SAP: Modernise Outdated Processes and Mindsets To Accelerate Transformation. #techUKDigitalPS

Helen Keller once said that there are no shortcuts to any place worth going. Technology short cuts and workarounds have crept into government departments slowly over time in an attempt to solve tactical problems, usually relating to some sort of process or the consequence that delays have on organisations when implementing technology. These can range from lack of system functionality, changes in working practices, new legislation or just a disconnect between the way an old system works and a new outcome required. While nobody deliberately creates these short cuts in bad faith, the cumulative effect results in inefficiencies and a quandary of waste and redundant processes known as process debt.

At first glance, process debt seems an easy problem to solve. But discovering, identifying and understanding all the inter-relationships of every process requires powerful insight and intelligence. It’s an often underestimated and critically important step before embarking on – and accelerating - any digital transformation initiative.

Modern business process management solutions not only show you all of the online and off-line “as is” processes across an entire government department, they also compare them with best practice to identify any overlaps or gaps. These best practice models provide a reference for what the new processes should be. The drag and drop features from a central repository let you run models, comparisons and simulations using a digital twin so you can see what improvements in cycle times will look like, and identify any bottlenecks, costs or other factors that inhibit business objectives before any processes are finalised. It also means that all stakeholders truly collaborate and are encouraged to understand impacts on not only their ‘steps’ but the wider much more important part of the process end-to-end. Giving process owners, analysts, subject matter experts and IT staff the tooling they need to get a thorough insight and understanding of current and future processes in order to drive transformation at scale. Ensuring that change isn’t just subjective and what processes owners think, it’s based on real data and insights driven from the system.

The Shared Services strategy for government is based on bringing together core functions (and back-office processes) into a single simplified centre, saving time, cutting administration and back-office waste. It’s to allow users to “claw back” the hours spent filling in data fields in outdated forms or repeating manual tasks. Process management is the starting point for making all of this a reality.  

Modernising Mindsets  

But while the technology can make comprehensive process modelling easier and faster and accelerate both digital transformation and process excellence, it still requires a shift in mindset. It’s a different form of process debt but the result is the same. When every department does the same thing differently, the end result is duplication, inefficiencies, and waste. In the same way, departments need back-office in order by modernising its process management, so too must it modernise old internal approaches and mindset around IT solutions.  

This means moving away from highly customised bespoke systems with data silos, off-system spreadsheets and isolated decision-making. When it comes to digital transformation, sweating an old asset is not the only answer. Embracing the cloud, even if it's small steps, harnessing cost, productivity and process efficiencies and using common standardised approaches are fundamental to both transformational successes as well as addressing the growing skills gap.  

Focus less on the technology and more on the outcomes. In the same way that if you buy a car, you don’t need to be a mechanic, let the technology vendors (the ERP experts) take care of the functionality, integration and innovation roadmap. SaaS is always moving forward and always innovating. This shift in the mindset of embracing the cloud and modern tools will not only streamline processes, save time and reduce costs, it will also deliver a much richer employee experience, providing quick and easy access on any device, and reducing repetitive manual tasks so civil servants can focus on their actual jobs.  

The change to digital transformation starts well before any technology is ever deployed. Addressing these two critical elements – modernising old IT processes and old IT thinking – are key to reducing risk, fostering collaboration and ensuring transformational success. 

This article was written by Khadam Rafique, Public Sector Shared Services Strategy and Growth Director, SAP. Khadam Rafique is a highly experienced business leader with a wealth of expertise in the Public Sector technology industry. He is currently based in the UK, where he works as the Shared Services Strategy and Growth Director at SAP, a global leader in enterprise software solutions. With over 15 years of experience in the industry, Khadam has a deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities facing public sector organizations. He has worked both as a consultant and as a civil servant, providing him with valuable insights from multiple perspectives. Learn more about this author here.

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