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Though related, business process automation is not business process management, which is designed to coordinate workflow among IT systems and humans. Nor is business process automation the same as SOA, which, in essence, is a new framework for application development. (By the way, though SOA is a useful framework for BPM, which is why we include the SOA section in this magazine, they are not the same either). Business process automation attempts to eliminate the manual data input and scripting often required to move data among different applications as a process is completed. BPA can help take humans, and their associated errors and delays, out of the processing equation, enabling the appropriate information to move through the processing line unassisted. In one form, BPA is called straight-through processing, which is a nice description, I think.

BPA Benefits
Business process automation is directed towards two of the most time-consuming elements of application management: maintenance and change management. In a recent study of Oracle Applications Users, conducted by Unisphere Research, respondents indicated that out of the five phases of the application lifecycle (design, development, testing/QA, implementation and maintenance), maintenance was by far the most time consuming. Moreover, change management was the single most time-consuming task in application management.

BPA methodologies and solutions reduce the need for manual data input and customized scripting. As a result, applications are more easily maintained and change is more easily managed. In fact, 51 percent of the respondents indicated that the use of BPA technology helped them reduce their maintenance costs. Simplified maintenance and reduced maintenance costs were the chief reasons companies adopted BPA.

But BPA delivers other benefits as well. In the survey, 38 percent of the respondents said that BPA helps hem manage increasing systems complexity. Another 34 percent said that BPM reduces human error. And, 26 percent said that BPA helps enforce defined processes. Interestingly, the use of BPA solutions is well-established within the Oracle Applications community, but less so with other enterprise applications. Seventy two percent of the respondents indicated that they used BPA with at least some of their Oracle applications. However, only 34 percent of the respondents reported that they use BPA with some of their non-Oracle applications.

Substantial Impact
The use of business process automation solutions has had a significant impact across the enterprise. In the survey, around 20 percent of all application developers thought that BPA solutions had a significant impact, while about 50 percent felt BPA had somewhat of an impact. Likewise, among operations managers and administrators, about 25 percent felt that BPA had a significant impact, and about 50 percent felt it had somewhat of an impact. And, among application end users, around a quarter felt that it had significant impact, and slightly less than half reported that BPA had somewhat of an impact.

Although BPA is not BPM or SOA, it clearly lives in the same IT neighborhood. BPA can be initially implemented for specific applications, but its use can grow. As enterprises gain experience, they will realize greater benefits.

Elliot King, Ph.D., is editor-in-chief of BPM Strategies and chair of the Department of Communication at Loyola College in Maryland.

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