#79 Process Orchestration End-to-End Process Automation and why you should care about it

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Process and Automation Podcast with the Automation Guys. As always, I'm here with Arno, and as you know, we are very passionate about all things process and automation, and that's why we talk about process orchestration today. So especially an interesting topic when it comes to sort of end-to-end process automation. And yeah, so that's a new— not really new term, but comes up more and more alongside the business process management and workflow, comes up business process orchestration. So hence we are doing this. And today, yeah, we want to cover a couple of essential points in regards to that business process orchestration topic. All right, so as you know, processes are pretty much the foundation of every organization. And yeah, so they basically lay the groundwork for how your business operates in every area of the business, customer service to financial operations. Really everything what we do is is a process. So if you have ever tried to map out or document the business process, you probably found out it's not really that straightforward to get it done. So we talked as well in other episodes about process mining, so that might help to document your processes. So yeah, Processes are really not that static, so very often processes are a bit more fluid. So, and then the steps in your process can vary quite a lot depending on the type of work someone is doing. So the information passing through the different departments in different systems Yeah, that can all be quite different. So this is why we also look at the topic of process orchestration. But I think we should dive a little bit deeper into that term to start with.

Yeah, thanks, Sascha. And yeah, the big question here is what is business process orchestration or process orchestration? And there's a lot of definitions out there, but In general speak, it's a management approach that helps you to connect your workflows, process technology, and also people in end-to-end automated processes. So at its core, I guess you could look at process automation's meaning, and, you know, it can tell you things like it's, you know, it It automates your process and it monitors your workflow, and it does this to ensure all parts of your process runs very smoothly. So to know where and when to apply process automation, you need to be able to see the entire workflow from, from end to end, really. And that's why modern process automation platforms, you know, are the preferred tool out there, you know, for this specific job. You know, they give you things like the ability to map your processes, build workflow, integrate your business data with your automations, you know, measure and monitor workflow performance and process performance, and also identify I guess, the areas that, that you need improvement on. So for example, insurance organization might use process orchestration to manage the underwriting process. And as we know, you know, underwriting relies on a wide array of data, technology, and also, you know, members of the team that works together. So, you know, from receiving an inquiry, assigning it to underwriter and assessing the risk to delivering a quote back to the potential client, you know, this could be a really complicated process. So business process orchestration can really help manage and connect the underwriting process from end to end. And a strong process orchestration will give you really a 360-degree view of the, in this instance, your quote management workflow and a faster overall quoting process while also eliminating things like manual data entry, you know, by using tools like robotic process automation or RPA, intelligent document processing, and technologies like artificial intelligence. So there's really 4 steps to successful process orchestration and automation. And, you know, as we mentioned earlier, automation is an important part of the process orchestration. But in order for it to be effective, it has to be applied at the right time in the right place and, you know, using the right technology tools and to reach your orchestration goals, you'll also need a complete view of your as-is processes and a way to monitor them over time. You know, so you have to set yourself up here for success by really following 4 key steps to successful process orchestration. And I'll kind of just start quickly with the first one, and you can comment as well, but This is where we measure our as-is process. So monitoring and fine-tuning, you know, your workflows with automation is only possible when you know, you know, how your actual processes run today. So, you know, if you try to apply improvements or fix a process problem without effectively knowing what the root cause of the issue is, it is really like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and you're going to probably waste a lot of time and resources and get stuck and get frustrated or find out that you've been looking in the wrong, you know, place, you know, entirely in the wrong area. So, so really to get a clear picture of what's going on in your processes, you know, you have to look at process automation, at your process automation sort of data mining capabilities, because then you could use data from event logs and, you know, process mining can actually accurately display in a visual representation, you know, what your process is and what it does. You know, and lots of process mining tools can also conduct what's called automated root cause analysis, and this will help you to identify bottlenecks and process inefficiencies. And critically, it also provides suggestions, you know, why these problems are occurring. So to make sure that your processes keep running smoothly, you know, process monitoring or process mining has got monitoring capabilities, you know, that helps you to measure dips in performance over time, you know, using dashboards and effectively key performance indicators or KPIs. So again, it's very important. I think one of the steps here for, you know, to sort of realize the successful process orchestration is to understand your as-is processes.

Yeah, it is really useful to look into that process mining tools area instead of trying to figure out— sure, you can figure out yes, this process manually initially, but especially when the organization is more complex and a bit larger. Arno, you mentioned insurance companies, they are typically very large. I think without a process mining tool, it will very, very hard and these tools are easy to set up and the results are, yeah, I have to say really amazing. So whatever tool you pick from the market, it is the right thing to go, I have to say. Yeah, so the next point which is also very important is data in your organization. Of course, nowadays the whole companies are running on data effectively or rely on data really everywhere, but that data is very often scattered across different departments and systems, legacy systems, modern systems. So, and slowing down the workflows. And without that data connected, accessible, and of course secure, you won't be able to successfully orchestrate your, the business process or have a proper end-to-end process. Of course, a very very important thing is to get things organized as well. So without data in the right structure, it will be really, really hard. So there's lots of other technology which comes into the mix here, classification of data and all that stuff. So AI will be your friend here when it comes to data a lot. So nowadays companies are trying to implement something what is called a data fabric. And maybe very briefly on what that means is a data fabric unifies the data from all the different systems in your organisation without the complex coding or sort of the maintenance. So we talk about low-code and no-code a lot here, so you could think of that as well. That's a thing, a mechanism, an approach you implement to bring all the data together and make it accessible. And that's a key thing to provide that 360-degree view Arno mentioned earlier. So with that data and the right structure, you can obviously do the next really good things. And that brings me to the next step, using the right tools for the job, really. And we talked about briefly about RPA, AI, workflow tools, and different tools. So all this combined, we will classify when we start using it properly, hyperautomation, and using the combination of those tools to really optimize our complex business processes. Yeah, so hyperautomation is sort of the next thing every organization is really looking at to get the most out of automation. And Yeah, just a one-off automation solution will generally not do you good. So we mentioned there is maybe RPA, there is intelligent document processing. So yeah, only when we look at the end-to-end combination of all these tools will get the right results. And yeah, so that's why instead of buying lots of different things, it is recommended to maybe look at the whole platform so that we can provide all these things in one. So makes it much easier. But of course you can combine it with different technologies, but in one platform. If you follow something like the low-code and no-code approach, you will appreciate if everything is easy accessible in one platform without all the trouble getting everything connected. And yeah, so automation and especially AI create that really strong partnership between the machines, people, and help your teams to cut down on repetitive manual work. Yeah, so and provide that customer service companies are looking for and provide that hassle-free service. So combining all these technologies together will bring those results. Yeah, if you might ask what vendors to look out for, so we also do a couple of episodes a year on the different analyst reviews. So we look at the Forrester reports or we look at the Gartner reports and then talk about the different results. It could be just on RPA systems, workflow systems, hyperautomation systems. Listen back to our episodes on those topics as well. So yeah, that's all from me. Arno, do you like to jump on the next, yeah, final point.

So the final one is really, I think this brings everything together, and it's connect your people with your processes and also your systems. So, you know, as we know, process efficiency, you know, has a lot of monetary value, you know, for a business. But you shouldn't lose sight of the biggest driver for process automation, and that's, that's really creating better experiences for all of your users. And, you know, many processes, including collaboration between employees, partners, and customers, can really benefit from this. You know, it's important to keep these stakeholders integrated in your internal workflows rather than treating them as an afterthought. And, you know, automation platforms can help, you know, connect these people and the processes that's inside your business and, you know, in the underlying systems to create that total experience that, you know, that really create a sort of a better environment for everybody to do their work. I think considerations would be to look at the role of tools like web portals, for example, self-serving web portals that allows external users to securely submit and access information without requiring a login. Think about easy-to-use internal sites to enable workers to quickly log in, access information, to help them do their work. You could look at mobile apps to allow your employees to work effectively from anywhere, and, you know, their processes can be streamed to them, you know, in the field and on the go. So, you know, the possibilities for this sort of total experience are virtually endless. And, you know, the best automation platforms not only support these solutions, but offer them together in a single, well-connected platform. So again, this sort of just brings in the people or the human element into the equation. And, you know, the ultimate goal here is to allow people to work better. And, you know, the benefits there are clear. If people are happier, you'll have higher retention of staff, but obviously it will also drive your costs down and your profitability will go up. So, so in the whole, you know, a very important factor to consider, you know, when, when you look at how to bring process orchestration and automation into your business.

Thank you. Yeah. So these, these 4 steps, if you really embrace them, or these essential points we just covered, yeah, you will really, really benefit a lot. So just thinking about the competitive edge you might gain from getting your processes really right end to end. So of course that will help you to streamline, yeah, of course streamline your processes, but really drive that sustainable and really important growth for your business. So yeah, embracing those essentials will really help you to gain that competitive edge in today's very dynamic landscape we are in. And yeah, so if you like to learn more about this, as I mentioned earlier, listen back to a couple of our episodes, especially Arno mentioned the insurance use cases. Earlier, so we have a whole episode on what insurances can do and specifically our processes are really, really good to look at. So yeah, and then of course talking about RPA specifically, AI, and to do all that stuff in low-code. Yeah, so that's what we do. Plenty of episodes available. And if you like to get your hands on sort of more more material or do you really like to experiment with some of the technologies we talked about, head over to theautomationguys.net. There you can join our community and really get started without going through sort of difficult setups yourself. So yeah, we look forward to seeing you there and Of course, we will be back with more episodes. And until then, let's automate it. Unfortunately, that's it again with this episode of the Process and Automation Podcast. If you like this episode, please give us a 5-star rating and don't forget to subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss any upcoming episode. We hope you will tune in next time. And until then, let's automate it.