Vendors are Missing the Target with Business Process Software

By Allan Alter  |  Posted 10-10-2006

Vendors are Missing the Target with Business Process Software

Companies are utilizing infrastructure, integration, mobile and knowledge management technologies to improve business processes. Except for knowledge and human capital management, these meet expectations more often than they fail. But there are also new technologies and services, such as business process platforms and management suites, and business process modeling software, which were created for the express purpose of helping companies manage and improve their processes. There are high expectations for these systems, but are they meeting the needs of companies? Our survey indicates that are almost as likely to miss the mark as hit it.

We'll release more findings from the survey on Wednesday, October 18 and 25.

For more data and analysis, see CIO Insight's Research Center blog at go.cioinsight.com/researchcentral.

Next page: Business process software and services often fail to meet expectations.

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Finding 3. Business process software and services often fail to meet expectations.
New technologies are making it easier to control and adjust business processes. But the bad news is that the tools and services that most directly target BPI aren't consistently effective, especially at companies with less than $1 billion in revenues. The same is true for knowledge management. But it's important to note that success doesn't depend just on the capabilities of the technology. Human factors that may be difficult for the IT department to influence—such as how well departments coordinate their business processes—can also determine success or failure.

Research Guide:

  • Finding 1: Improving business processes is the top priority for many IT executives, especially at small and midsize companies.
  • Finding 2: Although process improvement is a priority, the pace of change is moderate.
  • Finding 3: Business process software and services often fail to meet expectations.

    Upcoming results from the BPI survey

  • October 18: Plenty of Opportunities for BPI Progress; Sea Change in Application Integration
  • October 25: Lack of Cross-functional Cooperation Thwarts BPI Efforts; The Problem Children of Process Improvement

    Read our previous surveys on process improvement:

  • Emerging Mobility, Collaboration, and Business Process Technologies (May 2006)
  • Top Trends 2006: The Pursuit of the Frictionless Business Platform
  • Mobility + Collaboration = Productivity
  • Process Management Revs Up
  • The Real-Time Enterprise 2003: Can You Keep Up With Business Change? (July 2003)
  • Business Process Management (August 2002)