CIO’s GUIDE TO

Process

Automation
Answer all your automation
questions, from “What are my best
use cases?” and “What technologies
are available?” to “Does my
enterprise’s approach to automation
need to change?
 CIO’sCIO’s
GUIDEGUIDE
TO PROCESS AUTOMATION
TO PROCESS AUTOMATION

The Automation Conversation

According to a survey of more than 10,000 office workers, the average employee
spends 60 hours per month on tasks that could be automated!

Process automation is as critical as it’s ever been. Regardless of your industry,

process automation has myriad benefits
Greater control over operations
Improved collaboration
Better transparency
Reduced risk leads to better complianc
Improved resource efficiency



On the surface, we can agree that process automation is extremely valuable. But
when digging into the details, the waters quickly become much murkier.

What are my best use cases? How do I get started? What’s the best tool for the
job? The discussion around automation can be extraordinarily complex and
dense, but don’t worry! This guide will answer these questions and more.

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 CIO’sCIO’s
GUIDEGUIDE
TO PROCESS AUTOMATION
TO PROCESS AUTOMATION

Start with the problem,

not the solution

With process automation, the first place to start will be your use case and
desired endpoint. It’s a simple idea but not one to overlook.

If you’re building a house, will you start by grabbing a hammer and nails and start
building walls? Of course not. It would be best if you had a plan.

Ideally, those plans come through ideas from the people in the business who
know your processes best. That stakeholder group is often made up of people
like business unit directors with their business expert teams. They can help
identify and prioritize the proper use cases for your enterprise by answering
questions like
What is the issue we’re looking to solve
Who is involved?
What are the inputs
What’s the impact if we automate or improve the process?

Your potential use cases will vary, but you might expect to see many possible
focus areas:
Data entry and validation
Invoice processing
Order management
Payroll processing
Onboarding
Customer tickets
Maintenance plans for change approvals
Supply chain processes
Approval processes

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When is a solution not a solution?

The thing to understand is that a manual, cumbersome process is often
simply the result of all the decisions and inputs that came before it.

Maybe your shop floor has manual processing because it started that way, and
no one’s had the time to change it, or it fits your legacy systems. An analyst may
have kept data locked in Excel sheets a decade ago.

Almost every enterprise probably has many examples of legacy processes that
teams have built from, added on to, and worked around. That misguided (but
probably well-meaning) first step provided a foundation that’s become
increasingly stressed over time.

Automation seems like it should solve many of these problems. It feels good to
point to a problem process, automate it, and call that a success. But you might
just be putting a fresh coat of paint on a house that’s about to collapse.

On its own, automation doesn’t help fix the underlying issues that will come
back up again and again. You need to know where you stand to make the right
decision about your provider and solution.

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TO PROCESS AUTOMATION

Those underlying issues could be a lot of different things but might include: 

Data (good data in, good data out/bad data in, bad data out never applied
so perfectly!)
A disconnect between business asks and IT solutions
Wanting to move at a speed you can’t support
Legacy systems and systems that don’t talk
Cloud vs. on-premises: What is your policy now, and does it suit your
current and future needs?
Shadow IT 

So now the core questions change: Is the issue I’m trying to solve an automation
problem or symptomatic of something broader? And is automation the answer?
Or is this now a question of development, change management, and digital
transformation?  

Automation is a method to achieve something. It shouldn’t be the objective on its

own. It’s critical to understand what you need to solve and how process
automation can contribute to that overall goal.  

According to a study, 83% of IT leaders believe workflow automation is

necessary for digital transformation. Understanding your situation, stack, and
needs requires looking at things holistically. This ultimately leads to better, smarter
decisions, which save you time, money, and resources in the short and long term.

Untying the knot of options

The good news about automation is that you have options. Many vendors would
be delighted to work with your enterprise on various needs. But that doesn’t
mean that all vendors are equal or that all potential solutions are a fit for your
needs. 

One potential way to think about automation is with BOAT (Business

Orchestration and Automation Technologies). BOAT refers to a holistic approach
integrating various technologies to optimize business operations. It
encompasses different types of automation and technologies like AI. The
benefits of BOAT are, among other things, more flexibility and more effective
solutions. 

That said, with Gartner predicting that 30% of enterprises will automate more
than half of their network activities by 2026 (up from under 10% in mid-2023),
you don’t have time to ponder the options. The time to act is now. 

So, let’s look at different kinds of automation vendors and platforms and their
strengths and vulnerabilities.

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Robotics process automation (RPA)

Robotic process automation (RPA) is precisely what it sounds like: technology that
automates repetitive business tasks. 

RPA technologies can be great for tasks like:


Data scraping
Data extraction from PDFs and other documents
Data migration
Transferring information
Form fills
Copy/pasting information across systems 


The issues with RPA are complexity, scale, and upkeep. RPA bots are generally
limited in scope. RPA typically works best when an individual task is assigned its
own dedicated bot, so you’re unable to link them together to meaningfully scale
your business.  

RPA is also not inherently designed for end-to-end process automation, but it’s a
powerful way to automate specific tasks within larger workflows. RPA is typically
integrated with other technologies, such as BPM, AI, and workflow management
systems, to achieve true end-to-end automation. 

Apply this to your enterprise. How often do your legacy systems need updating, or
do your processes change even a bit? RPA technologies need to be amended
every time you make a change elsewhere. It’s even possible that the upkeep time
is greater than the time your employees were spending on a given task in the
first place. 

RPA might help you put a finger in the crack of a theoretical dam, but the pressure
is still building up behind it. RPA alone may not be enough to solve your problem,
but RPA in conjunction with something like low code may be a more holistic
solution.

COTS
The draw to commercial-off-the-shelf software (COTS) is that it’s theoretically easy.
The best use case for COTS is when your needs and what the COTS can offer align
very nicely.  

But how often do things fit that perfectly? 

Many COTS vendors offer pre-built templates that automate certain parts of the
enterprise. But customizing those automations is expensive, time-consuming,
and resource-consuming.  

On top of that, enterprises often must change a process to meet COTS capabilities.
There’s change management popping up again. 

So, you must consider whether the time and effort required to change, customize,
and upkeep is worth the automation. And if you’re asking those questions to end
up with a custom solution, what’s the point of using COTS?

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TO PROCESS AUTOMATION

Business process management (BPM)

Business process management (BPM) helps enterprises analyze, refine, optimize,
and improve business processes. You might also see intelligent business process
management (iBPM), which adds AI tools to traditional BPM. 

There are a lot of pros to BPM vendors related to automation: 

They embed their BPM standards for process automation.

They’re good at digitizing more complex business processes, such as process
modeling (e.g., BPMN), workflow engines, and analytics dashboards, to
ensure processes align with business goals.
They often include (adaptive) case management.

 

That said, there’s a little bit of irony around BPM. It can help reduce complexity
through automation, but can add complexity throughout the rest of a process. A
lot of this comes down to flexibility: 

Difficult to implement
Limited deployment options
Limited UI
Limited app logic
Limited mobile-friendly capabilities

 

 

BPM vendors are unique compared to low code platforms because they focus on
process-centric solutions based on BPM standards, while low code platforms
emphasize rapid application development. 

Organizations looking to transform and continuously optimize business processes

with high levels of governance and BPM standards could go for a BPM vendor. At
the same time, those needing quick, adaptable application solutions may lean
toward solutions like low code.

Low code
Let’s revisit the questions we’ve been thinking about: 

What is the issue I’m looking to solve?

What are the inputs?
Is the issue I’m trying to solve an automation problem 

or symptomatic of something broader? 

As you’ve seen, many viable options answer some of those questions. But those are
just a few of the puzzle pieces. Only general-purpose low code platforms provide
every piece you need for successful automation and digital transformation
strategies. 

To prove that value further, many BPM vendors are starting to incorporate low code
capabilities into their offerings. But low code platforms are generally miles ahead in 

that regard. 

Hopefully, you agree that automation alone isn’t enough. Digital transformation
requires looking beyond that and into your enterprise’s processes and systems.
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Low code:

Makes the development process accessible to business stakeholders (not only
business analysts)
Allows for faster iterations
Opens development across the business
Integrates with legacy systems, as well as many RPA, COTS, and BPM systems
Future-proofs through integrations with technologies like AI
Enables collaboration across business and IT
Prioritizes customer-centric application development, resulting in apps with
superior UI that can be created quickly and without custom coding

 

To illustrate why this total package is so important, let’s leave the business world for a
moment. 

If your home is drafty, installing a smart thermostat accomplishes little. It’s great that the
house will automatically adjust to the temperature, but you haven’t solved the problem of
drafts getting into it. 

It’s a ridiculous situation, right? But this is how a lot of enterprises look at automation.
They’re happy to automate where they can, but they haven’t solved the big-picture
problems that require automation in the first place. 

That leads to sunk costs and time you can’t get back. 

The best low code platforms are designed to work and create efficiencies around the
enterprise. This allows enterprises to think holistically. They also help clean up underlying
processes, increasing efficiency and scale. 

In addition, where BPM platforms are starting to include low code as part of their package,
low code platforms already include the best of what BPM provides, plus the ready inclusion
of technologies like AI.
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Mendix
Mendix is a leading low code platform, placing highest on the Ability to Execute axis in
both the 2023 and 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Enterprise Low Code
Application Platforms. 

For enterprises interested in getting things done, that’s a very good thing. Here are a
few examples of how Mendix helps enterprises build better and faster for process
automation: 

Mendix Workflow helps simplify automation, fast-track ideation,
experimentation, and delivery, and adapt processes quickly and often. That
means the ability to build workflows and applications faster, easier, and with
fewer constraints than with BPM tools. Even better? It’s built directly into
the IDE.

Collaboration throughout the entire development lifecycle in mind: Portfolio

management, Agile Planning Toolings, Feedback Management and more.

Mendix integrates AI into the platform with Maia. Maia has several AIAD (AI-
Assisted Development) tools to automate tedious development tasks. GenAI
features will allow enterprises to simplify GenAI to go from idea to experiment
to outcome directly in the platform.

By following the Digital Execution Practice of Start, Structure, and Scale,

Mendix enables enterprises to identify and prioritize issues, bring the correct
stakeholders together, and execute quickly and efficiently. It’s a scalable,
repeatable process and can kick your automation goals into hyperspeed.
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“We’re only finished if we stop.”

Jasper ten Hove | Manager of Logistical e-Commerce IT | PostNL

PostNL used Mendix to fuel its digital transformation ambitions,

focusing on workflow automation and business process
management. The results? An order management system that
processes 1.1 million+ orders daily, and the ability for PostNL to
focus on new business models and Mendix opportunities.

“If you look at the positioning of Mendix

over the last seven years, it has really
become a fully adopted software
development platform supporting
multiple use cases across multiple
business lines.”
Benjamin Blaauw | Head of Development Automation | ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO utilizes the automation capabilities in Mendix to

build out future-proof, customer-focused solutions.

“What took them hours before now

takes them only a couple of minutes.”
Bas Kroon | Business Analyst | NEa
The Dutch Emissions Authority (NEa) used Mendix to
combine 35 manual steps, including approval flows, into
an automated process.

“Mendix handles all the tasks involved

in the deployment process, taking us
to another level of automation. Having
the platform cover these bases is
really valuable for us.”
Javier Pardo | CIO | Imagina Energía
Imagina Energía cut their app maintenance costs by 40%
and are streamlining processes from client pricing to
project management.
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Automation to transformation
The view around process automation has evolved over the past several
years and will continue to change with the times. 

That’s why it’s critical to understand the options available to you and where
their strengths are.

VENDOR PROS CONS

RPA Easily apply to simple tasks Difficult to scale, upkeep,

challenging to use for complex
tasks, not always applicable for
end-to-end processes

COTS Can fit automation into Difficult to customize, often

COTS operations requires needing to change
processes to fit the software

BPM Useful for automating more Learning curve, developer

complex business tasks, including experience, collaboration
BPM standards

Low Code Comprehensive platform, rapid Doesn’t currently support all the
application development, UX and BPM standards, not always a fit
customization, collaboration, for the needs of a BPM expert to
integration, scalability roll out process automation

Regardless of what tools you choose to use, though, remember this: Simply
automating a painful process is likely not enough. To maximize the impact of
process automation, you need to think and plan across the enterprise. The
platforms and processes you pick can give you a new, solid foundation that
will help you prepare for the present and future.

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