Business Process Automation and its relation with BPM and RPA

Any organization/corporation is functioning with the two core fundamental vertical pillars

1: Run the business - to operate, to direct, to oversee, to manage.

2: Count the Business - to check the profitability of the business.

Business process automation helps to make both the pillars run smoothly with minimum friction and align with organization’s strategic vision, mission and goal.

As per Wikipedia :- “Business process automation (BPA), also known as?business automation?or?digital transformation,?is the technology-enabled?automation?of complex?business processes. It can streamline a business for simplicity, achieve?digital transformation, increase?service quality, improve service delivery or contain costs. It consists of integrating applications, restructuring labor resources and using?software applications?throughout the organization.”

Gartner also echoed the same thoughts, which reflects “Business process automation (BPA)?is defined as the automation of complex business processes and functions beyond conventional data manipulation and record-keeping activities, usually through the use of advanced technologies. It focuses on “run the business” as opposed to “count the business” types of automation efforts and often deals with event-driven, mission-critical, core processes. BPA usually supports an enterprise’s knowledge workers in satisfying the needs of its many constituencies.”

BPA is the use of software to automate repeatable, multistep business transactions. In contrast to other types of?automation. BPA solutions tend to be complex, connected to multiple enterprise information technology (IT) systems, and tailored specifically to the needs of an organization. BPA will ensure us the achieve the below key fundamentals:

• Ensure processes are constantly followed.
• Help to connect the information we need.
• More informed decisions

Almost any business process we can think of can be enhanced in some way by automation. When assessing candidates for process automation, here are a few key characteristics the process should have:

• The process requires consistency across the organization
• The process is repeatable
• The process has little room for error

It’s common for organizations to apply BPA as part of a?digital transformation?strategy, in order to streamline their workflows and operate more efficiently.

Steps to automate a Business Process:

1)?Define the goals of the automation.

2)?Identify the target process.

3)?Establish the process boundaries.

4)?Map the current process.

5)?Identify the automation opportunities.

6)?Build an automation wishlist.

7)?Assess the tools and capabilities.

8)?Configure the automation.

There are 2 fundamental key points to understand before to proceed for any business process for the automation.

1)?to what extent can it be automated

2)?what’s the best solution for automating a given process?

To answer the above key points, lets categorize any organization business verticals as the below process streams:

1)?????Core processes: Core business processes are those that generate revenue for the business and relate to the main business activities of the organization. Core processes are often automated by the major components of the tech stack such as an ERP, CRM, or other point solution. Examples will be as below

a.?Sales processes

b.?Marketing processes

c.?Customer service processes

d.?Production processes

e.?Distribution processes

2)?????Support processes: Support processes make the core processes possible. While they do not directly generate revenue or fulfill the main business activity, support processes ensure that the business has the resources it needs to function. Support processes typically provide value for internal, rather than external, customers. These types of processes are often automated using a department-specific software solution, such as an HRIS, accounting software, or ITSM. Examples will be as below

• HR processes
• Finance processes
• IT processes

3)?????Long-tail processes: Long-tail processes are the processes that fill in the gaps between defined processes or apps, or processes that address needs not met by the components of the existing stack. For example, a CRM may be able to automate the sales pipeline stages, but lack the capacity to automate the onboarding process or data entry between apps that aren’t integrated. Other examples include finance software that doesn’t offer an automation solution for vendor approval, or an HRIS that doesn’t offer a solution for automating new hire requests. Request management processes often quality as long-tails, since they need to be customized and change often.

Every process type - core, support, and long-tail can be automated with the use of low-code business process automation software.

BPA and BPM

Business process management (BPM) refers to the discipline of - or comprehensive strategy for - modeling, monitoring, and improving business processes. BPM also focuses on the orchestration of different types of processes, to ensure that they work together efficiently in ways that make sense for the people, systems, and data that a process affects

One way to think about the difference between BPA and BPM is in terms of their goals. The primary goal of BPA is to create a more cohesive and optimized process layer through automation and integration. The goal of BPM is to ensure that the process layer is helping the business meet its objectives.

Put another way, BPA is one element of a larger BPM strategy. However, many BPA tools have sophisticated features and capabilities that support BPM. For example, BPA software may offer customizable reporting or process modeling capabilities required by a BPM strategy.

BPA and RPA

RPA refers to the use of programming code, or bots, to complete specific actions at the keystroke level. Each bot is designed for a single specific task, typically in a way that mimics human activity. For example, a bot could be designed to log into a system, copy data, and then paste that data into a spreadsheet or a form-fill of another app.

Business process automation is sometimes confused with robotic process automation, but there are important differences between the two tools.?

BPA differs from RPA in a few key ways.

1)?????BPA is designed with an end-to-end process in mind, rather than RPA which focuses on individual tasks.

2)?????BPA software uses a low-code framework that minimizes the amount of coding required to optimize or automate processes. In fact, low-code BPA provides a visual user interface that eliminates the need for all end users to code.

3)?????BPA offers a range of capabilities not found in RPA. These include features that support process modeling, enhance collaboration, and provide data and insights into process performance.

The simplest way to tell the difference between RPA and BPA is by assessing the scope of the automation. If the automation is isolated and specific, it’s likely an example of RPA. If the automation impacts multiple steps in a process, it’s probably BPA.

BPA Benefits:

Automating organization’s business processes delivers a plethora of benefits, including:

1)?????Enhancing the customer experience: Customer experience is essential to maintain and grow organization’s business. Personalizing communications and delivering them according to customers' preferences delivers a better overall customer experience.

2)?????Reducing operational expenses: Reducing or replacing paper-based communications will save money on postal costs and mailing supplies.

3)?????Improving security and compliance: Automating document delivery reduces the risk of human error and ensures that the right documents go to the right customer.

4)?????Boosting employee engagement and productivity: Eliminating time-consuming tasks allows employees to focus on core business.

5)?????Saving time: Significantly decrease the time it takes to prepare critical outbound communications.

Enlisting below, 10 key benefits to adapt BPA:

1. Time savings: Business process automation saves organization’s employees a great deal of time and allows them to work smarter, not harder.

By charging machines with completing recurrent, rule-based tasks, employees can free up time to focus on work that requires critical thinking, creativity, or the human touch.

2. Increased profits: While routine processes are necessary for the functioning of every company, they do not create value for their customers. Therefore, manually performing these processes often leads to lost profit.

With business process automation, organizations can increase their profitability by delegating mundane tasks to machines and spending more time on activities that add value to their customers.

3. Higher productivity: Organizations that rely on technology to automate processes also see an increase in productivity. The main reason is that machines can handle multiple tasks simultaneously, thus speeding up processes.

By relying on technologies to help with some of their tasks, employees will also get more work done in the same amount of time.

4. Greater efficiency: Business process automation helps companies fulfil tedious tasks with minimal resources. Companies get faster and more reliable results with lower costs, thus improving efficiency significantly.

5. Error minimization: Even the most capable and skilled employees make mistakes. Lack of attention, absent-mindedness, forgetfulness, and multitasking can all hinder the performance of their employees - especially when performing routine tasks.

Unlike humans, computers don’t forget. Plus, they never get tired or distracted. Therefore, automating processes helps companies decrease the likelihood of human error dramatically.

6. Better standardization: Different employees often perform the same processes in different ways. But unfortunately, these ways are not always the most efficient.

On the other hand, automation solutions always follow the same steps to complete tasks and never stray from the defined rules. Hence, business process automation can help us to standardize the processes, achieve consistent results, and increase transparency across the organization.

7. Auditable records: Automation solutions record each step of the process in an audit trail. That makes it possible to:

• track every step of the process
• see who did what and when

Audit trails not only promote accountability and data security but also help companies demonstrate their compliance in the case of official controls.

8. Improved compliance: Automation solutions simplify regulatory compliance. By employing security controls such as encryption and role-based access control, automation solutions help companies meet the GDPR’s data protection requirements.

Plus, features like automatic data deletion enable companies to fulfil their legal obligations regarding data retention.

9. Superior customer experience: Convenience and fast access to products and services matter most to today’s customers.

Business process automation enables faster response times, data-driven personalization, and consistency across different channels. This improves the customer experience and helps companies differentiate themselves from the competition.

10. Improved scalability: Manual processes are not scalable enough and can easily hinder business growth. For example, manually invoicing a hundred clients requires much more resources than only invoicing ten, and companies can’t always cope.

On the other hand, automated processes are scalable. Machines can perform multiple tasks at the same time much faster than any human can.

Therefore, they can easily handle significant increases in workload, demand, and customer base.

Summary:

Business process automation is a way to increase organizational efficiency by leveraging digital technologies to carry out business processes with minimal human intervention.

References:

1: https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/automation/what-is-business-process-automation

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_automation

3: https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/bpa-business-process-automation