Process Improvement : Job No. 1 (the workforce management and project management perspective)

CIO Insight published an article, "The 30 Most Important IT Trends for 2007."  For your convenience, we list the 30 trends below:

Strategy
1. Process improvement will be job No. 1
2. IT works on closing the sale
3. Companies make their Web sites more engaging
4. Customer service gets a tune-up
5. Companies put their mounds of data to work
6. Information governance gains momentum
7. CIOs strive to be strategic

Management
8. The division between IT and business will diminish
9. CIO compensation keeps climbing
10. IT organizations will keep growing
11. CIOs struggle to find business-savvy technologists
12. Outsourcing changes IT management
13. Outsourcing growth slows
14. Offshoring shifts from India
15. Companies invest in IT leadership
16. Demonstrating ROI will remain a struggle

Security and Risk
17. No abatement of IT security threats
18. Security concerns turn users away from Windows
19. Security morphs into risk management
20. Compliance achieves what government intended
21. Compliance spurs financial process improvement

Technology
22. The move to a new architecture marches on
23. Enterprise applications start losing their luster
24. Data quality demands attention
25. IT reluctantly embraces Web 2.0
26. IT innovation loses traction
27. Business process management services and software will frustrate users
28. For business intelligence, the best is yet to come
29. IT organizations start going green
30. Dissatisfaction with vendors is on the rise

In their blog, 180 Systems adds the following comment:

180 View – We also share the view that process improvement will be job No. 1. It’s interesting that process improvement shows up under security and risk [#21]. This makes sense to us. Compliance reviews are deemed a bitter poison by most companies and want them done as quickly/cheaply as possible or at least to provide some suggestions to improve business process.

In my view, compliance is like medicine that tastes bad but is good for you in the same way as getting more exercise and eating healthier food might be unpleasant but necessary for a long happy life.  The process improvements brought about by compliance are the very improvements that will make a business more agile and competitive.

Therefore, process improvement—whether for compliance, or for the general "health" of the business—is an essential area for a company to invest, and we are glad to see it is regarded as the #1 trend for 2007.  A workflow-driven project workforce management system is the one of the best ways to achieve and maintain a consistent process improvement program.

Comments

[Lean Six Sigma Training]

It is very nice to see that Process Improvement ranks #1 as a technology strategy.

Good blog, Keep up the good work!