BPA vs Manual Workflows: What Does the Future Hold? 

The key to staying on top as a business offering the best services begins with optimising processes for productivity and scalability. Particularly, growing businesses need to focus more on streamlining operations and cost reduction while enhancing productivity. Most manual business processes are slow, inefficient and error-prone, acting as a deterrent to growth. Enter workflow automation software, which helps automate repetitive tasks, reduce human errors, and improve productivity. But what about the costs incurred for automation? Let us answer these questions in this blog- BPA vs manual workflows.  

Understanding the Impact of Cost in Manual Workflows:  

Manual processes have functioned as the backbone of businesses and were effective in the past. Setting up manual workflows typically requires human effort to complete tasks such as data entry, order processing, report generation, and customer care. While they demand little or no software investment initially, these tasks come with hidden costs such as:  

• Labour costs increase with more people on a job. 

• Costs due to data entry errors that lead to rework, customer dissatisfaction, or compliance issues. 

• Indirect costs due to time delays, as even routine tasks take longer, slowing down decision-making and response times. 

• Costs for training employees and managing their work. 

• Costs of scalability as the business grows, which means more hands are required. 

Let us remember that with manual workflows, it is not possible to track project status in real-time and performance metrics. This hampers informed decision-making, leading to lower productivity and profitability. 

What Is Business Process Automation? 

BPA refers to the use of technology to execute recurring tasks or processes in a business where manual effort can be replaced. Business process automation uses software and tools to automatically collect, process, and analyse data without human intervention. 

Here’s what automated data pipelines can do: 

• Automatically collect data from multiple sources. 

• Clean and standardise data without manual entries. 

• Transform data into usable formats for analytics. 

• Generate reports and visualisations periodically. 

It can be applied to workflows like: 

• Customer onboarding 

• Email marketing efforts 

• Inventory updates 

• Report generation 

• Employee leave and payroll management 

• Invoicing and billing processes. 

Business Process Automation uses tools such as CRM systems, AI chatbots, RPA (Robotic Process Automation), workflow tools like Zapier, and customised software solutions. Do note that Business Process Automation (BPA) is wider than RPA as it automates whole business processes from start to finish. Business Process Automation rethinks how regular work can be translated into smooth workflows and aligns operations with business goals. 

Why is Business Process Automation Popular?  

Advancements in Technology:  

Automation tools are intuitive, intelligent, adaptable, and user-friendly, enabling better results, increased efficiency, and higher ROI. Today, automation platforms and service providers are now accessible to businesses of all kinds and sizes. 

Competition: 

Innovative businesses hold the largest share of the market; to stay ahead and advance, automation is key. It reduces costs in the long run and also helps improve user and customer satisfaction.  

Rising Labour Costs:  

Labour costs, especially the skilled ones, continue to rise, making it increasingly expensive to maintain a large workforce. Automation provides a way to reduce labour costs and provides businesses with strategies to streamline their operations without sacrificing quality. 

Remote Work and Global Resources: 

A hybrid workforce and global teams are the norm for most growing businesses. Automation helps improve communication and collaboration, making processes more streamlined and increasing accountability. Workflow automation tools are bridging the gap by offering a centralised platform to access, update, and share information. They also enable stakeholders to monitor performance and track task progress for effective remote team management. 

Increasing Demand for Personalisation: 

Personalised experiences for customers have taken over. Meeting customer expectations requires agility, efficiency, and automation, which enables businesses to tailor their services to individual customer needs. This helps businesses improve client satisfaction and retention with reduced churn rates. 

Data Security and Compliance Regulations: 

Data privacy regulations like GDPR are more stringent, and businesses are expected to comply. Collaborative workflow automation tools provide secure and auditable processes to handle sensitive data, thereby reducing the risk of potential penalties. 

The Role of AI in Business Process Automation:  

Business process automation using AI helps businesses embed intelligent workflows that evolve to become more efficient and provide personalised outcomes. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in automation is a disruptive technology that enables systems to utilise advanced tools, such as machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and predictive analytics, to automate rule-based workflows. AI-driven systems analyse data, learns from experiences and adapt to ever-changing business functions. It introduces:

• Real-time data analysis: It can handle large data sets and uncover actionable insights. eg:AI in supply chain management can predict delays if schedules change dynamically. 

• Machine learning-powered AI helps the automation system to learn from historical data. Furthermore, the system assesses the accuracy and efficiency of the identified patterns without requiring any manual reprogramming. 

• AI analyses trends, considers options and makes autonomous decisions. An AI-enabled HR system can screen resumes, pull out top candidates and schedule their interviews on its own. 

Manual Workflows Vs Business Process Automation

Accelerate Business Process Automation with Kloudify : 

AI has revolutionised the face of business process automation (BPA) across various industries, including healthcare, education, and hospitality management. It actively helps businesses do more with less by not just automating repetitive tasks, improving the customer experience through intelligent workflows, but also understanding what works at scale. Technologies like ML, NLP, and hyper-automation have long since removed manual workflows from the day-to-day functioning of businesses. The combination of AI and process automation enhances the ability to make data-driven business decisions, while also preserving the human touch for customers. 

Whether you’re just beginning to automate your processes or are ready to leverage AI capabilities, some service providers can help you improve efficiency, cut costs, and create better outcomes. Kloudify has deep expertise in Microsoft-certified automation solutions, tailored strategies, and an end-to-end support model. Kloudify can clearly assess your existing operations, identify manual bottlenecks, and implement automation solutions (using Power Automate, RPA, Power Apps, etc.). Ready to take this conversation further? Speak to us.