5 Best Process Automation Software: Ultimate Guide

The automation software market is expected to reach nearly $600 billion in 2023, which is up from $481.6 billion in 2020. The growth of the process automation software market isn’t surprising given the advantages that it provides to businesses of all kinds.

We’re going to share the best process automation software and review business process automation tools that can save you time.

Coming Up

1. What is Business Process Automation?

2. What is Robotic Process Automation Software?

3. What is Business Process Automation vs Robotic Process Automation?

4. What Does Business Process Automation Software Do?

5. What are the Benefits of Business Process Automation Software?

6. How to Determine if you Need Business Process Automation?

7. How to Implement Process Automation?

8. What are the Best Process Automation Software Tools?

9. Closing Thoughts

What is Business Process Automation?

Business process automation (BPA) are computer programs that remove the need for tedious and repetitive labour manually. They streamline organisational processes by boosting productivity, reducing expenses, and preventing key person dependencies.

Depending on the software you choose, it can be out-of-the-box and ready to use or require coding. The most user-friendly software solutions provide a library of pre-formatted functions to design workflows and processes without having to code.

What is Robotic Process Automation Software?

Robotic process automation (RPA) software is a type of business process automation that leverages bots to automate repetitive tasks. Through the use of software scripts that mimic human interaction with the application’s user interface, robotic process automation software expedites processes and increases their accuracy.

RPA can be programmed into a software script or record a human conducting the task to then execute it thereafter without human interaction.

What is Business Process Automation vs Robotic Process Automation?

While business process automation and robotic process automation surely do overlap in their functions and purpose, they have nuanced differences that are worth mentioning.

The easiest way to differentiate the two software types is through the categories of integration, workflows, and pricing.

When it comes to integration, business process automation software is meant to support faster and more informed decision-making by managing end-to-end processes. On the other hand, RPA replaces the need for humans to conduct time-consuming, tedious, and repetitive daily tasks.

BPA requires a more complicated workflow with the need to integrate diversified systems. RPA is more directly implemented for simple tasks that replace manual labour.

Lastly, BPA pricing tends to be charged on an annual basis and is likely to be more expensive with more users. RPA pricing is typically subscription-based and less costly than BPA.

What Does Business Process Automation Software Do?

Process automation software can be used to make multiple types of processes more efficient. For example, businesses can use process automation software for:

1. Approval Processes

In many instances, approval processes have to go through multiple people. WIthout automation, you’d have to make sure that each manager receives the approval request and reviews it before any deadlines.

Paper trails and emails can get lost, so automation processes notify and alert the user and can help keep an approval process moving along.

2. Onboarding Processes

Onboarding is a time-consuming and structured process. With process automation tools, you can set it up by defining predictable steps and automating the repetitive aspects.

3. Accounts Payable

Rather than having to cross-check invoices and ensure the amounts are right before issuing payments one-by-one, process automation software can streamline the accounts payable functions by connecting accounts.

Business process automation software like SolveXia can be used for automating reporting and analytics, process improvement, data preparation, revenue management, account reconciliation, rebates and more.

What are the Benefits of Business Process Automation Software?

As soon as you start automating your business processes, you’ll become aware of the plenty of benefits that come along with doing so.

To give you insight into what you can expect, check out these advantages:

1. Saves Time and Money

Inefficient business processes are costly to employees, stakeholders, and customers alike. By removing the need for manual and repetitive tasks, businesses save time and boost their team’s productivity.

Through error reduction, money can also be saved and cost reductions can be made to eliminate waste within processes.

2. Increases Visibility

With many moving parts in business processes, stakeholders and managers have a lot to keep their eyes on. This is especially chaotic when teams are working remotely and across geographic locations.

With BPA software, managers and leaders can monitor processes and keep track of key performance indicators (KPIs) as they are in progress with real time dashboards .

3. Adds Internal Control

To remain compliant and adhere to regulations, business processes have to be overseen and organised. Process automation software helps businesses to enforce company policies and keep logs of activity for audit trails, if need be.

4. Enhances Workflows

With many stakeholders and employees working within a business (or even a small number of people), workflows can become messy. Since different people are responsible for different tasks, it’s best to make processes clear and standardised. BPA software outlines different steps within a process and ensures that each individual is held accountable for their responsibilities.

How to Determine if you Need Business Process Automation?

Any business that wishes to improve their performance, reduce errors, and simplify workflows should implement business process automation. If you’re wondering if you’re ready to do so or if the ROI would be justified, ask yourself the following questions.

If the answer is “yes” to any or all of these questions, then your business is undoubtedly ripe and ready for business process automation software.

• Do you spend too much time in meetings?
• Does your team have to manually execute an array of processes that become time-consuming?
• Are there key person dependencies that delay your workflows?
• Is there room to improve employee performance?
• Are document review and approval processes slowing down your business’ functioning?
• Is your team fed up with manual and repetitive tasks?
• Do you miss important deadlines because data is all over the place?
• Would you like to make informed and data-driven decisions for your business?

How to Implement Process Automation?

Depending on your business, the steps to implement process automation for the first time can vary slightly. For the most part, however, the steps will look like this:

1. Identify Automation-Ready Tasks

Start by reviewing your business processes to identify which tasks are worthwhile to automate.

The tasks that tend to be most fit for automation are those that are:

• Repetitive in nature (i.e. month-end close processes)
• Time sensitive
• Rely on multiple people
• Require audit trails and compliance logs
• Are rule-based and standardised
• Impact other processes and workflows directly

2. Outline Business Goals

The only way to gauge whether or not your new automation software is reaping the benefits you desire is to set goals from the get go. By deciding where you want your organisation to be, you’ll be able to track what needs to be done to reach said goals.

3. Research and Choose Tools Wisely

It’s safe to say that one of the most important steps in the automation implementation process is choosing the right tool. The ideal process automation software will be easy-to-use for every user, scalable, quick to deploy, and able to integrate with existing software.

4. Focus on Change Management

Chances are high that the people within your organisation may be fearful about adopting new technology or concerned that RPA or BPA will replace their roles.

It’s crucial to get everyone’s buy-in and follow change management protocols to ensure your employees are on the same page and inviting change (rather than worried about it).

5. Track and Monitor

Once you deploy process automation software, the job isn’t over. Be sure to monitor key performance indicators and gauge how the new system is benefitting the business overall. If refinement is needed, don’t be afraid to revisit or make adjustments to your processes.

What are the Best Process Automation Software Tools?

With the long list of benefits that process automation software brings to the table, let’s get into the best business process automation tools.

1. SolveXia

SolveXia is a low-code automation platform that drives operational excellence through process automation.

SolveXia streamlines processes by removing the need for manual and menial tasks by connecting, combining, and transforming data. Through these connections, SolveXia provides advanced analytics for deep business insights to make informed decisions at any point in time.

SolveXia can be used for regulatory reporting, revenue management, rebate management, expense analytics, reconciliation, and so much more. Schedule a demo to learn more!

2. UiPath

UiPath is a robotic process automation software made to automate continuous and repetitive tasks. For example, UiPath can be deployed to handle: process mining, task mining, communications mining,and idea capture and management.

3. Automation Anywhere

Automation Anywhere is software that helps to maximise your team’s productivity by automating multiple processes in its cloud-native platform.

You can use Automation Anywhere to analyse and optimise processes, perform document automation to transform documents into insights, and build UI-based tasks automations in its RPA workspace.

4. Blue Prism

Blue Prism (and SS&C) is an intelligent automation platform that provides automation capabilities for logistics management, order processing management, communications mining, employee onboarding, finance automation, and human resources functions.

5. Appian

Appian is a low-code platform to automate enterprise-wide workflows through intelligent document processing, robotic process automation, and business rules using artificial intelligence.

Closing Thoughts

Process automation software helps businesses across industries perform with utmost efficiency. With advanced technology and artificial intelligence, process automation saves time, reduces errors, and supports a more satisfied workforce and customer base.

Say goodbye to having to handle manual and repetitive tasks by allowing process automation tools to handle the heavy lifting so you can focus on value add and strategic responsibilities.