Business Process Management in the Downturn

Today, businesses are increasingly looking to business process management (BPM) technologies. With the pressures of commoditization and globalization comes the need to find new ways to differentiate and protect margins. Traditional product differentiation is no longer sustainable and companies are really only left with three strategies: 1) accept that their products are going to come under intense margin pressure and focus on efficiencies in manufacture and distribution, 2) develop new products and features on faster cycles to continuously stay ahead, or 3) focus on the customer experience and the services that support their products as their main differentiator.

Whichever strategy (and it is usually a combination of all three) a company chooses, process becomes the central mechanism for change and control. But, process management itself is not new, so all of this is only really half of the equation. As a management discipline, process management and improvement has been around for decades (disguised as TQM, Six Sigma, Lean, etc.), but what has been missing from all of these is the ability to utilize IT as a true partner in process initiatives.

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