| |September 20168CIOReviewBusiness Process Management Nirvana - Powered by Automation and Driven by InsightsBy Anantha Radhakrishnan, CEO & MD, Infosys BPOBusiness process management (BPM) or business process outsourcing as it was once known, has come a long way. A sunrise industry fifteen years ago, it has been characterized by several distinct phases on its journey of growth. Today, BPM is on the threshold of a new phase of revolution which promises to be the most unique and interesting period in its growth lifecycle. Five Phases of GrowthIn the first wave of outsourcing, companies outsourced repetitive manual back-office work and handling of customer service calls that required data gathering and consolidation. During the second wave, service providers evolved to handle processes that were standardized and harmonized across client locations and that could be executed from a low cost location. In the third wave, providers were handling workflow enabled processes, improving turn-around-times, meeting service level agreements and delivering stiff quality metrics. BPM is currently in the fourth wave, with established service pro-viders handling end-to-end pro-cesses, utilizing the global hub-spoke-edge model and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to impact business metrics. The industry is currently poised to enter the most significant phase of its growth lifecycle. The `new BPM' will focus on providing business insights through data and process excellence, with a significant promise of further growth - working alongside clients to catalyze and co-create business value and enhance stakeholder experience.The Technology Influence The leitmotif to the BPM growth story has been technology, which has influenced and shaped the industry's growth through all its phases. Dur-ing the first two phases of growth, outsourcing service providers used information technology (Citrix, VoIP) to enable services, leading to the industry being called IT-enabled services. However, as the industry evolved, technology literally reshaped the industry. From just IT-enabled services, providers began using tech-nology as a differentiator (workflow and whitespace solutions to aug-ment ERP or best-of-breed). As the industry continues to evolve, it is being led by service providers who continually differentiate themselves from the herd through cutting-edge technologies that are enhancing hu-man capabilities. These include RPA, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analytics &Insights, Rich Content Visualization, Mobile Technolo-gies and enhancing User Experience through Digital.These technologies have been a disruptive force, and service provider operating models have been radically transformed. The industry is cascad-ing new horizons by moving away from work focused primarily on ef-ficiency and cost, to work that is fo-cused on efficiency, effectiveness and enhancing experience. Providers are co-creating business value by using technology as a lever to enhance hu-man intelligence, aid business process excellence and garner data insights that enable a great stakeholder ex-perience. This is the `nirvana phase' OPINIONIN MY
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