Top Trends 2022 – Business Process Management

As a business leader, you surely can't be running the show alone. That would be the same as trying to survive alone in the woods. You know you can't do that for too long. Heck, even Bear Grylls has a medical team with him! So, you have different teams and verticals to help you run the business smoothly. Wait, with so many people involved, how do you ensure that "too many cooks don't spoil the broth?"

We have three words for you - Business Process Management (BPM).

It was only in the 20th century that we realized that we need processes in business (yes, we're slow species!). Young Frederick Winslow Taylor made the world understand the importance of process improvement - standardization, adoption, implementation hence improving business process efficiency. So, did we listen to his advice? Of course, we did! In fact, as our businesses evolved, we took it further to come up with solutions for a smooth and effortless workflow in the digital world.

Take it from Mark Watney from The Martian, who managed to survive for 549 days on Mars with food that should have lasted him for only 400 days. (Spoiler alert – Watney rationed the food and grew potatoes using Martian soil and bio-waste!). #NailedProcessEfficiency! (Google it – the book and movie are both amazing but hey, do come back to read the trends!)

Today, if you look around, Business Process Management is to businesses what flour is to cookies. It's what decides whether your business would be crumbly and messy or crispy and streamlined. So, how's this flour going to evolve in the near future? Let's find out.

Here are the top 5 Business Process Management Trends of 2022!

Trend 1: Companies Will Be Obsessed With Automating Processes

 
Did you know that 70% of Tesla buyers state Model Y's level 2 automation as the reason for their purchase? Yes, automation is super-cool. Soon, this automation will not be limited to autonomous cars but will surround the business world from every direction. 

Automation will affect almost every arena of business function in the near future - although, we can see it modifying the face of various business process activities right now. From small-scale startups to industrial behemoths, everyone in the market will be looking to automate their processes in 2022. Not only will this improve process efficiency, compliance and visibility but it will also free up the workforce to focus on their productivity. According to Camunda 2020, 97% of IT executives believe that business process automation is crucial to the digital transformation.

A leader from the Forbes technology council validates the claim by saying, "The value of process automation technology is massive and is obscured by the digital transformation terminology." Sticking with the metaphor, your digital transformation initiatives are your destination and BPM solution is the GPS, guiding your business function from point to point and keeping things moving forward.

TechDogs' Opinion: True, companies have been improving business process modeling in the past but automation will take it up to a whole new level altogether. Business leaders will focus on digital transformation this year – and that means process automation will have a massive say in how businesses achieve their goals. At the same time, developers will work on bringing together traditional BPM software with Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence. Moreover, any organization that plans to streamline its business workflow and processes in 2022 will have to identify processes that can be automated for a better output and reliability. This is where business process automation will make a key difference.
 

Trend 2: Businesses Will Need To Prepare For Labor Reallocation

In 2022, Business Process Automation, or BPA, is going to take over business decision-making. Well, that doesn’t mean we can sit back and relax while the robots call all the shots – haven’t we seen too many movies to know why that’s a terrible idea! However, humans will not be doing the same jobs anymore and businesses will have to restructure their workforce to fill more strategic positions – this alludes to a huge labor reallocation trend this year. All the menial, expensive, time-consuming  and repetitive tasks will be taken over by automated technologies. This inevitable shift, thanks to the adoption of new technology, will open the gates for more creative jobs for existing employees in the automation market. #AutomationIsYourFriend

Soon, humans and robots will be sharing a workspace to perform everyday tasks collaboratively much faster and better. This would mean that people would also need to evolve with digital transformation – and those who do not might be replaced by automation. According to WEF Future of Jobs Report 2020, 43% of businesses say that they plan to reduce their workforce due to automation technology integrations. However, it is worth noting that 34% of the organizations plan to expand their workforce due to technology integrations.

TechDogs' Opinion: It is naturally inevitable for businesses to hand over a large chunk of existing business processes to robots and automated systems. Nonetheless, companies will also need to focus on empowering their people by conducting upskilling courses, training activities and regular discussions. The truth is, as technological integration within business processes grows, they would need more specialized roles to maintain and operate these expensive automated solutions. Moreover, automated tools and technologies would prevent human resources from feeling overworked and drained, a rising wellbeing issues over the last few years.
 

Trend 3: Businesses Will Place An Increased Emphasis On Big Data Analytics

Kenichi Ohmae, a Japanese organizational theorist, once said, "Analysis is the critical starting point of strategic thinking." When you apply this strategic thought to your business functions, you can create success using the insights from data. This is why there will be a major emphasis on leveraging analytics using robust Big Data analytics tools in 2022. These tools will no longer only analyze customer, sales, or inventory data but also the data obtained from your critical business processes. Overall, this will allow organizations to make more informed decisions while scaling or optimizing their processes this year, enhancing their overall position in the market.

Big Data analytics will be at the core of this trend, as businesses would require expertise in that arena to transform massive quantities of business process data into usable information. According to Microsoft’s The State of Big Data report, 59% of Big Data professionals said that their organizations are increasing investment in Big Data (and its analytics), as part of their digital transformation initiatives. In 2022, most businesses would want to glean more insights from the mountains of data collected from IoT devices and monitoring software – Big Data analytics would be the answer.

TechDogs' Opinion: Analytical tools have been leveraged to understand business data for years now. However, in order to enable better decision-making by analyzing process data, businesses will need to focus on improving their data collection initiatives and data quality tools. With an increased reliance on IoT devices and Machine Learning algorithms (that rely on data), it will be imperative for businesses to invest in Big Data analytics within Business Process Management market.

This would also signal a shift in decision-making and planning, based on relevant real-time business insights. With the explosive rate at which business processes are scaling in the market, investing in Big Data analytics sooner than later is wise for small to mid-sized businesses. We say, 2022 is the perfect year to start!

Trend 4: The AI Technology Stack Will Be A Game-Changer

This year, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become commonplace in our daily lives. Wait, didn’t we say that last year? The truth is AI will continue to transform existing technologies and processes each year – this year it will be a boon with its 'solution stack.' Traditional technology stacks were a combination of programming languages, frameworks and tools to help developers create applications for process automation. However, an AI-based technology stack will boast everything from the latest programming languages, front-end and back-end automation tools, media recognition tools, cloud data storage and pre-built applications connected to the company's Application Programming Interface (API). How will this help businesses, especially process managers?

Business Process Management would undergo a revolution because of the adoption of Artificial Intelligence technology stacks. With its intelligent analytics tools, managers will be able to identify processes that can run independently. Moreover, with front-end and back-end automation, businesses won’t have to bring in third-party developers or tools to automate these processes. As Marshall Choy, Vice President of product at SambaNova Systems, a company that provides custom-built technology stacks, says, "We're seeing huge growth in both AI and ML software and hardware purchases going forward, in terms of compounded annual growth rates, which has spawned a need for a different way to run these new software applications." Essentially, as businesses set their eyes on digital transformation, their technology stack would need upgrades to keep pace. In 2022, AI-based technology stacks will begin replacing traditional infrastructures to provide the much-needed advancement in BPM technology.  

TechDogs' Opinion: This year, businesses will start phasing out traditional technology stacks in favor of AI-based ones. Thanks to the advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Machine Learning and other AI-based technologies, this new trend will be the answer to intelligently automating and optimizing processes and workflows. This addition to the technological arsenal of any business will allow them to build, train, deploy and scale AI systems seamlessly. Having an AI technology stack will also be a massive boost to the digital transformation efforts. In fact, large organizations will begin developing custom AI tech stacks, depending on their needs to completely remodel digital workflows and increase the overall efficiency of the entire operational processes in 2022.
 

Trend 5: Voice-Assistants Will Enhance Productivity

How many of us regularly use Google voice search to order items from Amazon, or make calls using Siri? We all have been there. How about using such voice assistants for business process execution. Yes, that's a thing! In 2022, organizations will begin leveraging voice-assisted automation solutions to streamline business processes and workflows, more efficiently.

Taking inspiration from Amazon Alexa, Siri and Google Home, automation professionals believe that the powerful bond between humans and personal assistants can transform business processes as well. Using existing Business Intelligence tools as a base, virtual voice assistants will look to improve the employees’ user experience (UX) and accessibility of information. Imagine asking a voice assistant about the inventory of a specific product or the version number of the latest commit on your code. Yeah, it won’t be anything like J.A.R.V.I.S from Iron Man but it will definitely improve productivity, ease of access and engagement.

In fact, Gartner forecasts that by 2023, almost 25% of all employee interactions with applications will be via voice, an increase of 22% percent in market size from 2019. Voice assistance will be one of the coolest Business Process Management trends in 2022. We believe that this year, organizations will deploy voice-activated assistants and interfaces across various verticals with the aim to increase employee productivity and process performance hence reducing the time spent on searching and typing. Hey Alexa, do you remember what I changed my password to last week...

TechDogs' Opinion: Voice-activated automation through virtual assistants will transform human-centric Business Process Management (BPM). Apart from making work more fun and engaging, voice integrations across various platforms will improve business productivity. For instance, workplaces where voice assistants such as Alexa for Business are connected, to the in-house applications using Zapier, have seen higher throughput and reduced cross-channel communication time. Tasks such as arranging meetings, noting down orders or even reviewing the meeting minutes can be done quickly and easily with the help of voice-assisted tools. We truly believe that voice-assisted process automation will be highly beneficial to organizations that wish to streamline and optimize interactive process performance.
 

To Sum It Up

Well, you should be mildly concerned about your Business Processes! However, business process managers can heave a sigh of relief in 2022 because BPM technology is going to be in their favor. They just need to deploy the right technologies at the right place and their BPM initiatives would be dealt with – however, to do that one needs to aware of the developments in BPM market. From integrating automation technologies and aligning your workforce to be compatible with them, to complementing your technology stack with AI and using virtual voice assistants – the world of BPM will see some major digital transformation in 2022. Are you prepared?