thrilled about the addition of these exceptional professionals to Ten Oaks Group,” said Curtis Griner, managing partner at Ten Oaks Group. “Their diverse and extensive backgrounds and expertise will undoubtedly bolster our ongoing commitment to operational excellence and equip our team to seize the opportunities ahead.”
process.science unveils new process mining analysis features
Process mining vendor process.science unveiled new features in its ps4pbi Variants/Case Analyzer designed to enhance organization’s ability to analyze and visualize data. This includes the capability to add multiple levels to group process variants or cases, allowing users to organize and structure data easier, the firm stated. “For example, you can add a level for the process variant and another for the case. The best part is that you can change the order of these levels based on your preferences,” according to a company blog post.
The ps4pbi Variants/Case Analyzer can also now take visualization to a new level with the addition of swim lanes, the firm added. “What makes swim lanes truly powerful is the ability to expand the last line by clicking on the index node. This action reveals the swim lanes, allowing you to see the activities within each lane.” The addition of swim lanes not only enhances visualization but also enables businesses to identify dependencies and interactions between different user groups or departments within processes, the company said.
READ: 9 process mining obstacles and how to overcome them
New book explores operational excellence and continuous improvement
Business process expert Maribel Topf released Process Alchemy: Using Employee Driven Solutions To Achieve Operational Excellence, a new book that delves into the art of continuous improvement (CI). Process Alchemy presents a comprehensive roadmap with twenty-five insights aimed at establishing and sustaining excellence within a company, according to its product description on Amazon.
Over the last 12 years, Topf has successfully managed the continuous improvement programs for two companies for the Fortune 1000 company Snap-on. She has reviewed and overseen over 10,000 employee-led continuous improvement projects, gaining valuable lessons on business process improvement. “Traditional management models often rely on linear processes and hierarchies, but organizations need to adopt dynamic systems theory,” Topf stated. Dynamic systems theory recognizes businesses as complex, adaptive systems where multiple variables interact unpredictably.
Digital transformation firm Version 1 acquires UK consulting company Farsight
Digital transformation company Version 1 has acquired UK-based Farsight Consulting for an undisclosed amount. Farsight Consulting has a strong track record in delivering digital transformation projects with organizations across the public sector. Adding the design expertise of Farsight to Version 1’s existing capabilities provides a powerful combination of skills and knowledge from both companies in a single place, making the customer offer one of the strongest on the market, according to a press release.
“We warmly welcome everyone from the Farsight team to Version 1 and are eager to see the positive impact that this acquisition will have for our customers and potential customers in the public sector space,” said Tom O’Connor, CEO at Version 1. “There’s no doubt that this is a perfect match of talent, experience, and expertise which we have already harnessed across several projects that we already collaborate on.”
READ: 10 digital transformation pitfalls and how to avoid them
SAP users at risk as hackers exploit application vulnerabilities
SAP business-critical applications are increasingly being targeted by cyber attackers. That’s according to new research from threat data and intelligence company Flashpoint and cyber security and compliance leader Onapsis. The findings show a significant rise in threat actor groups targeting SAP vulnerabilities and aids defenders with actionable intelligence to ensure their mission-critical SAP applications are protected from these threats.
All SAP vulnerabilities observed within the report were patched by SAP several years ago, who made the relevant SAP Security Notes promptly available for customers. This indicates that threat actors continue to target and exploit organizations with weak cyber security governance for SAP applications, mostly taking advantage of known, unpatched SAP vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. This is of special relevance as customers migrate SAP applications to the cloud, further increasing their exposure to a growing number of threat actors.
“By showing how these applications are being targeted and the increasing frequency, we hope to help CIOs, CISOs and their teams manage the risk of wide-scale attacks,” said Juan Pablo (JP) Perez-Etchegoyen, CTO at Onapsis.
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