A simulation modelling-based investigation of the impact of IT infrastructure on business process reengineering

Abstract

The literature on business process reengineering (BPR) has promoted business process reengineering as an essential element in helping organizations to achieve their goals.The literature has further claimed that Information Technology (IT) is a major enabler of business process reengineering. Despite all these claims, there has been hardly any effort to demonstrate the interrelationship between business process and information technology infrastructure, and which modeling technique can be used to demonstrate the relationship. This paper investigates how simulation modeling can demonstrate the impact of IT infrastructure on business process. The dynamic synthesis methodology is used with data collected from five commercial banks. The same collected data is used to validate the model. The results indicate that network infrastructure and data integration were significantly related to the process improvement thrust, such that network infrastructure is critical in improving business processes and enhancing customer service.