Gartner Survey Shows More Than Half of Respondents Plan to Increase Spending on BPM by More Than 5 Percent in Next 12 Months

Future of BPM to Be Discussed at Gartner BPM Summit, October 5-7 in Orlando

STAMFORD, Conn., Most business process management (BPM) practitioners expect their organizations to increase their spending on BPM by at least 5 percent over the next 12 months, according to recent surveys by Gartner, Inc. Despite economic turbulence, more than half of those surveyed plan to increase their spending on BPM efforts by more than 5 percent, and over a third of respondents plan to increase BPM spending by more than 10 percent.

The findings are based on surveys conducted at two Gartner BPM conferences. In February 2009, more than 300 business and IT professionals from 34 countries attended the fourth annual Gartner BPM Summit in London. In March 2009, 500 business and IT professionals attended the seventh annual Gartner BPM Summit in San Diego.

“Most of the BPM practitioners we surveyed were somewhat optimistic about their companies’ growth prospects in fiscal year 2009,” said Michele Cantara, research vice president at Gartner. “Only 23 percent anticipated any degree of revenue decline, while 42 percent anticipated some growth, suggesting that BPM helps companies thrive and isn’t just a survival tactic.”

Although respondents were expecting fiscal year 2009 revenue to be stable or to grow, they indicated that they were able to funnel only 40 percent of their organizations’ investments into growth or transformation initiatives. With 60 percent of overall funding going to “business as usual,” Gartner predicts that BPM may be a way for companies to do more with less, and to free up more funding for growth and transformation initiatives.

The survey found that for the most part, BPM Summit attendees aren’t aggressive technology adopters. Only 12 percent of survey participants said that their organizations had an aggressive technology adoption profile. Although the respondents aren’t aggressive technology adopters, all were implementing or planning to implement BPM projects during the next 12 months. This finding suggests that this survey population doesn’t view BPM as “bleeding edge,” and may signal that BPM is crossing the chasm toward mainstream adoption.

The BPM Summits’ attendees were also asked to indicate whether business or IT (or both) was the primary organization driving their BPM projects and programs. The responses underscored that BPM isn’t business- or IT-led. Most often (41 percent), BPM is jointly led by business and IT, and when it’s not jointly led, business and IT are nearly equally likely to be leading BPM efforts.

“Overall, the survey responses suggest an optimistic outlook for the BPM market and also highlight trends we’ve observed in customer inquiries and reference checks; that is that companies don’t see BPM as a luxury,” said Ms. Cantara. “Instead, BPM is quickly becoming an alternative and better way of developing solutions and improving processes for many companies.”

Ms. Cantara said that companies that ramp up their BPM investments now will be poised for growth when the economy recovers. She recommended that organizations use BPM to help prioritize which existing projects, suspended projects and new projects will be prioritized, sequenced, funded and staffed when business growth returns.

Ms. Cantara will provide more detailed analysis at the Gartner BPM Summit taking place October 5-7 in Orlando, Florida. This Summit offers the latest insight on creating and sustaining an agile process-powered organization and will deliver actionable insights to help companies through today’s economic pressures. The event will showcase the latest process management strategies, implementation tactics and leading technologies to place a company in a stronger position to come out ahead. Additional information is available at www.gartner.com/us/bpm. Members of the media can register by sending an e-mail to Christy Pettey at christy.pettey@gartner.com.

Additional information is available in the Gartner report “Despite Turbulent Economy, Companies Expect to Increase BPM Spending by More than 10% in 2009.” The report is available on Gartner’s Web site at http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=1007312&subref=simplesearch.

About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the indispensable partner to 60,000 clients in 10,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 80 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.