Business-process Changes In High Gear

Companies continue to push the limits of what they can do with less. In InformationWeek Research's Redefining Business survey, only 6% of 300 business-technology professionals say that their companies have no plans to improve business processes and operations. Another 5% of sites waited until well into the downturn to initiate business-process improvements, waiting until this year to implement changes. For nearly 90%, refining core business operations has been an ongoing endeavor.

In the last two years, 83% of sites formed cross-functional teams to improve the effectiveness of business processes. Nearly half rewarded managers who delivered performance or productivity improvements. When the necessary resources weren't available in-house, companies recruited to fill the void. Three in five companies say they hired strategic consultants to improve business processes, while half hired IT specialists.

IT also played a vital role in the quest to optimize business processes. Nearly 70% of companies boosted network bandwidth in the last two years. Two-thirds redesigned their IT infrastructure and implemented collaborative applica- tions to achieve business optimization, while almost a third moved to component-based application-development processes. And more than half the sites centralized their IT personnel to improve business operations.

Increased productivity, competitive advantages, and cost reductions are some of the payoffs from these improvements. What benefits has your company received from its latest attempts to refine its business operations? Let us know at the address below.

Helen D'Antoni
Senior Editor, Research
[email protected]