What is Business Process Automation?
The latest reports show that approximately 45 percent of paid business activities have the potential to be automated.
That means nearly half of what goes on in your business workflow every day could likely be done better or more efficiently if you automated it instead of relying on yourself or one of your workers to get it done.
Business process automation (or BPA for short) is the way of the future. A lot of business owners feel scared to start automating aspects of their companies, though. For them, the concept of business automation is something that they used to see in movies.
They still prefer to go by the manual process even if it is time-consuming most of the time. If you're in this boat, perhaps having more information will change your mind.
Read on to answer the question: "What is business process automation?" and get some great examples of this practice in action.
What is Business Process Automation?
Business process automation is all about using specialized technology to take over recurring daily tasks or processes.
The main priority of business process automation is to help your company run more smoothly and get things done faster, more efficiently, and more accurately.
Benefits of Business Process Automation
There are lots of reasons why businesses are starting to lean more heavily on business process automation. Here are several of the most significant benefits BPA has to offer:
Improve Clarity and Accuracy
Many business owners find that when they make BPA a priority in their offices, accuracy improves significantly.
This observation has to do with the fact that there's less room for human error when you automate specific processes.
Instructions are more straightforward, and they tend to get carried out accurately without distraction or interruption and a lot of need for do-overs.
Gather Important Data
A good BPA solution allows you to gather essential data about your business, too.
When you use the right BPA technology, it's easier for you to figure out where the sticking points are (if there are any) in specific processes.
This, in turn, allows you to streamline things further and make sure that all aspects of your business are running in the smoothest way possible. Hence, the workflow is not disturbed.
Increase Efficiency
It should surprise no one that efficiency improves when you switch to automated business processes.
For everyday, repetitive tasks, automation is almost always the answer. Software programs and automated tools tend to get the job done more quickly, and they free employees up to work harder on and dedicate more time to other tasks that can't be automated.
Business automation will benefit many businesses since it will allow them to focus on more important things.
Save Money
There's a lot of truth to the age-old adage that time is money. If you can get things done faster and more efficiently, you can save a lot of money.
Don't forget that business process automation is also a wise investment for businesses that don't have a huge budget. It allows them to get things done without hiring a new employee to handle them and do another repetitive task.
Increase Customer Satisfaction
When you're able to get things done in a more timely manner, and when you have fewer errors, you get to enjoy the bonus of happier, more satisfied customers. With more content and more satisfied customers comes more sales and increased brand loyalty. This, in turn, will result in a much better bottom line and more money for you and your company.
Most Commonly Automated Business Processes
There are lots of ways that businesses implement business process automation. The following are some examples of the most frequently automated business processes:
● Employee onboarding (paperwork, scheduling training sessions, assigning mentors, etc.)
● Purchase order requests (paperwork, filing, deliveries, order accuracy, etc.)
● Help desk support (answering common questions, assigning customer service agents, etc.)
● Data aggregation and migration (sorting files, delivering them to the proper location, etc.)
● Time and attendance tracking (sending and submitting time cards, logging employee clock-ins and clock-outs, etc.)
● Payroll and invoicing (form accuracy, document delivery, etc.)
There are many other standard business processes and process management that you can automate with the right technology, from lead generation to the creation of customer case studies. These are some of the most popular options, though.
Ways to Automate Your Business Processes
You must keep in mind that you do not have to overhaul all of your business processes all at once and replace them with automated alternatives. It is possible to make a gradual transition to automated processes, especially if you keep these tips in mind:
Start with Small Tasks
Before you get started, figure out which business processes you want to automate, it's best to start with small, relatively low-risk tasks like filing or data migration. This will help you see how automation works for you on a smaller and more manageable scale.
Set Clear Goals
You also have to know what you want to achieve out of your business process automation too. Figure out which data points you're going to measure (such as the number of documents filed per hour), so you can determine whether or not the automation process ended up being effective.
Use the Right Technologies
In addition, make sure you are using the right technology for the job. Do your research to figure out which tool will work best for the particular task you're hoping to automate.
Monitor the Data and Adjust as Needed
Finally, make sure you're paying close attention to the data you gather after automating a particular process.
Take note of how much faster the task gets done or how much the accuracy improves. The better you are at monitoring these processes, the easier it will be to determine whether or not they're worth continuing.
It'll also be easier for you to notice if any issue arises. Remember, the sooner you catch a problem, the faster you can solve it and start reaping the benefits of BPA.
How Can DashboardFox Help?
As you already know, many benefits come with focusing on business process automation. It'll help you save money, get more done, and free you to dedicate more time to other aspects of your business.
What more could you ask for? BPA software is the key to efficiency and lesser human error.
If you want to learn more about business process automation or what you can do to start automating aspects of your business, you have come to the right place because DashboardFox is here to cater to your needs.
What’s Special About DashboardFox?
DashboardFox is not your average BPA software. It can do so much more, as it is officially a dashboard and reporting tool. Hence, the name.
It might sound like we are unrelated to business process automation, but trust us, we can help you. We have features that can help with your transition to business process automation.
We will give you four compelling reasons why you have to choose DashboardFox.
Real-time Queries: Some BI cloud tools refresh your data only a few times a day. That's not the case with us. DashboardFox queries your data source live, and it returns the most up-to-date values. This also lets you set up automated schedules, complete with notifications, to alert you when specific key business metrics exceed certain values.
Data Blending: With Business Process Automation, it is an everyday use case to join multiple sources to make certain decisions. DashboardFox allows you to connect to as many data sources as required. You also gain the ability in the Composer to join or union data between data sources to apply formulas and do analysis.
API: This is typically included in every Process Automation. DashboardFox has a full Rest-based API that makes it possible to automate several everyday business tasks. As a data broker, DashboardFox can retrieve data from a source in real-time, and via the API, another application can query that information for further processing. With the API, you can also automatically provide certain aspects such as the security setting, users, and so much more.
Lastly, DashboardFox is more affordable, allows you to save more time, and has a full-time support system ready to cater to your every concern.
Get into the game with business process automation and let DashboardFox be your stepping stone to more successes in your business.
Contact Us
To know more about how DashboardFox can help you, schedule a live demo with us and check how we can make a significant difference to your business.