What Is Business Process Automation? A Practical Guide

Companies reach a certain point of inflection, somewhere between $10 million and $100 million in revenue. What worked before, with spreadsheets, manual processes, and your team's combined efforts, becomes a burden.

When staff spend too much time on processes instead of actually performing the work, it's a clear sign that growth is being impeded. Business process automation is an absolute necessity in this situation. Businesses across the nation trust Delta Technologies whenever their expanding operations require them to find more integrated ways of using software that will allow them to operate more efficiently.

In this guide, we'll walk you through everything there is to know about business process automation, including what it is, when a company should consider it, and how to actually do it without disrupting day-to-day operations.

What is Business Process Automation?

Business Process Automation (BPA) entails the use of software and technologies to automate business processes. It helps to minimize human intervention in performing monotonous tasks instead of being manually done. By using BPA, businesses can reduce costs while at the same time increasing productivity and accuracy in operations.

Business process automation also aids the integration of disparate systems, enabling the creation of an enterprise-wide information system that provides executive management with accurate, reliable information.

BPA is one of the critical pillars of digital transformation, which emphasizes the life cycle of a specific business operation rather than a task. By setting up the proper process mapping and implementing related applications, companies appear to optimize their complete operations and remove any hindrances they encounter.

Why Growing Companies Need BPA

Growing companies need business process automation because it's impossible to scale linearly the volume of work done manually in line with increasing revenues. If one employee can process 100 invoices, it doesn't mean that ten workers will be able to handle 1000 invoices.

How BPA Changes After $10M Revenue

At $2 million in revenue, a business can survive on basic tools. You might connect a few apps to send email notifications. But as a company scales past the $10 million mark, operations become significantly more complex. Different departments begin to develop their own silos.

At this point, you need more than just basic triggers. You need an operating system as your source of truth and extensive system integration.

The Hidden Costs of Manual Workflows

There are hidden costs of failing to harness software to automate parts of your business processes:

Signs Your Business Is Ready

Your business is ready for automation when your team is drowning in spreadsheets, your data is walled off in different software, and your growth is being capped by the need to add more administrative staff.

If your staff is spending hours and hours simply transferring data from one screen to another, you need to make the switch.

Signs You Are Automating Too Early

Not everything needs to be automated right away. You may be automating too soon if:

Business Process Automation Examples

BPA can be applied almost everywhere where there is some rule-based work process. Here are several examples of what we build for our clients every day:

Business Process Automation vs. Workflow Automation

While people use these terms interchangeably, they mean different things in practice.

Workflow optimization refers to the process of making minor changes to specific tasks. Meanwhile, business process automation redesigns the whole system.

Business Process Automation vs. RPA

Robotic Process Automation and Business Process Automation tackle similar issues but through different approaches.

We frequently advise against RPA bots in favor of legacy system modernization. It's critical to invest in system improvement rather than a digital bandage on a broken interface.

Benefits of BPA

The main advantage of BPA is that it allows exponentially increasing the volume of work without raising costs significantly. The information provided by Gartner confirms this, as 70% of companies expect to be able to implement structured automation by 2025.

Specific benefits include the following:

Where AI Fits In

Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we think about automation. As an AI automation company, we see the huge potential in merging machine learning technology with traditional BPA, and we are thrilled to witness the progress our industry has made in this space.

When to Use AI Automation Services

Standard automation requires a set of strict rules. At the same time, AI works best with unstructured data. We use AI consulting practices to allow our clients to achieve such goals as:

When AI Should NOT Be Used

We are very pragmatic about technology. You must avoid AI when:

Industries Using BPA

While every vertical has a demand for efficiency, we see a particularly large need in the mid-market. As a company that helps Chicago-area organizations develop custom software, we often work with:

The Chicago technology ecosystem is heavily reliant on these pragmatic, hardworking industries. The Midwest region has little tolerance for vanity projects, and businesses here are all about a healthy ROI.

Common Mistakes

Many companies are making mistakes when it comes to automation, pursuing the technology rather than the business process.

How to Choose BPA Software

When choosing the right automation strategy, it is critical to prioritize your needs and address your pain points first. For example, we recommend that you consider the following BPA maturity curve:

How to Prioritize Automation Opportunities

Use this simple decision matrix to decide what to automate first:

Begin with smaller, safer, but valuable processes. Get a quick win and build on it.

Custom Software vs. Off-the-Shelf Platforms

Many companies are tempted to rely on generic SaaS products to fully automate their operations. This approach may be acceptable at early stages of growth but it becomes inadequate as the business process grows more complex.

Signs Custom Software is Better than SaaS

Generic platforms are typically designed to meet the needs of the average user. However, your business is anything but average. Therefore, you should think about custom software development if:

Custom applications provide complete control. The rules, data, and timeline are defined by you, not a vendor.

How Delta Technologies Approaches Automation

Delta Technologies is a Chicago, IL-based custom software development company. We do not sell generic products. We'd rather design and develop the operating systems that growing companies rely on before they reach their growth limits. Our methodology is deeply practical and results-driven:

We advise on where automation creates a return on investment and where it creates liabilities. We install software that automates business processes, where it lifts rather than shovels work off the backs of your employees.

Key Takeaway

Business process automation is no longer considered an option for any serious organization that wants to scale its operations. If your company has reached a point where such automation is being discussed at the executive level, it is already a necessity. The ability to standardize and digitize operations allows manufacturers in the middle of the country to compete with national suppliers and for financial organizations to operate at a level that satisfies regulatory agencies.

Do not let disconnected systems dictate your growth ceiling.

Are you ready to stop wrestling with spreadsheets and start focusing on growing your business? Contact Delta Technologies to request a systems review for your Chicago-based or remote team. We can help you identify the roadblocks, streamline your operations and design the best operating system for your business to scale.