Business Process Automation - Business Process Automation (BPA) V. Business Process Engineering (BPE) V. Business Process Manageme

Business Process Automation (BPA) V. Business Process Engineering (BPE) V. Business Process Manageme

An area of discussion exists as to whether BPA is a distinct field of activity in its own right or merely a subset of a wider activity. Given the similarity in terminology it is not surprising most casual observers would believe them to be closely related if not identical. However, to experts in these areas they carry very distinct meanings, even if they are ultimately complementary concepts. To explain this further it is necessary to define the scope of each activity:

The BPE rationale is that before any process can be automated, it is necessary to define (often at a very strategic level or enterprise-wide) all of the business processes running inside an organisation. From this the processes can be re-defined and where necessary optimised, including automation.

BPM practice asserts that before any process can be automated, it is necessary to define all of the business processes running inside the domain of endeavour. From this the processes can be re-defined and where necessary optimised, including automation.

The BPA approach states that until a process is automated, there is no real value in analysing and defining it, and that the cycle of business change is so rapid there simply isn’t time to define every process before choosing which ones to address with automation, and that delivering immediate benefits creates more value.

BPE is an approach which has ceased to be of value due to the utopian nature of the practice. Process improvement methodologies such as Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma appear to align well with the BPM and BPA view of the world, as they constantly look for incremental opportunities to make processes more efficient and reduce defects, however these methodologies can also be used downstream of a BPM deployment.