The global process mining market was last valued at US$ 627.0 million in 2021 and is expected to reach US$ 15,546.4 million by 2029. It is growing at an estimated rate of 49.5%. The demand for process mining solutions is currently at an all-time high following the growing need for enterprises to implement automation and information technology for scaling their digital transformation initiatives.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the much-needed impetus, compelling firms to gear up their investment plans and adopt more streamlined strategies for higher operational efficiency.
What is Process Mining?
Process mining is a tech-enabled software solution offering process intelligence in real-time for the data-driven understanding of a company’s core processes.
A business organization comprises intricate processes comprising numerous minor tasks, which are much more complicated than simple workflows—multiple iterations, deviations, and innumerable interactions occurring in various process units. Process mining solutions help enterprises discover and monitor current processes in their as-is conditions and understand the origins of the deviations. This technology can quickly identify bottlenecks using real-time data and incident records, reduce unnecessary workflows, and present real insights for further improvement.
Process mining behaves like a typical data mining tool. But the latter leverages various methodologies to explore a given dataset for further analysis. Contrarily, the former analyzes event logs and process-related data to mine for granular insights.
A comprehensive view of processes would include the following:
- Finding trends, patterns, and deviations existing within each process
- Representing graphically as-is processes in their current status
- Defining process improvement and automation opportunities
- Identifying optimal solutions to improve process efficiency
These are the areas where process mining solutions make a difference, as such information is not readily available manually.
Process Mining Solutions – Primary Objectives and Benefits
Process mining solutions primarily cover some primary objectives, namely:
Process discovery – The tools share a graphical representation of as-is processes by leveraging event logs and data in real-time. And it also helps identify process deviations compared to the ideal ones and the frequency of such variations.
Conformance analysis – One of the critical objectives/features of process mining enables owners to analyze process steps and compare them with the desired process structure. Conformance analysis reveals the root cause of frequent deviations.
Process validation – Process mining uses real-time process insights to validate findings, audit for compliance, and confirm the current condition of each process.
Process improvement – Monitoring individual processes for performance and identifying various bottlenecks is critical to suggesting process improvements. Process mining solutions cater to that and enable enterprises to scale their automation initiatives effectively.
Therefore, the above-mentioned objectives highlight the expected benefits of process mining.
- Build a solid understanding of as-is processes
- Support informed decisions using real-time data
- Enable targeted automation for driving higher value
- Improve both customer and user experience
- Allow optimal utilization of time, budget, and resources
- Reduce process risks and increase compliance
- Accommodate continuous process improvement
- Increase scalability of automation and digital transformation initiatives
Significance of Process Mining in Digital Transformation
The global pandemic threw unprecedented challenges to businesses across industries that shifted their focus back toward efficiency to ensure the continuity of their operations. The worldwide crisis also accelerated investment initiatives to improve existing processes, optimally utilize resources, and adapt digital solutions enterprise-wide.
The same period also witnessed a rise in cutting-edge technology solutions like AI and RPA, enabling owners to respond to the pandemic and survive the tumultuous period. However, enterprises stumbled in their attempt to scale automation projects beyond the pilot phase. One of the reasons for failure would be automating a flawed process that cannot scale.
As organizations continue pursuing increased efficiencies, the debate remains about whether it makes sense to automate or fix existing processes first. For instance, automating a bad process without proper understanding might consume less time, but it gives birth to new chokepoints. The relevance of process mining solutions arises from the fact that these tools can quickly fix a flawed process first before unlocking the full potential of automated tools like RPA.
In addition, the tools identify best practices and strategies for adequate implementation. Hence, unnecessary waste and costs are reduced, frequent project failures are arrested, and human resources are more optimally utilized.
Process mining enabled responsive business processes and successfully guided enterprises’ objectives of scaling digital transformation end-to-end.
Reasons to Justify Process Mining Exponential Growth
As stated earlier, process mining improves the visibility of workflows between organizational nodes and creates process maps for further evaluation. With the recent growth in technology improvements and the rise of integrated cloud service, the ability to scale process mining has increased, which, in turn, accelerated the speed of processing internal workflows effectively. But that’s not all. There are other reasons why process mining is currently witnessing exponential growth.
- It confers a substantial competitive advantage for enterprises
- It breaks down the data siloes between business processes
- It provides an aggregated point of view through full transparency of end-to-end processes
- It makes operations more measurable
- It delivers necessary data in real-time to support informed decisions at all levels
- It enables businesses to react quickly to changing market conditions
- It improves customer experience with quicker deliveries
- It provides measures and solutions for better-quality products
- It ensures ultimate governance and security
- It breaks operational siloes and facilitates secure collaboration across units and applications
- And finally, it drives market expansion for both large and small-scale enterprises
The Bright Future of Process Mining Solutions
With the advent of more advanced technologies like IoT and cloud integrations, the future of process mining looks extremely promising. The increasing number of sensors and connected devices will facilitate a heavy flow of quality data for further analysis, decision-making, and process optimization. And eventually, it will open more opportunities for automation and optimization across sectors and industries. Moreover, many believe that process mining technology will soon be available as an embedded core business application rather than a separate toolset. Also, it will play a dominant role in detecting and dealing with more complex security threats in the coming years.
The Final Takeaway
The mining process has come a long way, and other exciting opportunities are lying ahead. Process mining solutions will be leveraged even more than earlier to enable business process improvement and offer a competitive advantage. In addition, it will directly impact future enterprise automation projects and scale the digital transformation journey effortlessly.
