Managers and technical teams need a bird’s-eye view of the work they perform and their department’s progress, but they can’t easily see what’s happening in their high-level processes. They cannot pinpoint where the bottlenecks lie and identify which teams are working efficiently and which are not.

By Shawn Winterburn, CEO of OQLIS

Resources are being wasted tracking down details related to bottlenecks in the workflow process. Because each time information is required around a list of exceptions etc., you need to request the details from a separate department. This wastes additional resources and delays the process even further.

To improve efficiency, you want a solution that reduces time, money, and resources to identify and resolve process issues timeously. You want to track a workflow seamlessly, so you can measure and report on performance, as well as determine which processes are working well and which ones aren’t.

I’m sure you’ve heard the familiar phrase, “What gets measured, gets managed.” That sentence was made famous by Peter Drucker, a pioneer of the business management consultant industry. And while this famous quote is still relevant today, it exposes an abyss of challenges that business process initiatives face. Therefore, Data Analytics teams spend months putting together various analytic tools and reports to measure performance to improve the process.

Business process management (BPM) is used extensively throughout an organisation to streamline and improve processes while reducing costs. This involves identifying and prioritising improvement opportunities in mission-critical processes, followed by analysis and refinement to determine the optimal solution.

So what exactly is the role of data analytics in BPM? As a business owner, you most likely employ employees to handle operations and customer service. But do you know if you are getting the most from your employees? Well, if you had an analytics tool that includes business intelligence software and real-time business intelligence technology, you could effectively and efficiently manage your processes better.

BPM uses data analytics to improve performance and achieve maximum efficiency continually. Analytics professionals play a critical role in developing detailed business reports to assess performance measures and trends. Data analysts can identify areas of opportunity that result in increased revenue through better process design, deployment, and monitoring.

We put a list together of the significant benefits of using Data Analytics and reporting in your BPM Solution:

  • Explore business insights and ensure goals are being met timeously
  • Take action fast, as visualisation helps decision-makers identify trends and weaknesses at a glance
  • Identify errors or patterns through data visualisation and understand their significance
  • Access strategic reporting to make informed decisions more effectively
  • Easily understand, visualise, and analyse your data to make informed and actionable decisions.
  • Identify and address obstacles to process excellence, such as bottlenecks or tedious steps
  • Track trends and identify areas within the business that require managerial attention rather than process improvement
  • Make better decisions concerning allocation and purchasing of resources.
  • Helps to streamline operations to be more effective and efficient – using the path of least resistance

An analysis must work in conjunction with the process for analytics to be actionable.

We recently implemented a major data integration with a leading BPM solution provider and for the very first time, the clients had full and accurate visibility of their processes, without having to request the information from a separate department.  They were able to see the optimised processes, bottlenecks, and depth of the issues – all at a glance. We were able to improve the client’s time to resolution by 50%. The customised dashboards helped easily identify error messages and summaries on documents that didn’t make it through the full workflow for a quicker resolution.

Data analytics is essential to business process management. The company that collects the most data will always be able to make better business decisions.