Given the clear business benefits the right IT system can offer, businesses are keen to make technology investments to improve business process design and performance. Investments in expensive ERPs and latest BPM suites have been quick in driving innovation at a ‘process level'. But it has often sacrificed the effectiveness and agility required to adapt to changing business needs. Despite heavy technology spends, process limitations can hold back organisations from reaching their desired business outcomes.
This is because, by nature, ERPs and other systems of record are not as flexible or adaptable as they need to be. This can make investments disappointing in the long term, hence the need for a set of technology assets that support flexibility, adaptability and scale.
Take an Order Management (OM) process which depends on an ERP system for recording information at every step of the execution and on the BPM engine for execution efficiency. If the client’s business objectives are dynamic and stress optimising the OM process each time business influences change, a system of innovation over and above the ERP is required. This additional layer above the ERP can then work with the configurable parameters of the OM processes, but at the same time, accommodate configurable business rules.
Looking at the two ends of the spectrum, ERP systems are excellent for leveraging their reusable asset libraries. These are based on past upgrade experiences and promise a clear view of scope, time and cost advantage. They also deliver quicker ROI and reduced project duration; reduced downtime and adequate industry flavour. However, they remain limited when it comes to solving a business problem end-to-end - simply because they are designed only for recording information.
BPM engines, on the other hand, drive operational excellence and process agility for improved organisational performance. But as BPMs are systems of transactional execution, they are also limited in solving customers’ business problems, end-to-end.
There is a clear need for a solution that brings the best of both worlds and this is where Process Templates come in.
What are Process Templates?
‘Process Templates’ are pre-built business process design, execution and management artifacts that accelerate time to solution. Ultimately, they combine the expertise of BPO providers with the power of technology.
BPO service providers build their own technology layer over existing ERPs and fuel it with the domain knowledge gathered from serving multiple clients with similar processes. It is these systems of differentiation that allow the flexibility to configure processes to fit the exact business drivers of the customer.
The real business value comes from the alignment of Process Templates to business goals.
In regards to BPM engines, it is ideal for businesses to have a layer of differentiation over and above the ERP to deliver process execution efficiency. ‘Process Templates’ are one example of that differentiation.
The Best Way to Maximise Returns from Process Templates
To get the best from Process Templates, customers need to find ways to increase process configurability (fixed components while defining a process). Differentiation with Process Templates is about going beyond building templates and configuration - it is about realising ‘organisational improvements’ as a result of implementing them.
The approach to Process Templates is not merely about configuring best practices in processes but to really ensure that processes are tuned to the client’s business strategy and outcomes. Process Templates are meant to give customers continuous improvement by aligning and re-aligning organisational performance to organisational goals. If the focus is on maintaining high dynamic customisation, business process flows can be dynamically generated anywhere or at any time by applying patterns to design the process and simultaneously ensuring that business environment changes are accounted for.
Take an Accounts Payables (AP) process where Wipro BPO’s Base™ Business Platform can help in improving the cash position. A typical AP process has parameter specifications for mailroom, OCR, matching, payment approval, payment run and more. Process Templates can be built for each of these parameters as they are all configurable, thus creating a specialised version of the process which is customised and unique to the client, in a way that enables the business to decide on optimum payment timelines.
The way forward
Flexibility and efficiency are two contradicting requirements of businesses. It is fortunate that Process Templates have the ability to deliver both. The future belongs neither to systems of records nor to systems of transactional execution. It simply belongs to the systems of differentiation and innovation, given that innovation and agility are paramount in today’s competitive climate.
By sheer design, ERP applications are no longer sufficient to meet the flexibility needs of organisations. ‘Process Templates’ are on the rise, riding the new wave of the ‘business software breed’ with strong BPM capabilities. Managing specific business segment activities will only get easier with canned ‘Process Templates,’ and if the choice is to outsource, then it’s got to be a service provider with powerful systems of differentiation that align with customer’s business objectives.
Author’s Bio:
Nithya Ramkumar
Head, Business Platforms, Wipro BPO
Nithya brings a wealth of experience to the Wipro BPO team by building the technology edge to its service offerings, globally. She has spent 22 years at Wipro with experience in rolling out innovation in IT and BPO solutions, across telecom, healthcare, energy and insurance verticals.
Nithya is passionate about technology innovation, and value creation for customers through technology enhancement. ‘Base)))™ Business Platforms’, Wipro BPO’s analytics driven business process platform that delivers business outcomes for customers has been created and implemented for customers, under her leadership.
Nithya’s accomplishments include the introduction of new service lines and exploring new markets, for Wipro BPO. Her team has filed for 14 patents in Business Process Management under her leadership and was granted three patents in July 2012 - ‘Algorithm System and Method’ & ‘Method and System for Workflow Management of a Business Process’.
Nithya is a graduate of the Pondicherry University with an Engineering degree in Computer Science. In her spare time, Nithya enjoys reading, cooking and spending quality time with her two sons.