Cool Tools: Process Mapping

I get inundated with files whenever I define business processes for clients: Visio flows, supporting Word documentation, extraneous files my client would like me to keep with everything I’m generating.  I recently learned that keeping all those files straight doesn’t have to be a chore anymore. Lombardi Software’s Blueprint application does it for me in their smartly designed and very usable process  mapping application. Offered up as Software as a Service, it really couldn’t get any easier.

I simply identify milestones, tasks and subtasks through levels of indentation in a Discovery Map view, and let Blueprint dynamically generate a very accurate process map. In the Process Diagram view, I can finesse details like decision path names and color-coding, before turning my attention to the Documentation view.

I like that I can write documentation directly into the application, and associate it with any milestone or task. I can use their simple forms to identify key stakeholders and define the data flow. Even better, I can attach any  kind of document to exactly the milestone or process step it pertains to. Blueprint’s views are all integrated, so a change to one dynamically updates the others.

As a Web 2.0 collaborative application, I can invite colleagues to share my account with me so we can work together, or to simply review the work I’ve created. I can also export anything I create in Blueprint to Word, PowerPoint or Acrobat Reader to share with colleagues who are not subscribed. But at $10/month for a view-only license, there’s hardly a reason to go there.

When I had a few new-user questions about the app, the folks at Lombardi Software were very responsive and helpful, not only answering my questions but sharing tips and suggesting some other features that would make my job even easier.

I spend quite a bit of my time assessing enterprise solutions for clients. Blueprint is dead easy to use, very affordable, and from a group of people you’d like to give the business to. That’s about as good as it gets.