What is business process automation?

Business Process Automation, also referred to as BPA, is the use of software to automate complex business processes with minimal human intervention. A business process is usually a set of activities, which may span across multiple business departments, to achieve a specific goal. For example, onboarding new employees or ensuring regulatory compliance.

Digital transformation is often the main driver for companies to adopt the use of automation platforms, to streamline their business operations and improve efficiency.

What is a business process?

A business process is a set of tasks or activities that a business follows to achieve a specific goal. Many of these tasks will have multiple touchpoints with different business systems as the entire process will span across multiple departments and business functions.

Examples of business processes include customer onboarding, invoicing a customer order, fulfilling a customer and many more. When these processes are left to manual ad-hoc management human error creeps in, and visibility of the task is shrouded in a myriad of email trails and excel spreadsheets.

Correct implementation of automation software helps business to eradicate such errors and boost efficiency and customer satisfaction.

What is the difference between business process automation and robotic process automation?

Business process automation is not the same as business process management (BPM) or robotic process automation (RPA).

RPA refers to the use of software to automate specific tasks. These tasks are usually highly repetitive and there are efficiency gains to made by reducing the amount of human input. RPA software will typically try to copy how a user would input data into specific fields.

BPA software is usually used to automate more complex tasks and workflows than RPA solutions. They will typically be used across the entire organisation and cover the entire end-to-end process. Most BPS platforms will utilise Low-Code technology to enable many different user types to configure and run their workflows.

Why automate your business processes with PhixFlow

Business process automation brings many benefits with McKinsey reporting that two-thirds of respondents experienced positive outcomes in quality control, customer satisfaction, employee experience, in addition to reduced operating expenses. 

Starting your journey into automation may be daunting, and there are some common mistakes that should be avoided. 

With PhixFlow you have an all-in-one Low-Code solution to manage and automate your business processes.

Ready to get started with PhixFlow? Request a demo here.