Keith Davies, Global Vice President of Technology Innovation, Business Intelligence and Value Creation at Anheuser-Busch InBev
Keith Davies, Global Vice President of Technology Innovation, Business Intelligence and Value Creation at Anheuser-Busch InBev
Fundamentally, business intelligence focuses on deriving insights and actionable conclusions from otherwise untapped sources. Many organizations are now starting to see the benefits of business intelligence by creating more intuitive, flexible and standardized data visualizations. Business intelligence teams would be wise to focus on process mining, a powerful technique that points to key techniques of business intelligence that can unlock tremendous value from some of the most fundamental business processes that underpin any organization.
Uncovering the Black Box: What is Process Mining?
Simply put, process mining analyzes logs of data from an organization’s IT systems and uses it to build a clear map of how tasks are performed, in what order, and for how long. These maps are almost always more intricate than the well-defined model processes that have been designed, and it is these intricacies and fine-grained differences that can be resolved in turn to unlock value.
Imagine the customer order fulfillment process.Traditional BI may provide
An advanced view showing the number of orders fulfilled on time and in full. Process mining, on the other hand, paints a more vivid picture with actionable root causes: which steps delayed orders, introduced inaccuracies, caused rework, encountered bottlenecks, etc.
A field full of potential: Why is process mining booming?
Improvements in data management now make it easier to provide a unified view of the event logs required for process mining. Modern data lakes and an increasing focus on master data are undoubtedly the driving forces behind the growth of process mining.
“Put simply, process mining analyzes data logs from an organization’s IT systems and uses it to build a clear map of how tasks are performed, in what order and for how long.”
The growth of robotic process automation has also led to a greater understanding of how business processes work and has increased interest in better understanding which parts of processes are most prone to inefficiencies.
Another driver is economical. Over the past few years, as revenue growth has become increasingly difficult for many companies, we have seen an increased focus on developing sustainable cost reduction strategies. Process mining definitely has a role to play here.
However, perhaps the most important reason is the looming end-of-life/end-of-support of major ERP systems, which is driving companies to invest in upgrades and implementations of these core systems. Process mining is an effective supplement to ERP projects: (i) before starting – Mapping the actual as-is process allows for simplification and standardization before starting more technical ERP work, (ii) During go-live and super care – Monitor actual process execution to reveal deviations from model processes and highlight areas that may require more user training, and (iii) After implementation – Drive the continuous widening of gaps and improvements in the processes considered. Effective process mining can shorten ERP implementation time, reduce the risk of disruption, and achieve desired business outcomes faster.
Unleashing the Power: Implications for BI Professionals
Process mining is a powerful tool to add to the BI practitioner’s toolkit. Business intelligence teams should:
● Build relationships with process owners. Process owners are natural consumers of developed BI products and can co-design tools.
● Maintain flowcharts showing the results of actual process execution. These can demonstrate improvements in process capabilities over time and are a valuable source of opening up new gaps.
● Identify data sources useful for process mining. The more complete the understanding of the events that make up a business process, the more useful the insights gained from process mining will be.
● Promote process mining before major ERP work. This type of process mining effort typically reduces the overall effort and rollout risk required for ERP.
● Use process mining for change management. Process mining shows at a glance where processes are deviating from design, thus helping change management teams focus their efforts where they are needed most.
Looking ahead: Uncovering the future of business intelligence
By revealing the complexity of how processes actually work, process mining enables BI professionals to play a key role in optimizing operations, increasing efficiency, increasing customer satisfaction, and making many other data-driven decisions that unlock significant business advantages. Process mining will increasingly become an indispensable tool for BI practitioners, shaping the future of data-driven intelligence and driving organizations toward higher levels of operational excellence.
