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How to choose between BPM and RPA

By Marilyn de Villiers
Johannesburg, 15 Mar 2018

Business Process Management (BPM) is so last century. Any organisation that is hoping to get aboard the digital transformation train would be far better off to dump BPM in favour of Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Right?

Not so fast.

According to Virender Jeet, senior vice president, Technology, at US-based Newgen Software Inc, one technology is not necessarily better or more appropriate than the other.

He maintains that because both technologies have been hailed as crucial to process-related solutions and therefore as essential to an organisation's digital transformation process, it can be extremely difficult for organisations to decide which is the most appropriate for their needs.

He points out that BPM has been around for decades and the value it can deliver to businesses has been well-established.

"BPM is not a specific piece of software but an approach to streamlining business processes in a way that ensures maximum efficiency. BPM platforms allow teams to create process automation workflows which can integrate with multiple and diversified systems, which can in turn exchange information and handle scenarios encompassing automation of certain human tasks," he explains.

RPA, on the other hand, is a more recent development, with its roots firmly grounded in BPM or BPA. However it approaches processes in a way that is closer to a human's approach; it is also faster to implement; and - because it is completely code-free and platform-agnostic - it can be used in combination with almost any software.

Jeet believes that when both technologies are used in collaboration, they can be extremely powerful. However, this is not always necessary or practical. Choosing which one to use can therefore be difficult, but should always be linked back to the organisational requirements of the business.

"When the goal is to automate major and repetitive human activities, then RPA is without a doubt the better choice. Alternately, if automation process flows to be implemented are complex, involve streamlining of multiple systems and platforms, BPM would be the go-to platform," he says.

"Similarly, when it comes to handling high-frequency processes, RPA often wins the bet. However, if the concern is such that a surface-level fix would do no good, and the whole process needs to be transformed, then it is BPM to the rescue."

Newgen's senior manager in Solution Consulting for the APAC market, Swaminathan Ganesan agrees, but warns that while RPA can provide a solution to a business's automation needs, it should never be implemented without consideration of the following factors:

* Why RPA - First establish clarity on why you want to implement RPA. Identify specific objectives and right use-cases.
* Streamline and fix overall processes - RPA is not built for fixing broken processes and silos within an organisation. The process has to be well-defined, structured and matured if RPA is to be effective.
* Track what's happening in the system - Identify right processes that have to be automated and do not lose sight of specifics.
* Measure and simulate - The solution must be able to measure the overall cycle time, throughput and task level attributes and how they impact the business performance.
* Know about exception handling - You need to support RPA with a process level exception handling mechanism - probably using a BPM tool - that can seamlessly define a fallback option in the form of human intervention or through rules management.

"RPA is a tool in the mix and not an end in itself. Without an effective BPM platform, an RPA implementation may not deliver on its full potential," Ganesan concludes.

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