Blueworks Live overview

IBM Blueworks Live is a robust cloud-based business process modeling tool that is designed to help organizations discover, model, and analyze their business processes and decisions. Accessible through a web browser, Blueworks Live allows users to collaborate seamlessly across local and distributed teams, ensuring that the tool can be accessed from anywhere. By offering a simple yet powerful platform, Blueworks Live enables organizations to streamline their business processes adhering to industry standards.

The key features and benefits are described in the following sections.

Artifacts

Artifacts refer to the various elements or components that are created and managed within the platform to document, analyze, and improve business processes. Artifacts are the building blocks that users work with to model and understand processes, decisions, and policies.

The following table describes the types of artifacts in Blueworks Live.

Artifact name	Description
Space	A workspace within Blueworks Live is where teams can collaborate on process blueprints, decisions, policy, and so on. Each space can contain various processes, and other artifacts related to a specific area of the business.
Process Blueprint	A blueprint is a high-level diagram or map of a business process within Blueworks Live. It visually represents the sequence of tasks, decisions, and interactions that make up a process. Blueprints help in understanding how a process flows from start to finish.
Process App	Using a process app in Blueworks Live, users can create and run two types of process apps: Workflow and Checklists. Workflow guides users through a series of steps in a structured process, ensuring they complete tasks in the correct order and manage approval flows including process governance. While checklists provide a more flexible approach, allowing users to mark off items as they complete them.
Decision	A decision artifact represents a specific point in a process where a choice needs to be made. Decisions often involve evaluating different criteria to determine the next steps in a process.
Policy	A policy artifact refers to the rules or guidelines that govern how a process needs to be carried out. Policies are documented within Blueworks Live to ensure that processes comply with organizational standards and regulations.

Discover and document Business Processes and Decisions

Blueworks Live simplifies the process of discovering, documenting, and visualizing business processes and decisions. With an intuitive, easy-to-use interface, users can quickly capture the workflows and decisions that drive their organization’s operations. The adoption of globally recognized modeling standards enhances this ease of use, such as BPMN 2.0 (Business Process Modeling and Notation 2.0) for process documentation and DMN (Decision Modeling and Notation) for decision-making processes. These standards ensure that the models are consistent, standardized, and easily understood across the organization.

For more information, see the following pages:

Custom process properties

Organizations often have unique requirements for process documentation. Blueworks Live provides many predefined properties to use for business processes and decisions documentation. And beyond these standard sets of properties, you can add custom attributes. These custom properties ensure that the tool meets the specific needs of an organization, capturing details that are crucial for their operations, such as organizational structure or specific regulatory requirements.

The custom properties are displayed in the Details tab for process blueprints, along with the predefined properties. Blueworks Live supports 20 custom text and 10 custom number properties. Custom Properties can be used to categorize and capture information that is common across your processes.

For example, Risk assessment (Risk Factors, Controls), Location (Region, Country, Office), Organization (Department, Line of Business, Subsidiary, Company), and so on. A custom property, Benefit Level, can be used to record the amount of benefit provided by each process in your account. This information can then be used in process analysis and prioritization exercises.

Controlled collaboration spaces

Blueworks Live enables secure, controlled collaboration by allowing teams to work in access-controlled spaces. These spaces allow teams to create, review, and refine process blueprints before sharing them with the wider organization. The platform also offers various communication tools like, Activity Streams and commenting to collaborate with team members and stakeholders. These spaces also ensure that only approved models are shared, maintaining consistency and security in documentation.

For more information, see Collaborating with your team.

Automate Workflow and Checklist Processes

In many organizations, repetitive workflow tasks and checklist-based processes are often managed through email, which can lead to inefficiencies. Blueworks Live helps automate these processes, reducing the reliance on email and enabling teams to streamline workflow tasks. Automation minimizes manual errors, accelerates execution times, and ensures that tasks are completed in a consistent and timely manner.

Glossary Management

A shared understanding of terminology is critical for effective communication and process consistency. Blueworks Live includes a glossary management feature, which allows organizations to define and refer to approved terms and definitions. This feature ensures that everyone in the organization uses the same terminology, reducing misunderstandings and increasing alignment across departments and teams.

For more information, see Building a business glossary.

Process analysis for continuous improvement

With built-in analytical tools, Blueworks Live enables organizations to assess their processes and identify areas for improvement. By visualizing process flows and understanding the relationships between various process steps, organizations can pinpoint inefficiencies or bottlenecks. This insight helps teams to optimize workflows, reduce waste, and improve overall process performance.

Playback for stakeholder engagement

Blueworks Live includes a playback feature that allows stakeholders to step through process flows interactively. This feature is valuable for generating discussion and collecting feedback from stakeholders, helping to refine processes and ensure that they align with organizational goals. Playbacks promote transparency and foster collaboration, making it easier to gain buy-in and align teams on process changes.

For more information, see Creating and running process playbacks.

Blueworks Live is a comprehensive solution for business process modeling and decision-making. It empowers organizations to model their processes and decisions efficiently, collaborate effectively, and continuously improve operations. By using industry standards and offering customization options, Blueworks Live helps organizations create clear, effective process models that drive operational excellence.

To learn more about Blueworks Live or to sign up for a free 30-day trial account, go to https://www.blueworkslive.com/ External link opens a new window or tab .

To learn how to use Blueworks Live by doing the hands-on tutorials, go to Blueworks Live Tutorial Series.