Process escapades | Part 3: IT orders
Process escapades that you (don’t) want to experience
Inspired by the well-known book series “30 Escapades You Must Experience”, we take you on a special journey through everyday working life—to places where processes fail, chaos reigns and employees struggle with problems that could have been solved long ago. These are not adventures that you seek out voluntarily. But they are precisely the challenges that many companies have to deal with every day.
We show you three typical escapades that are exemplary for many: sometimes funny, sometimes chaotic, but always with real insight value. And we’ll show you how structured, digital and partially automated BPMN processes can be used to create clear, comprehensible and efficient workflows even from muddled situations—with tangible added value for everyone involved. Because if you really understand processes, you can not only improve them, but also use them in a targeted manner to relieve employees, ensure compliance and increase satisfaction in day-to-day work.
Our stops on this journey:
- From the authorization chaos in HR service, which can only be tamed with structure and clarity.
- From ticket routing in the service desk, which finds a new way between stray tickets and AI intelligence.
- Right through to the ordering process, where an absurd helmet requirement suddenly becomes a serious process blockage.
When construction site processes are not secure—and how a construction plan from BPMN can turn things around
The building site is there. The equipment is missing. And nobody knows where the application has gone. This is how many IT procurement processes begin—or rather, what was intended as a process but was never structured.
In practice, we encounter order processes that are hidden behind email chaos, Excel lists and telephone notes. There is no defined process, no status display, no reliable documentation. Everyone does it a little differently—depending on the department, contact person or personal habit.
This leads to a situation that quickly earns the nickname “construction site” in IT—not because construction is underway, but because there are bottlenecks at every turn. Requests pile up. Responsibilities become blurred. And in the end, nobody knows whether an application has even been submitted—let alone whether it has been approved or implemented.
The basic problem: a process without a plan
A closer look reveals the same symptoms everywhere: a lack of transparency, manual coordination, individual workarounds and a complete lack of a common understanding of how an ordering process should work. Those involved are working at cross purposes—not with wrong intent, but simply because there is no defined process.
A real-life example makes this clear: In a banking group with around 800 employees, specializing in real asset investments, all IT orders were placed via individual manual requests. Anyone who needed hardware wrote an email, called or sent an Excel spreadsheet—whichever was quicker. The service provider who was supposed to deliver the hardware was often not involved. There were no interfaces to inventory systems. And the documentation? Not a thing.
IT tried to keep track of everything somehow. But with a constant stream of new individual cases, a lack of traceability and a flood of queries, everyone involved quickly reached their limits. What was missing was a plan. Or rather, a blueprint.
The turning point: BPMN as a blueprint for the ordering process
The solution did not start with a new tool, but with a change of perspective. Instead of continuing to deal with symptoms, the process was redesigned from scratch—with the help of BPMN. The goal: a standardized, comprehensible and documented process for all IT orders—regardless of who is ordering or what is needed.
BPMN was used to create a binding blueprint: All steps were modeled, roles defined and responsibilities clarified. A self-service portal was introduced that employees can use to enter their orders in a standardized way—intuitively, comprehensibly and always in the same way. Approvals are automated via stored decision paths. REST APIs directly connect external systems such as the ordering platform, the approval tool and the inventory system. Media disruptions disappear, manual effort is reduced and the current status of each process can be viewed at any time.
The results speak for themselves. Throughput times have fallen. Follow-ups have decreased significantly. And confidence in the process has increased noticeably—both among users and in IT itself.
Or as one participant summed it up: “Since we started building processes with Plan, we only wear helmets for style reasons.”
Conclusion: three escapades, one common thread—and many good reasons for BPMN
Whether it’s authorization chaos, ticket trouble or an IT construction site—each of the three escapades shows in its own way how quickly processes can get out of hand if there is a lack of structure. And each shows just as clearly how effectively a well thought-out BPMN-based process can counter these challenges.
What we have learned: Clear processes do not mean bureaucracy—they create orientation. Communication becomes simpler, responsibilities clearer, decisions more comprehensible. And, incidentally, a system is created that not only works today, but can be developed further.
When employees can access standardized self-service offerings, when IT processes are automated without errors and when everyone involved knows where they stand, more than just efficiency is created. It creates a working environment that builds trust, opens up scope and frees up resources where they are really needed.
With BPMN, you take processes out of the darkness of individual routines—and bring them to the light of a common understanding.
This allows you to escape the daily grind, broaden your horizons—and measurably increase satisfaction within the organization. The challenges have been overcome. And the path is clear for the next process adventure.