What is business process automation?

A business process is a series of activities created to achieve a specific organizational goal, such as product production, financial processing, employee onboarding or new customer acquisition. These processes often span multiple departments and involve a sequence of tasks that can be fully or partially automated.

For example, inventory management processing can involve software that monitors stock and automatically generates purchase orders when inventory falls below a predetermined threshold. It also updates product information based on supplier data, generates inventory trend reports and forecasts future demand.

BPA stands apart from other automation types because it is more complex and connects multiple enterprise IT systems. It is customized to an organization's needs and can use various technologies, including robotic process automation (RPA), workflow orchestration, business process management (BPM), artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud platforms.

The primary goal of BPA is to enhance operational efficiency, reduce human error, standardize processes and allow employees to focus on strategic tasks. By automating manual processes, organizations can achieve greater productivity and cost reductions, ultimately enhancing overall business performance.

BPA, RPA and BPM represent a spectrum of strategies and tools organizations use to optimize processes. BPA is the overarching term for automating complex business processes applying software solutions to streamline tasks that typically require manual intervention. BPA solutions are often tailored to meet an organization's specific needs and can integrate with various data systems and application programming interfaces (APIs) to automate workflows across departments.

RPA falls under the umbrella of BPA, but is focused on automating routine, repetitive tasks that mimic human interactions with software applications, like data entry or transferring data between applications. RPA tools are designed to run specific, isolated tasks by following rules-based processes. Due to its narrower focus, RPA can often be implemented more quickly than broader BPA initiatives.

While BPA and RPA are focused on automating processes and tasks, BPM takes a broader approach. BPM is a discipline that involves continuous collaboration between business and IT teams to model, analyze and optimize business processes from start to finish. Unlike BPA and RPA, which are primarily technology-driven, BPM encompasses a wider range of strategies, including but not limited to automation.

BPA and RPA can be viewed as tools or methodologies within the BPM framework. BPM projects can use insights gained from diagramming and modeling business processes to identify opportunities for automation, which can then be implemented through BPA or RPA solutions. In a larger BPM context, BPA and RPA are complementary.

Here are a few use-cases that illustrate applications of BPA across business functions.

Onboarding new employees: Automating the onboarding process can reduce the administrative burden on HR departments. BPA can facilitate tasks such as sending welcome emails, setting up access to necessary software, scheduling orientation sessions and processing paperwork.

Purchase orders and accounts payable: In finance and procurement, BPA streamlines managing purchase orders and accounts payable by automatically routing time-sensitive invoices for approval, matching purchase orders to invoices and processing payments. This automation helps speed-up credit approvals and standardizes processes for better security and compliance.

Contract management: Automating contract management processes can assist in creation and signing to renewal and auditing. BPA helps maintain timely compliance and reduces the risks associated with manual contract management.

Marketing automation: BPA software can automate various marketing tasks, freeing up teams and allowing them to focus on strategy, creativity and building relationships with potential customers. Tasks include identifying potential customers, developing effective messaging and generating new leads. Also, they involve connecting with customer relationship management (CRM) systems to keep information updated and nurture sales leads to convert prospects into customers.

Sales automation: Integrating BPA with CRM systems allows organizations to fill process gaps and eliminate data silos. This integration includes automating tasks related to customer onboarding, managing the sales pipeline and creating low-code CRM alternatives when an enterprise CRM isn't available.

Low-code development platforms allow users to create automation solutions with minimal coding knowledge. Low-code platforms can directly access APIs, providing a performance advantage over traditional RPA by avoiding the need to mimic human interaction through the user interface.

BPA can also transform IT service desk operations by automating ticket routing, prioritization and resolution processes. This automation speeds up response times and enhances the overall quality of service.

While BPA offers numerous benefits, businesses often encounter challenges in scaling these solutions. What works for one set of tasks might not easily adapt to another, making it difficult to expand automation efforts. Also, synchronization between humans and automated systems can be complex and might require training and cultural adjustment. Organizations might also face roadblocks in process automation due to insufficient process documentation.

Organizations must take steps to ensure that their processes are well documented and a strategy is in place for identifying and overcoming similar obstacles. However, by successfully automating routine tasks, businesses can redirect their focus toward more strategic activities, such as:

BPA encompasses several types of automation, each addressing different levels along the automation spectrum, from simple tasks to complex processes that require advanced technologies like AI. The various kinds of BPA and how they contribute to streamlining business operations are:

Task automation: This task is the most basic form of BPA. Task automation focuses on automating individual manual tasks within a process to save time and reduce errors. Typical applications include sending automated emails, generating documents, capturing digital signatures, updating system statuses and other administrative tasks.

Workflow automation: Workflow automation takes automation further by applying it across a defined series of tasks and activities. This means that certain tasks are completed in the correct sequence and that work is efficiently passed from one stage to the next. While some workflows can be fully automated, others might need a mix of automated tasks and manual intervention, especially for activities requiring human judgment.

An online customer order can be designed to trigger automatic tasks, such as sending the customer an email confirmation with order details and performing an automatic inventory check to maintain stock levels. It also syncs with secure payment gateways to process customer payments and generates shipping labels and packing slips.

Process automation: Process automation involves automating an entire process end-to-end rather than individual tasks or workflows. It involves identifying and automating as many components of a process as possible, including both discrete tasks and overarching workflows that connect tasks. Process automation aims to optimize the entire process to reduce bottlenecks and drive consistency across the company.

Digital process automation: Digital process automation (DPA) extends beyond the scope of traditional BPA by integrating automation strategies into the broader context of digital transformation. It optimizes end-to-end processes and improves customer experiences by using technology to bridge the gap between individual automation initiatives and overarching digital goals.

Intelligent automation: Intelligent automation is the most sophisticated type of BPA, combining elements of task automation, process automation and RPA with advanced technologies like AI, machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP) and data analytics. This automation can run higher-level tasks that require decision-making and cognitive abilities, such as interpreting text, making predictions based on data analysis and learning from past decisions to optimize future actions.

For example, by deflecting simple inquiries, AI-powered chatbots allow human agents more flexibility to handle complex issues. Many companies use chatbots powered by natural language processing to handle routine customer inquiries.

A successful BPA implementation must consider the organization's unique needs, processes and goals. Here's a quick guide to navigating the complexities of business process automation:

Assess automation appetite and needs: Organizations begin by understanding their organizational readiness for automation and communicate how that change affects employees. Automation should focus on time-consuming manual tasks or processes prone to error. Business process automation, by design, transforms daily workflows. So, understanding the appetite for change among leadership and employees is crucial for success as employees impacted need to be educated and trained to understand the business value the new workflow provides.

Identify processes for automation: Analyze organizational processes to identify potential candidates for automation. Processes with high volume, repetitive tasks, time sensitivity and multiple people for execution are good candidates. Common examples include email notifications, helpdesk support, data migration, payroll and invoicing.

Scope of the project: The scope of the automation project should be linked to an organization's automation maturity level. Organizations with minimal or no automation should start small by automating processes that can build momentum. This way, they can manage resources and sets realistic expectations.

Involve key stakeholders: Engaged stakeholders reveal the organization’s needs and communicate best what must take priority, what processes need to be optimized, what can be eliminated and what processes benefit most from automation. Include business leaders early to clarify the organization’s needs and define automation goals that address pain points.

Define the process steps clearly: Every process identified for automation must have clear documentation that defines the task involved, responsible parties and execution timelines. Understanding the current process in depth is essential for identifying automation opportunities and designing effective automated workflows.

Set clear goals: Establish clear, measurable goals for each targeted process. Goals include reducing process times, decreasing error rates and improving customer support and satisfaction. Having specific objectives helps focus efforts and measure results.

Measure and adapt: A phased approach is beneficial for measuring automation results and allows for adjustments as needed. Success builds over time and initial results might not seem adequate. However, regularly reviewing performance against set goals will help refine the automation strategy.

Train and support employees: Dedicate adequate time to training and allow employees an adjustment period. Organizations must ensure that their staff is comfortable with business process automation software and understands the benefits of automation.

Adopt ready-made solutions: Whenever possible, use ready-made solutions. These solutions speed up implementation and helps reduce costs. Many common processes have established automation platforms available that can be customized to fit unique organizational needs.

Adopt a long-term philosophy: Approach BPA with a long-term outlook. Initial investments in time and resources might be significant, but the return on investment (ROI) from improved efficiency, reduced errors and better compliance can be substantial over time.

Companies must establish an automation framework that helps delineate between the various automation technologies. This framework should clarify the role of each technology, filter out market hype and understand how different tools can be used in tandem to achieve comprehensive business process automation. By adopting such a strategic approach, organizations can better navigate the complex BPA landscape and use the right mix of technologies.