What is Enterprise Process Automation?

Enterprise automation can feel overwhelming, but when used efficiently it can be quite transformative for a business. By using specialized departmental automation processes, a company can start transitioning to a digital framework on the way towards a totally automated enterprise. Automation can allow for quick and efficient recognition of problems, identification of needed actions, and initiation of necessary steps.

Many IT business tasks can be incredibly difficult and complex in organization and implementation. Balancing and managing tasks between multiple systems with multiple tools and parties involved can be a large undertaking. These complex tasks can be dependent on processes in other systems and applications and the real key to efficiency is figuring out how to automate intelligent decisions throughout the completion of these tasks and functions.

Complex processes can be complex and time consuming and can be needed to be performed repeatedly. Having these tasks overseen by administrators can be quite expensive and leaves things open to human error under manual administration.

Understanding Enterprise Automation

The crux of enterprise automation is finding manual redundancies or inefficiencies that can be replaced with digital systems or processes. Finding where these can best fit relies on systematically evaluating the processes of an organization to itemize tasks and procedures to ensure peak performance.

Manual processes leave the door wide open for massive inefficiencies. Even something as simple as finding the requisite documents for a task can dominate 50% of a worker’s time. By reducing the number of tasks that have to pass through human hands, efficiency can be greatly streamlined. Manual data entry and document acquisition can really slow down internal processes in the work stream.

Why Should Enterprise Automation Be A Priority?

There are many improvements that can be offered by automating processes that are typically handled manually. By eliminating manual data entry points, the possibility of human error can also be eliminated. Systems can be designed with many automated check points and status updates to ensure an accurate and detailed understanding of task progress.

One big benefit to automating these simple and tedious bulk tasks normally left to manual actions is that this can free up the time of your skilled workers for bigger, more involved tasks. Employee satisfaction can suffer greatly from tedious and repetitive busy work. Workflow bottlenecks can also be greatly reduced by eliminating human manual work gatekeeping positions.

Added Oversight And Accountability

By automating certain systems and having an overview of operations of the entire enterprise, tasks can be managed and documented as they are addressed. Logging and organizing can be instant and this allows for a much more comprehensive oversight and accountability in the tasks and activities performed. Adhering to policy regulations and standards is literally part of the program, and this added visibility can greatly improve the troubleshooting process and reduce overall errors.

The built-in capabilities for data logging and information management is great for identifying and reducing redundancies and for tracking discrepancies and giving visibility and transparency.

Automatable Enterprise Processes

Email chains and spreadsheets are becoming a thing of the past. Automated systems allow for workflow with software to automate necessary processes without the need for multiple parties overseeing the tasks.

Other administrative tasks such as access requests, resource scheduling and facility booking, and giving quotes can all be improved with automated systems.

Automating IT Systems

IT systems can provide many services with automated functions. These can include security access approvals, financial service tasks, and approvals for expenses, invoices, and campaigns. Marketing tasks and administrative IT functions can also be automated. Time can be spent in other more valuable areas than account setups.

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is now the global standard for process modeling. This modeling design standardization allows for an easy integration of automated system design across multiple departments and systems. This has a huge benefit to comparing and collaborating with business partners or other departments in a clear and digestible manner. BPMN is process automation’s best friend, and as this standard has become supported more widely by many software products, utilizing this towards an automation transition is a very wise move. With all the attention and improvements, BPMN 2.0 is the future of process automation

HR Administrative Automation Tasks

Perhaps the most direct and noticeable increase in enterprise efficiency through automation can be found in HR responsibilities. There are so many tasks performed by an HR department that can be greatly streamlined by transitioning to automated solutions. These can include, onboarding and offboarding, vacation requests, timesheet management, updates and changes in policy, pricing adjustments, invoicing, and so many other processes.

These tasks can be very vulnerable to human error and potentially even security risks. Automating security systems is rising rapidly in prevalence.

Flexibility And Scalability

There are many companies and options that can provide automation tools to fit the size and complexity of an enterprise and the applications that are desired. Workflow automation is a diverse industry and there are specialized tools to fit what is needed for the enterprise. From small scale to massive corporations, automation designs can vary greatly. Some enterprise suites offer automation add-ons, while other services focus on workflow automation for the enterprise directly without dilution. This focused approach can be beneficial for scaling with the growth of the company.

Automating an enterprise is the way of the future and can help a business step forward with efficiency and higher performance. It delivers automation solutions that can improve enterprise operations and strengthen company workflow in very tangible and measurable applications.