Business Process Automation (BPA) is the use of technology to automate complex business processes in order to replace manual effort such as repeatable, day-to-day tasks. It accelerates the workflow process by routing information to the corresponding person through user-defined rules and actions. BPA minimizes costs, increases efficiency, streamlines processes, and reduces errors. It is not to be confused with business process management, which oversees the different processes that an organization uses to strengthen, grow, and optimize its business strategy—a much larger discipline.
BPA can use four types of automation:
BPA can be used to incorporate file transfers into larger workflows, automate database interaction processes and spreadsheet data manipulation without writing code, automatically process information from an email inbox, and unite all business integrations.
In order to automate the processes, connectors are needed to connect systems or solutions using a data exchange layer to transfer information. The data exchange layer needs to be optimized, which can be done through a process-driven messaging service, allowing for the ability to build processes by mapping the end-to-end process workflow.