One of the greatest barriers to IT innovation in almost any sector is dealing with how new technologies will impact operations. For the most part, the end goal of turning to an innovative solution is to improve processes in a meaningful way. However, the transition period when the new technology is unfamiliar can be overwhelming. As organizations work to make a variety of emerging technological solutions work well, the need for supporting tools that ease the transition is critical. Business process management software provides the ability to integrate key IT solutions, allowing companies to innovate with less fear.
Dealing with simultaneous innovation
Deploying a new application or turning to a state-of-the-art hardware solution presents a challenge, but it is nothing that some strategic training cannot handle. But revolutionizing how workers interact with technology presents a completely different type of disruption. Cloud computing, on its own, provides this type of disruption because it alters the application, infrastructure and communications landscape in ways that can impact end users. But when mobile and social media solutions are also emerging at the same time as cloud solutions, it is easy for employees to become overwhelmed.
Innovation's impact at the process level
At a procedural level, innovation, in the form of cloud, mobile and social settings, can improve operations substantially. However, they can also overwhelm employees, especially those who are unfamiliar with new technologies. While smartphones are often more accessible than desktop PCs and social media are second nature to much of the population, there is still a significant learning curve. This is especially problematic when considering the amount of data generated by users and handled by workers on a day-to-day basis.
BPM's role
BPM software can play a prominent part within this landscape by streamlining data management and making it easier for employees to handle technology. This is achieved by automating processes and using the software to deal with the information that workers do not have to interact with manually. By eliminating these superfluous data sets, organizations can help prevent workers from being overwhelmed and enable them get the job done more efficiently through innovative technologies.
Malcolm Ross
Vice President of Product Marketing
