Business process management (BPM) is the key to the success and survival of businesses weathering the global economic storm, said Tim Stanley, EMEA regional sales director for Global360.
The ITWeb process transformation executive forum, sponsored by Global360, was held at the Southern Sun, in Grayston. The forum discussed how companies should use this crucial time to start rethinking and redesigning their business process optimisation models, in order to cut costs, improve efficiency, gain return on investment and retain customers.
Global research firm Gartner forecast worldwide IT spending to decline this year by 3.8%, to reach $3.2 trillion. Gartner said this comes after last year's IT revenue reached nearly $3.4 trillion. However, indications for IT spend in SA remain positive, with growth predicted to be between 2% to 3%. Companies are increasingly turning to BPM to achieve cost savings in a 'do or die' business environment.
Stanley said: “Now is the best time to revise one's processes. There is a huge global interest in BPM at the moment. From the recent Gartner BPM summit, 68% of companies are cutting operating costs and using IT to leverage its business process. There is opportunity now to really improve the way business is done. The general CIO's top three priorities (respectively) are BPM, reducing enterprise costs and improving enterprise workforce effectiveness.”
One of the biggest challenges in the adoption of BPM is trying to change the mindset and involvement of executives, he said. BPM is not an exclusive IT issue, but rather a business issue: “In terms of implementing a process mindset strategy, the business needs to understand the processes, and challenge those processes to improve the way the business works. It's also about getting involvement and collaboration with people, and to share the information with management.”
No silver bullet
However, Stanley said BPM is not a silver bullet, and companies need to become smart and challenge the way business is done. “Just because you automate something doesn't mean that the work is going to go faster. The market, business and customers are evolving. People need to challenge the way they work and think. It's not easy - it's a hard process to implement, and to set objectives upfront is very important. Change the way people operate on a day-to-day basis. Set up a body of knowledge.”
Global360 is a global BMP solutions provider, with headquarters in the US.
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