Digital disruption occurs when new technologies are introduced to an industry which will affect the value proposition of products and services. This is integral to a business' entire structure, and can easily create great changes to your strategy for Business Process Management ("BPM"). It's important to understand how digital disruption will shape the industry you do business with, and how you can accommodate these changes to stay on top of your BPM.
Digital disruption is named so because it can cause sweeping changes due to large, sudden shifts in a market. In turn, these market changes precipitate multiple shifts in your BPM, as nothing is "safe" from these disruptions. For example, snowball effects can occur where the initial disruption is "minor," but can cascade across your business and create more inflated effects in your BPM. However, while they can be major, disruptions can be predicted with foresight and careful planning.
Keeping Up With Digital Disruption For Your BPM
Understanding technologies of the past, present and future is a great way to keep up with these disruptions. Underestimating a new technology, and writing it off as a "fad" that will quickly die out, is folly. All possible avenues of digital disruption should be considered for BPM, and leaving space for sudden disruptions is also important due to how fast a marketed technology can change. Keep your eyes and ears open for even the most subtle changes in your industry, so you can account for those that might grow to become more involved digital disruptions.
How To Integrate Digital Disruption Into BPM Initiatives
All of this comes down to how your BPM meshes with all manner of digital disruptions. The idea is to observe digital disruptions as a regular part of business, and apply processes that will identify and act on them. A good venue for integrating digital disruptions with BPM is customer service. Almost all companies have a customer service, and this department has the closest contact with your market. Have them watch for changes in how customers conduct business, and then report their discoveries for analysis further up the chain. This would have been a good way to predict the sudden need for business-level email servers back when email was first getting popular.
Digital disruptions are unpredictable things. There may be times when you won't know about them until they are already affecting you. This means that you need to ensure that you have room in your BPM strategies to account for sudden digital disruptions. With this consideration, you'll be more secure against the unpredictability of technology and its many moods.
