Global Business Process Management report

Business Process Management The way we see it

Global Business Process
Management Report

Contents

Foreword 3

About the study 4

Executive summary 6

The key to BPM success: BPM as a C-level concern 8

How may I help you? The key benefits of BPM 10

Cost efficiency 10
Business agility 12
Compliance 14
Customer-centricity 15
Social media strategy 19
Staff satisfaction 20

Show me the money: BPM and Return on Investment 21

Speculating to accumulate: BPM as a counter-cyclical investment 23

Barriers to BPM implementation 25

Key conclusions and recommendations 29

Capgemini sector and country focus 32

Financial services 33
Public sector 36
Manufacturing, automotive and life sciences 38
Consumer products and retail 40
Telecommunications, media and entertainment 42

United Kingdom 45
United States 46
Australia 47
Germany 48
Italy 49
France 50
Spain 51
Nordic Region 52
Netherlands 53

Acknowledgements 54

2

Foreword
Welcome to the Capgemini Global BPM become an integral and barriers to success. Management
Business Process Management key part of this proposition. of change in such endeavours is a
(BPM) Report. This report is an key part in enabling the appropriate
exploration of key trends in BPM as Business Process Management is alignment of business and technology
seen by CXOs across a broad selection becoming ever more relevant to both to support their transformation
of sectors and geographies. BPM large and small organizations in the efforts. I hope that you find this report
is perhaps at a tipping point – it’s current economic climate. At a time of benefit in the further adoption of
certainly at an exciting stage in its when many different market sectors are Business Process Management.
evolution. As both an engineer and facing slow revenue growth, customer
an Operational Research practitioner churn and increased pressures
in my early career, and subsequently on costs, BPM becomes a critical
as a consultant, I have seen BPM weapon in the battle for efficiency Bob Scott
through its development over the and effectiveness in processes. Senior Vice President
last 26 years. BPM has its roots in Furthermore, in a challenging and Global Head of BPM
management practices such as Total changing business environment Capgemini
Quality Management, Business that is characterized by uncertainty,
Process Reengineering & Model Based it allows organizations to adapt, be
Development; but the advent of the new more agile and fleet of foot. Capgemini
generation of sophisticated modelling are seeing strong demand for BPM
and process execution technologies services in markets such as USA,
has greatly enhanced BPM’s power UK, the Netherlands and France;
to truly transform businesses. This and there are clear signs of increased
has created one of the most rapidly interest in other geographies such as,
growing and attractive market sectors Germany, Sweden, Spain, Italy and
for both services and technology. We Australia. In sector terms, the financial
see BPM as a critical management services industry has led the way in
discipline that when executed against BPM adoption over the recent past,
clear, cross organizational business driven by increased focus on customer-
objectives, can deliver exceptional centricity and regulatory compliance.
value to that organization. However, Other sectors, public sector, utilities,
we also see that the potential for BPM telco, retail and manufacturing are now
is not well understood. Our decision to not only catching up, but are starting
conduct this global survey was driven to use BPM in new ways to create new
by our discussions with our clients, business models to serve customers
to understand their current position, and outsmart the competition.
their understanding, how its value
was measured, how it is used and The research findings also show
prioritized within their Business and however that this is a complex
Technology Transformation efforts. landscape, and we are not seeing
adoption of BPM in a clear and
This research confirms our belief consistent way. This report also looks
that BPM needs to be a jointly owned at some of the barriers to adoption,
Business and IT discipline. It also with organizational silos being a
demonstrates that it is starting to gain major obstacle. Waters are further
significant traction in the market muddied by fragmented budgets, lack
and investments are starting to pay of clear governance and ownership
dividends to the early adopters. At and internal politics. The objective
Capgemini we are being asked by of our investment in this research
our clients to help them simplify project was to shed some light on
and improve their business models these elements with a view to assisting
and the technology that supports organizations to create strategies that
them and we are already seeing avoid or at least mitigate some of these

3

About the study
Capgemini worked with FreshMinds, Only participants from firms with The second, qualitative phase of the
a UK-based research firm, to conduct more than 1,000 employees were research comprised a series of in-depth
the primary research for this study. eligible for the survey. 55% of survey qualitative interviews with senior
The research process consisted of participants were drawn from business and IT professionals drawn
two complementary phases. enterprise companies with 10,000+ from the networks of both Capgemini
employees, 16% from large companies and FreshMinds Research. These
During the initial quantitative phase with 5,001-10,000 employees and individuals were selected to represent
of the research, a 30 minute online 29% from mid-size companies a cross-section of geographies and
survey was completed by over 1,100 with 1,001-5,000 employees. sectors, and were selected for their
CXOs, senior business managers, IT practical experience of Business
directors and managers, and other Respondents were drawn quite Process Management initiatives.
senior business decision-makers. evenly from 11 markets:
In each section of the report, our
All major industries were • Australia insights are based on the quantitative
represented in the study: findings from the primary research,
• Brazil illustrated by graphical representations
• Distribution and transport of the data. These are supported and
• France illustrated by anecdotal findings
• Financial services and quotations from the qualitative
• Germany interviews that comprised the
• Public sector secondary phase of the research. In the
• India sections labelled ‘Capgemini view’ we
• Manufacturing, automotive have added supplementary analysis
and life sciences • Netherlands that is drawn from our consultants’
experience of working on BPM projects.
• Education and science • Italy

• Consumer products and retail • Spain

• Telecommunications, media • Nordic Region
and entertainment
• UK
• Utilities, energy and chemicals
• USA
• Professional services

• Healthcare

4

Global Business Process
Management Report
Executive Summary
Capgemini’s Business Process Management research examines
current practice in BPM, the benefits being achieved and the
barriers to success. A key theme is the relationship between
executive-level sponsorship of BPM and its success.

The purpose of our research is to survey respondents who have both say that their business processes are
help organizations understand what knowledge and practical experience either “managed” or “optimized” − the
is involved in realizing the benefits of the topic, 82% believe that BPM top two levels of process maturity
of BPM, and avoid the pitfalls that should be treated as a C-level concern. as defined by our maturity model.
many have already encountered.
There is a correlation between process
BPM has an increasingly high profile, maturity and treating BPM as a C-level
with a growing belief among large topic. 68% of survey respondents
organizations that BPM should who state that BPM is an important
be sponsored at a senior level. Of agenda item at managerial level also

The Capability Maturity Model provides a framework for understanding where our clients fit in terms of their adoption of BPM, and the
potential roadmap for further development. The model was first developed by the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon
University. 1

Repeatable Managed

The process
The process is deliberately
is at least managed in
documented accordance with
sufficiently agreed upon
metrics
The process Process
The starting management
point for use is defined /
confirmed includes
of a new or deliberate process
undocumented as a standard
business optimization /
repeat process improvement
process

Initial Defined Optimizing

1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_Maturity_Model

6

Figure 1. There is a clear correlation between prioritization of BPM adoption within a The research highlighted
business and improved performance of processes. practical issues which must be
Which of the following best describes the level of process maturity within your organization? overcome in order to implement
BPM successfully, notably:

Total Respondents who indicated “Currently Business Process • Functional silo culture
Management is an important agenda item at managerial level”
• Fragmented budget

• Perception of BPM as an IT matter

• Resistance to BPM from IT
staff who have responsibility
for existing systems

• A lack of readiness or
willingness to tackle the change
6.8% 1.7% 15.9% 11.4% 27.3% 18.8% 23.6% 38.9% 15.8% 28.8% 10.7% 0.4% management issues associated
with BPM implementations
Initial Repeatable Defined Managed Optimizing Don’t know

To overcome these barriers, strong
Overall, just 16% of respondents customers reported a positive impact
leadership (including C-level
believe that their organization’s on the business. A similar proportion of
involvement) plus a clear vision are
processes are currently at the those whose objective was to improve
needed. Another requirement for
“optimized” level, but more than ever compliance and risk management
successful BPM implementation is that
before, companies are recognizing observed a beneficial impact. Specific
companies must be willing to break
the opportunity that BPM presents benefits of BPM adoption which came
with the past and embrace change.
to improve process maturity. 45% of through strongly were improved staff
participants in the survey anticipated satisfaction and greater efficiency.
Positioning an organization for
that their organization’s interest in
BPM requires some effort, but the
BPM would increase over the next 12
positive experiences of those who
months. This finding confirms that
participated in the research suggest
BPM is increasingly becoming a part of
that it is a step worth taking.
mainstream management thinking.

There is compelling evidence that Figure 2. 45% of respondents anticipated that their organizations interest in BPM would
BPM can deliver tangible business increase in the next 12 months.
value. 96% of those who had tried How do you anticipate that the current level of interest in BPM within your organization will
to measure ROI from their BPM change over the next year?
investment reported a positive return,
with 55% measuring a return of at The same amount Don’t know
A lot more
least twice their initial investment. emphasis of emphasis
This may explain the finding that
in challenging economic times,
13.8% A little more 19.9%
investment in BPM becomes more, emphasis
rather than less, attractive. 68% of
respondents stated that a more difficult 28.0%
business outlook than expected
would lead to their organization
placing increased emphasis on BPM. 3.0%
30.8%
The benefits of BPM vary depending 4.6% A lot less
emphasis
on the organization’s objectives, as
well as its level of maturity. More than A little less
emphasis
three-quarters of those respondents
who had introduced a BPM initiative
with a view to improving relations with

7

The key to BPM success:
BPM as a C-level concern
The more Executives know about BPM, the more likely they are
to believe that it should be regarded as a C-level concern. 82% of
participants who have both knowledge and practical experience of
the topic believe it should be part of high level business strategy.

This is in stark contrast to the 20%
of BPM rather than being
of respondents who say that BPM is
hampered by the existing
currently treated as an important
technologies. Strong BPM
agenda item at managerial level within
leadership at a strategic and
their organization. At present, a lack
tactical level is essential for
of senior sponsorship means that
long-term BPM success.
only a minority of companies are
reaping the full benefits that Business
It should be noted that while
Process Management can bring. These
strong BPM leadership is
benefits are discussed in greater detail
important, it is not sufficient.
in the next section of the report.
Programs often fail because of a
lack of day-to-day governance.
Capgemini view
This can lead to an insufficient
framework to address competing
To be successful, BPM needs to
requests for limited resources,
address organizational silos. In
differing objectives and timescales.
order to allow this to happen,
executive sponsorship at enterprise
level is essential. It is important
for C-level decision-makers to
focus on the business outcomes

Figure 3. Respondents who have the greatest knowledge of BPM are significantly more likely
to believe it should be treated as a C-level concern.

Do you consider BPM to be a C-level concern?

“Percentage of respondents indicating ‘Yes’”

82.0%

60.6%

Respondents indicating “I know a lot Total Respondents
about Business Process Management and
have plenty of practical experience of it”

8

“Improving process is vital for Figure 4. Just 20% of respondents stated that BPM is currently an important agenda item at
our business but can be a painful managerial level.
process which meets resistance Which of the following best describes the current level of interest in Business Process
in some quarters, hence the Management within your organization?
need for C-level sponsorship.”

IT Manager, enterprise level Our We are investigating Currently Business
organization is the concept and Process Management
utilities business, UK small projects have is an important agenda
not currently
interested in been started item at managerial
“Process improvements need the topic level and at least one
strategic initiative in
to be embedded throughout this field is under way
the organization. The top
10.5%
management’s time and 18.6%
attention needs to be given to
such a strategic and longer- 20.1%
term value creating item.”

Business Unit Manager,
Federal government agency, USA 16.6%

17.4%

We are interested
in the subject 16.8%
but there have One or more
been no concrete departments are
actions so far currently dealing with it
at a more tactical level
Don’t know

9

How may I help you?
The key benefits of BPM
This research examines which business drivers are most
critical in different sectors and explores the application of
BPM in these aspects.

To understand the benefits of
a BPM implementation for a Cost-efficiency
particular organization, it makes
sense to consider first which Many organizations grasp that medium-term. Of those companies
business drivers are most critical improving cost-efficiency requires surveyed that are currently planning
for the organization. The business more than simply slashing budgets. to launch a process management
challenges that respondents identified Strategic investment is required in initiative, the area in which the highest
as most important reflect the order to achieve material savings. proportion believed the project could
macroeconomic outlook prevailing 56% of respondents anticipated that have greatest positive impact was
in many developed markets and their organization would increase in maximizing cost-efficiency.
the pace of technological change. investment in efficiency over
the next 12 months. Far-sighted
companies are recognizing that
effective implementation of Business
Process Management technology and
techniques can be a route to achieving
significant efficiency savings in the

Figure 5. 56% of businesses will increase investment in maximizing cost-efficiency over the
coming year.

How will your investment in the following business area change over the next 12 months:
Maximizing cost-efficiency?

37.2% 30.1% 43.0%

32.8% 35.4% 30.7%
23.4% 29.2% 21.9%

Invest a lot more Invest a little more Invest the same

5.6% 5.0% 4.4% Total
1.1% 0.0% 0.0%
US

UK

Invest a little less Invest much less

10

56% of respondents anticipated The application of BPM technology resources, or increase output with the
that their organization would and thinking automates complex same resources. BPM can be an integral
increase investment in efficiency processes, reduces manual work and part of an intelligent cost management
over the next 12 months. eliminates duplication of effort. 74% strategy, which allows a business to
of respondents who launched a BPM cut costs rather than cut growth.
initiative with a view to reducing
“With process improvement manual work reported a positive
you’ll streamline and automate impact on the business. It is possible
business processes, give to achieve the same output with fewer
everyone in your company a
complete view of the customer,
provide deeper analysis and Figure 6. The three areas in which businesses anticipate BPM could have the greatest
impact are: Maximizing cost-efficiency, optimizing time-to-market, facilitating
insight into critical sales customer self-service.
and customer metrics, keep
everyone focused on getting In which of the following areas do you think process improvement
new customers while keeping could have the greatest positive impact on your business?
the ones you already have.” Facilitating
customer Maximizing
self-service cost-efficiency
IT Consultant, enterprise level
private healthcare business, UK

29.7%

Optimizing
55.8%
time-to-market

38.8%

n.b. Respondents were able to select more than one
answer, so percentages sum to more than 100%.

Figure 7. 74% of businesses that introduced BPM to reduce manual work and increase
automation reported a positive impact.

What impact has this BPM initiative had on your business from the following perspective:
Improving process performance by reducing manual work and increasing automation?

43.1%

31.0%

15.5%

6.9%
1.7% 1.7%

A very negative Quite a negative Neither a Quite a positive A very positive Don’t know
impact impact positive impact impact impact
nor a negative
impact
11

Business Agility
In uncertain economic times, business agility is important. As
technology cycles move ever more quickly, businesses are constantly
striving to cut cycle times: two thirds of respondents (66%) identified
optimizing time-to-market as an important business driver.

5% of survey participants anticipated Figure 8. 78% of businesses believe their BPM investment improved the flexibility of the
that their organization would increase organization.
investment in their ability to react What impact has this BPM initiative had on your business from the following perspective:
to changing market conditions Improving the flexibility of the organization?
over the new 12 months. Agile
organizations realize higher margins
on their goods and services by taking 39.5%
advantage of market opportunities: 38.6%
two thirds of respondents (66%)
identified optimizing time-to-market
as an important business driver.

BPM enhances the ability of
businesses to react to changes in 12.5%
the business environment. 78%
of respondents who introduced 6.8%
BPM with a view to increasing the 2.3%
0.0%
flexibility of the organization reported
a positive impact on the business. impact impact positive impact impact impact
nor a negative
impact

12

“Taking the attitude that ‘it has
Capgemini view Rules management
always worked like this’ is no
way to compete. We are a lean
Any organization looking to Organizations manage their
organization, constantly trying to
achieve business agility must interactions with the external
stay ahead of the competition.”
embrace three key concepts that world through documented and
we like to call “the agile agenda”: agreed policies and procedures:
Customer Services Manager, medium-
processes are just one example.
sized manufacturing business, Sweden
• Process management Business rules are explicit policies
embedded within processes.
• Rule management
The ease with which these rules
• Integration and automation can be adapted to comply with
regulatory or market pressure can
Process management often be a source of competitive
advantage. Organizations that
To be agile, organizations know the value of rules often use
must also be in control of decision engines to find, update,
their process assets. Processes deploy, and maintain rules
must be documented and across processes in real time.
understood. They must be visible
and measured continuously – BPM is moving into an
ideally in real time – to ensure unstructured, collaborative age.
compliance with shifting market Rules management will be the
and regulatory objectives. way to stay properly governed,
visible, and compliant, while
Business Process Management dynamically keeping processes on
(BPM) solutions provide modeling track with changing and complex
capabilities that make processes desired outcomes, goals and KPIs.
explicit as models. These models
are created by, or in collaboration It will become increasingly
with, end users. More importantly, important to set rules properly
they can be updated by users in order to manage BPM for
without recourse to IT. increased agility. There will
be a premium on managing
Regardless of who makes changes, uncertainty, and on making better
the agility comes from the fact that decisions about business rules.
the changes are made to explicit Simulation and optimization
models rather than changes to techniques can help, and so can
lines and lines of arcane code. real-time analysis and response.

13

Compliance
Compliance is at the forefront of the minds of business
decision-makers. Large organizations face great pressure to
demonstrate their adherence to rules in an ongoing fashion.

More than 77% of respondents 70% of participants indicated that
who introduced BPM with a view responding to changes to legislation implementation of BPM. Interest
to improving compliance and risk is an important consideration for their in BPM is also growing rapidly
management reported that the business. If companies do not have in traditionally heavily regulated
initiative had a positive impact an agile, flexible system for handling industries such as life sciences and
on their business in this regard. compliance it can be a costly business. aerospace. Application of BPM can
allow businesses a great advantage
Within BPM systems, companies can in terms of accommodating new
“In the past, there were stand- build compliance into their business legislation quickly and with
alone systems followed in rules. Processes produce automated minimum disruption. BPM allows
each department and there reports, demonstrating adherence companies to isolate specific rules
was no cohesive or effective to legislation in an immediate, cost- that may be subject to change and
coordination between these efficient way. More than 77% of treat them in a certain way, so that
systems. For every purchase respondents who introduced BPM instead of having to rebuild an
order, for example, people from with a view to improving compliance application or process each time
three different departments used and risk management reported that legislation changes, it is possible
to be involved and there was a the initiative had a positive impact to retain the 80-90% of rules that
chance of violating commercial on their business in this regard. hardly change. For example, a
or legal laws as compliance was BPM application can be adjusted
only taken into consideration Capgemini view to reflect new tax legislation at
at the end of the process, the end of each tax year, without
rather than at every stage.” Rafts of new legislation in sectors having to rewrite the entire system.
such as banking and insurance are
Deputy General Manager of Finance, providing the impetus for the
large utilities business, India

Figure 9. 77% of businesses that introduced BPM to improve compliance and risk
management reported a positive impact.

What impact has this BPM initiative had on your business from the following
perspective: Improvement of compliance and risk management?

39.0%
38.1%

12.7%

6.8%
2.5%
0.8%

nor a negative
impact

14

Customer-centricity
For consumer-facing businesses, the advent of new technology
has radically changed the way in which they engage with
their customers. In the age of always-on, ubiquitous access,
companies have to respond faster than ever before.

43% of respondents 41% of respondents anticipated Companies are using Business Process
anticipate that investment that their business would increase Management to support new ways
in multi-channel access will investment in facilitating customer self- of interacting with customers. 78%
increase over the next year. service over the next year. The figure of customers who introduced a BPM
rises to 52% in banking, and 47% in the initiative with a view to improving
telecommunications sector. Similarly interactions with clients reported
43% of respondents anticipate that that the impact on the business
investment in multi-channel access was positive in this aspect.
will increase over the next year,
including 52% of respondents in
the telecommunications sector.

Figure 10. Half of banking and communications organizations anticipate increasing
investment in facilitating customer self-service over the next 12 months.

How will your investment in the following area change over the next 12 months:
Facilitating customer self-service?

Banking TME

1.8% 2.6% 8.2% 10.3% 38.2% 40.5% 33.6% 31.0% 18.2% 15.5%

Invest much less Invest a little less Invest the same Invest a little more Invest much more

15

“Self-service is generally Figure 11. 78% of organizations who introduced BPM to improve interactions with clients
cheaper. The number of reported a positive impact. Improving the interactions with clients and / or CRM.
people being employed in What impact has this BPM initiative had on your business from the following perspective:
call centers can be reduced. Improving interactions with clients and/or CRM?
Younger customers in particular
expect to be serviced through 41.8%
emerging Web 2.0 channels.”
36.1%

Systems Architect, enterprise
level telecommunications
business, Australia

“BPM combines business 10.7%
processes, people and 5.7%
technology to achieve one 4.1%
1.6%
single goal: getting and keeping
satisfied customers. It’s an A very negative Quite a negative Neither a Quite a positive A very positive Don’t know
overall strategy to help you learn nor a negative
more about your customers impact
and their behavior so you
can develop stronger, lasting
relationships that will benefit
both you and the customers.” Capgemini view
BPM solutions are increasingly
seen as CRM 2.0. BPM allows
IT Consultant, enterprise level Customers are demanding
more streamlined process for
consumer products and retail more: More personalization and
managing customer interactions
business, North America customization, a broader range
regardless of channel, all the way
of engagement channels, greater
through the front, middle and
access to information and more say
back office stages to resolution.
in the buying process. Customers
also expect recognition and a
Example: Warranty
consistent response, regardless
management
of what channel they are using.
Organizations are increasingly
One application of BPM that
using BPM to respond to these
benefits both vendor and
changes. BPM is transforming
customer is in the field of
case management and moving
warranty management in the
into the traditional CRM space.
automotive sector. Typically,
Adding a BPM layer to existing
administering warranties is
processes helps address the
clumsy and expensive, involving
problem of case management by
manufacturers, dealers, suppliers
ensuring that all information is
and customers. Information is
integrated – stakeholders have a
spread across myriad systems
360 degree view of all interactions
and claims may be governed by
with each customer. Companies
different policies and procedures.
are able to access the right data
Application of a BPM solution
in the right place and at the right
unifies all information, allowing
time. The appropriate response
the streamlining of the full
to different scenarios can be
warranty management process.
automated. Wherever customer
care is involved, there is scope
for BPM to make life easier for
both vendor and customer.

16

Case Study – Business Process
Management and customer-centricity
Challenge: A Dutch software business which sells book-keeping
and HR software wanted to improve customer retention.

The company redesigned its complaints procedure, Benefits of the approach
adopting BPM software and thinking to improve
internal communication between departments This rigorous complaints procedure has delivered tangible
and external engagement with customers. business value. There is a higher level of customer retention.
Complaints are far less likely to result in the cancellation of
What the process looked like before subscriptions. In fact, the rate of subscription cancellation
is actually 7% lower for customers who complained and
For years the company had no central customer service had their problem addressed than for those who did not
department. Customers were directed in an ad hoc fashion complain in the first place. Finally, there is a greater culture
to either sales or product departments, depending on of cross-departmental collaboration within the organization.
the nature of their complaint. The lack of process led
to departments shifting responsibility for complaints.
Employees gave inconsistent answers to customers
posing similar questions due to lack of documented “Everyone in the organization was trying to
procedure, causing confusion and further complaints. avoid taking any responsibility, saying ‘it’s
not our department, it’s their department who
What it looks like now should be dealing with it.’ That was a major
issue – no one wanted to say to the customer,
The company created a team dedicated to customer ‘I’ll take responsibility, I’ll make sure this goes
service. Customers are presented with a telephone menu well, I’ll make sure that you’re happy’.”
as soon as they dial in so that their complaint can be
categorized. Customer services representatives note Complaints Manager
down the details of problems in a case file. Cases are
divided into ‘dissatisfactions’ and ‘complaints’ (which
are more serious). Notifications are then sent to agents
in departments such as technical support and sales with “We now invest the time to make customers
the relevant expertise who follow up on the issues. The happy: a fundamental part of this is working as a
more serious ‘complaints’ are dealt with at managerial company, not just as departments who are out for
level. All agents have access to the same case file and themselves and care only about their targets.”
all interactions are logged ensuring seamless sharing
of information. The success of the execution of the Complaints Manager
complaints procedure is measured quantitatively.

Issues encountered

Staff were initially resistant to this new process, which
was perceived as bureaucratic. The sales department
felt that handling complaints management hindered
them in meeting targets. Different departments were
unused to working collaboratively to solve problems.

17

Social media strategy
One area that was investigated in our BPM research
was the level of emphasis that companies are placing on
both the threat and opportunity from social media.

53% of respondents believe this “We need to introduce a system
business driver will become more technology has already had an to handle social media. At the
important for their business over the impact on customer’s daily lives moment one team writes down
next 12 months. This figure rises and is here to stay. Through social mentions on post-its before
to 60% in the United States, the listening and an effective Business handing them over to another
market which sets the pace in terms Process Management system, team to respond. You can
of harnessing new forms of media organizations ability to listen to the guess how efficient this is.”
to improve business processes. conversation and respond through
changing business processes will Business Unit Manager, large
Anecdotal evidence from the research, become a major differentiator. insurance business, Spain
illustrated by the quotations, It is essential to combine social
shows how some large businesses media data with unstructured “The power of social media
have been caught off-guard by the and structured data from other is rapidly increasing, which
revolutionary effect that social sources to provide a holistic means that it will become a
media has had, and in particular and representative picture of focal point for all mass market
the way that B2C organizations what your customers are saying. businesses. Market trends will
interact with their customers. A social media strategy that is be dictated by social media
supported by an organization that trends, and the public view of a
There has been some complacency is able to rapidly alter business company will be determined by
in engaging with and investing in processes, listen to and identify its social media interaction.”
social media. It is clear that businesses and manage risk early on, and
must develop a social media strategy. also provide sales opportunities Enterprise Architect, enterprise level
Organizations can no longer dictate the will be an effective one. automotive business, Germany
terms of engagement with customers –
it is now customers who are in control
of the conversation. In light of this
Figure 12. 53% of businesses anticipate that social media strategy will become more
loss of control, organizations need to important over the next 12 months.
listen to and respond effectively to
customer-initiated activity. Customers Which of these drivers do you think are likely to become more or less important over the next
12 months: Managing the opportunities and threats of social media?
now expect a greater level of attention,
as well as a near-instantaneous Total
response. Businesses should also be
USA
aware of what a powerful asset this
rich real-time feedback can be.

Capgemini view

Organizations are traditionally
used to being in control of

customer interactions and have
long built IT systems that push 2.3% 1.8% 5.9% 1.8% 39.2% 36.3% 31.6% 33.6% 21.1% 26.5%
messages to the customer. It is
Become much Become a little Stay the same Become a little Become much
clear, however, that social media less important less important more important more important
and the consumerization of

19

Staff satisfaction
Large organizations are engaged in a continuous effort to create
and sustain a rewarding working environment that mobilizes and
motivates their staff. An important benefit of improved processes
that emerged from this research is the impact on staff satisfaction.

“The previous management 75% of those organizations within
underestimated process our sample that launched a BPM but also in terms of improving job
development. Processes initiative with a view to improving satisfaction for the teams involved.
weren’t documented. We staff satisfaction reported that the Alongside traditional ROI models
had to repeat the same steps project had had a positive impact companies should consider the
over and over again to reach in this regard. Strikingly, not one ease of use of resultant systems,
a solution. Money and time respondent reported that the initiative the reduced cost of training
were wasted, staff weren’t had had a negative impact. and the improved retention
motivated and customers were of valuable team members.
frustrated. Now we’ve improved Capgemini view
our processes, all our staff are The quantitative research
convinced of the benefits.” Enhanced staff satisfaction is an findings show that Business
interesting ‘hidden benefit’ of Process Management initiatives
Department Officer, enterprise process improvement. Enhanced can have a positive impact
level insurance company, France staff experience is rarely built into on many different parts of an
business cases for BPM investment. organization. The next section of
However, removing laborious the research demonstrates how
manual workflows, reducing the BPM ultimately delivers value in
need for ad-hoc intervention and terms of Return on Investment.
making it easier for staff to operate
efficiently, can have clear benefits,
not just in terms of productivity

Figure 13. 75% of businesses who implemented BPM to improve staff satisfaction reported
a positive impact on the business.

What impact has this BPM initiative had on your business from the following perspective:
Improving staff satisfaction?

40.8%

33.8%

19.7%

5.6%

0.0% 0.0%
nor a negative
impact

20

Show me the money:
BPM and Return on Investment
The research demonstrates clearly that investment in Business
Process Management can yield tangible business value.
Of those respondents who had tried to measure ROI from
BPM, a remarkable 96% reported a positive return, with 55%
measuring a return of at least twice their initial investment.

“We consolidated by centralizing In the past, businesses found it difficult Figure 14. Just 39% of respondents have
the IT infrastructure so that to quantify the Return on Investment attempted to measure ROI from BPM in a
formal way.
we didn’t have hundreds of from BPM programs as the benefits
little silos everywhere. This were various and wide-ranging. Have you attempted to measure
wasn’t a management power It can be a challenge to measure Return on Investment (ROI) from this
BPM initiative in a formal way?
trip, it was about saving a lot intangible but essential elements of
of money. Ultimately, from BPM, such as cultural change and
an economic perspective, employee behavior. Indeed, our Yes No Don’t know

all the departments win.” research shows that businesses are
still learning how to assess the value
Senior VP for IT, consumer of a BPM investment, with only 39%
38.7% 29.0%
products and retail Business, UK of respondents stating that they have
tried to measure ROI in a formal way.

Capgemini view

Setting the business case for
organizations is often challenging.
Getting the appropriate balance
32.3%
between the different objectives
across the organization is key
and rarely an easy task. However
once objectives are set, and
measurements in place, we have
seen BPM programs delivering
significant ROI. In addition,
it is important to measure
quantitative and qualitative
factors when implementing BPM,
and to track those measures
through to completion of the
project. Those results in turn
inspire further change.

21

Figure 15. 96% of respondents calculated a positive ROI from investment in BPM.
Examples of Return on
Investment What level of ROI did you calculate for the BPM investment?

Cost reduction and Negative Return
on Investment 1.9%
efficiency gains:
No Return on
BPM can help lower the cost Investment 1.9%
of running, changing, and
executing processes. Up to 1.5 times ROI 12.4%

A North American Between 1.5 and
2 times ROI 24.8%
insurance organization:
Between 2 and 22.2%
• Gained 40% cost reduction 3 times ROI
over a five year period
Between 3 and 12.0%
4 times ROI
• Reduced training time
from as long as two Between 4 and
9.0%
5 times ROI
weeks to just one day
Between 5 and 4.1%
• Gained ability to execute the 10 times ROI
First Notice of Loss (FNOL)
process with greater efficiency Greater than
10 times ROI 2.2%
and accuracy as a result of
increased automation
Don’t know 9.0%

• Introduced real-time analytics
of overall claims operations
An automotive company:
• Reduced FNOL Total Cost of
Ownership by approximately • Improved their cycle
$12 million over the four years time by 50%
following implementation
A worldwide engineering
• Was able to offer its organization:
customers a market-leading
claims experience • Ran a global operation to
optimize and harmonize the
A public sector organization: leading business processes
and support, leading
• Used sophisticated case to precise supply chain
management to achieve planning and processing
a win-back time of 70
minutes per case • Achieved real-time, end-
to-end transparency
Increase in competitiveness
and agility • Established a more accurate
process, with accelerated
BPM reduces time-to-market for supply chain performance and
new products and services. improved competitiveness

A global banking organization:

• Reduced time-to-market for
new product release from
nine months to four months

22

Speculating to accumulate:
BPM as a counter-cyclical investment
The high level of Return on Investment that BPM can
potentially deliver, discussed in the previous section of
the report, perhaps explains why interest in BPM actually
increases in relatively challenging market conditions.

“Growth via demand will be 68% of respondents who were seriously Figure 16. 68% of respondents considering
difficult, so we have to improve considering investment in BPM state a BPM investment state that a more
challenging economic climate over
profitability by enhancing that a more challenging economic the next 12 months would increase the
our internal processes.” climate would increase the attention attention their organization paid to process
paid to process improvement. In improvement to process improvement.
Risk Manager, enterprise level theory this is a simple equation: at If the economic climate in your sector
manufacturing business, UK a time when it is difficult to acquire proved more challenging over the next 12
new business, process improvement months, what impact do you anticipate
this would have on your organization’s
offers a way to boost the bottom attitude to process improvement?
line by making cost savings.
We will pay a lot more attention
However, challenging conditions can
We will pay a little more attention
create barriers to BPM adoption. If
employees are concerned about job It will not impact on the attention paid

security and their personal well-being, We will pay a little less attention
BPM is more likely to be perceived as a We will pay a lot less attention
threat rather than an opportunity. 44%
Don’t know
of respondents in the survey stated
that resistance from staff responsible
6.4%
for existing systems such as SAP and 2.5%
31.5%
CRM within their organization was 5.6%
a barrier to process improvement.2
17.9%
Bottom line pressures can lead to a
reductive focus on costs rather than
an emphasis on the bigger picture.
Money allocated to IT could be spent
maintaining outdated systems that
have no place in a modern technology
environment. This is often a false
economy. The BPM institute blog
36.1%
uses an apt analogy to explain the
likely consequence of trying to cut
operational and process-related costs
in the face of a downturn: “These
organizations are just starving
themselves, and it will likely come back
to haunt them as the core infrastructure
of the company – the corporate
metabolism, is crippled to the point
where it cannot function effectively.”3

23

“Even with the current economic 46% of survey respondents identified
climate, middle and senior a lack of change readiness or
management still find it difficult willingness at their organization as
to embrace culture change, a barrier to improving processes.4
move with the times and take Reactive companies that are not
advantage of the efficiencies ready to confront changing times will
and cost savings that can not be able to introduce successful
be delivered by BPM.” BPM. In order for a company to
successfully deploy BPM, the
Process Manager, local company must be able to embrace
government agency, UK change across the organization.

In the following section of this
report ways in which barriers
“Companies in a defensive mode to BPM adoption can be broken
simply aim to survive. BPM will down are examined further.
seem too daunting for them –
rather than investing in new tools
and processes, they will cut IT Capgemini view
budgets and try and muddle
through with legacy tools in their BPM is not simply an out-of-
existing format for a little longer.” the-box technological solution
that can be introduced at will.
Process Manager, enterprise BPM is a discipline that requires
level telecommunications the adoption of a new cultural
business, North America mindset. In a downturn, BPM is
attractive to companies that are
offensively orientated, and looking
to push their business to grow. In
order to introduce effective BPM,
an organization must be receptive
to change, willing to break its
mould and become something
different. Executive sponsorship
is key to driving this forward.

One of the trends we have
observed (though not suitable
for all programs) is towards short
term investments with fast ROI.
BPM projects are often iterative
– lasting 6-10 weeks per project,
with each phase linked to a value
based objective. In this context
budget allocation is easier.

2 See Figure 21
3 http://www.bpminstitute.org/resources/white-papers/
bpm-ea-two-smart-investments-recession
4 See Figure 22

24

Barriers to BPM implementation
The research highlighted various practical issues which prevent
organizations from successfully implementing BPM.

Five barriers in particular team all have their own targets and
business domain. It requires will
were identified: priorities. It requires a different
and impetus to transcend ways
way of looking at processes to make
of working that are constructed
• Functional silo culture them end-to-end more effective.
around existing bureaucratic
structures. Vision and leadership
• Fragmented budget
from a senior level is essential
Capgemini view
for long-term BPM success.
• Perception of BPM as an IT item
BPM-driven ways of working
BPM implementation renders the
can then add value to a business
• Resistance to BPM from IT greatest value when it is applied
by linking functional silos and
staff who have responsibility across organizations and across
eradicating the inefficiency of
for existing systems applications. However initiatives
different business units working
tend to deal with one subset of
in competition with one another
• A lack of change readiness processes because it is much easier
on disconnected projects.
or willingness to gain sponsorship for a process
improvement initiative within a
All these internal barriers to
cooperation must be addressed
in order to achieve commonality
of purpose, which can directly
contribute to business value. Figure 17. 55% of businesses state that functional silo culture is a barrier
to process improvement.

Functional silo culture To what extent do you agree that these barriers to process improvement exist in your
organization: Different parts of the organization tend to operate in functional silos?
55% of respondents identified
functional silo culture as a barrier
to process improvement at their
e
gre

organization, making it the most
ly a
ee

frequently cited obstacle. Survey
ong
agr

ee

respondents who had experience of
agr
dis

Str

BPM initiatives explained how before
htly
nor

introducing BPM, organizations were
Slig
re e
e

compartmentalized into functional
gre

w
r ag

kno
isa

units, with objectives and performance
6.6% lightly dee
ithe

n’t
r

measures broken down accordingly.
sag

Do
Ne

This method of working promotes
3.2% gly di
S

%

%
%

%

efficiency within a particular silo,
on

23.0
24.7

10.3
32.1

but undermines the possibilities for
Str

working collaboratively and seamlessly
across an organization. The attempt to
introduce cross-functional BPM can
lead to internal politics. For example,
when a retailer attempts to improve
cross-channel access, addressing
the issue is immediately problematic
because the online-channel owner,
in-store channel owner, telephone-
channel owner and customer service

25

“In telecoms, the new buzzword Perception of BPM as an IT item
Capgemini view
is an “integrated supply chain”,
how to take everything from The survey findings indicate that
BPM programs need to be driven
manufacturing, procurement, there is little consensus across
by a collaborative team of IT
logistics etc. and put that all organizations as to who should
and business. Business should
together under one ownership. take primary responsibility for
drive the business case, the
In practice it never works like process improvement. In different
process design and outcomes,
that. At the moment we have organizations across the sample, this
and IT needs to supply the
an operations organization, was borne variously by IT, business
infrastructure, core systems
a procurement organization, management, operations, or even
and integration expertise. BPM
a logistics organization dedicated process management
brings the two – business and IT –
and a delivery function all units. In many instances, budget
together, to make those decisions
operating in different silos. is fragmented across departments,
jointly. It also creates a common
All departments affected by a which can undermine the
environment which serves to
process should work together.” effectiveness of attempts to launch
eliminate the communication
coherent, cross-functional process
barriers that traditional tools
Head of Logistics, enterprise management initiatives.
and methods tend to amplify.
level telecommunications
business, North America 48% of respondents identified the
perception of BPM as an IT item
as a barrier to effective process
improvement. The figure is higher
“Different departments
in certain European markets such
were taking decisions in
as Italy, where it rises to 54%.
their own way, with their own
Perception of BPM as an IT item can
philosophies and objectives.
hinder implementation as while
This created a lot of tensions
many of the costs and challenges
and processes became stuck.”
fall on the IT side, the principal
benefits fall on the business side.
Customer Services Manager, medium
sized software business, Netherlands
Figure 18. Perception of BPM as an IT item is deemed a barrier to process improvement by
almost half of respondents.

To what extent do you agree that these barriers to process improvement
exist in your organization: BPM is still seen too much as an IT item?
e
gre
ee
ee

ly a
agr
agr

ong
htly
dis

Str
Slig
nor
re e
e
gre

r ag

w
isa

kno
re e

ithe
10.8 htly d
sag

n’t
Ne

Do
4.4% gly di
Slig

%
%
%

%

8.7%
on

29.6
28.7

17.9
Str

26

Figure 19. Allocation for process improvement is often split across organizations. Resistance from staff
responsible for existing systems
Which parts of the business hold the budget for process improvement?

One potential hurdle to BPM
implementation is that BPM gives
power to the business side of an
organization rather than the IT
19.5% department. 44% of respondents found
19.9%
that resistance from staff responsible
for existing systems was a barrier to
successful process improvement.
IT departments will naturally be
IT Operations protective of current tools, and
27.1%
argue that these can achieve value.

Capgemini view
15.3%
The introduction of BPM
19.5%
Senior business
technology will change the
management applications landscape and there
Individual will often be internal resistance to
business units
this. Ultimately, BPM technology
12.7% Finance will serve to create value for the
organization as a whole and create
4.6%
alignment between business
HR manager and IT. However, it is important
Dedicated process 21.0%
management unit to engage the CIO and IT staff
in BPM strategy to ensure that
these stakeholders do not feel
n.b. Respondents were able to select more than one they are relinquishing control. In
answer, as budgets can be split across departments, forward-thinking organizations
hence the overall percentage response sums to more Don’t know
than 100%. where staff view change as
an opportunity rather than a
threat there is the best chance of
Figure 20. There is little consensus across organizations as to who should take primary
responsibility for process improvement. successful BPM implementation.

Which of the following take primary responsibility for process optimization?

“The biggest challenge we had
was actually the human aspect,
not the systems and technical
13.1% aspect. We were suddenly
16.3% 3.1%
saying ‘you’re not in charge
HR manager of the network anymore, we
Operations are.’ You’ve got to make sure
18.2% everyone’s ok about it before
IT you can move forward.”
3.6%
15.6% Senior VP for IT, consumer
Senior business Finance products and retail, UK
management

12.8%
5.3% Don’t know

11.9%
None of
the above
Individual
business units
Dedicated process
management unit
27

“There was opposition in Figure 21. 44% of respondents found that resistance from staff responsible for existing
the company from different systems was a barrier to successful process improvement.
departments. People were To what extent do you agree that these barriers to process improvement exist in your
worried because their discretion organization: There is resistance from IT staff who have responsibility for existing systems
over their systems was being (SAP, CRM)?
wiped out. There was also
concern that manpower would
be declared surplus as we put

ee

ee

e
agr
systems in place to do the work

gre
agr
dis
they had done previously.”

ly a
htly
nor

ong
Slig
re e

Str
Deputy General Manager of Finance,

ee

r ag
large utilities business, India

agr

w
ithe

kno
dis
e

Ne

n’t
htly
gre

Do
Lack of change readiness
isa

Slig
ly d

/ willingness

%

%
%

%

%
ong
6.6%

10.5
12.4

15.9
27.0

27.7
Str

46% of respondents identified a lack of
change readiness or change willingness
at their organization as a barrier to
BPM adoption. Organizations which Figure 22. 46% of respondents identified a lack of change readiness or change willingness
have adequately functioning processes at their organization as a barrier to BPM adoption.
can easily become complacent, and To what extent do you agree that these barriers to process improvement exist in your
fail to acknowledge the need for organization: There is a lack of change readiness and/or change willingness in the
continuous improvement, leaving organization?
them vulnerable to being overtaken
by the competition. Companies
with an apparently well-functioning

e
gre
ee

application landscape can lack the
ee
agr

ly a
agr

vision and appetite for a step change.
dis

ong
htly
nor

Str
Slig

Capgemini view
re e
ee

r ag

w
agr

kno
A BPM implementation may
ithe
dis
re e

n’t
appear to offer radical change for
Ne
htly

Do
6.4% y disag

marginal return. Whereas when
Slig

implemented carefully, it can offer
%

%

%
l

%
ong

%

25.2

29.5

16.5

10.7

organizations a step change in the
11.7
Str

way they are able to do business.

Large organizations that are processes, minimizing disruption
accustomed to acting in a and ensuring continuity while
particular way can also be wary facilitating process improvement.
of overhauling and updating Business process and rules are
processes because business rules captured and made explicit, and
and business knowledge may be systems become self-documenting.
embedded into long-standing Staff with the appropriate
processes. In some instances authorizations can then maintain
these rules may not be formally and amend processes and rules
documented, so stakeholders are that are no longer hidden away
concerned that when migrating in arcane coding languages.
to new system, the full range
of functionality may not be Capgemini recommendations
captured. The great strength of for breaking down barriers and
BPM is that it captures and builds successfully implementing BPM
on existing ways of working, are summarized on the next page.
renewing rather than usurping old
28

Key conclusions and recommendations
BPM offers high value through process optimization – but first,
organizations need to create the conditions for success

At a time when many market sectors are facing slow Define strategic objectives for BPM
revenue growth, customer churn, and increased
pressures on costs, BPM is a critical weapon in the battle BPM succeeds best when it is executed against clear business
for efficient, effective processes that cost less. It allows objectives. Organizations embark on BPM programs for
organizations to become more customer-centric, and to different reasons, and so each business must identify and
respond in a more agile way to business challenges and prioritize its own strategic objectives up front. Involving
opportunities, however uncertain the business environment. senior management in this process is an important way to
Other benefits include better regulatory compliance, ensure that they take ownership of the subsequent program.
even where regulations are altering almost daily.
Possible objectives can be grouped into three clusters:
All this adds up to an exceptional ROI for successful
BPM programs – one that can often make it 1. Cost reduction, efficiency, and effectiveness
possible to buck gloomy economic trends.
2. Customer-centricity and agility, for example
Before an organization can realize BPM’s potential, in adapting to changing market conditions
there are usually some challenges to overcome. These
typically include a silo-based organizational structure and 3. Compliance with rapidly-evolving regulations
culture, resistance to change on the part of stakeholders,
and fragmented process improvement budgets. Objectives should relate to the business as a whole,
and not just to individual functions. Setting the right
Below, we make some recommendations for objectives, and then managing against them, helps the
positioning an organization to overcome the organization to work as a single entity, rather than in silos.
challenges and realize BPM’s promise.
Build a business case for BPM
Get C-level sponsorship
The business case for a given BPM initiative will vary
Strong vision and leadership at the C-level are the key to depending on the organization’s objectives, as well as its
overcoming barriers between organizational silos to create an maturity with regard to BPM. Involving senior managers
environment for BPM success. Without senior management in the process of building the business case, as opposed
sponsorship, a BPM initiative is usually doomed before to simply presenting them with the end result, will
it even starts. Securing C-level sponsorship can itself be help to gain C-level ownership of BPM initiatives.
difficult, particularly if the people who really “get” BPM find
it hard to communicate the potential in business terms. The The business case should balance the requirements of
process of jointly defining objectives and a business case, as different parts of the organization as far as possible. On
recommended below, can improve communication and build the benefits side, it should take account of “soft” benefits
the vital senior buy-in. such as improved staff satisfaction and retention, and
reduced cost of training, as well as financial benefits.

A crucial element of the business case should be a
roadmap with delivery milestones, to show when benefits
will be realized. Goals should be clear, measureable,
and realistic. For those organizations starting out on
BPM, our recommendation is to think big, start small,
and scale rapidly. It is similarly important to measure
post-implementationto establish when benefits
are actually realized and recognize success.

29

Establish governance Realize and communicate benefits

Successful BPM requires governance at an operational It is critical to track and manage BPM progress against
level. The CIO needs to provide vision and direction, the business case, ensuring that objectives are being met,
and be willing to do so if he or she has engaged in the milestones achieved, and benefits realized. Measurement
process of objectives definition and business case needs to be qualitative (e.g. through customer and
construction described above. Even so, a senior executive staff satisfaction surveys) as well as quantitative (e.g.
is unlikely to be able to provide the constant day-today through measurement of cost reductions) – both types of
involvement and decision-making that is required. measurement will have been defined in the business case.
Day-to-day decisions on projects and programs therefore
need to be made by a well structured, cross-functional Demonstrating value early on in a project is the best way to
team of IT and business representatives, mediated by a support the case for continuing it. In addition, demonstrating
steering committee of senior sponsors and stakeholders. success on one project is likely to inspire others to follow suit.

Integrate new and existing technology Give BPM organization-wide reach

BPM depends on the correct alignment of technology Although success breeds success, organization-wide
solutions with the business case. New BPM tools adoption of BPM is rare unless patches of success and
and suites are likely to be implemented, but most fragmented budgets are brought together to create
organizations will also need to take into account a organization-wide awareness, enable a repeatable
complex landscape of legacy back office applications. experience and reuse of components to build
momentum and further reduce costs. One way to
Usually there is no need for dramatic “rip and replace” do this is by setting up a center of excellence. Again,
systems migrations. Instead, the emphasis will be on C-level sponsorship is essential to make it happen.
leveraging the investment in existing solutions using BPM to
augment, and plug execution gaps in, legacy applications.. In summary
In other words, the deployment of an agile BPM layer can
modernize, and extend the functionality of, legacy systems. To achieve the potential value of BPM, organizations
must first create the conditions for success. That means
Manage cultural change securing and using senior sponsorship, rigorously
defining organization-wide strategic objectives
BPM is not an out-of-the-box technical solution. It requires and a business case, and putting in place the right
the adoption of a new culture and mindset on the part governance structures and the right technology. The
of both business (who will operate the new processes) BPM process must be purposefully managed throughout
and IT (who are responsible for existing systems). to ensure that the intended benefits are realized and
Both of these groups will need to adopt a new model of communicated. Budgets and resources may need to be
collaborative working. We strongly believe that BPM as a integrated and/or centralized to achieve wider reach.
discipline needs to be jointly owned by business and IT.
C-level commitment and strong change management skills
It follows that stakeholders from both business and IT are essential to bring about the required cultural change,
must be ready and willing to embrace change. Initially including the move to greater cross-functional collaboration.
there is often resistance, but if C-level managers have
taken ownership of BPM it will be easier to gain the Under the right conditions, BPM can deliver exceptional
commitment of other staff members. Even so, managing value that more than justifies the effort involved,
cultural change is one of the most challenging aspects as the experience of early adopters confirms.
of BPM implementation, particularly where internal
politics get in the way of cross-functional collaboration.

30

Capgemini sector and country focus
BPM as a management discipline can offer organizations –
both private and public sector – a way of underpinning their
processes in order to deliver high value to the business.

In the second section of the report, The sectors profiled are: We also explore BPM trends and
we take an in-depth look at the practices from a regional perspective
application of BPM in five specific • Financial services in the following geographies:
market sectors that are of particular
interest. The level of BPM adoption, • Public sector • United Kingdom
and drivers of interest in BPM thinking,
vary across market verticals. • Manufacturing, automotive • United States
and life sciences
• Australia
• Consumer products and retail
• Germany
• Telecommunications, media
and entertainment • Italy

• France

• Spain

• The Nordics

• The Netherlands

32

Financial services
Our survey shows that the financial services sector leads the
way in adoption of Business Process Management software and
approaches: 65% of financial services decision-makers that
participated in the survey stated that their organization had launched
a BPM initiative of some description, while 52% anticipated that
greater emphasis would be placed on BPM over the next year.

Figure 23. More than half of financial services respondents believe their organization will
place greater emphasis on BPM over the next year.

How do you anticipate that the current level of interest in BPM within your organization will
change over the next year?

A lot more emphasis will
be placed on Business 18.8%
Process Management
over the next year

A little more emphasis will
be placed on Business 32.7%
Process Management
Nicholas Kitson, Head of Business over the next year
Process Management, Global
The same amount of emphasis
Financial Services Unit, Capgemini will be placed on Business
Process Management over the 27.3%
next year

The effects of the global financial A little less emphasis will
be placed on Business
crisis still loom over financial services Process Management 4.2%
providers. Shortcomings in regulation over the next year
of the sector have been brought A lot less emphasis will
into sharp focus by the economic be placed on Business 3.6%
Process Management
downturn, which has also forced over the next year
financial players of all stripes to
reassess their cost position and the Don’t know 13.3%
ways in which they fight for market
share. Players in banking, insurance
and capital markets have all been Solvency II. The problem facing 62% of decision-makers in the
forced to scrutinize their processes these financial institutions is how financial services sector indicate
and Business Process Management to gain and maintain compliance that responding to changes in
thinking has become more relevant in a fluid regulatory environment, legislation will become a more
than ever to these institutions. while at the same time satisfying the important driver for their business
demands of customers for swift and over the next 12 months.
Financial services efficient service. 62% of decision-
and compliance makers in the financial services
sector that participated in the survey “FSA legislation has become
The past few years have witnessed anticipated that responding to tighter and this impacts
vociferous demand for the creation changes in legislation would become the sales process and the
of new legislation in financial a more important driver for their techniques in place.”
services. By 2013, banks will need business over the next 12 months.
to demonstrate their compliance Process Manager,
to the new Basel III standards on large insurance business, UK
capital adequacy; similarly, by 2014,
insurance companies will need
to demonstrate compliance with

33

“We talk to people around risk, BPM allows financial services to controlled approach to the credit
compliance, Solvency, Basel... fuse regulations with processes. process by facilitating continuity of
they understand the issues Organizations can build compliance to work across different departments
and they know they will need to these new regulations into a repeatable, and different channels. Furthermore,
do something around it. They measurable framework. This eliminates BPM also allows the business to
grasp that there’s a deadline the need to impose compliance monitor how efficiently and accurately
by which they need to address controls manually in an ad-hoc fashion, these processes are carried out.
these issues and if they don’t reducing error and minimizing
they will be punished.” time and resources that need to be Since the downturn, insurance
dedicated to regulatory demands. companies have been under pressure
Capgemini BPM specialist, Spain to reduce operational and acquisition
BPM allows financial services firms costs to assure sustainable growth
to respond to government demands and profits. Legacy IT infrastructure
73% of financial services by demonstrating compliance at insurance companies is unable to
decision-makers who took part automatically. BPM also allows handle the increasing complexity
in the survey anticipated that continuous change and different in claims processing that is driven
maximizing cost-efficiency layers of customization: this means by a combination of technological
would become a more that rules can be refined to meet innovation, a challenging external
important business priority different requirements in geography environment and regulatory change.
over the next 12 months. or product. It also affords firms the Processes frequently require multiple
scope and flexibility to meet elements hand-offs and duplication and
of future compliance which have yet redundancy are rife. This explains
“We want to replace things
to be precisely defined, and to model why insurers are embracing BPM
that don’t work, maximizing
these intelligently in advance to see technology, which unpicks the knots
cost-efficiency by paying more
what the implications may be. that form in historically evolved
now to save more later.”
processes, enhancing process
Financial services and efficiency and cost effectiveness
Business Analyst,
cost-efficiency and allowing measurement of the
large insurance business, USA
success of claims processes.
In the aftermath of the economic
downturn, financial institutions are
“Harmonizing processes
focusing on cost reduction. Business
across different divisions and
Process Management allows financial
subsidiaries will save costs.”
services companies to automate
labor-intensive manual tasks, saving
Compliance Officer,
times and resources and boosting
enterprise level bank, Australia
efficiency. 73% of financial services
firms in the survey anticipated
that maximizing cost-efficiency
would become a more important
priority over the next 12 months.

In the retail banking sector,
incorporating front-end activities like
Loan Origination into BPM systems
ensures superior integration with
back office functions. When this type
of process is carried out manually,
there is inevitable duplication of work
and inaccuracy. The disconnection
between separate back office and point
of sales systems causes unnecessary
re-checking by staff at different parts
of the process, while the ongoing
battle to reconcile different pieces
of paper leads to errors. BPM allows
banks to build a standardized, quality

34

Financial services and The Capgemini World Insurance From the perspective of customers
customer-centricity Report 2011 states: “Insurers’ of a bank, running processes like
reputations live or die by their ability mortgage and loan applications in a
In these leaner times, both banks to process claims efficiently and BPM tool speeds up the process and
and insurance companies are effectively.”5 A bad claims experience eliminates the kind of mechanical
fighting to increase market share. drives clients to competitors, a errors which damage perception of a
Consequently, they are working on dynamic that is especially costly for brand. It can also increase the scope
topics related to customer front end, insurers given that it costs seven times for cross-channel service provision,
many of which can be driven by a as much to acquire a new customer for example the sending of text
BPM solution. 79% of respondents as it does to serve an existing one. messages to confirm transactions.
from financial services firms in BPM joins up different business units,
the survey stated that increasing streamlining claims processes by 5 Capgemini World Insurance Report, 2011
the number of channels through removing internal barriers and sharing
which customers can interact with salient information across different
the business is an important driver. parts of a business, largely automating
Similarly, 78% of these respondents much of the claims process. From the
stated that facilitating customer self customer perspective, this removal of
service is an important driver. manual work and duplication leads to
shorter claims-processing time, and a
more accurate and transparent claims
calculation – the end result is greater
customer satisfaction and retention.

Figure 24. Facilitating customer self-service and enhancing multi-channel access are key
business drivers for financial services organizations.

Please identify how important each of the following drivers are for your business: Increasing
the number of channels through which customers can interact with the business; Facilitating
customers self-service.

4.2% 1.2%
Not very Not at all
important important
15.8% Neither
important nor
34.5%
unimportant
Very
important

Increasing
no of channels
for customer
interaction

3.6%
44.2% 6.7% Not at all
Quite important Not very important
important 38.2%
Very
important
11.5% Neither
important nor
unimportant Facilitating
customer
self-service

40.0%
Quite important

35

Public sector
Governments are facing considerable pressures in 2012.
The economic downturn in many countries means that
public sector spending is constrained. Legislation is
constantly changing, and technological change means
that citizens expect a greater say in decision-making.

is frequently invoked. At the moment The systems that governments use,
public sector agencies in many markets for example to process welfare claims,
are facing unprecedented budgetary are under constant strain as time-
pressures. More than one in three consuming manual intervention is
public sector respondents anticipated needed to keep up with the moving
that maximizing cost-efficiency would target of legislation. The adoption of a
become much more important to their joined-up BPM approach eliminates
organization over the next 12 months. the cracks that appear in hand-offs
In countries which are facing seriously between people and departments that
Nico Kaptein, Operations Director, reduced government spending, this lead to costly waste. BPM can also give
Global Public Security, Capgemini figure is much higher – in the UK, government agencies the ability to
more than two in three public sector change rules dynamically to keep up
decision-makers anticipated that with the latest directives, eliminating
Governments must attempt to deliver maximizing cost-efficiency would mistakes and reducing work.
more efficient and transparent citizen become much more important.
services whilst driving down costs,
but they are regularly hamstrung in
Figure 25. Maximizing cost-efficiency will become more important to public sector
this attempt by outdated technologies organizations over the next 12 months.
and outmoded ways of working. This
context explains the growing relevance Which of these drivers do you think are likely to become more or less important over the next
12 months: maximizing cost efficiency?
of BPM paradigms to the public sector.

Citizen-centricity

Many governments are increasingly
focusing on delivering an enhanced
level of citizen-centric service.
Citizens expect the kind of 24 hour, 30.7%
35.5%
multi-channel service they are used
to receiving in the private sector. In
healthcare, for example, good case
management practice can be applied
to treatment of patients, which can
require the contribution of a spectrum Stay the same
of different people with specialized Much more important
roles. BPM can address the information 5.2%
silos that exist within enormously
complicated organizations like tax A little less important
bodies allowing continuity of work 27.8%
by different agents in the process.
2.8%
The elimination of waste is a Much less important
perennially hot topic in the public
sector, and the idea of efficiency savings A little more important

36

In many markets, such as the 29% of public sector decision-
Netherlands, public-private makers anticipate increasing
partnerships are viewed by investment in social media
governments as a way of improving strategy.
efficiency. There is an erosion of the gap
between the public and private spheres.
This trend will drive governments “Social media will have more
to move away from closed networks impact on the public sector
towards platforms which facilitate than people realize right now.
interaction with partners: this will Delivering services must be
further fuel a move towards more efficient, so it is important
open systems, which will in turn make to facilitate self-service.”
BPM a logical choice of platform.
IT Manager, central government
Social Media Strategy agency, Netherlands

Governments in the English-speaking
world, and Northern Europe, are
beginning to explore how they can
harness social media potential for the
benefit of their citizens. Understanding
of how to engage with social media
is admittedly still in its infancy in
government, with only 29% of public
sector decision-makers anticipating
increasing investment in social
media strategy. However, during our
research, interesting hypothetical
examples of how governments might
use the technology emerged, which
suggested that this could well be a
growth area in the near future. For
example, police forces might explore
how they can make constructive use
of the wealth of unstructured data
that emerges from digital sources to
aid crime prevention. A BPM platform
can allow the swift and seamless
integration of relevant social media
data into conventional processes.

37

Manufacturing, automotive
and life sciences
The survey findings show that decision-makers in the sector
Capgemini groups together as manufacturing, automotive and life
sciences are relatively more likely than the rest of the sample to have
knowledge and experience of Business Process Management.

Process to Value” explains, at these Three key business priorities
companies “years of globalization and emerge from the research for large
expansion – some organic, but much manufacturing, automotive and
of it through mergers and acquisitions life sciences organizations:
– have resulted in complexity in
the value chain, redundancy in • Harmonizing business processes
systems and processes, and a lack
of transparency and flexibility in • Maximizing cost-efficiency
processes”. The pressure to move from a
Ard Jan Vethman, heterogeneous, non-integrated systems • Optimizing time-to-market
Principal Consultant, landscape to a unified environment
Manufacturing, Automotive and is often acute and affects the whole 82.3% of respondents in the
Life Sciences, Capgemini business, hence the importance of sample stressed the importance of
strategic sponsorship at the top level. harmonizing business processes.
This is no surprise, as organic growth
One survey participant in three in different parts of multinational
stated that they “know a lot about
Business Process Management and
have plenty of practical experience of
Figure 26. In the manufacturing, automotive and life sciences sector, one respondent in
it.” This demonstrates the relevance three has extensive knowledge of BPM.
of the discipline to the manufacturing
industry, which is addressing the need How would you describe your level of knowledge of Business Process Management?
to reduce costs, boost operational
I do not have much
efficiency and optimize time-to-market knowledge or practical 15.9%
in the wake of the economic downturn. experience of Business
Process Management

The manufacturing, automotive and
I have some knowledge
life sciences vertical is advanced in of Business Process 19.5%
Management but no
having process ownership that goes practical experience of it
all the way to board-level. This is
illustrated by the fact that respondents I have some knowledge
in this sector, more than any other, of Business Process
28.3%
Management and limited
are likely to stress that decisions practical experience of it
regarding process improvement
should be taken at the C-level. 72% I know a lot about Business
of respondents in manufacturing, Process Management 31.9%
and have plenty of
automotive and life sciences indicate practical experience of it
that they believe BPM should be treated
as a C-level concern, compared with
61% of the overall sample. As the Don’t know 4.4%
Capgemini report “Business Process
Management in Manufacturing: From

38

companies often leads to the Figure 27. 82% of manufacturing, automotive and life sciences respondents stressed the
development of local processes for importance of harmonizing business processes.
distribution, sales and marketing. BPM Please identify how important each of the following drivers are for your business:
can provide extra value by allowing Harmonizing business processes.
companies to strike a fine balance
between necessary and beneficial
centralization of processes, and 46.9%
flexibility for adaption to specific local
or departmental circumstances. There
has been a longstanding drive for
35.4%
harmonization in the manufacturing
space, but BPM technology allows for
different layers of harmonization.

Maximizing cost-efficiency
is similarly a key driver for
manufacturing, automotive and life 14.2%
sciences companies, with emphasis
on integrating supply chain and
outsourcing non-core functions.
The flexibility that BPM provides 1.8% 1.8%
for collaboration with partners is
very relevant to organizations in Not at all Not very Neither Quite important Very important
these sectors with regard to both important important important nor
unimportant
distribution and supply chain.
BPM can help break down the silos
“We need to streamline even
that occur in the supply chain and
further to create better products
ensure that all functions are aligned
in less time to stay in business.
towards the same delivery goals.
Without process improvement
we won’t stay competitive in
Optimizing cycle time is invariably
this business environment.”
a priority for organizations in this
sector: this was especially top of
Enterprise Architect, enterprise level
mind for automotive organizations
automotive business, Germany
surveyed. It is no surprise that 57.5%
of decision-makers in these sectors
anticipate increasing investment
in optimizing time-to-market over
“We are struggling to survive
the next 12 months. It is easier to
in a competitive market
put together a business case when
segment. Global harmonization
there has already been a focus on
is important to create new
such a quantifiable metric. BPM
opportunities for our business.”
also allows for greater transparency
around processes, and rich, real-time
Business Analyst, enterprise level
measurement of performance.
manufacturing business, Netherlands

Further discussion of BPM
maturity in manufacturing can
be found in this Capgemini
report, “Business Process
Management in Manufacturing:
From Process to Value.”

www.uk.capgemini.com/insights-and-resources/
by-publication/business-process-management-
in-manufacturing-from-process-to-value/

39

Consumer products and retail
Understanding of the relevance of BPM thinking and technology
is less mature in the retail arena than in other industries.

Increasing the number of channels enhance the customer experience.
through which customers can interact This is driving interest in combining
with the business was deemed an BPM and CRM systems at top retailers
important business driver for 73% for whom outstanding service is a
of decision-makers in the consumer priority. This is also relevant to the
products and retail space. A BPM increasing number of consumer
framework can help facilitate this products companies which have
by linking the information silos that “direct-to-consumer” channels.
exist around different channels.
Brian Girouard, Global Consumer BPM allows seamless sharing of data,
Products and Retail, Capgemini so all information relating to one
customer can be logged in a single,
easily accessible location. This helps
This is illustrated by our research avoid the inevitable frustrations that
which shows that fewer than one in occur when a customer is passed
five consumer products and retail from one operator to another due to
decision-makers believe that BPM is inconsistent or incomplete sharing
currently an important agenda item of information. Customer service
at the managerial level. There is still a representatives can even be prompted
sense that retail, in particular, is less with useful contextual information
of a science and more of an art, less about customers at appropriate
rigorous and structured than other junctures during interactions to
industries. Some of the participants
in this survey stressed the importance
of personal interaction in retail and Figure 28. Increasing the number of channels through which customers can interact with
refuted the notion that it could be the business was deemed an important business driver for 73% of consumer products and
reduced to mere process. However, retail respondents.
conundrums that are top-of-mind Please identify how important each of the following drivers are for your business: Increasing
for retailers, like facilitating seamless the number of channels through which customers can interact with the business.
all-channel access and harnessing
the transformative power of social
media, are all excellent candidates
for applying a BPM framework.

36.5% 36.5%

20.0%

7.1%

0.0%

Not at all Not very Neither Quite important Very important
important important important nor
unimportant
40

Online media strategy is fast becoming Figure 29. 70% of consumer products and retail respondents view social media strategy as
a top priority for retailers. 46% of an important business driver.
survey participants in the consumer Please identify how important each of the following drivers are for your business: Managing
products and retail vertical anticipated the opportunities and threats of social media.
increasing investment in managing
the opportunities and threats of social
media – more than in any other sector. 47.1%
This is not surprising given that 70%
view this as an important driver for
the sector. Front end applications
that deliver a CRM-type service
increasingly have to incorporate social
media, and these are best integrated
into wider architecture via a BPM
21.2% 22.4%
platform. In verticals where word-
of-mouth has traditionally been
important, the echo chamber effect
of the social media space demands
attention. BPM allows customers to 8.2%
build processes to mitigate negative
word of mouth or to amplify positive 1.2%
chatter. Feedback received through
these channels can be categorized Not at all Not very Neither Quite important Very important
and appropriate responses executed. important important important nor
unimportant
The success of this type of activity can
be monitored and managed. Many
“Our business is moving into
traditional offline retailers are daunted
multi-channel retailing therefore
by the alchemy of new types of media,
the need for social media
but interactions in this space can be
exposure is greater than ever.”
efficiently standardized and structured
using BPM approaches and tools.
Department Officer, enterprise
level retailer, Australia

“Customer self-service is
important from a customer
perspective as it makes life easier,
and a company perspective, as
it minimizes cost, driving profit.”

Compliance Officer, large retailer, Italy

41

Telecommunications, media
and entertainment
The telecommunications, media and entertainment (TME)
sector has lagged behind other sectors such as banking and
manufacturing in adoption of BPM thinking and technology.

Figure 30. Half of respondents in the communications sector anticipate increased interest in
BPM at their organization over the next 12 months.

How do you anticipate that the current level of interest in BPM within your organization will
change over the next year?

16.4%
Jean-Marc Steffann,
Vice President, Global Telecom, Media
and Entertainment, Capgemini 34.5%
A lot more emphasis

Our research shows that the sector may
0.9%
catch up quickly as half of decision-
makers anticipate increased interest A lot less emphasis
in BPM from their organization in 23.3%
the near future. The TME industry A little more emphasis
is facing a number of challenges
that are fuelling interest in BPM.
3.4%

The research findings show that more The same amount 21.6%
of emphasis A little less emphasis
than two in three telecommunications,
media and entertainment companies
anticipate that maximizing cost-
efficiency will become increasingly
important. The market is highly Don’t know
saturated and revenue is likely to
remain flat. Resulting pressure
on margins is forcing TME will come under further pressure,
players to focus on operational as both businesses and consumers
efficiency and cost reduction. look to cut back on expenses and
the risk of non-payment increases.
BPM allows TME companies to
reduce costs by automating processes, This is reflected by the finding that 72%
integrating front and back office of companies in the sector state that a
functions and connecting all the challenging economic climate over the
inputs necessary to complete a task. If next 12 months will prompt greater
there is a further market downturn in interest in process improvement.
developed markets, TME companies

42

Product convergence in the This will provide another “We are thinking closely about
telecommunications, media and incentive for TME companies to what BPM can do for us right
entertainment spaces, enabled by migrate from cumbersome, closed now. The size and age of our
regulatory change, means that TME legacy systems towards an open organization means that there
companies are increasingly trying to architecture that allows efficient are a multitude of separate siloed
sell convergent triple play or quadruple integration with other parties. processes and systems which
play products. Major players who have proved difficult to replace
originated in different spaces are without negatively impacting
jostling to offer mobile, fixed line, customers. We currently have
Broadband, and Pay TV. This case parallel streams of systems
management challenge is compounded and processes for legacy
by increased customer demand to customers and new or migrated
access accounts via multiple channels, customers which is difficult, not
from store to Smartphone app – more to mention costly, to manage.”
than half of decision-makers who
participated in the research anticipate Systems Architect, enterprise
investing more in facilitating multi- level telecommunications
channel access for their customers. company, Australia
This necessitates radical changes to
systems architecture as companies
Figure 31. 72% of companies in the communications sector state that a challenging
attempt to reconcile several pre- economic climate over the next 12 months will prompt greater interest in process
existing processes for account improvement.
creation and account management.
If the economic climate in your sector proved more challenging over the next 12 months,
BPM allows businesses to handle what impact do you anticipate this would have on your organization’s attitude to process
the complexity of required account improvement?
management processes. Information
silos that have traditionally existed We will pay a lot more attention
around different products, or between We will pay a little more attention
channels, can be broken down, and
It will not impact on the attention paid
each customer interaction treated 8.3%
as part of a seamless dialogue. We will pay a little less attention
1.7%
We will pay a lot less attention 1.7%
Consumer behavior is constantly Don’t know 36.7%
changing in this market as technology
evolves: TME companies consequently
need to bring products to market
16.7%
as quickly as possible if they are to
secure their share of the benefits.
66% of respondents at these
companies anticipated that reducing
time-to-market would become a
more important priority for their
organization in the next 12 months.
This shows that companies urgently
need to invest in infrastructure to
support shorter cycle times. The use
of a BPM framework allows telecoms 35.0%
players to maximize business agility
and respond swiftly to market
opportunities. The development of
these new products also means that
TME companies are being forced
to join forces with an array of new
partners, from applications developers
to financial services companies.

43

Country analysis
significant opportunity for process over the next year. Market conditions
improvement. 1 in 5 of the survey which are tougher than anticipated
participants stated that BPM is an will put pressure on margins, forcing
important agenda item at managerial businesses to scrutinize their cost
level which is consistent with the position further. Indeed, of those
broader picture across the sample. businesses that are considering a BPM
implementation, 89% state that more
The research suggests that there may be challenging economic conditions
some opportunities for BPM to flourish. will prompt them to pay greater
Lee Beardmore, Head of Business The UK is a world leader in financial attention to process improvement.
Process Management, Capgemini, UK services, which comprises roughly
10% of the country’s economy. The
sector, whose revenue growth has been 44% of the survey respondents
driven in part by a generation’s worth anticipate that the level of interest
United Kingdom of deregulation, now faces the prospect in BPM within the organization
of both increased oversight, and cost- will increase within the next year.
Fundamental changes are taking place cutting as a response to tougher market
in the UK economy as the country conditions. Consequently, much of the
67% of survey respondents in
struggles to recover from the economic BPM adoption in the UK has occurred
the public sector believe that
downturn and avoid further recession. in the financial services sector.
maximizing cost-efficiency will
The British media talks loudly about
become much more important
an “Age of Austerity”. The private Agencies in the public sector in the
over the next 12 months.
sector is contending with a great deal UK, which is witnessing the greatest
of market uncertainty, while jobs retrenchment in government spending
are being cut from the public sector, since the 1940s, are becoming
and the influential financial sector increasingly aware of and receptive to
is contending with new regulatory the benefits that a BPM approach can
pressure. Driving growth, responding confer. Two-thirds of public sector
to market contraction and gaining survey respondents indicated that
new efficiencies from the workforce maximizing cost-efficiency would
all demand new ways of working. continue to grow in importance
The research indicates that BPM will over the next 12 months, which is
have a role to play in addressing such driving interest in BPM investments.
challenges. Indeed, 44% of survey The incumbent government is
respondents anticipated that interest also particularly interested in
in BPM within their organization public and private organizations
would increase within the next year, partnering to deliver state services.
while 1 in 3 anticipates that their This impetus towards collaboration
organization will launch a major drives interest in moving away from
BPM initiative in the same period. closed legacy systems towards the
more open kind of environment
The research indicates that knowledge that can be facilitated by BPM.
of Business Process Management in
the UK is not as developed as in more There is still plenty of conjecture as
mature markets such as the USA. to how the UK economy will fare in
Only 16% of the UK decision-makers the medium term; macroeconomic
who participated in the research events in the Eurozone and the wider
had plenty of practical experience global economy will impact on the
of the topic, compared with 28% prospects for recovery. Consequently,
in Germany and 32% in the USA. more than three in four UK businesses
Interestingly only 9% stated that believe that ability to react to changes
their processes are ‘Optimizing’ in market conditions will be an
which indicates that the UK still has important driver of business success

45

that participated in the survey state that technology from consumer facing
their processes are optimizing. This organizations, as the line between
rises to 1 in 3 (32%) of US companies BPM and CRM becomes blurred.
with more than 10,000 employees. As with other trends in BPM, US
organizations will lead the way.
US companies are relatively more likely
to invest in BPM implementation in
both good times and bad. When the 50% of US survey participants
economy is buoyant, new paradigms indicated that interest in BPM
drive interest in upgrading systems within their organization would
Venkat Bharadwaj, Head of
at forward thinking companies increase over the next year.
Business Process Management,
Capgemini, North America who want to extend competitive
advantage. A good example is the
66% of US survey respondents
emergence of social media. 60% of US
indicated that harnessing the
United States businesses anticipate that harnessing
opportunities and managing the
the opportunities and managing the
threats of social media would
The economic crisis of recent years, threats of social media will become
be an important business driver
triggered by crisis in the capital a more important business driver for
for them over the next year.
markets, had a widespread impact them over the next year – a greater
across market sectors and regions proportion than in any other market.
in the United States. However, Social media strategy can be effectively
the most recent economic and standardised and structured using BPM
financial indicators show that approaches and tools. Alternatively,
recovery is underway. US business BPM affords companies the business
continues to evolve and innovate, agility to react to difficult economic
and the world’s biggest economy times. The recent downturn has caused
remains the world leader in many many large organizations to refocus on
important market verticals. ‘Lean’ principles – the legacy of this is
that 65% of US companies anticipate
The US is indisputably the world’s increasing investment in maximizing
biggest market for BPM. Analysts cost-efficiency in the coming year.
estimated that until 2010 North
America accounted for more than half The US economy is very diverse, and
of the global BPM market by revenue. there are several sectors in which
The top 3 BPM software vendors, Pega, BPM adoption is prevalent. As in
IBM and Oracle, are headquartered many other countries, financial
in the United States. The research services has led the way in terms
findings support the idea that the BPM of BPM adoption. US insurers have
market is relatively mature. They also harnessed the power of BPM platforms
demonstrate that in many areas interest to simplify claims processing and
in BPM approaches will continue to enhance case management. In the
develop. 1 in 2 USA survey participants aerospace and automotive sectors,
indicated that interest in BPM within open BPM systems allows massive US
their organization would increase companies to collaborate effectively
over the next year, while 43% stated with their legions of suppliers. High-
that their organization intended to tech companies working in heavily
launch a BPM initiative in that period. regulated areas such as life sciences
are attracted to BPM as it allows
Process knowledge and process them to demonstrate easily their
maturity are rather more developed compliance to new regulations.
within large US organizations than
elsewhere. An illustration of this is the In the next few years, there is likely to
fact that a quarter of US organizations be a broader trend of interest in BPM

46

country. However, relatively tight Australian government, on the other
regulation allowed Australia to survive hand is keen to put the dividend
the worst ravages of the financial crisis, it has reaped from commodities
and Australian lawmakers believe that exports to good use, and has money
their approach to risk management to invest in improving systems.
is the best way to safeguard banks
and other industries. Compliance is
consequently a major consideration 53% of Australian companies
for Australian companies. 51% of believe their organization
Australian companies believe that will pay more attention to
Scott Foster, Head of Business Process
responding to regulatory changes will BPM over the next year.
Management, Capgemini, Australia
be very important for their business
over the next 12 months. 47% of
51% of Australian companies
respondents at Australian companies
believe that responding to
Australia anticipated that their organization
regulatory changes will be very
would increase investment in
important for their business
Australia has a dynamic economy, compliance over the next 12 months.
over the next 12 months.
which did not succumb to the This trend will be a key driver of
global crisis of 2008. The country is interest in BPM. BPM allows customers
currently benefiting from a resources to remain compliant to regulation
boom, with mines working flat out and, crucially, to demonstrate this
to meet Asian demand for a variety compliance automatically in a way that
of commodities. The Australian does not significantly impact on costs.
government will soon be running a
budget surplus, and will be considering Australian manufacturing is
the areas in which to invest to ensure struggling, due to the high value
that the country remains in good of the dollar, while the cash-rich
economic shape in the longer term. commodities sector has its own
priorities and ways of working. Interest
The level of process maturity at in BPM paradigms in Australia is
Australian organizations is not as therefore led by the financial services
advanced as at their US counterparts. sector and government agencies.
17% of Australian companies state that Australia is a regional financial services
their process management includes hub and the sector is very mature.
deliberate process optimization. Despite the robust national economy,
Large Australian companies have Australian banks view economic events
traditionally relied on outsourcing elsewhere in the world with trepidation
business processes to Asia. However, due to the hyper-globalized nature of
as the cost of BPO rises rapidly year finance. Significant recent job cuts at
by year, Australian companies need Australian banks demonstrate that
to step back and consider a different companies are paying attention to their
approach to managing their processes. cost position and bank executives are
This appears to be driving interest increasingly attracted to the potential
in Business Process Management. benefits of process efficiency.
More than half the respondents
in the sample anticipate that their Banks want to drive out costs by
organization will pay more attention standardizing back office functions
to BPM over the next 12 months, and which have lots of duplication,
24% state that a lot more emphasis benefiting from reuse where
will be placed on the approach. possible. 46% of respondents from
Australian banks anticipate that
Economic commentators have posited their organization will launch a
that Australia is a heavily regulated BPM initiative in the next year. The

47

services sector is quite advanced. Both to concerns as to how the software
banking and insurance businesses will fit into existing architecture.
are prioritizing their ability to Companies with well-functioning
remain compliant, and investing infrastructure are not necessarily ready
in aspects of customer experience. for the step change that BPM implies.
Both compliance and CRM can be
enhanced by addressing them via
a BPM solution. A third (36%) of 38% of German companies
German participants in the research state that their processes are
expect that the level of interest in BPM either ‘Managed’ or ‘Optimizing’.
Matthias Jungkeit, Business
at their organization will increase This rises to 79% among
Process Management Consultant,
over the next 12 months. While this German companies for whom
Capgemini, Germany
represents a significant increase in BPM is an important agenda
interest, this figure is slightly lower item at managerial level.
Germany than elsewhere, for example the
English-speaking markets. This can
36% of German participants
In recent years the German economy perhaps be explained by the balance
in the research expect that
has consistently outperformed the and health of the German economy.
the level of interest in BPM at
rest of the Eurozone. Recent events
their organization will increase
elsewhere in Europe have led to a The German exporting industries, the
in the next 12 months.
relative slowdown in the past few envy of much of the developed world,
months, but Germany remains are in a strong enough position to
without doubt one of the leading prioritize investing in driving revenue
nations in industrialized production. over reviewing their internal processes.
The continued success of German Interest in BPM from the state sector
companies depends on their ability to in Germany is also relatively low at the
introduce technological innovations moment, due in part to challenging
at competitive cost levels. public sector procurement processes.

German industries have achieved In Germany, 45% of respondents stated
success in part through harnessing the that they believed that BPM should
latest methods of working, and German be treated as a C-level concern. This
companies are under constant pressure is a lower figure than in, say, the US,
to streamline services. However, just (65%) or Australia (69%). This may be
38% of German companies state that because BPM is still viewed too much
their processes are either ‘Managed’ or as an IT item in Germany: only 11%
‘Optimizing’, the two most developed of German organizations stated that
levels of the capability maturity senior business management takes
model. The fact that this figure rises responsibility for improving processes.
to 79% among German companies for Similarly, only 10% of respondents
whom BPM is an important agenda indicated that they understand
item at managerial level demonstrates BPM to be a “holistic management
the inextricable link between BPM approach”. This is a lower proportion
approaches and process maturity. than elsewhere and may ultimately
undermine attempts to introduce
More than a quarter (28%) of BPM, as while the major benefits of
German participants in this survey BPM are delivered on the business
indicated that they had both extensive side, the barriers are on the IT side.
knowledge and practical experience
of BPM techniques, which shows that Anecdotal evidence suggests that in
BPM thinking is being adopted in Germany IT decision-makers can
parts of the market. As in many other resist attempts to introduce BPM, due
markets, interest from the financial

48

efficiency over the next year. Given responsibility for process optimization.
the uncertain market conditions in If applied correctly BPM could deliver
Italy, and likelihood of significant benefits by breaking down the barrier
changes to the rigid regulatory that exists in a lot of Italian companies
environment, large organizations between business and IT, creating
in the country know that they need a more coherent flow across large
to increase their business agility. organizations and driving efficiency.
Nearly half (47%) of the Italian survey
respondents anticipated increasing
investment in reacting to changes in 47% of Italian companies
Alessandro Czimeg, Head of Business
market conditions, while a similar believe that the level of interest
Process Management, Capgemini, Italy
figure (46%) envisaged increasing in BPM in their organization will
investment in responding to legislative increase over the next year.
changes. BPM allows companies to
Italy adapt rapidly and cost effectively to
changes in the business environment. More than half of Italian
Italy has faced well documented respondents indicated that
economic challenge in recent times. During the research for this report, the perception of BPM as
The country has been in financial there was anecdotal evidence of an IT item was a barrier
trouble since 2008. These ongoing burgeoning interest in BPM in a to process improvement
issues are a consequence of, among variety of market verticals in different within their organization.
other factors, a lack of productivity parts of the country. In Northern
and competitiveness in the Italian Italy, manufacturing companies are Only 14% indicated that
work place and a rigid regulatory interested in potential applications Senior Business Management
environment. Italy still has some of BPM with regard to automating takes primary responsibility
world-class companies, and the and accelerating processes, and for for process optimization
foundations of a strong export sector, increasing transparency of processes at their organization.
but the country is increasingly trying and monitoring KPIs. In Milan, there
to reform its working practices in order is growing interest among financial
to achieve an economic resurgence. services companies around compliance
and improving interactions with
19% of Italian survey respondents customers. Telecommunications
indicated that the processes at their companies, often based in Rome, are
organization are ‘Optimized’. The also increasingly interested in the
figure rises to 23% at organizations benefits that can be delivered via BPM.
with more than 10,000 employees. In contrast, interest in BPM in the
These figures are slightly higher than public sector is relatively undeveloped,
international averages that emerged due to budgetary constraints.
from this research, but they still
indicate that there is scope to drive One factor undermining the effective
value and efficiency through process adoption of BPM thinking in Italy
improvement. Almost half (47%) is the widespread perception of
of Italian companies believe that BPM as an IT item. More than half
the level of interest in BPM at their of Italian respondents agreed that
organization will increase over the the perception of Business Process
next year, which suggests that even in Management as an IT item was a
a tough economic climate, far-sighted barrier to process improvement
large organizations are willing to within their organization. Only 12%
invest in innovations which will save of Italian decision-makers view BPM
them money in the long term. Indeed, as a holistic management approach
59% of Italian survey respondents and in only 14% of organizations does
indicated that they would be increasing Business Management take primary
investment in maximizing cost-

49

Interest in BPM in France is growing: Major manufacturing companies, for
39% of organizations in the survey example in the world of aerospace, rely
anticipated that the amount of interest on numerous collaborative workflows
paid to Business Process Management in order to achieve the design of
at their organization would increase high-tech products. Application
within the next year. But the discipline of BPM software and thinking can
is yet to gain widespread support and ensure that their workflows are
sponsorship at managerial level within seamlessly joined up and that work
French organizations, which hinders is automated and performance
Alain Robbe, Executive Director, effective adoption. 11% of respondents measured wherever possible.
Capgemini, France say that Business Process Management
is currently an important agenda item
at managerial level. This contrasts with Just 11% of French respondents
the fact that two third of respondents state that Business Process
France believe it should be treated as a C-level Management is currently
concern. Many of the BPM projects an important agenda item
During the early stages of the recent that French participants referred to at managerial level.
economic downturn, the French had taken place within a business
economy proved more resilient than area rather than cross-organization or
54% of French respondents
many others, thanks in part to the cross-application. This stems from the
stated that functional
protection of European and French limitations of functional silo culture,
silo culture is a barrier to
regulations. However, as the crisis which makes it difficult to carry out
BPM implementation at
in the Eurozone has rumbled on, the far-reaching transformation projects.
their organization.
French economy has looked more More than half (54%) of French
vulnerable. France has lost its top participants agreed that functional
credit rating, and French firms are silo culture is a barrier to BPM
facing a credit squeeze. The gap in implementation at their organization.
industrial competitiveness between Recognition of this situation may
France and Germany is growing wider. generate important opportunities
There is pressure in the country for to help companies migrate to a
an overhaul of corporate practices at process-centric organization.
large organizations and receptiveness
to new ways of running a company. The telecommunications sector is
one area in which there has been
The level of process maturity at some interest in BPM in the French
French companies is relatively lower market. When it comes to fulfilment
than elsewhere. Just 9% of French of complicated multi-channel
participants in the survey indicated propositions BPM allows handling
that their processes are optimizing. superior delivery of service and
Strikingly 19% of French companies enhanced Customer Relationship
with 10,000 or more employees stated Management. There is also a growing
that their processes are ‘Chaotic’ interest in the benefits of BPM in
(the least advanced category on the the public sector in France. BPM
Capability Maturity Model), while can potentially facilitate efficiency
just 7% of these companies stated that case management, through the
their processes are ‘Optimizing’ (the digitalization of records, for example
most advanced category). Nevertheless, with regard to private healthcare.
French decision-makers are aware A further business trend which is
of the importance of having clear driving interest in BPM in France is the
business processes, and there is increasing trend towards businesses
an opportunity to help them in the collaborating with other firms in
conception, implementation and order to become more competitive.
automation of their processes.

50

A further barrier to BPM 50% of Spanish survey
implementation is the rejection of BPM respondents indicated that
by IT departments. There is a sense staff who have responsibility
that in Spain, business people grasp the for existing assets such as SAP
value of BPM, but IT decision-makers or CRM systems are resistant
are deterred by the pain involved in to process improvement.
transforming current systems and
training staff. IT are understandably
protective of existing systems: one One in three Spanish decision-
in two participants stated that staff makers anticipates that the
Jorge Villaverde, Financial Services
who have responsibility for existing level of interest paid to BPM by
Sector, Capgemini, Spain
assets such as SAP or CRM systems are their organization will increase
resistant to process improvement. This over the next 12 months.
illustrates how companies can react
Spain defensively when faced with the threat
35% of Spanish businesses are
of a difficult business environment.
anticipating investing more in
Having enjoyed an extended boom
cost-efficiency over the next year.
period in the decade up until the There is some interest in BPM
global financial crisis, the Spanish adoption in Spain among companies
economy has suffered recently as that are weathering the downturn
a result of economic turbulence in more effectively. One in three (36%)
the Eurozone. The country is in decision-makers anticipates that
recession and the government recently the level of interest paid to BPM by
announced the most austere budget in their organization will increase over
the country’s history in an attempt to the next 12 months. 35% of Spanish
bring down the level of public sector businesses are anticipating investing
debt. Private sector firms in Spain face more in driving costs out of the
a challenging business environment. business in the next year: BPM can
allow organizations to drive cost out
Only 14% of businesses in Spain state of the business in the medium term.
that their processes management Companies that make a strategic
includes deliberate process investment in new infrastructure now
management and improvement. will be well placed to take advantage
Knowledge of BPM in Spain is also of the upturn when it comes around.
in its infancy. Only 12% of survey
participants state that they both The greatest interest in Business
know a lot about the subject and Process Management in Spain comes
have plenty of practical experience from financial services companies.
of it. A fundamental barrier to Banks are interested in ways in which
BPM investment in Spain is that BPM can help eliminate cumbersome
organizations are putting investment manual back office processes, for
around new technologies and IT example requests to increase credit
approaches on hold, as they cannot limits. Insurance companies are
access capital. Companies must similarly interested in enhancing
cut costs and make do with dated customer experience, for example by
infrastructure. Almost half the facilitating multi-channel access.
sample, (47%), state that they do
not have the budget to optimize
their processes. In the public sector,
certain BPM implementations that
had been considered have been put
aside because of cash constraints.

51

BPM initiative over the next year. 35% of respondents in the
Nordics indicated that they
Interest in BPM thinking in the are anticipating an increased
Nordics is being driven by the financial level of interest in BPM at their
services sector and the public sector. organization over the next year.
In countries such as Norway and
Sweden, as opposed to Spain and Italy
the government has money to invest 38% of decision-makers
in expansive infrastructure projects. anticipate that they will launch a
There are lots of initiatives afoot at BPM initiative over the next year.
Jonas Schlyter, Head of
Business Process Management, a local government level in Sweden
Capgemini, Nordic Region for improving citizen-centricity and
62% of Nordic decision-
delivering citizens the kind of 24-hour,
makers state that BPM should
multi-channel access to services that
be a C-Level concern.
Nordic Region they receive in the service sector. These
can be delivered by BPM solutions.
The Nordic countries have fared better BPM also allows municipalities
than their European neighbours during to streamline service provision,
the economic crisis. Norway has used eliminating manual work and the “From the point of view of a
its oil fund to stimulate various sectors, duplication of effort. In the financial local government agency,
while Sweden’s state finances provided services sector, business priorities eGovernment solutions are
solid protection. Banks in the region such as cost-cutting and adhering an important tool for driving
are well capitalized and public sector to regulatory change in an efficient both citizen satisfaction
debt is low by European standards. fashion are driving interest in BPM. and cost reduction.”

13% of Nordic participants in the Many Nordic decision-makers CIO, Municipality, Sweden
survey stated that process management that participated in the survey
at their organization includes acknowledged that C-level engagement
“The COO and CIO need to
deliberate process improvement, is central to the success of a BPM
manage ways of working, and
although the figure rises to 19% implementation. 62% stated that
to identify what performance
among enterprise level organizations. BPM should be a C-level concern
information is needed, which
A quarter of Nordic decision-makers compared to just 8% who do not
is why they should involve
(24%) state that BPM is an important think it should be. This suggests
themselves in BPM.”
agenda item at managerial level within that Nordic organizations may have
their organization, which is a greater the senior level impetus required to
Information Manager,
proportion than in the UK (20%) but implement BPM over the coming years.
Financial Services
slightly less than in the USA (29%).
However, just 9% of participants state One potential barrier to process
that they know a lot about BPM and improvement in the Nordics is the
have plenty of practical experience of gap between business and IT. It
the approach, which is considerably can potentially be difficult to get
less than in markets such as Germany Business and IT on the same page.
(28%) and the USA (32%). IT departments are more likely to
be sceptical about the value of BPM.
While the Nordic countries are not 48% of Nordic decision-makers
early adopters of Business Process agree that resistance from IT staff
Management paradigms, they who have responsibility for existing
may well be quick learners. 35% systems such as SAP and CRM can be
of businesses are anticipating an a barrier to process improvement.
increased level of interest in BPM
at their organization over the next
year, while 38% of decision-makers
anticipate that they will launch a

52

mature markets like Spain (12%). identify facilitating customer self-
This shows that BPM paradigms have service as an important business driver,
begun to gain traction in many sectors. while 57% believe that it is important
There are, however, some barriers to to increase the number of channels
BPM adoption, which stem from the through which customers can interact
tradition of investment in process with the business. A BPM framework
at Dutch companies. Many of the can help by addressing the information
investments have been in functional silos around the different channels.
applications for just one part of the
Roger de Ruiter, Head of process, and not having an end-to-
end focus. This is exemplified by the 52% of Dutch participants who
Business Process Management,
research which shows that 46% of are considering launching a
Capgemini, The Netherlands
the Dutch decision-makers surveyed process improvement initiative
identify function silo culture as a believe it could have greatest
Netherlands barrier to process improvement. impact in terms of harmonizing
We have seen that many Dutch business processes.
The Netherlands is recognized as businesses have invested heavily in
being a mature market in terms of their existing systems. This can often
One in six Dutch survey
BPM adoption. Dutch businesses lead to decision-makers requiring
respondents states that they
have traditionally been leaders in convincing of how BPM can extend
have extensive knowledge and
embracing innovative technology their existing investment leading to
practical experience of BPM.
and have therefore implemented increased flexibility and agility.
generations of applications throughout
the 1990s and 2000s. There is a long- As in other markets, the Dutch Roger de Ruiter, Capgemini
established tradition of harnessing financial sector is taking the lead in BPM Head in the Netherlands
technology to support processes. This terms of adoption of BPM thinking summarized the benefits of
tradition presents both interesting and software. Interest in BPM in the using BPM to cut through the
opportunities and barriers regarding public sector is also growing rapidly in clutter of existing application
the adoption of BPM paradigms. the Netherlands. There is interesting landscapes in the following way:
scope for application of BPM paradigms
Large Dutch organizations have in fields as diverse as police, public “With BPM there is no longer
typically extended their applications healthcare provision and customs. a difference between IT &
in a piecemeal fashion over time as Capgemini BPM experts have observed Business; it’s your Business, and
technology has evolved, extending and how pressure on budgets in the your customers will notice it.”
building on core applications which Public sector has driven an interest in
ultimately means that companies will efficiency and reorganization of work.
have complex application landscapes. Challenging market conditions in the
In the Netherlands, more than half Netherlands are driving further interest
the people who are considering in BPM. 70% of survey participants
introducing a BPM initiative state stated that a business environment in
that the principal benefit will be to their sector that was more challenging
harmonize business processes. A than expected would prompt them to
BPM layer allows organizations to increase the amount of consideration
achieve centralization of common they give to process improvement.
processes while allowing a level
of flexibility where desirable. Capgemini experts observe that
the convergence of BPM, ECM and
One in six Dutch survey respondents CRM technology is more advanced
states that they have extensive in the Netherlands than elsewhere.
knowledge and practical experience Customer-facing organizations are
of BPM. This is a similar figure to the increasingly redesigning their front
UK (16%) and rather more than less office and CRM functions, in a BPM
tool. 60% of Dutch organizations

53

Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the
team of collaborators who were
instrumental in creating this report:

Initial thanks go to the Netherlands
team led by Roeland Loggen, who
created the Netherlands survey in 2010,
and whose thinking we leveraged.

For project management, analysis
and report content: James Cope
and James Bakewell at FreshMinds,
and the team at Capgemini:
Nicholas Kitson, Tim Arkin;

Sector leads: Brian Girouard, Ard-
Jan Vethman, Nico Kaptein, Jean-
Marc Steffann, Nicholas Kitson.

Country leads: Jonas Schlyter,
Matthias Jungkeit, Scott Foster,
Roger de Ruiter, Venkat Bharawaj,
Lee Beardmore, Alessandro Czimeg,
Jorge Villaverde, Alain Robbe.

For marketing and communications:
Nikki Gordon Jones, Hester Decouz.

For executive sponsorship: Bob Scott

We would like to thank all the panel
and interview participants for their
time and willingness to share openly
their challenges around BPM

© 2012 Capgemini. All Rights Reserved. Rightshore® is a trademark belonging to Capgemini. No part of this document
may be modified, deleted or expanded by any process or means without prior written permission from Capgemini.

54

About Capgemini
With around 120,000 people in 40 countries, Capgemini is one of the world’s foremost providers
of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. The Group reported 2011 global revenues of
EUR 9.7 billion.
Together with its clients, Capgemini creates and delivers business and technology solutions that
fit their needs and drive the results they want. A deeply multicultural organization, Capgemini has
developed its own way of working, the Collaborative Business Experience™, and draws on Right-
shore®, its worldwide delivery model.
Rightshore® is a trademark belonging to Capgemini

For more information, please contact:

Bob Scott: BPM Global Service Line Leader
bob.scott@capgemini.com
Nikki Gordon Jones: BPM Marketing Manager
nikki.gordonjones@capgemini.com
Hester Decouz: Press Office
hester.decouz@capgemini.com

www.capgemini.com/globalbpmreport

Global Business Process Management report

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