The implications of information technology infrastructure for business process redesign

Business process redesign (BPR) is a pervasive but challenging tool for tra nsforming organizations. Information technology plays an important role by either enabling or constraining successful BPR This paper explores the link s between firm-wide IT infra-structure and business process change. IT infr astructure is the base foundation of the IT portfolio, which is shared thro ughout the firm in the form of reliable services, and is usually coordinate d by the IS group. IT infrastructure capability includes both the technical and managerial expertise required to provide reliable physical services an d extensive electronic connectivity within and outside the firm. Explorator y case analysis of four firms (two in retail and two in petroleum) was used to understand the ways IT infrastructure contributes to success in impleme nting BPR. The finding was that all firms needed a basic level of IT infras tructure capability to implement BPR. The firms that had developed a higher level of IT infrastructure capabilities, before or concurrent with underta king business process redesign, were able to implement extensive changes to their business processes over relatively short time frames. The higher lev el of infrastructure capability was provided in the form of (1) a set of in frastructure services that spanned organizational boundaries such as those between functions, business units, or firms, and (2) the ability of the inf rastructure to reach particular constituencies inside and outside the firm to transfer information and process complex transactions. The more extensive business process changes were more innovative and radica l, crossing business and functional unit boundaries, and resulted in more s ignificant business impact. The practical implication of the study is that before embarking on any form of BPR, managers should complete a business au dit of their IT infrastructure capabilities, as these capabilities have an important impact on the speed and nature of business process change.