The pandemic shock will drive clients to push their BPM service partners to deliver far more for even less. On the one hand, the need for digital transformation is more real than ever, but on the other, investments will be hard to find in a recessionary economy, pushing clients to demand their suppliers jump to a new S-curve of cost reduction. How will service providers balance these opposing client priorities? The consumption and delivery of BPM services post pandemic shock will need to be distinctly different.

The delivery model will change dramatically as cultural resistance to WFH drops, arbitrage-driven offshoring gives way to a more globally distributed workforce, transitions become virtual, and the gig-economy provides hard-to-find skills. As-a-service is back with a bang as the consumption model changes in a recessionary economy where cash is king.

Emerging technologies will continue to be the rage with a sharp focus on payback periods and quick ROI as CAPEX becomes scarce. The Triple-A Trifecta of Automation, Analytics, and Automation becomes an integral part of the service delivery model versus a value add. The debate on cloud migration ends, and cybersecurity by design becomes a C-level mandate. POC fatigue reaches a crescendo as clients lose patience with white elephants (beautiful but useless POCs!)

And all this needs to happen at a pace never seen before. To survive and thrive in this new abnormal, it is imperative that the BPM industry starts modeling the future delivery and consumption models for its services and start making the changes. The future is already here, and there is no time to waste.

HFS, with support from Celonis, is inviting senior leadership from leading BPM providers to participate in an exclusive virtual event to create the manifesto for the future of the industry. Join us!