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The Covid-19 pandemic is causing pain personally and professionally for many in our industry and our clients’ industries. Uncertainty of businesses’ chances of survival, even with the level of financial support governments are releasing to curb recession, decisions made now, and the direction we take on the road to recovery. Decision’s businesses take next will influence a new normal with a brighter future or will they revert back to the old-normal.

Not many will look forward to the 2021 planning process, with unprecedented budget pressures, and needing to revisit the justification for digital transformation projects, can you keep the costs down and protect the growth of the business? Maybe the expansion into new markets or new standardised technology platforms will have to wait, but this could be the perfect time to reflect on how businesses adapted to lockdown: did IT get everyone connected remotely, were all applications and files available to the staff that needed them, which tasks were left behind (and are they critical)? Covid-19 is a real-life test of business continuity and resilience.

Disruption comes quickly, often unexpectedly, and in exceptional circumstances. We learn effectively through experience, and most teams will bring positive lessons from the lockdown period which serve them well for the future. The enforced change businesses have encountered during Covid-19 could see workforces change forever; realising that tomorrow is not always the same as today, staff could embrace change and indeed suggest painpoints and recommend changes in business process from the past few months. Many legacy processes at the heart of business operations include reliance on physical documents, wet signatures, onsite printing and shipping services and in some cases physical cheque payments and receipts: all challenging activities when working remotely.

Few leadership teams regularly review their business processes, and consequently miss out on opportunities and the value of their technology. During this time, business processes and the strength and flexibility of our technology applications are being tested; restructuring contracts, repricing and approval, payment holidays, just a few processes being overwhelmed with demand. Now could be the time to review all business processes to future-proof them and adapt to our new environment.

As a consulting business, working remotely is normal; different time zones, different languages, different technology product partners, different client teams and auditors. Our own processes have been modified, Process Optimisation workshops for 2020 have been adapted to virtual workshops, and are becoming more important than ever.

VIP Apps Consulting execute Business Process Optimisation and Project Delivery based on tried and tested proprietary methodologies. ASSESS, MEASURE, OPTIMISE, BENCHMARK, IMPLEMENT (AMOBI) is VIP’s model for Business Process Optimisation. Our consultants are trained in running workshops with business teams to assess current processes, measure efficiency and optimise those processes to design a Future Process Landscape with new key performance indicators. A business process review sets out the foundation for implementing change through internal restructure, outsourcing or technology solutions in a measured form.

As an example, a short Technology Assessment and Business Process Optimisation review carried out for a joint venture created by the middle-ticket leasing arm of a London-based bank:

Our objective: Optimise the business model should be replicable and support the bank’s growth strategy. 

The scope of the Technology Assessment and Business Process Optimisation review included:

• Analyse key business drivers
• Review & map current business processes
• Understand and identify people, process and technology pain points 
• Review system capabilities vs current utilisation 
• System vendor capability and proposal with high-level estimates 
• System evaluation: review system capabilities against current utilisation in the business process

Execution using AMOBI methodology with workshops and one week of business team input, we delivered a complete set of recommendations consisting of: documented business processes highlighting areas of focus, minor process changes to reduce risk, additional automated workflow, document generation, automated monthly MI and optimisation of web services integration on the CRM, Credit and KYC processes. Conservative time savings for the young JV were 513 hours, or68 business days.

Our client base range from global conglomerates to start-ups; similarly, our partner alliances range from global technology providers to fin techs expanding into the European market. Large or small, we embrace working with innovative teams, constantly reviewing and improving processes, technology and capabilities. Being valued by clients and alliance partners in an advisory capacity for our knowledge and experience while providing the capability, discipline and transparency to execute on solutions that scale and flex to meet business needs, our “value add” balances the business case against trying to resource a team internally.

As we all focus on supporting our staff, clients and alliances, let’s take onboard the feedback internal and external, embrace the appetite for change and process optimisation created by the pandemic, and convert it to business value.

Survive, optimise, and grow...