Business process automation

{{Short description|Automation of business processes}} {{redirect|Process automation|industrial process automation systems|Process automation system}} {{Multiple issues| {{refimprove|date=October 2018}} {{tone|date=October 2018}} }} '''Business process automation''' ('''BPA'''), also known as '''business automation''', refers to the technology-enabled automation of business processes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Business Process Automation (bpa)|url=https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/bpa-business-process-automation|website=Gartner|language=en|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref>

==Development approaches== There are three main approaches to developing BPA:<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Menezes |first1=Thiago Medeiros de |last2=Salgado |first2=Ana Carolina |date=2024 |title=Using Logs to Reduce the Impact of Process Variability and Dependence on Practitioners in Requirements Engineering for Traditional Business Process Automation Software |journal=IEEE Access |volume=12 |pages=192874–192893 |doi=10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3514801 |bibcode=2024IEEEA..12s2874M | doi-access=free |issn=2169-3536}}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}</ref> # traditional business process automation involves developing BPA software in a programming language for integrating relevant applications in the digital ecosystem to execute a given process; # robotic process automation uses software robots (also called agents, bots, or workers) to emulate human-computer interaction for executing a combination of processes, activities, transactions, and tasks in one or more unrelated software systems; # hyperautomation (also called intelligent automation (IA), intelligent process automation (IPA), integrated automation platform (IAP), and cognitive automation (CA) combines business process automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) to discover, validate, and execute organizational processes automatically with no or minimal human intervention.

==Deployment== BPA toolsets vary in capability. With the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), organizations are implementing AI-driven technologies that can process natural language, interpret unstructured datasets, and interact with users. These systems are designed to adapt to new types of problems with reduced reliance on human intervention.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van der Aalst |first=Wil M.P. |date=February 2022 |title=Artificial Intelligence in Business Process Management |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3514245 |journal=Communications of the ACM |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=76–84 |doi=10.1145/3514245 |via=ACM Digital Library}}</ref>

==Business process management implementation== A business process management system differs from BPA. However, it is possible to implement automation based on a BPM implementation. The methods to achieve this vary, from writing custom application code to using specialist BPA tools.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van der Aalst |first=Wil M.P. |date=2022 |title=Artificial Intelligence in Business Process Management |url= |journal=Communications of the ACM |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=76–84 |doi=}}</ref>

==Robotic process automation== {{Main|Robotic process automation}} Robotic process automation (RPA) involves the deployment of attended or unattended software agents in an organization's environment. These software agents, or robots, are programmed to perform predefined structured and repetitive sets of business tasks or processes. Robotic process automation is designed to streamline workflows by delegating repetitive tasks to software agents, allowing human workers to focus on more complex and strategic activities.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ivančić |first=Lucija |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-29374-1 |title=Robotic Process Automation: Systematic Literature Review |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |date=2019 |volume=11701 |publisher=Springer |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-29374-1 |isbn=978-3-030-29373-4 }}</ref>

BPA providers typically focus on different industry sectors, but the underlying approach is generally similar in that they aim to provide the shortest route to automation by interacting with the user interface rather than modifying the application code or database behind it.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Low-code platforms help with project backlogs and software development training|url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/low-code-platforms-help-with-project-backlogs-and-software-development-training/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-13|website=TechRepublic|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505070659/https://www.techrepublic.com/article/low-code-platforms-help-with-project-backlogs-and-software-development-training/ |archive-date=2020-05-05 }}</ref>

==Use of artificial intelligence== Artificial intelligence software robots are used to handle unstructured data sets (like images, texts, audios) and are often deployed after implementing robotic process automation. They can, for instance, generate an automatic transcript from a video. The combination of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) enables autonomy for robots, along with the capability to perform cognitive tasks.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van der Aalst |first=Wil M.P. |date=February 2022 |title=Artificial Intelligence in Business Process Management |journal=Communications of the ACM |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=76–84 }}</ref> At this stage, robots can learn and improve processes by analyzing and adapting them.<ref>{{cite web|title=Intelligent Process Automation: The 4 Levels of AI-Enablement|url=https://www.cognilytica.com/2018/02/15/intelligent-process-automation-4-levels-ai-enablement/|website=Cognilytica|date=15 February 2018|language=en|access-date=2020-07-08}}</ref>

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Category:Business terms Category:Business process management Category:Automation Category:Artificial intelligence Category:Cybernetics