What is process mining?

Process mining is a new-age digital technology. It helps identify problems in a process by analyzing data from underlying systems. It uses algorithms to create a digital clone of a process – that shows what is and isn't working – to enable a data-driven approach to problem-solving.

Just as MRI machines transformed the diagnosis of medical conditions, process mining technology has transformed the diagnosis of problematic business processes.

Process mining generates recommendations based on fact – not opinion. This is especially valuable when it comes to robotic process automation (RPA). As Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, once said: “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."

With that in mind, here are some of the benefits of process mining:

• Avoid applying technology for technology's sake: An insurance client came to us with a simple question – how can we automate our processes? Using process mining, we saw that less than 1% of transactions followed a seamless process and that there was a huge amount of rework required. Our main recommendation: Don't automate broken processes. Although this wasn't what the client was expecting, they were in agreement as soon as they saw the process mining results.

• Prioritize processes and increase ROI: Most organizations struggle to get ROI from RPA because they don't have a scientific selection method. If non-value-added steps are chosen for automation, this results in poor ROI. Process mining clears the confusion by identifying which parts of the process can be automated straight away, which require initial improvement, and which will offer the most value overall when automated. That's powerful.
• Prevent problems before they appear: One benefit of process mining that is often overlooked is its ability to monitor transactions in real time. Process mining can use machine learning algorithms to send alerts as soon as a potential process anomaly is detected. Imagine if accounts payable knew that a discount will be missed if an invoice isn't processed within the next 48 hours. With process mining technology, this isn't fantasy – it's a reality.

Unfortunately, if a process runs smoothly, customers are unlikely to notice it. Their experiences are often shaped by problematic processes.

Process mining offers greater control. It can predict process defects using historical data and send proactive alerts to employees so that they can work on issues before they become problems. This is invaluable to unlocking unprecedented process agility.

When process mining is used for a one-off diagnostic, it can spot process breakages and their impact on customer experience. By combining qualitative user insights with process mining, you get a 360-degree view of the pain points and bottlenecks your customers, employees, and partners are facing. Then, the path to designing better processes to improve customer experiences becomes much clearer.

Effective process mining requires two key elements:

1. Core technology: Genpact partners with Celonis – the leading software provider in the process mining space. Its state-of-the-art AI-powered process mining technology helps businesses explore, monitor, and enhance their processes.
2. Business context: Without industry expertise, the ability to apply technology to solve business problems is limited. At Genpact, we have worked with clients across multiple industries to develop an accelerated diagnostics tools for end-to-end processes. This helps our experts uncover insights and more predictable outcomes for our clients.

It's important to remember that digital transformation built on minimal research will deliver minimal results. If you don't know your process well and what causes exceptions, you will sustain inefficiencies instead of eliminating them. Process mining lays out all exceptions and their root causes. This helps businesses build better digital transformation roadmaps – based on thorough research – to achieve more predictable results.

Process mining isn't new, but the rise of RPA and intelligent automation has increased its relevance. Process mining offers better guidance to businesses on what they should and should not automate. Companies are also recognizing multiple-use cases for process mining to manage day-to-day operations and become more agile and responsive to customer needs.

But remember – technology alone is not a silver bullet. You need technology combined with digital and industry expertise to realize maximum ROI. This is why the partnership between Celonis and Genpact is so valuable.

Learn more about the partnership between Celonis and Genpact.