The path to a process-oriented company with Aeneis

What really makes a company stand out? Products? Employees? Technologies? All of this plays a role, but the real DNA of a company is in its processes. Processes are the often invisible framework that holds everything together: How customers are won over. How products are created. How quality is ensured and risks are minimized. Everything runs through processes.

That is why it is not a luxury, but a necessity to focus on these processes in a targeted manner. Because if you don't know your processes, you can't improve them. And anyone who doesn't improve them falls short of their potential.

Becoming a process-oriented company means sharpening attention: for relationships, for responsibilities, for optimization potential. It means creating transparency and thus a basis for quality, efficiency and sustainability. With Aeneis as a strategic tool for the digital twin of your processes, organization, documents and IT systems, you can make your processes visible, controllable and digitally usable.

From presentation to blog: First-hand knowledge

The content of this blog article is based on the following presentation Dr. Kai Krings held at our BPM symposium (customer event) in 2022. His profound practical knowledge of Aeneids' process orientation, process responsibility and product strategy was reason enough to review the key statements in an updated form for this article, with a view to the requirements and developments of 2025.

The 6 pillars of our product strategy for a process-oriented company

A process-oriented company is not created overnight. It is a development path and Aeneis was designed exactly for that: to accompany you on this journey systematically, flexibly and with a clear strategic foundation. Our product strategy for Aeneis is based on six pillars:

1. Intuitive and highly efficient usability
2. Processes and organization as a digital reflection (digital twin)
3. Digitizing and automating tasks and processes in an integrated management system (IMS)
4. Personalized views in the portal, “what concerns me” perspective for every user
   
5. Digital support for collaboration and integration into collaboration platforms as an important part of the workspace
6. Flexibility through expandability of the integrated management system with specific apps

Integration of tasks and processes in process-oriented companies

A digitally supported integrated management system (IMS) is the central place where processes, responsibilities and tasks come together and enables you to holistically manage and optimize your organization. With the Aeneis BPM software, you can model your success-relevant business processes and tasks and actively link them with each other and with other information and resources. They can derive action requirements, assign responsible persons, plan on time and understand them at any time. This creates order and gives you real ability to act in quality management during audits and as part of certifications.

With personalized portal views in Aeneis, your employees also receive exactly the information they need for their work, clearly arranged, up-to-date and without lengthy searches.

Integration into your system landscape

In many organizations, the IT landscape has grown historically: documents are stored in SharePoint, operational tasks are managed in Jira, system architectures are documented in LeanIX, and central ERP processes are implemented and controlled using SAP tools. What is often missing is a connecting element, a place where all process-relevant information is systematically brought together and made visible.

This is exactly the role of Aeneis: as a single point of truth for your process management. Thanks to open interfaces, Aeneis can be integrated into existing system landscapes and becomes a central platform on which processes, roles, tasks, risks and systems can be presented and actively managed in a linked manner.

The result: Your departments continue to work with the tools they know, but Aeneis ensures that all information is available in a consistent, audit-proof, and comprehensible process context. This creates an integrated overall picture from distributed knowledge and a strong governance framework from parallel systems.

Flexibility for added value through specific solutions

Every company works differently. That is why Aeneis not only offers a powerful standard, but also the option of implementing individual solutions, whether via own data categories, data fields and object formats, specific dashboards, automated workflows or interfaces to third-party systems.

For you, this means that you start with a robust foundation and expand Aeneis wherever your industry, processes or regulatory requirements require it. This flexibility is a real competitive advantage: you remain adaptable without sacrificing security, maintainability, or scalability.

The importance of process-oriented work

For a long time, the focus was on process documentation. And rightly so, because without a clear, comprehensible description of the processes, companies lack the foundation for quality, safety and controllability. Clean documentation is a prerequisite for analyzing, improving and later automating processes.

But in an increasingly digital and dynamic world, that is no longer enough. Today, process-oriented work means much more than just “keeping documents in order” and clarifying and fulfilling responsibilities in processes. It is about consistently aligning the entire company with its core processes, strategically, organizationally and technologically. After all, a company does not represent organizational charts or departments, but value creation. And this takes place in processes.

One thing in particular is important: clearly defined responsibility for processes and the prioritization of mission critical processes, in other words, those processes that are critical to the success of your organization. These are exactly the processes that must function even in crisis situations, which directly meet customer expectations or are relevant from a regulatory point of view. Anyone who does not have these processes under control risks inefficiency and, in case of doubt, the ability of the entire company to act.

From process model to control instrument

The mere existence of a process model is of no use. Only when processes are actively lived, continuously improved and anchored across systems does real added value arise. That is exactly what effective process orientation means: not just describe processes, but control them.

And this is always about two key objectives:

• Customer focus: Processes must be designed to meet specific needs. This is the only way to have an impact on customers and sustainable corporate success.
• Efficiency: Processes should be economical, lean and automatable. Any unnecessary effort costs money, time and motivation.
• Stability and compliance: Processes must deliver their results repeatably and reliably; harmonization and standardization are an important prerequisite.

“But the next step, that's what I mean by process orientation, is often not taken. [...] It's about efficiency, profitability, making a profit and it's about customer focus, i.e. effectiveness. ” — Dr. Kai Krings, quote from the presentation at the BPM|Symposium 2022

When processes in Aeneis are modelled and managed in such a way that both aspects come together, you create a reliable basis for continuous improvement and a culture in your company that not only documents but also lives up to the quality of results and processes.

The importance of process responsibility in an organization

Documenting and clearly modeling processes is important, but what really matters is who takes responsibility. Where responsibilities are clearly defined, the necessary momentum for continuous improvement is created.

“But the key thing is to say that I didn't just regulate responsibility in the process. Everyone knows how the process works. I also clearly defined responsibility for the process, i.e., for improving and managing the process.” — Dr. Kai Krings, quote from the presentation at the BPM|Symposium 2022

In a process-oriented organization, it is therefore essential to formulate a clear perspective and a defined goal for every mission critical process. But that's not all: We need people who are responsible for this process with regard to efficiency, quality and impact.

Process responsibility means dealing regularly and in a structured manner with the following questions:

• Is the process working as it should?
• Where are there weak points, breaks or unnecessary complexity?
• How can the process be improved and who can the ideas come from?

With clearly defined roles, responsibilities and decision-making processes, process management becomes a living part of your organizational culture. With Aeneis, you anchor these responsibilities directly in business processes and make them visible to everyone.

“[…] taking this process responsibility really seriously, establishing it properly, and then putting it into practice. Because that's what creates the momentum you need to really develop a focus on improvement.” — Dr. Kai Krings, quote from the presentation at the BPM|Symposium 2022

With Aeneis, you can improve processes in your company and take an important step towards process-oriented work.

Clear distribution of responsibilities in process-oriented companies

A common misconception in digital transformation: Changing processes is primarily an IT task. But anyone who thinks this way not only overwhelms IT departments, he or she also misses the opportunity to anchor real ownership in the specialist areas.

Because processes do not belong to IT, but to business. It is the process managers in the specialist areas who know how the processes work (or do not work), what requirements are placed on the customer side and what dependencies exist.

The following therefore applies: Responsibility belongs where the effect is created. In concrete terms, this means:

• Changes to processes should be initiated from within the organization, not as technical requirements “from above.”
• Process owners must be empowered to make decisions and initiate changes.
• IT takes on the role of enabler, not decision maker.

Only when these roles are clearly defined can processes be developed efficiently without unnecessary loops, contradictory requirements or dependencies. Aeneis supports this approach by systematically linking roles, rights and processes, thus creating the basis for structured change management.

Process responsibility is a crucial aspect of implementing changes in the company and a success factor on the way to true process orientation.

The process map for defining responsibilities

In theory, it is often clear who is responsible for which topics, but these boundaries quickly become blurred in everyday operations. Especially when several departments are involved in a process, uncertainty occurs: Who actually decides? Who is responsible? And where do all the threads come together?

The process map is a useful tool here. It serves as a visual representation of a process organization and enables a clear assignment of process owners to specific processes. It shows at a glance how processes ensure business and who controls the processes.

By linking process responsibility and process map, a reliable control model is created: Processes can be specifically improved, resources can be used wisely and goals can be effectively pursued. Companies that actively use these two components create the basis for:

• better decision making,
• stronger customer orientation
• and an organization that is constantly evolving.

You can also read more about process maps in Aeneis in our blog article The 3 most popular process maps from practice.

Functional vs. process-oriented company

Many organizations are traditionally functionally organized in clearly separated departments, with defined responsibilities and vertical reporting lines. This model has proven effective, particularly in stable markets with predictable requirements. But how sustainable is this structure in a world characterized by speed, customer expectations and regulatory complexity?

The answer is differentiated.

A complete transition to a purely process-oriented organization is ambitious and rarely seen in practice. It is particularly successful in smaller, more agile companies, where change can be implemented more quickly. Large organizations, on the other hand, often benefit from a hybrid approach that combines functional structures with process-oriented thinking.

Because: There is no obligation to move all the way to the right on the scale towards complete process orientation. But there are many good reasons not to remain exclusively on the left.

“Most are somewhere in the middle [of the full process orientation scale] and that's a good thing. So there is absolutely no reason to have to go all the way to the right [to process organization]. There are many reasons not to stay on the far left anymore. ” — Dr. Kai Krings, quote from the presentation at the BPM|Symposium 2022

Especially in dynamic, customer-driven markets, it is crucial to make processes flexible and consistent, not along departmental boundaries, but along value creation. A process-oriented structure makes it possible to react more quickly to new requirements, overcome silos and think holistically about customer experiences.

“Every form of organization has its point of application. ” — Dr. Kai Krings, quote from the presentation at the BPM|Symposium 2022

This sentence sums it up: It is not about either/or, but about the conscious decision as to which structure suits the company, the market environment and the strategic objectives. Aeneis supports exactly this path by enabling organizations to make their processes visible regardless of structure, to improve them and to manage them across the board via assigned roles and employees.

This gradually creates an organizational model that respects traditional structures but is still able to lead through process responsibilities, not just across the hierarchy.

Process orientation in the company — a continuous path

“[The path to process orientation] is a continuum because with every change in management, with every new market requirement, with every shift in the process world, there are always new options [...] and opportunities. ” — Dr. Kai Krings, quote from the presentation at the BPM|Symposium 2022

Process orientation is not a goal that you achieve once and then tick off. It is a continuous development process. With every change in the market, in technology or in the company itself, there are new requirements and new opportunities for improvement. One thing in particular is important: a pragmatic rather than dogmatic approach.

The journey usually starts with modeling and documenting the relevant processes. However, in many cases, this is not just a question of organization, but also a necessary prerequisite for meeting standards and regulatory requirements, for example from quality management, information security or risk management. Especially at the outset, it makes sense to focus on the areas that are critical to success, where compliance with standards and business relevance coincide.

Not every organization can go through all stages of maturity development linearly; processes often have to be documented, optimized and auditable at the same time. Perfection is not required here. A risk-based approach that focuses on what really counts is crucial.

The Eden maturity model cam serve as a framework for orientation: It helps to realistically assess the current state of process orientation — and to derive meaningful next steps. This is how, piece by piece, an organization is created that not only knows its processes, but lives them — in compliance with standards, customer-focused and sustainable.

Key dimensions of process orientation

Process orientation does not result from a single project, but through the interplay of several key areas, which must be well coordinated in order to effectively move your organization forward in the long term.

Strategy and organization: Orientation and leadership create impact

Without a strategic framework, process management quickly becomes an end in itself. The central question is therefore: Is your process management linked to the corporate strategy? Are clear goals defined, communicated and measurably pursued? And have roles, responsibilities and committees been established that actively manage processes?

Anyone who can provide well-founded answers to these questions has laid the foundation for process management that has an impact and not just creates documentation.

Methods: toolbox with practical focus and IT support

Effective process management depends on appropriate methods — from scoping to workshop designs to moderation aids. It is crucial that these tools are not only available but can be used, for specialist areas as well as for central units.

IT support is also a critical issue for success: Many processes are now only partially digitally represented, which leads to media breaks, coordination efforts and inefficiencies. A systematic approach helps to identify these gaps and fill them with the right infrastructure, for example through platforms such as Aeneis, which function as an integration platform.

The following applies: Not every process has to be fully automated. But all essential processes — in particular those that must meet standards — should be comprehensibly documented, supported by IT and auditable.

Skills: Focus on people and communication

Methods and systems alone are not enough; we need people who can understand, design and further develop processes. The targeted development of competencies at central and decentralized levels is therefore essential. This includes:

• Expertise in process analysis and optimization
• Ability for collaborative moderation
• Understanding of governance and risk relationships
• Ability to measure processes based on facts

Monitoring in particular is demanding: Defining the appropriate measurement points in processes and storing them with meaningful data is a supreme discipline. However, it is crucial for making potential improvements visible.

“Certainly also a high art to measure processes really well. It always sounds very simple, but it is actually challenging to identify the right measurement points in the processes so that they can be controlled in accordance with the objectives. ” — Dr. Kai Krings, quote from the presentation at the BPM|Symposium 2022

The type of communication is also an indicator of active process orientation: Is there still reporting by department or already along continuous value chains?

7 success factors for sustainable, effective process orientation

By taking these dimensions into account, you can use the following seven success factors to design targeted processes and make them the engine of entrepreneurial success:

1. A clear vision — Where should process management lead? (Also read the blog article Define process management goals and future vision)
2. Customer and stakeholder focus — What does the process bring to people who experience it? (Also read the blog article Customer and stakeholder focus via graphical process landscapes)
3. User-oriented design — Are processes documented in such a way that they really help in everyday life? (Also read the blog article Process documentation as a means of effective process orientation)
4. Transparent roles & responsibilities — Who controls what — and how visible is that? (Also read the blog article Transparent role concept and responsibilities)
5. Usable data & knowledge — Is information made intelligently usable — not just accumulated? (Also read the blog article Knowledge management in process management)
6. Effective leadership & organization — Are there people who support change?
7. Fact-based measurement and control — Are decisions supported by data — or by gut feeling?

These factors help you to reflect on the status quo and strategically plan the next steps, for example as part of annual planning, a maturity assessment or a targeted change project.

Process orientation is the key to a sustainable organization

A process-oriented organization is not created overnight, but it starts with a conscious decision: to focus on processes and align management logic, collaboration, IT and responsibility with them. Whoever follows this path gains clarity, adaptability and structure in an increasingly complex world.

Whether through process responsibility, maturity models, process maps or integrated systems, it is about using the right levers in a targeted manner while keeping an eye on the big picture. With a strong strategy, practical methods and the appropriate tools — such as Aeneis — companies create the basis for sustainable excellence in processes and organization.