Business process re-engineering is the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization.

According to Davenport (1990) a business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Re-engineering is the basis for many recent developments in management. The cross-functional team, for example, has become popular because of the desire to re-engineer separate functional tasks into complete crossfunctional processes.[citation needed] Also, many recent management information systems developments aim to integrate a wide number of business functions. Enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, knowledge management systems, groupware and collaborative systems, Human Resource Management Systems and customer relationship management. Business process re-engineering is also known as business process redesign, business transformation, or business process change managemen Business process re-engineering (BPR) began as a private sector technique to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. A key stimulus for re-engineering has been the continuing development and deployment of sophisticated information systems and networks. Leading organizations are becoming bolder in using this technology to support innovative business processes, rather than refining current ways of doing work.[1]

Reengineering guidance and relationship of Mission and Work Processes to Information Technology. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is basically the fundamental re-thinking and radical redesign, made to an organization's existing resources. It is more than just business improvising. It is an approach for redesigning the way work is done to better support the organization's mission and reduce costs. Reengineering starts with a high-level assessment of the organization's mission, strategic goals, and customer needs. Basic questions are asked, such as "Does our mission need to be redefined? Are our strategic goals aligned with our mission? Who are our

customers?" An organization may find that it is operating on questionable assumptions, particularly in terms of the wants and needs of its customers. Only after the organization rethinks what it should be doing, does it go on to decide how best to do it.[1] Within the framework of this basic assessment of mission and goals, re-engineering focuses on the organization's business processesthe steps and procedures that govern how resources are used to create products and services that meet the needs of particular customers or markets. As a structured ordering of work steps across time and place, a business process can be decomposed into specific activities, measured, modeled, and improved. It can also be completely redesigned or eliminated altogether. Re-engineering identifies, analyzes, and re-designs an organization's core business processes with the aim of achieving dramatic improvements in critical performance measures, such as cost, quality, service, and speed.[1] Re-engineering recognizes that an organization's business processes are usually fragmented into subprocesses and tasks that are carried out by several specialized functional areas within the organization. Often, no one is responsible for the overall performance of the entire process. Reengineering maintains that optimizing the performance of subprocesses can result in some benefits, but cannot yield dramatic improvements if the process itself is fundamentally inefficient and outmoded. For that reason, re-engineering focuses on re-designing the process as a whole in order to achieve the greatest possible benefits to the organization and their customers. This drive for realizing dramatic improvements by fundamentally re-thinking how the organization's work should be done distinguishes re-engineering from process improvement efforts that focus on functional or incremental improvement.[1]

[edit] History
The role of information technology

Information technology (IT) has historically played an important role in the reengineering concept[9]. It is considered by some as a major enabler for new forms of working and collaborating within an organization and across organizational borders[citation needed]. Early BPR literature [10] identified several so called disruptive technologies that were supposed to challenge traditional wisdom about how work should be performed.

Shared databases, making information available at many places Expert systems, allowing generalists to perform specialist tasks Telecommunication networks, allowing organizations to be centralized and decentralized at the same time Decision-support tools, allowing decision-making to be a part of everybody's job Wireless data communication and portable computers, allowing field personnel to work office independent Interactive videodisk, to get in immediate contact with potential buyers Automatic identification and tracking, allowing things to tell where they are, instead of requiring to be found High performance computing, allowing on-the-fly planning and revisioning

In the mid 1990s, especially workflow management systems were considered as a significant contributor to improved process efficiency. Also ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) vendors, such as SAP, JD Edwards, Oracle, PeopleSoft, positioned their solutions as vehicles for business process redesign and improvement. In process reengineering, as in all improvement initiatives, assessments should be made in terms of cost/benefit analysis, and risk analysis. However, even the assessments should be done with a sense of urgency since process reengineering requires speed as well as radical redesign. Documentation of results will serve as the baseline for future improvements. The various improvement methodologies (i.e., continuous improvement and process reengineering) should not be used as separate efforts but rather as two approaches within a single improvement initiative. In fact, a single flowchart can be used to make choices regarding both continuous process improvement and process reengineering. Both gradual continuous improvement and process reengineering should be an integral part of process management. In process reengineering, as in all improvement initiatives, assessments should be made in terms of cost/benefit analysis, and risk analysis. However, even the assessments should be done with a sense of urgency since process reengineering requires speed as well as radical redesign. Documentation of results will serve as the baseline for future improvements. The various improvement methodologies (i.e., continuous improvement and process reengineering) should not be used as separate efforts but rather as two approaches within a single improvement initiative. In fact, a single flowchart can be used to make choices regarding both continuous process improvement and process reengineering. Both gradual continuous improvement and process reengineering should be an integral part of process management.
Related glossary terms: disruptive innovation, business process management (BPM), mission mode project (MMP), organizational change management (OCM), IT innovation, vendor management office (VMO), ideation management , IT business transformation, self-directed work team (SDWT), skunkworks (Skunk Works) Ideation management, sometimes referred to as idea management, is a formalization of the processes involved in gathering, sharing, analyzing and executing on ideas generated within an enterprise and its collaborative networks.

Business process management (BPM) is a systematic approach to making an organization's workflow more effective, more efficient and more capable of adapting to an ever-changing environment. A business process is an activity or set of activities that will accomplish a specific organizational goal. The goal of BPM is to reduce human error and miscommunication and focus stakeholders on the requirements of their roles. BPM is a subset of infrastructure management, an administrative area concerned with maintaining and optimizing an organization's equipment and core operations.

BPM is often a point of connection within a company between the line-of-business (LOB) and the IT department. Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) and Business Process Management Notation (BPMN
Learn More

BPM Storage Leadership

) were both created to facilitate communication between IT and the LOB. Both languages are easy to read and learn, so that business people can quickly learn to use them and design processes. Both BPEL and BPMN adhere to the basic rules of programming, so that processes designed in either language are easy for developers to translate into hard code. There are three different kinds of BPM frameworks available in the market today. Horizontal frameworks deal with design and development of business processes and are generally focused on technology and reuse. Vertical BPM frameworks focus on a specific set of coordinated tasks and have pre-built templates that can be readily configured and deployed. Full-service BPM suites have five basic components:

Process discovery and project scoping Process modeling and design Business rules engine Workflow engine Simulation and testing

While on-premise business process management (BPM) has been the norm for most enterprises, advances in cloud computing have lead to increased interest in on-demand, software as a service (SaaS) offerings. See also: business process outsourcing (BPO), Web Services Description Language (WSDL), enterprise application integration (EAI), business process reengineering (BPR), business activity monitoring (BAM)
A mission mode project (MMP) is an individual project within the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) that focuses on one aspect of electronic governance, such as banking, land records or commercial taxes.

Information technology (IT) innovation in an enterprise involves using technology in new ways to create a more efficient organization and improve alignment between technology initiatives and business goals. IT innovation can take many forms. For instance, it can be used to turn business processes into automated IT functions, develop applications that open new markets, or implement desktop virtualization to increase manageability and cut hardware costs.

Many companies try to institutionalize the process of innovation by creating innovation teams from diverse segments of the company. Other firms rely on i

The translation of data into a secret code. Encryption is the most effective way to achieve data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have access to a secret key or password that enables you to decrypt it. Unencrypted data is called plain text ; encrypted data is referred to as cipher text. There are two main types of encryption: asymmetric encryption (also called public-key encryption) and symmetric encryption.

Encryption is the conversion of data into a form, called a ciphertext, that cannot be easily understood by unauthorized people. Decryption is the process of converting encrypted data back into its original form, so it can be understood. The use of encryption/decryption is as old as the art of communication. In wartime, a cipher, often incorrectly called a code, can be employed to keep the enemy from obtaining the contents of transmissions. (Technically, a code is a means of representing a signal without the intent of keeping it secret; examples are Morse code and ASCII.) Simple ciphers include the substitution of letters for numbers, the rotation of letters in the alphabet, and the "scrambling" of voice signals by inverting the sideband frequencies. More
Learn More

Disk Encryption and File Encryption Government IT Security Management Security

complex ciphers work according to sophisticated computer algorithms that rearrange the data bits in digital signals. In order to easily recover the contents of an encrypted signal, the correct decryption key is required. The key is an algorithm that undoes the work of the encryption algorithm. Alternatively, a computer can be used in an attempt to break the cipher. The more complex the encryption algorithm, the more difficult it becomes to eavesdrop on the communications without access to the key. Encryption/decryption is especially important in wireless communications. This is because wireless circuits are easier to tap than their hard-wired counterparts. Nevertheless, encryption/decryption is a good idea when carrying out any kind of sensitive transaction, such as a credit-card purchase online, or the discussion of a company secret between different departments in the organization. The stronger the cipher -- that is, the harder it is for

unauthorized people to break it -- the better, in general. However, as the strength of encryption/decryption increases, so does the cost. In recent years, a controversy has arisen over so-called strong encryption. This refers to ciphers that are essentially unbreakable without the decryption keys. While most companies and their customers view it as a means of keeping secrets and minimizing fraud, some governments view strong encryption as a potential vehicle by which terrorists might evade authorities. These governments, including that of the United States, want to set up a key-escrow arrangement. This means everyone who uses a cipher would be required to provide the government with a copy of the key. Decryption keys would be stored in a supposedly secure place, used only by authorities, and used only if backed up by a court order. Opponents of this scheme argue that criminals could hack into the key-escrow database and illegally obtain, steal, or alter the keys. Supporters claim that while this is a possibility, implementing the key escrow scheme would be better than doing nothing to prevent criminals from freely using encryption/decryption.
Related glossary terms: data key, network encryption (network layer or network level encryption), block cipher, one-time pad, quantum cryptography, Escrowed Encryption Standard (EES), Quiz: Cryptography, stream cipher, output feedback (OFB), Data Encryption Standard (DES)

Strong encryption like TLS (Transport Layer Security) and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) will also keep your data private though they can't always ensure its security. Website that uses these types of encryption may be verified with the procedure of checking the digital signature on its certificate that in turn must be validated by an approved Certificate Authority.

Email encryption is the process of converting plain text (the original message and attachments) to cipher text, and serves two functions: (1) maintain confidentiality (2) establish non-reputability that is, the sender cannot disclaim the contents of the

message. Policy-based encryption is about enforcing encryption according to a policy defined by the organization, automatically encrypting and decrypting email based on specific considerations. When considering policy-based email encryption, there are best practices that an organization can follow for policybased email encryption, and Ive outlined a few in this column, specifically around Transport Layer Security, S/MIME Gateway Encryption, End-to-end Encryption and NoClient-Side-Software-Required solutions. The column highlights some of the more common technologies and how they address different use cases.

The first step in deploying policy-based encryption is to define the requirements of the policy, because the requirements will drive the specific technologies deployed. Companies should answer the following questions before choosing an encryption technology: Must a receiver be able to prove that a certain end-user sent a message? Must I secure the contents from the moment it is sent by a user all the way to the recipient? Must I only secure the contents while it is in transit to its destination? Must I secure the emails headers as well as the contents of the message? Must I establish the identity of the remote server that I am talking to? Are the recipients on public servers and therefore the message must be received and stored as cipher text? When receiving encrypted email, do I decrypt it or delivery the cipher text to the end user? Must I scan inbound encrypted messages for viruses? Do I need to archive plain text? Do I need to recover plain text if the recipient leaves the organization? Transport Layer Security (TLS) TLS is an Internet standard extension to SMTP. It is universally supported in mail transfer agents (MTAs). With TLS, an SSL encrypted tunnel is negotiated between the SMTP client and the SMTP server similar to SSL between a web browser and web server. It requires at least one side of the connection have an X.509 certificate. Both the SMTP client and the SMTP server may enforce some policy associated with TLS, for example, cipher strength, and whether the certificate presented verifies. Because the certificate can be verified, TLS can be used as an authentication method as well as an encryption method. TLS is simple to implement, all you need is a certificate. The drawback is that it only secures the email from eavesdropping during transmission across the network. Furthermore, there is no way to make sure that TLS is used during every hop the email makes as it is routed from server to server until delivery to the recipients mailbox. S/MIME Gateway Encryption

S/MIME Gateway (SMG) encryption is not an Internet standard, but many email products support it and interoperate. The purpose of SMG is to allow two organizations to establish encrypted links with each other by exchanging organizational keys (certificates) and having the email servers automatically encrypt and decrypt messages between the organizations. The advantage of S/MIME Gateway over TLS is that regardless of any intermediate SMTP hop, such as an anti-spam cloud filtering service, the email is secured, because it is converted to an S/MIME cipher text email message. The disadvantage of S/MIME gateway is that unlike TLS, the email headers and subject are not encrypted and may be read by an intermediary and it cannot used to authenticate a connection. Therefore in some use cases both TLS and S/MIME Gateway might need to be used. Deployment of S/MIME Gateway requires a key exchange between the two parties establishing the encrypted link. This adds an administrative overhead. Notice that because the encryption is server-to-server and not end-user-to-end-user, S/MIME Gateway encryption does not provide non-reputability, nor is the email ultimately delivered into the recipients mailbox as cipher text. It is used mainly for business-tobusiness communication. End-to-end Encryption End-to-end encryption is the most secure means of encryption and can provide nonreputability. Most modern email clients have the Internet standard S/MIME encryption built in. Other end-to-end encryption solutions require a plug-in or other software to use. The technologies do not necessarily interoperate i.e., S/MIME and PGP are not compatible. These schemes require a key exchange between end users in order to use them. Once the key exchange has been done, the users may be able to exchange email that cannot be read or modified. These encryption schemes are very complex to deploy and manage for an entire organization. They require deploying desktop software (special desktop solutions are required to enforce encryption policy on the desktop), creating and maintaining a public key infrastructure for sharing keys, and they also introduce problems in email management such as archiving email messages in plain text and virus scanning email. Because key exchanges are required, end-to-end encryption is not useful for securing ad hoc email communications in a business-to-consumer environment. No-client-side-software-required Solutions Numerous companies have offered encryption solutions for simplifying the business-to-consumer challenge. The sender does not have to have a public key in order to encrypt email to a recipient, nor does a recipient need any special software in order to open and read an encrypted email. These schemes usually work through a

web-based process obviating the need for any client-side software. Policy is enforced in the mail server. They can be deployed as either an on-premises or cloud-based solution and are an excellent compromise between security and usability. They generally meet regulatory standards for protecting privacy, such as HIPAA and FERPA. In the end, companies that take into consideration their defined requirements combined with these best practices for policy based email encryption will be able to best determine which types of email encryption need to be deployed. For example, the table below summarizes how each technology fits the use case requirements:

Greg Olsen is Director of Business Development at Sendmail, Inc. Greg has more than 20 years of experience as an IT professional. He has been designing, deploying, and managing SMTP email infrastructures for 17 years. He has broad industry experience across high technology, higher education, government, and financial services industries. In his current role at Sendmail, Inc., he manages the thirdparty technology partnerships, including VMWare, and the open source initiatives of Sendmail. Previous Columns by Greg Olsen: When to Deploy a Load Balancer for Email The Other Things You Can Do With TLS

Are You Blocking Your Own Email? Converged Infrastructure Implications for Email Security Leveraging an Email Backbone for Mailbox Migration
Designing Security for Newly Networked Devices Introduction to Security for Smart Devices w/ Free Software Trial Mitigation of Security Vulnerabilities on Android & Other Open Handset Platforms Free Whitepaper Replace Tokens With Phone Authentication Developers Guide for Implementing SSH on Devices: w/ Free Software Attacks on Mobile and Embedded Systems: Current Trends Security Focus on Consumer

One of the most important security components in TFS Secure Messaging is the ability to encrypt email messages coming into and going out of the organization. The capabilities of both OpenPGP and S/MIME can be used with the Secure Messaging Server. Since the handling of the encryption keys is performed at the server level, the end-users do not have to remember when to encrypt, where the keys are located or master any encryption software. This of course saves time and allows the administrator to get a good general view of the organizations encryption key policies. Secure Messaging supports both OpenPGP and S/MIME, by far the most trusted and most popular encryption algorithms available. The Server is not only compatible with both OpenPGP and S/MIME, it can handle a transaction between the two encryption types.

OpenPGP
OpenPGP encryption converts information into something unintelligible and then reconverts it back into an intelligible form by using two keys, one public and one private. The private key is kept private and stored on the Server. The other key as the name implies, is made public. The public key is used to encrypt a message and the corresponding private key is the only one that can decrypt that message. OpenPGP relies on users to exchange keys and establish trust in each other. This process is called a Web of Trust. This web involves people (or companies) trusting other people (or companies) directly, without a third party.

S/MIME
S/MIME uses a similar approach as OpenPGP, except that S/MIME generates keys through a Certificate Authority (CA). CAs create private/public key pairs along with X.509 digital certificates. The X.509 format is used due to its wide acceptance as the standard for digital certificates. The Server supports keys generated as a result of getting an X.509 certificate. S/MIME utilizes hierarchies in which the roles of the user and the certifier are formalized as opposed to the trust relationship involved in OpenPGP. A third-party (the Certificate Authority)

establishes the trust that is assigned to public keys.

Encryption Process
After writing a message, and including possible attachments, the following happens in the originator's Secure Messaging Server (if used) : 1. Your private key is used to sign the message. This process results in a digital signature and is later used to verify the sender and the content of the message. For each intended recipient, the message, attachments and the digital signature can be sealed (encrypted) with the recipients public key. This ensures that only the recipient can read the message.

2.

Before the recipient can read the message, the following happens in the recipients Secure Messaging Server (if used): 1. Using the recipients private key, the message can be decrypted. (If the process would be stopped here, the recipient would be able to read the message.) Using the originator's public key, the digital signature is verified, thereby proving that both the sender and content are authentic and completely untampered.

2.

--

What is the process of encrypting emails?

I have an assignment that has instructed me to describe the process of email encryption. please help. I have no idea how to do it.

2 years ago Report Abuse

Additional Details
Thank you both for very good info. I really appreciated it. I wish I was computer savvy.

2 years ago

by Mr Vellore Member since: September 01, 2007

Total points: 7,768 (Level 5)

Add Contact Block

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Encryption Process After writing a message, and including possible attachments, the following happens in the originator's Secure Messaging Server (if used) : 1. Your private key is used to sign the message. This process results in a digital signature and is later used to verify the sender and the content of the message. 2. For each intended recipient, the message, attachments and the digital signature can be sealed (encrypted) with the recipients public key. This ensures that only the recipient can read the message. Before the recipient can read the message, the following happens in the recipients Secure Messaging Server (if used): 1. Using the recipients private key, the message can be decrypted. (If the process would be stopped here, the recipient would be able to read the message.) 2. Using the originator's public key, the digital signature is verified, thereby proving that both the sender and content are authentic and completely untampered. http://www.productivity501.com/digital-signatures-encryption/4710/ (usefull Doc.)

http://help.aol.com/help/microsites/microsite.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=75643