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Business process automation (BPA) is no longer the prerogative of only big companies; small businesses have found that automation of specific processes is actually beneficial and hence worth adopting. CompTIA (News - Alert), the voice of the IT industry, released new research which confirms this trend.

The study titled 'Trends in Workforce Automation and Communications' was conducted in two parts, and examines why small businesses have been able to adopt automation and how it has impacted them.

According to the study, repetitive tasks like expense reporting, invoicing and employment reviews are being automated as the manual processes are too slow, laborious and error-prone. Businesses have found that this improves efficiency, cuts overheads, contains cost, without detracting from value. In fact, it frees up time and human resources- both invaluable commodities for cash-strung small businesses.

Unfortunately no single tool can automate all processes. CompTIA found that small businesses have begun to use technologies like cloud computing, mobile technology, data analytics and other emergent technologies to build out their automated processes. Widespread availability and moderate-cost of these technologies have made BPA options more viable even for small businesses.

So once they became familiar with these new technologies, it was only a matter of time before businesses would begin to build automation into their processes.

"Technology is no longer functioning in a simple support role, but is increasingly used to meet business objectives and drive differentiation," said Seth Robinson, director, technology analysis, CompTIA, and added, "Companies with aggressive technology adoption mindsets are able to advance to process-level issues and create competitive advantage."

When companies were asked to identify how BPA would impact workflow, the study indicated that more than 40 percent said that it would help avoid duplication of work, eliminate obstacles that stood in the way of fast processing, while more than 30 percent believed that it would improve interactions between department. Twenty seven percent felt that it would make the business processes much more transparent.

"Technology and trends that generate additional revenue or new business tend to draw the most attention, but improvements to internal operations that reduce costs also contribute to the profitability equation," Robinson said.

In the ultimate analysis, automation is surely going to add greater value. By freeing up time and valuable resources, companies can focus on growth and innovation, spending less time on laborious tasks that require no intelligence. Growth is on the anvil with automation as the trigger.

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