Process automation is the holy grail of IT efficiency. If you’re looking to increase productivity and reduce costs, this is your path, for it is only through automation that technology can proof its worth in terms of dollars and cents. Not to be misunderstood, technology can provide a wealth of benefit through other means, but most are intangible and difficult to valuate. This is not, however, the case with process automation.
All too often, technology is viewed as an unavoidable expense, and its capacity to lower costs and increase productivity is ignored. This point of view unavoidably leads to missed opportunities, wasted expenditures and prolonged inefficiency. The fundamental objective of process automation is to leverage technology in order to maximize the output of every employee and all related resources.
Business Process Automation (BPA), as the practice is termed in industry, is the process of evaluating workflow, streamlining the process and adding integration and automation wherever practical or beneficial. The result is a new workflow that takes advantage of technology to integrate both data and process, thereby achieving an optimal state of automation.
As organizations work their way through this process, improving system integration and implementing controls, their business performance naturally improves and enters the domain of full automation, as shown in the upper-right quadrant below:
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As automation is implemented, the problems inherent with silos of information become issues of the past. Even in the domain of Manual Integration, where extracts are performed and data is uploaded on a manual basis, many of the issues are mitigated. At least users start to gain the benefits associated with accessing the right information in a timelier manner. Similarly, the domain of Manual Workflow renders process improvements that tend to abate certain elements of redundant effort and event control. But only with full automation is the entire suite of benefit achieved.
Full automation will prove beneficial across the organization, with both end-users and management reaping the harvest:
End User Benefits:
- Access to the right information at the right time
- Increased productivity and ability to do their jobs
- A more independent work environment
- The ability to make better informed decisions
- Improved quality of work
Management Benefits:
- Better control of processes
- Improved visibility of performance
- Lower costs and maximized value
- Decreased cycle times
The good news is that every organization can achieve performance improvements through automation. The place to start is with an analysis of your current workflow. Once workflow is clearly defined, automation can take over and provide productivity gains that are otherwise impossible.
Keep in mind that your business processes can only be so efficient without taking the steps to automate them. BPA will provide the path. Your process will improve the way that you operate, and your organization will benefit several times over for the investment. Remember, it’s not a question of whether or not you should automate, the question is simply how much and how soon. |
