|
|
|
Business
Process
Automation |
|
We at Scientech can develop
custom automation application to
suit your business’s specific
needs. Each business is unique,
so we work closely with our
clients to determine their
requirements, produce the
desired solution, and refine it
until it is just right. We can
automat your business as
under.. |
 Extension of existing IT
systems |
|
As most IT systems are
inherently automation
engines in themselves, a
valid option is to extend
their functionality to
enable the desired
automation, creating
customised linkages between
the disparate application
systems where needed. This
approach means that the
automation can be tailored
specifically to the exact
environment of the
organisation, on the
down-side it can be
time-consuming to find the
necessary skills either
internally or in the
marketplace. |
|
Purchase of a specialist BPA
tool |
|
Specialist companies are now
bringing toolsets to market
which are purpose-built for
the function of BPA. These
companies tend to focus on
different industry sectors
but their underlying
approach tends to be similar
in that they will attempt to
provide the shortest route
to automation by exploiting
the user interface layer
rather than going deeply
into the application code or
databases sitting behind
them. They also simplify
their own interface to the
extent that these tools can
be used directly by
non-technically qualified
staff. The main advantage of
these toolsets is therefore
their speed of deployment,
the drawback is that it
brings yet another IT
supplier to the organisation. |
|
Middleware solution |
|
‘Middleware’ is a generic IT
term which describes
infrastructural solutions
for tying disparate
application systems
together. It can provide a
method of automating the
replication and
synchronisation of separate
databases and so provide a
robust solution which will
be invisible to end users.
Its main drawback is that it
is a highly technical
approach and therefore
dependent upon specialist
skills, both for the initial
implementation and to effect
changes later. |
|
Business Process Automation
(BPA) vs Business Process
Management (BPM) |
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
known as BPM. Given the
similarity in terminology it
is not surprising that 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 summarise the
views of each camp:
The BPM camp asserts 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.
The BPA camp state 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 that 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.
There is no consensus
amongst which view will
prevail, however it can be
seen that both perspectives
are at least complementary
to some extent. Process
improvement methodologies
such as Lean manufacturing
and Six Sigma appear to
align well with the 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. |
|
The role of service-oriented
architecture (SOA) with
respect to BPA |
|
Although not widely
available today,
service-oriented
architectures are an
umbrella term for a move in
IT systems towards providing
greater access and exchange
of functionality between
systems. The idea is that
both previous and future IT
systems will be
re-engineered to provide
standard interfaces, thus
allowing themselves to be
linked more easily and
flexibly. SOA could thus be
viewed as an enabler of
automation between disparate
systems, although that is by
no means the only driver
behind SOA. However as these
standard interfaces can only
be delivered relatively
slowly, it will be some time
before SOA can be viewed as
an immediate option for
delivery of process
automation. |
