CIOReview, US: Cognizant’s Associate Vice President, Center for the Future of Work Discusses the Work Ahead for Digitized Business Processes

“For digital processes to really change an organization — to be more than just this year’s lipstick on last year’s pig — companies need to digitally connect processes across the full expanse of workflows in ways that create vastly more humanized transactions and experiences,” writes Robert H. Brown. Excerpts:

“Cognizant recently surveyed 2,000 senior executives across industries and from around the world to understand what the future holds for the digitization of business processes. By relentlessly driving digital change across all processes, respondents said they could unlock an additional 11.2 percent improvement in both cost savings and revenue growth – beyond the impact they’ve already achieved with digital technologies, which they reported as 4.6 percent of revenues (or $364 billion).

Further, as the average impact of digital surges to 11.4 percent of revenues in 2018 (or $770 billion), the ‘digital process leader’s bonus’ also goes up, to 18.6 percent of revenues. That’s an additional $700 million per company. This should be motivating for the many companies today that are still only dabbling in digital, or focusing on just a handful of process areas.

What these digital leaders are talking about is changing how work gets done by connecting old processes and new digital technologies. The key digital technologies in question include robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence and standardized process platforms delivered via business process as a service (BPaaS) models.

Across business functions, respondents in our study reported on a variety of achievements and concerns expected from the application of digital technologies to their processes.

Senior executives need to continuously reinforce their role as change agents that ‘show the way’ forward. If your organization is not adapting fast enough, you risk being marginalized. Digitally infused processes cut costs and create fuel for investment-and revenue is the mechanism that accelerates forward motion for the company. They key is to get going-or accelerate the momentum of the journey you’re already on."

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