Over the past decade, organizations have rapidly transformed how they do business and deliver services. Accelerated by the pandemic, digital transformation is underway and shows no sign of slowing. So how does BPM play into it?
Every day, we hear of advancements in the digitization of our lives.
To keep up with this rapid rate of change and the increased customer demands on business, organizations
must have a high level of agility in their operations.
They need to be able to change course to take advantage of new opportunities quickly.
If they cannot do this, you can guarantee that another business is waiting in the wings that will offer your customers the advantages you have been unable to deliver.
Digital transformation has had a significant impact on customer loyalty. Rather than blindly staying on the same ship, customers will jump very quickly if the competitor's services are more appealing, exciting, and cost-effective. Streaming services are a perfect example, with consumers rapidly changing for lower prices and better content.
Digital Transformation Competitive Advantage
The saying "if you snooze, you lose" has never been more accurate than it is today. If you take your eye off the ball at any time, someone else will grab it and plant it firmly between the goal posts.
Digital Transformation has lowered the barrier of entry, enabling upstart businesses to enter the market. Air BnB competes with hotels without having to own any real estate. Uber doesn't own cars or employ drivers (they are contractors), and Amazon has no storefronts.
Your processes must quickly adapt to allow your business to rapidly take a new direction in response to changing market dynamics.
A mature Business Process Management (BPM) capability is critical if this is going to be successful.
Increased customer expectations and constant regulatory changes in many industries put businesses under unprecedented performance pressure.
Along with this pressure come exciting opportunities for those organizations who can react quickly and seize advantages out of what can appear to be chaos.
Creating a balance between rapid IT innovation and business objectives provides a real opportunity to grow and gain a competitive advantage.
BPM is the pathway to harnessing these opportunities, allowing organizations to leverage advanced technology, tying that in with their existing organization assets, and creating more innovative processes.
Doing this will increase operational efficiencies, improve customer services and provide superior business agility.
Business Process Management and Digital Transformation
A well-developed Business Process Management capability allows for rapid automation and optimization of business processes. Still, the increased agility this capability brings to the organization is even more critical.
BPM is essential if a business is efficient enough to respond to changing market dynamics. Business processes must be repeatable and efficient but, simultaneously, flexible and ready to be changed quickly when the market moves.
BPM is the glue that brings technology and the business together, providing the knowledge and capability to make investment decisions on new technologies and digitization opportunities. BPM allows the IT organization to become an enabler and innovator within the business.
Mature BPM will allow you to demonstrate the alignment between technology and customer/business outcomes. It can illustrate the connection between new technological capabilities and the end-to-end value of the process.
Without Business Process Management, today's businesses are unlikely to be able to keep pace as digital transformation changes the business landscape forever. Agility, the ability to change direction quickly with minimal disruption, is the only way that businesses will be able to compete in this new world.
Originally published Oct 03, 2016 11:51, updated Jul 20, 2022
