maximizing results with technology-enabled business process reengineering

By Greg Robinson

I’ve spent the majority of my career working in the gap (sometimes a chasm) between the technology side and the business operations side of organizations. This can be tricky, and sometimes a downright risky position.

This slight twist in priorities often rears its head when companies begin to look at improvement initiatives. Many technologists will argue that you first install the technology, and then you change processes to take advantage of the technology. They’ll say, “How can you improve the process if you don’t know about the technology to be used and what it can do?”

Process purists will just as adamantly argue that you should improve the processes and then add technology to automate the remaining activities. Their point is that if you don’t improve the process first, you will end up automating a bad process.

I think both arguments are correct. The technology industry has created some excellent technologies, and it is important to know what technologies are available and what they can do to ensure that you’re achieving the maximum potential in an improvement initiative. It is also important to ensure that the focus remains on improving the business, not installing the technology. In order to maximize the impact of the technology and the improvement to the business, you must integrate the technology and the process. This type of initiative is what I refer to as “Technology-enabled Business Process Reengineering.”

To succeed at this type of initiative, you first have to be clear about what you’re trying to improve and why. Are you trying to improve service, profitability, quality or a combination of these? If the endpoint is not clear, the path will be even less clear.

Next, it is important to know what technologies are available and how they can help to address the need. Should you select a specific technology (platform, application, vendor, etc.) at this time? This is an important point of distinction. How do you know which solution will be the most effective without knowing how you’re going to change the process?

For example, we know we need to turn a paper document into an image, capture the data from the document and then automate the movement of the data throughout a number of steps in a process. Almost any combination of image, OCR and automated workflow technology can do this. Some vendors provide all three—others provide one or a combination of these technologies—but the important thing at this point is that the technology exists and that you maximize its use in the process. While you are redesigning the processes, you can begin your systems selection process. This will help you learn more about the technologies and potential vendors and allow you to begin narrowing in on those that will best fit your situation.

Once you have redesigned your processes using a technology enabled business process reengineering approach, you are now ready to select the specific technologies and vendors that will best fit your design. In fact, knowing how you are going to use the technology will allow you to be more specific with vendors as to what your needs are, and those who are most qualified to fit your needs will rise to the top. Those that are really interested in improving your business and maximizing your value will likely be able to suggest additional enhancements and further refine the design.

Improvement initiatives are usually difficult and complicated. Going in, you should have as many elements in your favor as possible, and try to achieve maximum benefits. Will a technology-enabled business process reengineering approach—or anything else—guarantee that your initiative is successful? No, but anything short of this integrated approach will decrease your odds of success and will reduce the overall benefits that you achieve.