California Business Process Reengineering (CA-BPR) Framework
The California Project Management Office (CA-PMO) has developed the California Business Process Reengineering Framework (CA-BPR or BPR Framework) to provide project practitioners with a solid foundation to successfully effect business process changes within their organization when implementing new technology solutions. The CA-BPR provides guidance on business process reengineering (BPR) methods and approaches through the use of resources, tools, and templates, as well as narratives describing when specific BPR activities should be performed throughout the Project Management Lifecycle (PMLC). The CA-BPR is a companion framework to the California Project Management Framework (CA-PMF) and the California Organization Change Management Framework (CA-OCM).
The CA-BPR is designed to assist organizations in optimizing their business process to leverage and maximize the capabilities of technology. While the CA-BPR is written in the context of information technology (IT) implementation efforts, it is applicable to any type of project that requires an organization, its groups, and its people to change.
Explore an overview of the BPR Framework and access the templates by navigating the web content below. Alternatively, click on the document cover page image or here to download the CA-BPR Framework in PDF format.
Explore the CA-BPR Website
Click on a panel to expand the view and see the additional content. For the complete text see the PDF of the CA-BPR.
Introduction
Business Process Reengineering is a specific process improvement approach introduced by Michael Hammer and James Champy in the early 1990s. BPR employs the fundamental redesign of business processes to achieve major improvement over a relatively short amount of time. Because improvement goals are larger than those of incremental improvement strategies including Total Quality Management and Six Sigma, BPR embraces technology as a cornerstone of the approach. The CA-BPR provides a roadmap to conduct BPR to improve an organization’s performance in areas such as service, cost, and quality. The CA-BPR includes recommended practices, activities, tools and templates, as well as leverages multiple industry standards and resources. The intended audience for the CA-BPR includes practitioners responsible for
performing or managing BPR activities, roles that may be held by state and/or contractor resources. The CA-BPR also provides useful information to project sponsors, project participants, and Stakeholders regarding BPR concepts and best practices. Practitioners should leverage these tools and templates, as applicable, and modify them to fit their specific project needs.
Projects vary in size, type, and complexity. No matter what a project’s size or complexity, the objective(s) of BPR remains consistent; however, the approach and methods may differ to meet a specific project’s needs. BPR practitioners should adjust the level of complexity and rigor to match the needs of an individual project. The CA-BPR provides guidance and adaptability to account for these project differences.
Templates
Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a discipline that follows a consistent series of activities. The CA-BPR provides standardized templates to accompany key activities. These templates are a core component of the CA-BPR and will help the BPR Practitioner document activities and provide clear, meaningful results. In some cases, the CA-BPR refers to these templates as “tools.” A template, just like any other tool, helps get the job done.
Download Complete CA-BPR Template Collection
The CA-BPR templates include detailed instructions and example text to assist with completion. The following table contains a link to download the complete collection of the CA-BPR templates.
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Templates with Instructions |
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| Complete CA-BPR Template Collection | Download (zip) |
Download CA-BPR Templates by Process Phase or Individually
The following table contains the templates that accompany the CA-BPR separated by the Process Phase. Next to each is a brief description and corresponding link to download. Click “Download” to access the template.
Note: A selection of templates are used throughout multiple process phases in the CA-BPR. Where this occurs, the template is listed in both process phases in the table below. Also included in this table are CA-PMF templates which have been leveraged to support BPR activities. These are identified with (CA-PMF) after the template name. View all CA-PMF templates.
Process Phase / Template Name | Description of Template | Template with Instructions |
|---|---|---|
| Concept Process Phase | Download all templates within the Concept Process Phase. | Download Concept Process Phase (zip) |
| BPR Approach Assessment Template | The BPR Approach Assessment provides a method for determining if BPR is an appropriate approach for the proposed project. The assessment involves evaluating the project’s magnitude of change and the disruptiveness of the potential technology solution in order to determine the appropriate approach. | Download BPR Approach Assessment Template (doc) |
| Business Process Modeling Tool | The Business Process Modeling Tool is used by the BPR Practitioner to capture, model, and document various levels of an organization’s current and future state business processes. The tools contain templates for the model and narrative elements including process steps, preconditions, process triggers, key inputs, key outputs, policies and regulations, and supporting systems. | Download Business Process Modeling Tool (doc) |
| Project Charter Template (CA-PMF) | The Project Charter formally authorizes a project. It describes the business need for the project and the anticipated project results. It formalizes the existence of the project and provides the project with the authority to expend organizational resources to support project activities. | Download Project Charter Template (CA-PMF) (doc) |
| BPR Concept Process Phase Checklist Template | The checklist identifies the key activities that are to be completed during the Concept Process Phase. | Download BPR Concept Process Phase Checklist Template (doc) |
| Initiating Process Phase | Download all templates within the Initiating Process Phase. | Download Initiating Process Phase (zip) |
| BPR Schedule Template | This template provides a structure to document the BPR activities and tasks required during the current process phase required for the project. The BPR Practitioner coordinates closely with the Project Manager when developing the process phase schedule. Though other tools to develop and manage the schedule may be available to the BPR Practitioner, this template may be useful to help gather information from multiple team members that may not have access or be familiar with other project schedule tools. | Download BPR Schedule Template (xls) |
| Business Process Modeling Tool | The Business Process Modeling Tool is used by the BPR Practitioner to capture, model, and document various levels of an organization’s current and future state business processes. The tool contains templates for the model and narrative elements including process steps, preconditions, process triggers, key inputs, key outputs, policies and regulations, and supporting systems. | Download Business Process Modeling Tool (doc) |
| Current State Assessment Template | The Current State Assessment is a structured document that contains the BPR work products resulting from the Initiating Process Phase. This document supports the case for change by demonstrating that the BPR Practitioner performed the necessary analysis of the current state. | Download Current State Assessment Template (doc) |
| Performance Metric Assessment Template | The Performance Metric Assessment describes criteria by which the BPR Practitioner can assess performance metrics under consideration. Criteria include accuracy, alignment to goals and objectives, and availability. | Download Performance Metric Assessment Template (doc) |
| BPR Initiating Process Phase Checklist Template | The checklist identifies the key activities that are to be completed during the Initiating Process Phase. | Download BPR Initiating Process Phase Checklist Template (doc) |
| Planning Process Phase | Download all templates within the Planning Process Phase. | Download Planning Process Phase (zip) |
| BPR Schedule Template | This template provides a structure to document the BPR activities and tasks required during the current process phase required for the project. The BPR Practitioner coordinates closely with the Project Manager when developing the process phase schedule. Though other tools to develop and manage the schedule may be available to the BPR Practitioner, this template may be useful to help gather information from multiple team members that may not have access or be familiar with other project schedule tools. | Download BPR Schedule Template (xls) |
| Business Process Modeling Tool | The Business Process Modeling Tool is used by the BPR Practitioner to capture, model, and document various levels of an organization’s current and future state business processes. The tools contain templates for the model and narrative elements including process steps, preconditions, process triggers, key inputs, key outputs, policies and regulations, and supporting systems. | Download Business Process Modeling Tool (doc) |
| Performance Metric Assessment Template | The Performance Metric Assessment describes criteria by which the BPR Practitioner can assess performance metrics under consideration. Criteria include accuracy, alignment to goals and objectives, and availability. | Download Performance Metric Assessment Template (doc) |
| Performance Target Inventory Template | Documents the performance metrics and targets identified during the planning process phase. The template contains fields for Business Process ID, Performance Metric ID, Performance Metric Description, Target Value, and Target Date. Targets are used in future process phases to determine the level of performance improvement realized through the BPR effort. | Download Performance Target Inventory Template (doc) |
| BPR Planning Process Phase Checklist Template | The checklist identifies the key activities that are to be completed during the Planning Process Phase. | Download BPR Planning Process Phase Checklist Template (doc) |
| Executing Process Phase | Download all templates within the Executing Process Phase. | Download Executing Process Phase (zip) |
| BPR Schedule Template | This template provides a structure to document the BPR activities and tasks required during the current process phase required for the project. The BPR Practitioner coordinates closely with the Project Manager when developing the process phase schedule. Though other tools to develop and manage the schedule may be available to the BPR Practitioner, this template may be useful to help gather information from multiple team members that may not have access or be familiar with other project schedule tools. | Download BPR Schedule Template (xls) |
| Business Process Modeling Tool | The Business Process Modeling Tool is used by the BPR Practitioner to capture, model, and document various levels of an organization’s current and future state business processes. The tools contain templates for the model and narrative elements including process steps, preconditions, process triggers, key inputs, key outputs, policies and regulations, and supporting systems. | Download Business Process Modeling Tool (doc) |
| Performance Target Inventory Template | Documents the performance metrics and targets identified during this process phase. The template contains fields for Business Process ID, Performance Metric ID, Performance Metric Description, Target Value, and Target Date. Targets are used in future process phases to determine the level of performance improvement realized through the BPR effort. | Download Performance Target Inventory Template (doc) |
| BPR Executing Process Phase Checklist Template | The checklist identifies the key activities that are to be completed during the Executing Process Phase. | Download BPR Executing Process Phase Checklist Template/span> (doc) |
| Closing Process Phase | Download all templates within the Closing Process Phase. | Download Closing Process Phase (zip) |
| BPR Improvement Plan Template | This document is used to capture incremental improvement opportunities identified after solution implementation. Elements captured include opportunity description, priority level, timeframe, and resources assigned. | Download BPR Improvement Plan Template (doc) |
| BPR Performance Report Template | This template documents the baseline, target, and actual performance metrics associated to the reengineered business processes. The template helps to identify underperforming business processes that may be candidates for post-implementation improvements. | Download BPR Performance Report Template (xls) |
| Lessons Learned Template (CA-PMF) | The lessons learned documentation represents knowledge and experience gained during the project. It documents how project events were addressed, and how they should be addressed in the future, with the purpose of improving future performance. | Download Lessons Learned Template (CA-PMF) (doc)s |
| BPR Closing Process Phase Checklist Template | The checklist identifies the key activities that are to be completed during the Closing Process Phase. | Download BPR Closing Process Phase Checklist Template (doc) |
Chapters
The CA-BPR is comprised of eight chapters. These chapters organize content into logical domains to help readers easily navigate the document. The eight chapters of the BPR framework are:
- Overview: This initial chapter provides an introduction to the CA-BPR and its purpose and use. It discusses how specific icons and colors are used to facilitate navigation. It also offers a high-level overview of the BPR lifecycle and knowledge areas that are a core part of the BPR Framework.
- Templates: This chapter contains information about the collection of templates that are available to help the BPR Practitioner successfully conduct BPR activities.
- Concept: This chapter helps the BPR Practitioner determine the basis of the effort by first identifying whether BPR is the correct approach and beginning the development of the business case.
- Initiating: This chapter focuses on justifying the BPR effort by clearly defining the business issues and opportunities for improvement.
- Planning: This chapter provides information on how to establish the future state at a high level and determine performance targets for those business processes.
- Executing: This chapter describes principles and activities to fully develop the future state processes such that they can be implemented.
- Closing: This chapter provides guidance for closing the project and transitioning to support and continuous improvement.
- Additional Resources: This chapter provides resources to support the CA-BPR. It includes a glossary of project roles and common BPR terms.
Knowledge Areas
The CA-BPR is comprised of four knowledge areas. A knowledge area groups a set of BPR activities that share a common purpose and objective and can span across multiple PMLC process phases. The purpose of the BPR knowledge areas is to group concepts the BPR Practitioner needs to understand and the associated activities he/she will need to perform. It is important to note that knowledge areas and their associated activities often have interdependencies and interrelationships with other BPR knowledge areas.
The four knowledge areas of the CA-BPR are:
- BPR Lifecycle Management
- Business Analysis and Future Definition
- Business Process Design
- Performance Measurement
BPR Lifecycle Management focuses on managing the performance of the BPR
effort through planning and scheduling activities. These activities guide the direction and govern the sequence and resourcing of all other knowledge area activities. BPR Lifecycle Management requires continuous coordination with the Project Manager to ensure the BPR effort is integrated with other project activities and milestones.
Business Analysis and Future Definition involves the analysis of the structure, mandates, policies, and operations of an organization, and development of the future vision. The principle benefit of business analysis is to understand an organization’s current environment, thereby creating a foundation based on documented and validated facts.
Business Process Design ensures that the future state is achieved through the reengineering and modeling of business processes to improve efficiency, effectiveness, quality, and/or service. Activities in this knowledge area are core to BPR and initially involve using specific facilitation and modeling techniques to document current processes. After the current state is documented, the BPR Practitioner leads the design of the future state processes which are then implemented by the project team.
Performance Measurement ensures the improvements to current state processes are measurable. This is achieved by establishing a baseline of performance, identifying future performance targets, and measuring results after implementation. Ongoing performance measurement provides the factual basis to assess the effectiveness of business processes. Process measures include cycle time, backlogs, errors and exceptions, costs, scrap or waste, handoffs, and volume.
Tailoring Your BPR Efforts
The CA-BPR provides guidance on when specific knowledge area activities should occur during a project and aligns them with the PMLC, however, each BPR Practitioner will need to determine the relative applicability and timing of each knowledge area for their organization and project. Guidance on how to approach tailoring BPR efforts to specific projects and project needs is provided throughout the CA-BPR.
The figure below depicts a single, overarching goal for each knowledge area in addition to specific knowledge area goals within each process phase where there are associated activities.
Key Elements
The CA-BPR contains seven categories of information to help the BPR Practitioner navigate the framework. These categories, referred to as key elements, include:
- Recommended Practices: Techniques or methods that, through experience and research, help achieve a desired result.
- Inputs: Information and/or documents that feed into a process.
- Roles: Roles for project Stakeholders, including a list of key responsibilities associated with process phase and knowledge area activities.
- Skills: Special or unique human expertise that should be applied to achieve a successful project outcome.
- Activities: Actions or activities for the BPR Practitioner to undertake.
- Tools: Templates or other resources to help create project outputs. Templates are documents that have been pre-developed for project use.
- Outputs: Work products that are developed.
FAQ
The following list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) questions have been developed to help you navigate the CA-BPR. If you have a question that is not addressed, feel free to contact us.
- What is BPR and do I need it?
- What is the purpose of the CA-BPR?
- What is the audience of the CA-BPR?
- How was the CA-BPR developed?
- Are Agencies and state entities (including their vendors or contractors) required to use the CA-BPR even though they may have their own or other tools?
- How does the CA-BPR relate to the CA-PMF?
- How does the CA-BPR relate to the Project Approval Lifecycle (PAL)?
- I have a question that is not addressed regarding the CA-BPR. Who can I contact?
1. What is BPR and do I need it?
BPR stands for Business Process Reengineering. BPR is a discipline that follows a consistent series of activities to allow projects to plan, assess, design, and optimize their business processes to leverage and maximize the capabilities of technology. Any change initiative that impacts the business processes within an organization can benefit from BPR. Incorporating BPR practices in your project plan will help your organization optimize your business processes.
2. What is the purpose of the CA-BPR?
The purpose of the CA-BPR is to assist organizations in their redesign of business processes to achieve improvements in performance, such as: reduced costs, improved services, increased revenue, etc. While the CA-BPR is written in the context of information technology (IT) implementation efforts, it can be applicable to almost any type of project.
3. What is the audience of the CA-BPR?
The intended audience for the CA-BPR includes project practitioners involved in initiatives that affect the business processes within an organization. The CA-BPR provides useful information to Project Sponsors, project participants, and Stakeholders regarding BPR concepts and best practices.
4. How was the CA-BPR developed?
The CA-BPR was developed by the California Project Management Office (CA-PMO) of the California Department of Technology (CDT) to provide a practical guide on projects that require changes to an organization’s business processes.
5. Are Agencies and state entities (including their vendors or contractors) required to use the CA-BPR even though they may have their own or other tools?
The use of the CA-BPR is not mandated, but it does provide a foundation of best practice guidance for state organizations to leverage when undergoing a BPR effort. This is unlike the CA-PMF where agencies and state entities must follow the CA-PMF unless they have an alternative PMBOK-based framework that is comparable, as stated in 4819.31 of SAM Section 4800.
6. How does the CA-BPR relate to the CA-PMF?
The CA-BPR aligns with the CA-PMF and other frameworks that support the project delivery effort. CA-BPR activities span the Project Management Lifecycle (PMLC) and are grouped within PMLC process phases like the CA-PMF. It is important to recognize the integration points among the different frameworks and their associated lifecycles.
7. How does the CA-BPR relate to the Project Approval Lifecycle (PAL)?
he PAL is the state’s process for approving IT projects. The PAL is intended to ensure projects are undertaken with clear business objectives, accurate costs, and realistic schedules. The CA-BPR provides guidance that can be leveraged when preparing materials required by PAL in areas that address business process reengineering.
8. I have a question that is not addressed regarding the CA-BPR. Who can I contact?
Feel free to contact us.
Related Frameworks
The CA-BPR aligns with the CA-PMF and other frameworks that support the project implementation effort. CA-BPR activities span the PMLC and are grouped within PMLC process phases. It is important to recognize the integration points among the different frameworks and their associated lifecycles. The BPR lifecycle refers to a series of activities that are conducted to address the people-side of a change initiative. Access related frameworks here or at .