Video
With the progress of digital technology over the past 20 years, there have been remarkable improvements in process reengineering. Peter Guarraia, a partner with Bain's Digital practice, shares the five benefits of digital process innovation and the best ways to ensure that reengineering efforts are successful.
Read the Bain Brief: Process Innovation in a Digital World
Read the transcript below.
PETER GUARRAIA: Process reengineering has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. It used to be that process reengineering meant shipping off processes to India or following things like a bank check through the process and taking out steps. The reality is, with new digital technologies, we're seeing remarkable improvements in process reengineering. And really they fall all along five axes.
Number one, simple: simply taking steps out. The next is actually making the process intelligent: thinking through what data can be brought to bear from a variety of different sources to help expedite decision making. It's shared: it means bringing through different partners and vendors to actually provide different services to you in that process. It's automated: it actually makes sure that you've eliminated steps that historically were manual. And finally, it's real-time: providing data and insights to companies that provide them with a competitive advantage.
The biggest challenge of digital reengineering is it can be very daunting for companies to undertake. The reality, though, is there are two important disciplines that you need to realize to make digital reengineering successful. Number one is, you don't need to do everything at once. You can actually take your time and focus on reengineering those processes that are most important for you. And secondly, it's okay to fail. Try it once, understand what works and what doesn't; rapidly correct, and then move on forward.
Read the Bain Brief: Process Innovation in a Digital World
First published in November 2016