Editor's Note: This three-part series explores the growth of dynamic case management (DCM) in the financial-services industry. Part I provides a DCM overview. Part II looks at DCM's benefits for financial-services firms. This conclusion focuses on DCM adoption in financial services, outlining the most important DCM best practices and pitfalls.
No question about it: Dynamic case management (DCM) is particularly well suited to the financial-services industry. That's largely because these service-based organizations operate according to complex processes consisting of automated and manual sub-processes.
While DCM technology and methodology are capable of delivering numerous benefits from integrating data and optimizing processes, there's also no question that DCM deployment can be a challenging effort. Fortunately, experts agree on several best practices that can help ensure smooth adoption.
DCM: Part of the BPM puzzle
Forrester Research and Gartner Inc., the IT analyst firms, both view BPM as a broad framework supporting organizational change and performance improvement. DCM is simply one tool within this framework. Thus, DCM should be considered within the broader context of BPM and its adoption should be supported by a defined strategy, says Mary Knox, research director in Gartner's Banking and Investment Services Industry Advisory Service.
"The reality is, the technology today can do just about anything you want it to do," says Derek Miers, a Forrester principal analyst. "The problems are not technological. The challenges are that the best practices all point to getting the engagement right, dealing with the politics upfront, getting sponsorship, getting the business case right – all the things that apply to a BPM program apply just the same to a case-management scenario."
Naturally, one important element in any BPM strategy is the people who will be involved with the process. When properly implemented, DCM changes the way the organization runs and the way its people work. But, of course, people tend to be resistant to change. For that reason, "it's important to involve folks in building toward that change so that it becomes theirs," Miers advises.
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