Business process management (BPM) significantly enhances digital transformation by aligning technology with business strategy and operations.
BPM helps bridge the gap between strategy and execution by making processes transparent, measurable and adaptable. It fosters a culture of continuous improvement, enables faster decision-making through data insights and creates a foundation for scalable and sustainable innovation.
Whether it’s automating manual tasks, integrating disparate systems or improving customer engagement, BPM acts as a catalyst that connects digital capabilities with real business value. As organizations navigate the complexities of digital transformation, BPM offers the clarity, control and flexibility needed to not just survive but thrive in a digital-first world.
Diego Borquez, regional business process manager, LATAM at Pacific International Lines (PTE) Ltd., knows firsthand the vast potential BPM has for enhancing digital transformation efforts.
Borquez is speaking at All Access: BPM Business Process Management 2025. Ahead of the event, PEX Network sat down with him to examine the ways BPM can support and improve digital transformation.
PEX Network: How does BPM align with the strategic goals of digital transformation?
In a recent project standardizing operational, documentation, finance and customer-service processes across 18 countries in the logistics sector, BPM laid the groundwork for our digital roadmap. We mapped the end-to-end flow, harmonized terminology and introduced visual KPI dashboards reviewed in short daily huddles. That shared language reduced cross-country variability and drew attention to the customer-facing steps that mattered most.
Beyond the immediate lift in regional KPIs, the real win was a clean, common process baseline. CRM and analytics projects could plug into that baseline with far less rework, technology slotted in naturally and advanced the business goals already in place.
PEX Network: What role does BPM play in identifying transformation opportunities within an organization?
DB: BPM is a disciplined way to see where effort will pay off. A recent case involved commercial and customer-service processes with KPIs that sat at the bottom of the company scorecard. We mapped the end-to-end flow, highlighted the steps fully under our control and built those checkpoints into dashboards and daily huddles. Clear visibility plus frontline ownership moved the indicators from lagging to target within a year – no silver bullets, just focus on the right levers.
PEX Network: Can BPM help bridge the gap between IT and business teams during a digital transformation initiative?
DB: Yes – BPM acts as the neutral “translation layer” between strategy and code. Best practice is to begin by mapping the process in a clear BPMN diagram that shows who owns each task, what information is critical and where the handovers occur. Business leaders can confirm that the flow produces the outcomes they need while IT overlays systems, data tables and integration points. As everyone reviews the same map, requirements tend to stay stable and late-stage rework is far less likely.
In short, BPM standardizes operations before a single line of code is written. That shared foundation lets automation tools, analytics and future enhancements plug in smoothly and start creating value sooner.
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PEX Network: How does BPM integrate with technologies like AI, RPA and cloud platforms in transformation projects?
DB: BPM and digital go hand in hand, but the order matters: standardize first, digitize second. When BPM streamlines a workflow – clarifying roles, data fields and hand overs – it creates a solid launchpad for any technology. Standardization makes solutions scalable and sustainable, and it usually means a shorter, less expensive project because there is only one clear path to automate.
I’ve also watched projects that skipped this step: teams jumped straight to the tool, never challenged the underlying workflow and ended up with designs so complex that both timelines and budgets overran.
With BPM in place, the opposite is far more likely. Automation snaps in cleanly, support needs drop and benefits show up sooner. Simplicity has a beauty that really shines once it’s automated – and BPM is what uncovers that simple core.
PEX Network: How can BPM enable organizations to measure the success of digital transformation initiatives?
DB: BPM sets the stage for meaningful measurement by clarifying what matters and where you can intervene. During a KPI-improvement effort for commercial and customer-service teams, we first mapped the end-to-end flow and defined a small set of customer-focused metrics – cycle time, first-time-right rate and response speed. Lean routines then turned those numbers into daily huddles, giving frontline employees clear ownership of each step and the responsibility to improve when needed.
That combination provides a solid baseline. Once a digital project goes live, you can compare the very same KPIs against that baseline and see quickly whether the change is adding value or merely adding noise. In short, a strong BPM foundation turns performance tracking from gut feel into objective proof of impact.
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PEX Network: Can BPM support change management efforts in digital transformation projects?
DB: Absolutely! BPM gives change management a crystal-clear view of how work will look once the change lands. I always recommend mapping the future-state process with the very people who will run it. That visual makes roles, handovers and success metrics explicit (and debatable) before system delivery even starts.
A diagram alone, however, won’t move hearts. Communication skills – persuasion, storytelling and plain language that answers “What’s in it for me?” – are just as important. I involve impacted teams from day one through town-hall sessions, workshops, retros and daily huddles, inviting them to co-design the new flow. When people help shape the process, they’re far more willing to adopt the tools that ride on top of it.
The result: smoother go-lives, fewer surprises and a culture that embraces change instead of feeling overwhelmed by it.
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