In a new survey of 200 Federal executives found that Federal agencies had gaps in their business processes and that automation was very limited.
The study, by Accenture, surveyed defense and civilian agencies within the Federal government. The gaps in business processes can be partially attributed to most agencies working with external audiences to conduct business. More than 80 percent of agencies work with external parties and working with external parties introduces a larger degree of complexity which, in turn, slows end-to-end business operations.
The survey also found that roughly 58 percent of Federal agencies cited their agency as having “immature” business processes and 23 percent stated that their agency worked towards automating business processes, but were slow to take active steps in utilizing analytics.
In addition, only automated business rules were only partially implemented. Reliance on legacy systems and ad-hoc decision making remains a hurdle in improving business processes.
“The majority (55 percent) of respondents said decision-making criteria was reasonably well-documented but only partially integrated within their enterprise systems,” the survey said.
Funding gaps were the main obstacle in modernization according to those surveyed. Many agencies are also working on incremental development of business processes, but the survey recommends taking larger steps towards modernizing and automating.
