Are you digitizing or are you being digitized?

DEFINITION OF THE TERM:

trial: real, repetitive activity

Process description/model: written description of a process

Workflow: software-technical (partial) automation of a business process

No-Code Digitalization — The Democratization of Digitalization

In most companies, process owners and management system experts share responsibility for improving processes. In order to clarify responsibilities, information flows, etc. especially at organizational interfaces, Process descriptions or process models created. On the basis of these, improvements can be discussed, communicated and compliance audited in a targeted manner. In order to avoid queries and thus withdrawals in processes, the completeness of information at process interfaces is of particular importance. At this point, (office) forms are often used, which are filled out and sent by e-mail to all relevant addressees. At a certain point, however, this form of organizational optimization of processes leads to No significant improvement more.

There is often great potential in the (partial) automation of processes through the use of suitable process support software, such as an inventory management system, a CRM system or other workflow software. However, specialist departments are generally unable to program or adapt the appropriate systems, so This step usually requires IT experts are. In the end, specialist departments therefore have two options. Either to rely on on-board tools such as Excel and e-mail with limited effectiveness or to work with the IT department with long waiting times, additional costs and communication difficulties.

The current trend of No-code digitization simplifies the digitization task in such a way that the department itself is empowered Digitalize processes independently and thus allow it to run using software. Without having to understand or even write a single line of source code, an IT layman can graphically assemble a module with an integrated workflow using drag and drop thanks to an underlying modular principle. The principle of no-code digitization therefore combines the functionality of professional workflow software with the simplicity of on-board tools. In addition, this combines professional and digitization expertise in the specialist departments, which eliminates communication barriers and resolves the “IT department” digitization bottleneck.

Such modules consist of four components:

• input mask (s) (form)
• Workflow
• Roles and rights
• Overviews and evaluations

The core of the modules is the workflow, which defines what state a process can be in, what possible transitions from one state to another state exist and which actions should be triggered as a result. For example, a vacation application can be “applied for” and “approved.” The transition between these states could be called “release” and, for example, automatically triggers a message to the applicant that the vacation request has been approved.

The input mask is roughly equivalent to a conventional form. The roles and rights define who can see and/or process which request and in which state (or which part of it). The overviews and evaluations provide a good overview of the processes for the various interest groups in the sense of a “Single point of truth” with central data storage and decentralized processing.

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No-code digitization becomes particularly attractive when, initially, modules with integrated Workflows created as well as modified during operation will be able to do so without the existing data sets suffering as a result. If fields on the input mask, the workflow, the rights and roles as well as the overviews can be adjusted at any time, the Model Aachen GmbH of agile no-code digitization. This allows modules to be put into operation quickly and easily and gradually expanded, changed and improved in small steps — just as the organization learns and changes over time.

Process mining — automatic process analysis

An important step in process management is Modelling the as-is process. In the past, there were two basic approaches available for this: on the one hand, the interview, and on the other hand, observation. Both have serious disadvantages.

The interview is less time-consuming, but leads to significant simplification, subjective falsification and a mixing of target and actual process description. Observing a process enables significantly more realistic results and, on the other hand, results in a disproportionate amount of effort. For several years, there has been a third option of Process recording — process mining. In doing so, based on digital tracesthat employees leave behind in IT systems in everyday working life, the Reconstructed real business process in all its variants. Setting up process mining is currently still quite time-consuming and costly, especially for complex processes, but the implementation is automated and objective. Processes that are largely carried out in a single IT system, such as a merchandise management system, are particularly suitable for process mining. At system limits, processes are quickly lost and it is difficult to reconstruct the entire process chain.

In addition to Identification of processes (“discovery”), process mining is also used by Conformity check (“conformance”) and the Analysis and improvement (“enhancement”) of processes. During the compliance check (“conformance”), the actual process is compared with the target process on the basis of data evaluation and deviations are identified automatically. This approach has the potential to revolutionize auditing. During analysis and improvement (“enhancement”), the actual process carried out is assessed with regard to various factors. Typically, this is the distribution of which process variant was carried out how often, how many processes are in which state in process, the processing and waiting times, and the like. This evaluation is often presented graphically in a dashboard and can either be used manually to optimize processes or — and this is a current subject of research — be used automatically to optimize the workflow and thus the process.

The symbiosis of no-code digitization and process mining

Process Mining has produced several rapidly growing providers in recent years. These often focus on the analysis of processes that are carried out in inventory management systems, for example, and require significant preparatory effort until the first customer-specific analysis is carried out. In addition to the high initial costs, there is the challenge that the workflow software is often not “just” adaptable based on the findings of process mining. This means: A complex process analysis is followed by a cost-intensive change to standard software. This process mining approach is primarily worthwhile for processes with high process costs that are carried out very frequently, such as credit application review by a major bank.

The approach of Process mining for no-code digitization TACKLE THE CHALLENGE FROM ANOTHER SIDE. Does process mining produce a cognizance won, this should be achieved with minimal effort due to agile no-code digitization directly from the department to the workflow can be brought in. The adjustment changes user behavior and integrated process mining generates changed process analysis results as a result of the next process runs. First of all, the The effectiveness of a proposed adjustment reviewed become. In addition, the specialist department can react to these results directly with further module and workflow adjustments. This is how can pronounced an ideal operating point for a process can be developed agilely and dynamically — without the identified bottleneck “IT department” having to be involved.

The current limitation of no-code digitization is that the modular system limits the range of functions of NO-code digitized modules. The larger the range of functions of the modular system, the more difficult it is to use by IT laymen. No-code digitization is currently rapidly reaching its limits, especially when it comes to connecting to other systems and the associated interfaces. Ultimately, this means that the modules developed are of manageable complexity compared to inventory management systems, for example.

Nevertheless, there is great potential for process mining for no-code digitization — for example for

• On- and offboarding employees
• Procurement applications/ investment procurements
• Complaints
• IT help desk editing
• and much more

Excursus: PromiDigit research project

The project “Process Mining for No-Code Digitalization Platforms — PromiDigit” (01IS20035), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), started in July 2020 with a duration of 2 years. In addition to Model Aachen GmbH RWTH Aachen, Protection One GmbH and Spedition Berners are members of the research consortium. While this article presents the approach and results that are becoming increasingly marketable, we will address “rule-based recommendations for action” in the next second part. They represent a partially automated form of process optimization based on the process mining principle “enhancement” and are the subject of current research work.

conclusion

Both process mining and the principle of no-code digitization are major trends in the software market. Due to the strong synergy effects, the two approaches are increasingly being used in combination. Clevere process-supporting software This increasingly enables the symbiosis of process mining and agile no-code digitization: Depending on complexity, Specialized departments Modules with the help of a user-friendly Workflow engine Create it yourself in just a few minutes or hours and adjust at any time during operation.

The progress of your process digitization with the resulting efficiency and compliance is no longer limited by your IT department and will be less and less so in the future. Hence the question: Are you digitizing or are you being digitized?

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