What is Digital Transformation? How BPM helps in this journey?

Blog: Flokzu

Digital Transformation means taking the most out of available digital tools to optimize your specific business in every possible way.

Hence, Digital Transformation is not an end. It is not a result. It’s not even a goal. In contrast, Digital Transformation is a journey. A long journey of analyzing the business and applying the best digital technologies for your specific needs.

In this post, we identify the main areas that you need to consider in your Digital Transformation journey. We’ll see how BPM Suites are useful tools to align your business processes and workflows with them.

Digital Transformation starts in your mind

First of all, we need to understand that any change, and especially Digital Transformation changes, start in our mind.

Almost every business needs to be more competitive. While producing goods or services in a cheaper way, they also need to meet higher standards. The almost only way to achieve it is evolving. And evolution nowadays means going digital. Consequently, most traditional businesses try to become digital, at least in their most relevant operations.

Digital Transformation starts in your mind, while your business processes and workflows are your muscles. These muscles move your organization towards your objectives. Probably you have several processes, and each of them helps to make your organization more efficient (or not). Consequently, if you need to change your organization, you need to change your processes.

Always remember processes:

Coordinate and move the tasks among your team members. Enable collaboration, no matter where your people are.
Integrate the whole value chain, including customers, employees, and providers.
Raise alerts based on tasks’ due date.
Provide KPI to make better decisions and detect bottlenecks.

Digital Transformation starts in your mind. But your processes are your muscles. BPM.

Many platforms and technologies help in your Digital Transformation efforts. However, given your processes are your organization muscles, many Digital Transformation initiatives should include Business Process Management Tools, especially if these tools run in the cloud, like Flokzu.

Digital Transformation working areas

The 4 main working directions that you should consider when starting the Digital Transformation journey are:

Digital Transformation from a BPM Perspective - 4 main working areas

Let’s see how BPM tools help in these 4 dimensions.

Cloud Adoption

The cloud has definitely changed the software game. Some of its main advantages that have a positive impact on your Digital Transformation efforts are:

Licenses:
- Software costs are divided into thousands of customers. Each one pays a little.
- Monthly, flexible, lower risk. You can try and see before buying. You can quit whenever you want.
- This is key when you are not sure if a particular product is right for your needs. You’ll probably need to try several before committing.
Delivery time:
- Immediately. Minutes/Hours instead of weeks/months.
- No complex configurations, software developments, infrastructure administration.
- Lower or zero consultancy costs.
- This is key to see results immediately and adjust iteratively: small steps in your Digital Transformation journey.
IT Requirements:
- Minimal for end users. Just need a web browser.
- Minimal infrastructure. No data center/platform needed.
- Independence from IT Staff (scarce resource).
- This is key to enable you to try different products without big money and time investments.

Modernize applications

There’s no Digital Transformation without an easy and efficient interaction between the relevant people of your processes (employees, providers, customers). Likewise, multi-device access is mandatory (PC, phones, tablets, etc). While nice user interfaces are expected, the whole customer experience is key to gain traction and adoption.

Clean, easy to use and fast applications are a Must. You need your users to be on board and committed for a successful Digital Transformation.

Integration

Digital Transformation also means integrating the systems you need in your daily operations. There are several mechanisms. Web Services emerged a few years ago as the “common language” for systems to talk to each other. If This Then That (IFTTT) appeared to make easier to connect apps. Zapier, in particular, is one great IFTTT tool to connect web apps. For example, you can have a Tweet Approval workflow in Flokzu, that automatically sends the Tweet to Twitter via Zapier.

A good integration scheme reduces errors, processing time and costs. When you think in a fully digitized operation, you need your business process integrated with any other system. BPM Suites enable integration on several levels:

As Service Tasks (as a step of the process), to send or receive information. For example, when you approve a purchase request, you can send the information to the Accountability system.
As part of your forms, to populate combos or run verifications. For example, you can get the options for your “City” Combo from a Web Service.
As part of your process setup and global parameters. For example, you could integrate your processes with your LDAP for user authentication and avoid having several usernames/passwords.

Process re-think and re-design

The ability to quickly design your process is relevant. Most noteworthy, it is vital the ability to re-design, deploy, test and analyze quickly. While any transformation has a relevant degree of uncertainty, you need to react quickly. You will probably make some mistakes and you will need to fix them even quicker. Seems like modeling and deploying without spending weeks programming is a key success factor.

Cloud BPM Suites allow you to model (draw) your processes using a worldwide standard called BPMN (BPM Notation). Because many people understand it, using a standard is really important. Therefore, you can share your models with internal or externals, discuss and adjust them.

Finally, these 2 things together (quick re-design and using a standard notation), enables improvement cycles. Probably these cycles are the most relevant driver of your Digital Transformation initiative. You can model your new digital process, deploy, try it and analyze it in hours/days. As a result, you can discuss and deliver a new process version quickly. Probably you will do it again and again. That’s the idea!

In sum…

In this post, we discussed what Digital Transformation is from a business process perspective. As a result, we identified several benefits of using Cloud BPM tools as part of your toolset:

Processes must evolve, quickly and in a cost-effective way. Therefore using a standard for modeling as BPMN and low-code tools is key.
Sexy apps, for employees, customers and providers. Hence, user interface and customer experience using the new tools is vital to gain adoption.
Cloud and global access: multi-device, from wherever. Cost effective and lower risks. Consequently, you gain the flexibility to try products.
Smart integration with legacy systems or other web apps. As a result, you cut down errors, time and costs.

Do you want to know more about Digital Transformation and how Flokzu could help? Just schedule a free demo here.

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