End-to-end Business Automation: Integrating Diverse Systems with Flowable

Summary: In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, organizations seek effective business automation to boost efficiency and responsiveness. However, most businesses don’t start from scratch; they’ve often spent years building capabilities through systems like low-code application platforms (LCAP), business process automation (BPA), integration platform as a service (iPaaS), and robotic process automation (RPA) tools. Flowable offers a solution to unify and orchestrate these existing tools, enhancing process efficiency without replacing systems that are already working.

Key takeaways:

• Flowable connects existing systems for comprehensive business automation, enabling greater maintainability.

• It enhances the capabilities of LCAP, BPA, iPaaS, and RPA without requiring organizations to abandon their investments.

• Real-life scenarios demonstrate how Flowable can bridge gaps in IT and customer service processes for improved efficiency.

Understanding the business landscape: What are we automating?

Most organizations today have moved beyond relying solely on paper-based processes. Over the past few decades, specialized solutions have emerged to meet various business needs, resulting in a digitalized operations landscape. Here are some common systems used in the field:

• Enterprise resource planning (ERP): Manages core business processes like finance, supply chain, and operations. Examples: SAP ERP, Oracle Cloud ERP.

• Customer relationship management (CRM): Centralizes customer data, interactions, and sales processes. Examples: Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce.

• Human capital management (HCM): Supports HR functions such as recruitment, payroll, and employee management. Examples: Workday, SAP SuccessFactors.

• IT service management (ITSM): Provides a platform for managing IT services, support, and incident handling. Examples: ServiceNow, SolarWinds Service Desk.

• Supply chain management (SCM): Oversees the flow of goods, data, and finances across the supply chain. Examples: Kinaxis, OMP.

• Document management systems (DMS): Manages the organization, storage, and retrieval of digital documents. Examples: Microsoft SharePoint, DocuWare.

Quite the list, huh? To coordinate and optimize these diverse IT systems, many companies have created a complex automation ecosystem. Depending on the needs, this often includes low-code application platforms (LCAP), business process automation (BPA) tools, integration platform as a service (iPaaS) solutions, and robotic process automation (RPA) technologies.

Connecting existing systems for effective business automation

It’s crucial to recognize that most organizations do not start with a “green field” when it comes to business automation. Over the years, they’ve built intricate architectures, investing significant time and resources into solutions like low-code applications that address specific organizational requirements. Replacing established systems can be costly and time-consuming, risking disruption to essential operations and reducing employee satisfaction due to the adjustment needed for new tools.

Instead, Flowable enables customers to enhance their existing capabilities incrementally. Some solutions may eventually be replaced by applications built with Flowable, while others – like an RPA bot that interfaces with a legacy system – might continue as effective interim options. Over time, organizations can transition specific automation tasks to Flowable apps; for instance, they might use the Flowable service registry to interact directly with an ERP system's REST API or leverage Flowable forms to collect data that feeds into a CRM system.

Flowable’s orchestration capabilities in action

Let’s explore two scenarios where Flowable brings existing tools together to address common business challenges. These examples show how Flowable can bridge gaps in existing processes and improve efficiency.

Scenario 1: Process management with ITSM and RPA integration

Imagine a large enterprise facing frequent IT service disruptions. These issues demand both automated solutions and human intervention for effective resolution, and Flowable’s BPMN capabilities are well-suited for this.

When a disruption occurs, Flowable automatically starts a new process instance, initiating an incident in the existing ITSM platform to manage the resolution. An RPA bot is launched to handle initial diagnostics, which may include checking logs, restarting services, or running predefined scripts. If manual intervention is required (such as configuration changes), the Flowable task is escalated to an IT technician.

Flowable’s interface allows the technician to review all diagnostic data from a single view, improving decision-making speed. They can add comments, request additional data, or initiate further automated checks. After resolution, Flowable captures all actions taken in the process, providing insights for the IT team to analyze patterns and improve future responses.

In this scenario, RPA provides a straightforward, scalable solution, while Flowable offers the orchestration necessary to enhance the resolution process. Traditionally, users would have to start the robot manually or control the execution through a custom-built script or program. The robot essentially acts like a human, delivering information to the workflow. As the organization’s automation needs evolve, they might choose to replace or expand RPA actions with integrated Flowable solutions in the future.

Scenario 2: CMMN for end-to-end automation with CRM and iPaaS

Consider a company aiming to elevate its customer service experience. They currently use a CRM system and an iPaaS platform, like Boomi, to integrate various customer data sources, which are displayed in several custom applications.

Flowable’s CMMN engine can help orchestrate the entire business process. When a customer inquiry arrives via a web form, Flowable initiates a case that retrieves relevant CRM data and directs it to the appropriate service representative. The iPaaS platform then gathers necessary information from third-party sources. Service reps can access a full view of the customer’s history inside Flowable Work.

If additional information is needed, Flowable acts as the orchestrator, triggering the iPaaS to request required documents or data based on criteria like customer type or location. This request might route through different backend systems depending on these specifics – yet Flowable doesn’t need to be aware of these details. Once the customer submits the required documents, the iPaaS brings the information back into Flowable, updating the case in real-time so the customer service rep has everything ready for an efficient follow-up.

Furthermore, since this solution also leverages Flowable’s powerful CMMN engine, it will allow dynamic responses to external events or human input at any point. This flexibility is key in case management, where adapting to new information is essential.

Flowable also tracks each step of the case, enabling management to analyze response times and identify bottlenecks for improvement. In this scenario, Flowable serves as a scalable layer that brings the different solutions together and organizes them within a business process, streamlining the customer service experience and making maintenance easier. Over time, this integration can evolve to optimize or even replace specific iPaaS functions within the process.

Conclusion: Embracing the journey of business automation

As organizations evolve their business automation strategies, it’s essential to remember that robust systems and processes are often already in place. Flowable empowers organizations to leverage these systems, not replace them.

Whether you’re using RPA for quick ticket resolutions, an LCAP for app development, or an iPaaS solution, Flowable brings these automation technologies together into a cohesive, efficient framework. With Flowable as the orchestrator, your automation ecosystem can adapt and grow without needing a complete replacement of what’s already working.

Find out more about the Flowable Platform and how it can support you in achieving outstanding integration.