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Changing Faces of Business Process Automation: A Real Life Study
by Barry Kemp
I have had a long history in the field of business process modeling and automation. I've been lucky enough to work at establishments that have let me continue to be involved in this area whilst combining this with real benefits for the employer. I did my MSc part-time and luckily for me I was putting my dissertation project to real use by creating one of the first online access systems for debt recovery created in PHP and MySQL.
This early system looked at the fact that debt recovery lends itself nicely to automation due to its nature as a repetitive and structured field up to the point of a case becoming contested. The early systems I produced in conjunction with Steven Bailey had to be built around concerns for security and so the data was copied from a main SQL Server to the MySQL database overnight and the client was always a day behind. Now I design systems that give instant access and users are aware of what is available and that to offer anything less would be commercially inviable.
After leaving other peoples employment I went off to setup my own business in conjunction with a leading debt recovery expert Andrew Charlton. Together we have harnessed our two fields of expertise to produce a business model that not only uses technology to offer additional benefits to the client but acts as a driving force. Henry Ford once said that if you come across a big problem you should break it down into little chunks and solve them one at a time. Never a truer word has been said. Business areas such as debt tend to have clearly defined milestones so that actions and deliverables can be set out to flesh out a case. Once these are designed you have to design an engine to power these actions which has been better researched as workflow.
Creating a workflow engine has been the problem of many a scientist and engineer over the years. Many algorithms have been invented and tested yet still there is no one clear way of doing things. All the different approaches have pros and cons and each business application needs to be approached separately to achieve the best fit. A good workflow engine will be able to set out milestones, link in the tasks to be completed such as creating a note or document, schedule future tasks and much more.
Designing the systems powering BACK inContact took many months not to mention the many years of experience to conjure up the ideas. Working with leading technology expert Tuan Truong we managed to bring together the best in terms of what was needed to fulfill the business needs. Our model relies on as much of the client contact being automated as possible. If a human has to get involved we are already losing money. All our systems are inter-linked but there is always a way of making things better. It is a constant cycle of evaluation and refinement and you often find that what is right for todays market can all change tomorrow.
In terms of technology I tend to favour the more enterprise level .NET applications with stable SQL Server applications at the back end. PHP and MySQL have moved on also and many businesses far larger than ours use this to great effect. Whichever technology is used you have to keep focused on what you are trying to achieve. It is pointless to produce the greatest technical solution of all time if it does not get the job done. A businesses reputation is at stake.
As we move into the phase of maturing our business and its model we look to harnessing the true power of business process automation. This is the cornerstone of what we do and I'd like to spend the next years being at the forefront of this continually evolving area.
To get in touch with BACK Consulting regarding it's business or IT services please contact us. Or if like me you have an interest in this area please feel free to contact me directly here.