Businesses are paying a high price Process neglect, exacerbated by a variety of barriers, is resulting in sub-optimal processes. When these processes are viewed individually, the consequences may not seem that great. But, as we saw earlier, a signi昀椀cant 45% of business-critical IT processes aren’t running as well as they should. The cumulative effect is signi昀椀cant. Loss of time and productivity is currently seen by IT leaders as by far the biggest impact, across all regions and functions. Impacts of sub-optimal processes on IT Costs us time and reduces productivity Customer complaints and churn 61% 32% Lack of efficiency costs us money Low service quality 44% 28% Missed opportunities to capture value Prevents innovation 43% 27% Negatively affects employee morale Damages enterprise reputation 35% 22% Somewhat surprisingly, preventing innovation comes near the bottom of the list of current impacts. But this is unlikely to remain the case moving forward. As mentioned earlier, 68% of the IT leaders already using AI are worried process shortcomings may hold back further implementation in the next two years, so we’re likely to see preventing innovation rise up this list if process optimization is not prioritized. Missed value opportunities in DACH There are a number of differences in how IT leaders in different regions perceive the impacts of sub-optimal processes. For instance, 54% in DACH feel they result in missed value opportunities compared with just 29% in the rest of EMEA. And 34% of IT leaders in the US say sub-optimal processes result in low service quality, compared with just 18% in the DACH region. The Process Era is Here: IT Edition 12