What is Business Process Automation (BPA)?
Business Process Automation (BPA) is a strategy where one or more software programs automate complex and repetitive business processes to make work faster, more uniform and less dependent on manual steps.
The important thing is that BPA is usually about entire flows from start to finish, with clear steps, rules, handovers and traceability, not just about automating individual tasks.
BPA is about automating entire (or large parts of) business processes, not just individual tasks. Gartner describes BPA as the automation of “complex business processes and functions” beyond traditional data management, often using advanced technology, and with a focus on driving the business forward rather than just measuring and reporting it.
BPA is a strategy where one or more systems automate recurring workflows and processes to make daily operations smoother. In practice, it does not have to be about “big” or complicated business processes. Often the benefit is greatest when you tackle administration that eats up resources, or when you want to reduce risks through clearer control and follow-up.
BPA in practice: What is actually being automated
A modern BPA solution needs to be able to do three things in practice: develop processes, run them on a daily basis (with both people and systems), and follow them up so that you see lead times, bottlenecks and deviations.
In a typical BPA effort, you want to gain control over:
- The flow : Which steps should occur, in what order and with what exceptions.
- The rules : What must be approved, when and by whom; for example, policy, amount limits and eligibility.
- The handovers : When people should enter the flow and when systems should take over.
- Traceability : Logs, history and metrics for lead times and quality.
Saving time, reducing risk, increasing standardization and traceability are often clear impacts. When workflows are clearly defined, they can create traceable history and contribute to reduced compliance risk.
What does a modern BPA solution consist of?
Before choosing a technology, it is good to understand which building blocks are almost always needed for BPA to be robust and scalable.
The core is being able to connect and control the entire flow. This means you need support for process automation , process design and execution, but also for integration, API management and monitoring so that you can follow up and improve the process continuously.
At the same time, it is important to distinguish between BPM (Business Process Management) and BPA, as they are related but fulfill different roles:
- BPM is about how you map, control and improve the process over time.
- BPA is about how you automate and drive the process in a system support.
Common building blocks
- Model flows (what happens, in what order and with what exceptions).
- Control rules and decisions (policy, limits, authorization and SLA).
- Integrate systems (APIs, message queues, file feeds, and web services).
- Give people the right view (interface that supports the way they work and not just the data).
- Log and follow up (traceability, audit trail, lead times and bottlenecks).
This is where BPA often differs from “a little automation”: You build a stable flow that lasts over time, even when the organization changes.
Why BPA has become more relevant
Many organizations have already been automating “small pieces” for several years. Now they are being pressured to automate in a more structured way, partly because the share of automation in work is increasing and because more processes need control and follow-up.
- McKinsey estimates that 27% of hours worked in Europe could be automated by 2030, accelerated by generative AI.
- Deloitte shows that 54% of organizations implementing or scaling intelligent automation have not calculated how much of the workforce is affected.
- Eurostat shows that AI is quickly becoming everyday life in more businesses: 55% of larger companies in the EU used AI in 2025. As AI moves into more processes, the need for governance, traceability and follow-up increases – otherwise it becomes difficult to know what is happening, why it is happening and whether the effect is actually the intended one.
- McKinsey points to a clear gap between ambition and execution: most are investing in AI, but only 1% consider it mature. This suggests that the biggest challenge is rarely the technology itself, but rather getting process ownership, working methods, metrics and change management in place so that automation can be scaled and managed over time.
The last point is key. BPA is not difficult because the technology is lacking, but because process ownership, metrics and working methods are often lacking. Having a solution that is easy to change and manage is often an advantage, especially for larger organizations.
55% of large companies in the EU used AI in 2025.
Only 1% consider themselves AI-mature, despite most organisations investing in AI.
BPA vs. RPA, DPA, IA and Hyperautomation
A pragmatic rule of thumb is that RPA automates tasks, while BPA automates processes.
RPA when you automate clicks and repetitive tasks
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is great when you need to automate something quickly, especially if integrations are lacking. However, RPA can become vulnerable if the UI changes or if exceptions are common. This is a common reason why organizations move from “robots” to more orchestrated process flows.
That's a good starting point: BPA is rarely a "software robot" that clicks, but a more coherent flow where people, rules, systems and data are connected.
DPA is process digitalization with orchestration
Digital Process Automation (DPA) is often used when the focus is on digitizing and orchestrating end-to-end flows. In practice, it often overlaps with BPA, but DPA often emphasizes the holistic nature of experience and process design.
IA (Intelligent Automation) is when AI is needed in the flow
Intelligent Automation (IA) becomes relevant when the process includes interpretation and assessment, for example:
- Document interpretation with classification and extraction.
- Case distribution based on content and priority.
- Text suggestions and next best step in processing.
Hyperautomation is when you combine technologies in a controlled manner
Gartner describes Hyperautomation as a disciplined approach to identifying and automating as many business-driven processes as possible, often by combining multiple technologies, tools and platforms.
Multisoft’s way of describing “Hyperautomation” makes it a little more down to earth. It’s less about an “end goal” and more about the pace and extent to which your organization can automate. A pragmatic approach is to start with an automation that provides quick business benefit and then use that as a basis to build a case for more initiatives.
The point in relation to BPA is that BPA often becomes the hub that holds the whole together. You get a controlled process flow that can orchestrate multiple technologies in the same chain, such as RPA for repetitive tasks, AI for interpretation and decision support, and low-code to quickly adapt interfaces and logic. This reduces the risk of each team building their own islands of automation that become difficult to manage and measure over time.
Tip!
Would you like a clear overview of concepts like DPA, IPA, and Hyperautomation, what distinguishes them, and how they are used? Watch this recorded webinar about Hyperautomation.
Common effects of BPA
It's easy to talk about "effectiveness." Making it credible is harder. Here are three measurable effects you can argue for with support from established sources.
1) Standardization and traceability
When workflows are defined, cases go the same way every time and you can create audit trails. Microsoft explicitly highlights this and links it to reduced compliance risk.
This makes it measurable: Percentage of cases that follow the standard flow, number of deviations/overrides, time to approval and number of audit comments.
2) Higher automation rate in work
The World Economic Forum shows that the automation rate is already significant; 34% of tasks are machine-performed today, with an expectation of 42% by 2027. This strengthens the argument that BPA is a necessary capability that more organizations will build.
This makes it measurable: Automation rate (proportion of steps that are executed without manual intervention), throughput time, cost per case, number of manual handoffs and exception rate.
3) The shift in skills becomes measurable in the flow
The WEF estimates that 44% of workers’ skills will be impacted within five years. In BPA, it becomes concrete, as you see which elements require human judgment, where skills shortages create queues, and which parts can be standardized or automated.
This makes it measurable: Where in the flow the lead times occur (per role/step), error/retry frequency per step, proportion of cases that get stuck in manual exceptions, learning time to "normal" throughput, and before/after on SLA and quality when new working methods are introduced.
How to succeed with Business Process Automation
Here are the points that usually determine whether BPA becomes a sustainable capability or a series of isolated initiatives:
- Start with the process, not the tool:
Define what starts the process (trigger), what is the goal (output), what steps are included, where decisions are made and what exceptions are most common. Also set data ownership directly (which system is the master for which data). - Standardize before you automate:
Eliminate unnecessary steps and agree on a common way of working. Standardize concepts, statuses, required fields, and validation rules. Automating a messy process will only make it messier. - Design for people and systems:
Decide which steps should be fully automated and where a human should step in. Ensure clear roles, responsibilities and handovers. Build a simple strategy for exceptions, who takes them, how they are escalated and how they are followed up. - Build for measurement early:
Choose a few metrics that show impact and create control, such as lead time, wait time per step, error rate, rework, percentage of cases that go through, and SLA outcomes. Measure the current situation before you automate so you can show improvement. - Secure governance and management:
Appoint process owners and technical owners. Set a simple change process, what requires testing and release and what is urgent. Version manage process and rules so you can track which version applied to a particular issue. - Prioritize the right process first:
Start where the benefit is clear and the risk is reasonable. Processes with many handoffs, high volume, or a lot of rework are often good candidates. Avoid starting with the most complex process if you haven't done this before. - Secure integration and operational reliability:
BPA often falls on integrations. Decide how you will handle errors, retries, queues and monitoring. Log so you can see where in the flow something gets stuck and why.
Where Multisoft fits into your BPA journey
Multisoft becomes particularly relevant when Business Process Automation is not just about a single flow, but about mission-critical system support that must be able to change, integrate and manage over time.
We build BPA solutions in Softadmin®, our proprietary low-code platform. Solutions are assembled from standardized components and the platform is continuously developed with a focus on security, scalability and modernity.
It becomes a practical foundation for BPA, as a common platform with reusable components makes it easier to:
- Focus on process and rule requirements rather than getting stuck on UI details at an early stage.
- Reduce personal dependencies and technical debt through reusable components and controlled further development over time.
- Choose an operating model that suits your reality , in your cloud, in your own environment or as a managed service via Multisoft.
Linked to Intelligent Automation and Hyperautomation, an important point is that AI is most useful when it is in a controlled and traceable process flow (and raises the value of structured data) . Therefore, we also have ready-made integrations with Azure's AI services, including OpenAI and GPT models, which can make it easier to add AI functions to both new and existing process flows.
When is a customized BPA solution the right way to go? Typically when standard systems are not enough and when the process or system support is a strategic advantage, for example if you have a unique process, a high degree of automation or need to combine multiple technologies and systems in a controlled manner.
