What's the real spirit of Process Digitization? Not only scanning and paper reduction for sure...

Abstract: This article covers the Digitization of processes using BPMN and a BPM Software Suite

Definition: Process digitization is making the best use of available digital assets, to transform a business process with manual or analog components, into a digital and automated one.

So, what assets do we already have? Some examples:

• Digital repositories, such as Google Drive or Office365 where our files, documents, spreadsheets, images, presentations, etc, are.
• Communication and collaboration tools, such as Slack, Zoom, Meet, Mailchimp, etc.
• Connectors and IFTTT (If This Then That) to other web applications, such as Zapier.
• Public forms to replace traditional manual communication and data acquisition based on phone or email.
• Digital signatures, to give legal validity to documents, authenticity, and non-repudiation.
• Human participants, always necessary and usually irreplaceable ??.

Electronic forms and scanned documents

A common mistake is to confuse the process of scanning a paper document to get its digital version with digitizing a complete business process. It is not the same, at all.

Scanning a document is usually a manual activity. A person scans a paper document and obtains a file with the image (usually in PDF format). In fact, taking a picture with your phone of this document is conceptually the same. In effect, the paper document was digitized. But the business process, in all its stages, was not digitized at all.

Digitizing a process is not scanning a document.

A digitized business process in all its stages involves natively digital documents. That is to say, if we have a form to store certain data, it should not be in paper format and then be scanned. It needs to be a digital form from the very beginning.

In other words, a fundamental aspect of digitizing a process is to define where and how all the relevant information of the process will be stored. In a digital process, that information will be stored in electronic forms. As an example, the following image presents Flokzu's form generator, which allows defining which information to store in specific fields. And then, it will allow those forms to be filled in digitally.

Integrating assets into a digitized process

So, the next step is coordinating all these digital assets and people. In other words, how to align them in a process, so that they can work together to achieve a business goal.

This is where the BPMN notation helps. Through a graphic diagram, we can formally describe what the sequence of tasks is, what digital asset is used, and what people are involved at each moment. Considering that BPMN is currently a universally used standard, we will also have a formal definition of the process for our entire organization.

The following image shows a very brief example of a digitized process. The attentive reader will notice that all relevant stages of the process, as well as communications with people outside the organization or employees, and the exchange of data with other applications, is perfectly documented.

Any member of the organization can understand this process. And most importantly, we can be sure that this process will always be executed in the desired way, being auditable.

Putting the digitized process to work

The next question is: how do we go from that definition of the process to a real-life execution? That's where the software comes in. In particular, a BPM Suite, with a BPMN engine. This type of product is able to interpret the process defined in the BPMN notation and execute it, coordinating all the assets involved.

The BPM Suite, among others, will be responsible for

• Allowing new processes to be started, by completing the associated electronic forms
• Assign user tasks to the appropriate persons, according to their defined roles and business rules
• It will move the process instances to the following stages, considering the bifurcations and conditions of the workflow
• It will launch alerts when the time commitment for each task is exceeded.
• It will send emails when necessary, building the body of those emails with data from each instance of the process.
• It will integrate with other applications, sending or receiving data.

All these tasks will be performed 100% digitally. We call this a digitalized process, executed in a BPM suite, with an engine that supports BPMN notation.

This way, you'll be getting the most out of every digital asset the organization has. In addition to not reinventing the wheel, you will be more efficient in the use of your resources, integrating the value chain, and being more, much more flexible to respond to changes that certainly will occur. 

So yes, the digitalization of all processes is the future of any company that intends to survive, compete and grow. Start now!