BPM and BPA: What’s the difference and which do you need?

Would you like to optimize your business processes at work to drive efficiency and productivity? What is the right way to do it? Is it BPM or BPA? What is the difference between BPM and BPA?

Managing business processes is a major challenge for most companies. The need to streamline business processes has existed for a long time with high demand for business process management (BPM) and business process automation (BPA) solutions. Statista forecasts the value of this market to grow from $9.7 billion in 2019 to $12.7 billion in 2021.

In this article let’s learn about what are BPM and BPA, their similarities, and the differences.

What is Business Process Management?

BPM is a more comprehensive and wider approach to achieve process efficiency. It does not depend on automation, but rather on designing, modeling, deploying, monitoring, and optimizing company-wide business processes. The goal is to gain maximum productivity and efficiency in day-to-day activities.

This is usually implemented as an organization-wide approach. It needs a constant search for new ways to simplify and further improve the workflow of the business.

Also read: Business process management – The what, why, and how

The steps in business process management:

1. Design

Most systems include a data collection method and a workflow to process it. Create your template and decide who will be the owner of every task in the workflow.

2. Model

Represents the mechanism in a visual interface. Fix information such as deadlines and conditions to provide a clear picture of the sequence of events and the flow of data through the process.

3. Execute

Execute the process by testing it live with a smaller group first, and then open it to all users. Please make sure that you limit access to confidential information.

4. Monitor

Keep a keen eye on the process as it runs through the workflow. Use the right statistics to identify progress, assess efficiency, and identify problems and bottlenecks.

5. Optimize

As you analyze, notice any changes that need to be made to your form or workflow to make it more efficient. Consider measures to improve the business process.

What is Business Process Automation?

BPA simplifies business processes through technical solutions that automate manual repetitive tasks. This helps the workforce to restructure time to more important issues when routine work is completed in much lesser time through automation.

Business Process Automation concentrates on decreasing the number of manual tasks. This leads to higher efficiency and productivity.

A variety of tools and applications have been developed with this purpose in mind. The risk of human error during processes such as data input is removed along with other potential obstacles.

Examples of BPA in various business areas:

• Operations Management
• File Transfers Function
• Project Management
• Report Generation and Delivery
• Customer Service
• Social Media and Email Management etc.

Also read: Top 10 Business Process Automation Benefits

BPA Versus BPM:

As you have seen, the objectives of both approaches are the same. It’s about improving business operations and getting more value from the business processes and workflows.

However, the way they go about it is different in both Business Process Management and Business Process Automation.

Also read: BPM and RPA: What’s the difference and which do you need?

1. Objective

Business process management (BPM) aims to improve process productivity, operational quality, and cost efficiency by providing an overall picture of all workflows included in the business process.

Business process automation (BPA) focusses on the automation of repetitive manual tasks across a wide range of business processes in the organization.

2. Scope of BPM & BPA

BPM aims to disrupt the process itself to accomplish the goal of improved efficiency and optimization.

Whereas BPA strives to improve efficiency by technical means. It does not change the core of the systems but makes them simpler and more efficient.

3. The time required for the execution

You don’t need to spend as many hours configuring the automation software in Business Process Automation, as you will need to process the whole methodology in Business Process Management.

4. Implementation of BPM & BPA

The complexity of implementation is another important difference. The adoption of BPM is a huge effort. You’re likely going to readjust your corporate ideology for yourself and your team.

BPA has a much easier configuration. It often comes as a software/application/device that you only need to customize to suit your needs.

5. Importance of Technology

BPM is not confined to technology. Technology is also just one element of many. It also focuses on the methodology, procedure, and ideology of the company.

BPA, on the other hand, a software-based solution, is highly dependent on technology. This transforms the manual tasks into automated tasks.

6. Impact of BPM & BPA

The impact that BPM & BPA practices can have on each situation is often unique. At the surface level, BPA can appear to have less effect because it is less complex. Still, that’s not always the case. It’s possible to massively improve the outcome by automating a basic operation.

At the same time, it is not easy to get hold for businesses to completely change their way of doing business through business process management.

Can BPM & BPA work together..?

To get the best benefit out of them, they need to be incorporated together. Most businesses view BPA tools as a simple solution that can quickly resolve all obstructions without any extra work. However, that may not always be the case.

On the other hand, simply adding business process management (BPM) to your organization without any technical approaches is also short-sighted. Because this approach focuses on optimization, there is no reason to neglect automation tools.

By integrating both BPM and BPA into the workflow of the organization, you can expect to get the best results. Automation of time-consuming and labor-intensive work allows working people to concentrate on developing other business operations. At the same time, learning how to take advantage of the time gained by automation is just as crucial. The implementation of some sort of BPM and BPA in combination should be a priority for each organization.

Conclusion

BPM and BPA when implemented together effectively can drive your organization to an extraordinary level of efficiency, deliver the best for your employees and customers, and accelerate time to business outcomes.

Quixy is rated high performer for both BPM and BPA categories in G2. Signup for our free trial to test how Quixy’s BPM and BPA platform can help transform efficiency for your organization.