What is our primary use case?
I utilize it to relook at our ITSM processes to readdress and rebalance them because we've realized we have different processes for different customers we support.
Therefore, Signavio is a great place to start to identify those processes. And then, try and figure out things from these different variants.
Many processes might have the same initial steps, but later on might have different steps. Signavio helps us identify the differences and figure out - even though the process name and first five steps might be the same, steps six, seven, and eight could be different variants.
How has it helped my organization?
We use it for our support process, ITSM stack. It includes chain incidents and so on. The most complex process we discovered is how T-Systems manages change requests for different customers. We have about 550 customers, almost all with different change processes, which is understandable because sometimes you need to tie into the customer's system.
However, having 550 different variations of the same change process doesn't make sense. We're trying to rationalize it so that 80% of the process is harmonized, and the remaining 20% is unique to each customer. That's something we can live with; 550 completely different processes are not. So, that's something we recently discovered.
It has definitely reduced the time we take to do analytics or business processes. It's a great product to use.
Moreover, the collaboration hub in SAP enhances stakeholder engagement in our processes.
We've also used another product, a third-party product called ARIS. ARIS, and in one point of time, used to be commended by SAP until they decided to build their own capability in their own product suite.
So having that visual representation of the process being able to let the stakeholders look at what that process does, how it could impact something, and also model a change and see the impact of that change is invaluable.
It's not just SAP. But if you have a tool like ARIS, then it could be JDE, it could be EBS, it could be Dynamics, it could be anything. The target system doesn't matter then.
But to be able to collaborate and make decisions. Because the faster you can close down a business process, the faster that value chain can go live for a company.
What is most valuable?
The visual representation is extremely powerful and easy to use in process modeling and analysis.
I can show it to someone who doesn't know business process mapping, and they still understand because it's visually presented. It becomes easy to explain variants and what needs to change.
It's very easy and intuitive once the person understands it. It's like riding a bike. It's extremely intuitive, which is why some people on our team of 15-17 people, who had never done any business process work previously and come from a ServiceNow background, were able to see how these processes line up and model them easily.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement in analytics. People don't realize it, but the world has changed in the last six to eight months. Customers want to see AI like ChatGPT and ML capabilities in all aspects of business processes and reporting. That would be my recommendation for any OEM in this value chain.
Reporting could definitely be improved.
I would like to see new features in analytics. I like that they analyze the process and give it to me visually, but I'd like the option to use DPMM instead of just DPC. I'd also like the option to have the process map laid out top to bottom instead of horizontally.
Especially a choice between DPMN and EPC as a format. Because there are some people who are very comfortable with the EPC notation. The process is very clearly event-driven. There's an event, there's an action. It's very simple to understand.
BPMN, which is the most popular business process notation, generally tends to have multiple frames. Actually, in multiple swimlanes rather. And those frames could each represent a particular kind of entity. Maybe it's an action, maybe it's an actor, maybe it's an event.
So there are two different ways of notation. I just like Signavio to give us the ability to choose that notation. Because some companies use BPMN and some use the EPC. And then, if the minute you make that change, I'd like them to give us the flexibility of having an already plotted or vertically plotted option.
Moreover, I would like to see improvement in the visual part. It's the piece that needs improvement. Currently, you can plot the diagram horizontally or vertically. However, I'd like the option to change the way the diagram is created, like switching between different notations.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for four years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a fairly stable product.
Most issues in Signavio come about because of the initial deployment when you're looking at the target systems and the interface.
Maybe there are firewalls in between that need to be opened. You need special permissions from security for that. Otherwise, I haven't seen any big roadblocks or show-stoppers.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In the current system, about 12 users are working with it because we don't want a large team.
In one other project, it was a tiny team. The largest team had 15 people in it. So, I don't have much experience with the scalability of this product.
How are customer service and support?
No problems with tech support as long as you articulate the problem well. Signavio is in a position to answer. There are a couple of things in Signavio that I'd like better.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
For our specific use case, we decided to go with Signavio without looking at other options. We have a strong SAP team within our systems, and they are stakeholders. We asked them which process management tool they would recommend for business modeling. They suggested Signavio because they already had a good license agreement with them. So we decided to deploy it internally for our internal processes to see how well it works. We didn't do a formal evaluation.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex. The teams didn't reach out to SAP for help.
We deployed it both on the cloud and on-premises.
For the deployment process, we would have started with creating the business case or figuring out the value chains that needed to be impacted, then got into a little bit of data work, and finally the deployment.
What about the implementation team?
For the deployment, we have one product owner in the system and two maintenance staff. So just three people are maintaining this product for us. I don't think it would be any different for other companies.
It might be different because there'd be a shared services team that manages Signavio for multiple customers.
Whereas in a team if it is for the internal team, three people are enough. It's one small team that is supporting us internally.
What was our ROI?
I have seen an ROI. Within six to eight months after deploying new processes recommended by Signavio, target effort saving is achieved. If there is effort saving, it translates to cost savings.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a yearly basis license. We don't find it too expensive for our use case.
It helps us harmonize processes and those processes result in significant effort saving, then the product is paid for itself.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud