When business process automation benefits the whole company

While traditional software tools can be deployed locally, it is common to find BPA tools available as SaaS platforms. SaaS eliminates the software deployment and maintenance overhead associated with traditional deployments. Common SaaS examples include Laserfiche Business Process Automation, Tallyfy, Kissflow and others.

SaaS platforms also dramatically simplify your system requirements. Instead of considering server, storage, networking, licensing, integration with other local tools (such as databases), and other requirements, business users can employ the SaaS tool from any suitable web browser simply SaaS providers typically offer several service levels to meet an organization’s needs and budget. As an example, Tallyfy currently offers a basic plan at $12.50 per user per month, and a pro plan at $25 per user per month. The pro plan delivers more automation, customization, reporting and analytics.

The heart of any BPA platform is the creation and management of workflows. BPA tools usually provide a library of pre-built workflow templates that can be adopted and modified for specific business uses. These templates can substantially accelerate the implementation of common workflows, but custom workflows can also be created from scratch to meet an organization’s requirements.

Each step can usually be highlighted with instructions, given a time constraint, associated with specific actions, approvals, or documentation — such as uploading a scan of a receipt or contract — and assigned to a particular employee. A step may also include an acknowledgement, such as an employee approval, that leads to the subsequent step.

The biggest challenge with BPA platforms is the effort needed to translate business insight into actionable processes. It takes a comprehensive understanding of the business to clearly identify the goals of an automated process and to break that process into well-defined steps that map to specific individuals or roles. The best return on a BPA investment is in task volume, so business process automation benefits should be most apparent in areas that focus on high-volume, business-critical tasks.

Employee training on the BPA platform can also help to speed employee adoption and productive use of automated workflows.