Processes are enterprises’ greatest lever for value and their fastest lever for change in an unpredictable world. That’s according to 83% of the 1,217 global business leaders that took part in The Process Optimization Report.
Their responses make clear we’re operating in the process era. With the vast majority of business leaders recognizing the necessity of optimizing processes to achieve objectives at both a departmental and organizational level, we’ve entered an era in which optimizing processes is as foundational to business success as product development, finance, or sales.
So, what’s behind this push towards process optimization and, ultimately, process excellence?
Unpredictability is business-as-usual for today’s enterprises and change is just getting faster. New technologies keep emerging, customer expectations keep rising, and the need for greater efficiency keeps growing.
Business leaders understand processes are key to adaptation in this new world. That by responding to change with change, and optimizing their processes, they can be ready for whatever comes next. The report reveals enterprises expect process optimization to help them adapt to specific changes, like competitive pressures, changing regulations, shifting customer expectations, and supply chain disruptions. And they also believe process optimization is necessary to harness emerging technologies, like AI, and cut costs.
Enterprises that are already optimizing their processes are seeing impressive results. These include positive financial outcomes like increased revenue, reduced costs, and optimized working capital, as well as greater flexibility to respond quickly to change. A decisive 84% of business leaders say process optimization can deliver bottom, top, and green-line value at the same time.
But The Process Optimization Report reveals the extent to which organizations are taking action to optimize their processes varies greatly. Only 14% of business leaders say they continuously optimize their processes. Over half haven’t optimized a process in the last year.
The fallout? Sub-optimal processes are negatively impacting cash flow, productivity, employee morale, and enterprise reputation. They also threaten innovation: almost three-quarters of businesses already using AI-based technologies are concerned that process shortcomings may hold back further AI implementation.
Process excellence within enterprises needs to be supported by technologies that can deliver a real understanding of how processes run and where value opportunities are hiding.
The great news is that almost half (49%) of businesses are already investing in process optimization technologies, and a further 32% plan to invest in the next three years. Process mining is currently the least used tool, even though it’s arguably the most effective for analyzing and optimizing business processes. Right now, enterprises are more likely to be using business intelligence (BI) tools, robotic process automation (RPA), or business process management (BPM).
But process mining is gaining traction, with 38% of businesses already using it and a further 32% in the process of evaluating it. Its growing importance is illustrated by Gartner®’s first-ever Magic Quadrant™ for Process Mining Tools.
