Finding The Best Business Process Automation Software Guide For Enterprise Buyers
If you're reading this, it’s probably that your company is examining business process automation software.
With the competency of business process automation you can expedite tedious, rules-based tasks. Streamlining these types of business processes produces more productivity in enterprise resource planning (ERP), larger cost savings, and enhanced utilization of your manpower.
Even though most enterprise businesses today have applied some form of automation, digital transformation, or process optimization, many fail to recognize the full scope of automation technology and struggle to terminate remaining time-consuming manual workflows.
While partially automated workflows will deliver minimal edge, they can also hurting you in the end.
In this enterprise buyer's guide, we'll shed some light on what business process automation is, how it operates, its benefits, and the parameters you need to study when evaluating BPA applications.
So let's begin!
What is Business Process Automation: A Primer
Business process automation (BPA), also known as business process management (BPM), is the action of using technology to establish routine, regimented tasks such as sending documents, data-entry, sending payments, or classifying documents.
Utilizing automation can significantly improve an organization's bottomline by streamlining processes, establishing competency, and eliminating manual tasks which permits your staff to focus on tasks that grow the business.
Advanced automation platforms, like those you're presumably gauging, implement innovative technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and robotic process automation (RPA) to perform repetitive work on a human's behalf.
Ultimately, humans are still your greatest resource, but through enterprise automation, your teammates can work faster on more productive tasks in lieu of having their time wasted by repetitive manual tasks.
The Benefits of Business Process Automation
Beneath are just a small amount of the awesome benefits of BPA or automated software.
Reduces Human Error
Streamlines Tedious Tasks
Reduces Inefficiencies
Deters Suspicious Activity
Facilitates Cost-Savings
Enhances Vendor Relationships and Customer Satisfaction
Lessens Supplier Inquiries
Delivers Better Insight into Processes
Greater ROI
Use Cases for Business Process Automation
Any business that has tiresome, frequently recurring tasks can reap the rewards of process automation tools. Some of the most prevalent business and industry use cases include:
HR New Employee Onboarding
CRM Processes
Social Media
Evaluation Factors for Business Process Automation Software
Finding the process automation tool that corresponds to your business starts with examining your current operating procedures, identifying opportunities for automation and assessing the marketplace for applications.
1. Define Your Business Needs
Before ever evaluating technology options, the primary thing to do is to discern your company needs.
Turning a blind eye to this step could lead to obtaining technology that ultimately restrains your company, or selecting additional features that are irrelevant. Gather your department heads to discuss the following:
What workflows are good candidates for automation?
Do you need the software for one department, or can the software be used by a number of departments?
Are there any dependencies that prohibit you from launching a new system?
How many employees will require access to the application? What are their roles?
2. Conducting Pre-Purchase Research
Once you have your base needs established, you can start looking for promising solutions. There are various things you can learn on your own before consulting with a vendor or entering a high-pressure sales conversation.
Here are few resources you can frequently find on solution websites or via a Google search that will help you conduct your initial research.
Recorded demos
Pricing/Licensing Tiers
Product Pages/Data Sheets/Explainer Blogs
Product Comparisons
Peer Reviews
Partner Referrals
3. Submit RFIs to Potential Vendors
Once you've done some preliminary research, you can begin asking for customized price quotes from the solutions you're eager to learn about.
While many software websites offer pricing, the majority of business process management tools simply offer starting prices and will request for more information about your organization to arrange a conclusive pricing model for you.
If your organization uses a more conventional attainment process, this would be the time to commence sending the initial requests for information (RFI) which specifically summarizes your requirements for potential vendors.
As you discuss with potential sellers, it's imperative that you get all of your questions answered and make sure that the software meets all of your demands. This will help you lessen vendor options during purchase later on.
4. Understanding Licensing Structures
One of the main important pricing considerations for an automation tool is the licensing structure. There is a wide selection of user models that tool vendors use and it can have an extreme impact on the total cost of ownership. Here are some of the most commonly used structures:
Per-seat or per-user licensing: means that pricing is set per person. This is why it's crucial to determine your complete number of users.
Maximum user licensing: This is total pricing with the total number of users allotted with additional users available for an additional cost.
Site licensing: In place of per user, this type of licensing allows you to use the platform at a single (or multiple) predetermined locations.
Ongoing vs subscription licensing: Ongoing licensing is usually pay once and use indefinitely, whereas a subscription price will need to be renewed
The pricing model that best suits for your organization will come down to the budget, the number of users or site locations, in addition to the degree of flexibility you want. For instance, if you'd prefer not be locked into a long-term investment, you might favor a subscription model that you can nullify whenever you have to.
5. Deployment Models
The deployment model is another important discussion as your business can have certain legal or compliance-related requirements that prescribe you use just one type of infrastructure.
Take for example, many businesses in the healthcare and government division have strict regulations which demand they control all computing and application infrastructure on-premise and that any new software be certified in compliant in a specific groundwork like HIPAA or FedRAMP.
Many vendors provide an assortment of deployment options for this very reason. These can be partitioned into two fundamental groups: on-premises, off-premises, or hybrid deployment.
On-premises (Data Center): This hosting option calls for your organization to use the software via your on-premise data center environment. In doing so, your company retains outright control over the installation, architecture, administration, maintenance, and data security.
This restricts the scope of risk concerned with subcontracting deployment to a third party, but it also increases your responsibilities and involves its own level of risk.
Take for example, disregarding routine updates and backups could set your organization up in a dangerous position if a data breach or emergency were ever to occur. But as stated previously, for some in a compliance-heavy industry, there may not be any other options here.
Off-premises (Cloud-based): For companies that are not bound by legal demands, or have regulated standards that a cloud option can meet, this choice can be far more attractive.
This is because cloud deployments give your organization the chance to unload much of the administrative and maintenance concerns it would otherwise be held accountable for.
Moreover, most enterprise-level technology is built on best-in-class infrastructures specifically AWS or Azure and provides redundancy, reliability, and even service level agreements (SLAs) shall you want more uptime guarantee.
Hybrid (Mixed) Deployment: The third choice, for those that want to take advantage of cloud innovation but work in a compliance-heavy business, is a hybrid or mixed deployment.
Albeit being a tad more intricate, a hybrid environment would contain all your sensitive data and related features in an on-premise environment while your non-classified data and processes can be implemented in a cloud environment.
6. Implementation Requirements
A further key discussion is the implementation requirements, for the software vendor, for your organization. Just because you can feel like using a certain tool, doesn't imply that your present capabilities are sufficient to run it. For this reason, it's crucial to examine the following:
Configurability. Does the platform come with all necessary functionality once purchased, or will it need some tweaking once installed? This is relevant to recognize to ensure you can get the most from your investment and hit the ground running.
System requirements. In theevent of an on-premise deployment, do you have all the essential hardware to handle the platform correctly? If not, your entire investment could be at risk.
Elasticity. Can the tool scale to meet higher demand as your business develops, if the maximum number of coincidental users are online, or if your framework incurs a utilization load spike? It's crucial to select an automation software that can scale to handle a growth or a utilization flux. A large number of SaaS and cloud options offer auto-scaling as the need emerges, because most on-premise deployments compel that auto-routing during load spikes is implemented in advance.
7. Integration capabilities
Another important consideration is integration potential. While the idea of an all-in-one solution is an alluring concept, it usually doesn't work that way. Specifically with automation, the automation tool will need to reach out to multiple systems and other software in accordance with how many business units are taking advantage of it.
For this reason, you must grant your potential vendors with a full list of all systems and tools to certify that your automation platform can integrate well with each.
Alternatively, if a distinct tool is not listed under integrations, does the tool vendor offer an application programming interface (API) so that a developer can connect your systems his or herself?
If there isn't a preformed integration in qualified for your other systems, and the API either is nonexistent or is taxing to use, it most likely isn’t the greatest fit for your company.
8. Customer Support
Yet another crucial, yet often unnoticed feature is accessible customer support. Oftentimes, companies are not aware of the worth of great customer support until they desperately need it and it's inaccessible.
Every single software vendor has its own unique customer support offering that’s either 24/7/365 or restricted to particular hours. They typically also have a scope for their customer support services - issues they will support and issues they won't.
Most often, basic customer support is offered for issues connected to the platform itself, yet, issues that are customer-centric (i.e. implementation issues, best practices, etc) may only be available at a premium, if at all.
Regardless, it's important that you recognize what your level of customer support offers, its accessibility, and the options available to you (i.e. ticket service, phone, email, chat, etc). Additionally, as your employees are learning to use automation software, it's crucial that they have training resources accessible, whether live or pre-designed.
Examples include:
Webinars
Guides
Training Labs
Tutorial Videos
Instruction Manuals/Documentation
Community Help Forums
9. Security
Another important consideration is the software security measures. With an automation platform, it's very likely that it will have some sort of connection with sensitive data, therefore, it’s important to be positive that any data accessed is secure against unwarranted access. See to it that your software provides the succeeding security features:
Access management to regulate who can use the software.
Permission controls to determine what a user can and can't use while utilizing the platform.
Compliance certification (if [required) to ensure that the supplier has met all its obligations to comply with any legal regulations that your company is responsible for.
10. Ease-of-use
Lastly, it's of the utmost importance that the tool is intuitive and easy to use for your team members. A convoluted user interface can bring about lost production as you allocate time and assets toward having your staff train on how to properly operate the tool.
Offerings similar to a free trial can help secure your teams appreciate the tool before purchasing. Additionally, demos, training resources, and process templates can do a great deal for the rate of learning over time as all platforms, even intuitive ones, will oblige you to have some sort of adaptation period.
The Procurement Process
After your company has reviewed the entire evaluation criteria and you distinguish what you're looking for, it's time to start taking into account your options, pegging your choices down, and ultimately buying and actualizing the product.
The following is a step-by-step guide to aid you with the procurement process.
Step 1: Compare Your Options
It's in all likelihood you've already prepared a list of potential vendors during the evaluation process. Now it's time to eliminate any that don't meet your demands and reduce your short-list. Just after your short-list is ready, compare your choices in accordance with the following traits:
Price
Features
Free Trial Options
Security and Compliance Capabilities
Customer Support
Step 2: Schedule Demos
With likely only 2-3 options remaining, it's now time to figure out what the tool's capabilities are. Not only will this aid you to measure functionality, but it will also supply you with some idea of the product's ease of use. If it has an extremely complicated user interface or it seems like it will require a steep learning curve, it may not be the best fit.
Step 3: Making the Purchase
When you've chosen one out of all the options, don't just settle for the full selling price. There may be some wiggle room for negotiation, and if not, there might be an extended free trial you can utilize before monthly or annual wages.
Furthermore, be careful of hidden pricing technicalities such as flat-rate vs per-user pricing, or paying for extra functionality you don't need.
A seller that is opposed to negotiations, or imparts shady pricing with a lot of hidden charges is plausibly not going to be a good long-term partner for your company. Deliberate before proceeding as you may regret your decision in the future.
Step 4: Implementation
When you've purchased, it's time to enforce your new system. Contingent upon how deeply embedded your previous software was, or how complex the integration is, this method might get a bit complicated. Here are a few hints to help you facilitate the transition.
Inform your staff on the new automation platform, instruct them to view demos, or get some training. It's important for long-term scalability that each of your staff use the tool in accordance with best practices rather than implementing their own individual uses.
Involve customer support when necessary for technical issues.
Recruit the help of a solutions partner like Wave.
While many software companies have technical support for problems] with regard to their software, regularly, difficulties around best practices and implementation optimization are beyond their scope.
We can give you a hand in rolling out new tools in a gradual procedure that makes the most sense for your business and results in as little layoff as possible while ensuring that everyone knows how to use the tool according to best practices.
Start Your Organization’s Digital Transformation with Wave
Manual business processes disrupt your business, which results in bottlenecks, disjointed workflows, missing information, and human error. This reduces overall productivity, leads to upscaled expenses, weakens your control over the business, and can eventually limit your long-term feasibility and scalability.
Wave aids businesses like yours to implement automation solutions and content management systems (CMS) that facilitate your processes end-to-end, automate tedious, recurrent work, and can merge with any ERP system you choose.
While we work profoundly with ECM systems like OpenText, M-Files, and SharePoint, we're perfectly willing to work with whatever system you're currently applying.
Instead of tearing out deeply embedded legacy platforms, we can come alongside your system and implement supportive tooling that can add to and develop your current systems.
We can also deliver our automation software as an on-premise or cloud-based solution to correspond to your compliance needs and budget.
If you'd like to learn more about how Wave can help support digital transformation and business process automation in your organization, contact us today.