Business process automation (BPA), once limited to only the biggest of organizations, is making inroads among smaller companies, according to new research released today by CompTIA, the leading non-profit association for the IT industry. Expense reporting, invoicing and employment reviews are among the areas where organizations are using technology to move away from paper and manual processes to digital formats, CompTIA’s Trends in Workforce Automation and Communications study finds. This study and all CompTIA research is one way in which the association re-invests resources in the IT channel. As the voice of the IT industry, CompTIA has hundreds of tools, market intelligence reports and business training programs to help IT channel organizations grow through education, certification, advocacy and philanthropy. The full report is available at no cost to CompTIA members to help them develop and hone their business plans.

1. CompTIA Market Research:
Business Process
Automation
Taking Businesses
to the Next Level

2. Business Process Automation Cycle
Tracking to ensure
efficiency and detect
deficiencies
Discovery and
documentation of
existing workflows
Monitoring
Automation
Integration of
applications used in
overall workflows
Analysis
Management
Optimization of
individual processes

3. Change in BPA Technology
Over Past Two Years
By Firm Size
49%
Large
44%
By Technology Usage
26%
Advanced 69%
50%
Medium 42%
6%
7%
53%
Small 22%
24%
Significant Moderate Minimal/No
Increase
Increase
Increase
60%
Slightly
ahead 35%
On pace/
behind 20%
5%
5%
51%
28%
Significant Moderate Minimal/No
Increase
Increase
Increase
Source: CompTIA’s Trends in Workflow Automation and Communications study
Base: 500 U.S. IT and business executives (end users)

4. Heavy Reliance on Technology for
Business Processes
Small
Medium
78%
73%
66%
48%
Large
63%
59%
49%
48%
31%
Expense Reports
Invoices
Employee Reviews
Source: CompTIA’s Trends in Workflow Automation and Communications study
Base: 500 U.S. IT and business executives (end users)

5. Use of BPA technology
Small
Medium
47%
43%
34%
Large
49%
45%
31%
24%
19%
8%
Nearly all areas of
business
Most areas of business Some/Few/No areas of
business
Source: CompTIA’s Trends in Workflow Automation and Communications study
Base: 500 U.S. IT and business executives (end users)

6. Methods for Passing Information
Email between employees
58%
Applications automatically send notification
45%
Email from external source
45%
Communication between applications
36%
Phone call between employees
Phone call from external source
34%
30%
Paper trail from external source
25%
Paper trail between departments
25%
Source: CompTIA’s Trends in Workflow Automation and Communications study
Base: 500 U.S. end users

7. Areas Targeted for Improvement through BPA
Bottlenecks that slow things down
48%
Duplication of work
46%
Poor interaction between departments
39%
Difficulty locating documents
33%
Lack of business process visibility
27%
High incidence of errors requiring rework
24%
Incorrect payments/invoicing
23%
Lost business
23%
Low customer satisfaction
20%
Source: CompTIA’s Trends in Workflow Automation and Communications study
Base: 500 U.S. end users

8. Room for Improvement in BPA System
Implementation
Currently Installed BPA Components
In place;
performing well
In place; needs
improvement
Would like to
implement
No plans to
implement
Expense report management
43%
38%
11%
9%
Project management
39%
36%
15%
10%
Document/Content management
38%
42%
13%
6%
Customer relationship management
36%
34%
17%
14%
Customer service management
35%
39%
15%
11%
Help desk
34%
32%
15%
19%
Marketing/Sales management
32%
41%
15%
12%
Employee performance
32%
33%
18%
17%
Enterprise resource planning
27%
31%
18%
23%
Source: CompTIA’s Trends in Workflow Automation and Communications study
Base: 500 U.S. end users

9. Challenges in Building a Higher Degree of
Automation
Changing mindset and behavior
51%
Workforce education
46%
Need to procure/improve applications
40%
Skills gap in automation/integration
38%
Understanding how processes fit together
No budget
36%
29%
Source: CompTIA’s Trends in Workflow Automation and Communications study
Base: 500 U.S. end users

10. Companies Look to Outsourcing for
Automation of Workflow
Amount of Outsourcing
has Remained the Same
Increased Level of
Outsourcing
21%
36%
43%
Profile of Increased
Outsourcing
15% Small Firms
26% Medium-sized Firms
25% Large Firms
15% Executives
25% IT Function
22% Business Function
41% Advanced tech users
Brought More
Workflow In-House
Source: CompTIA’s Trends in Workflow Automation and Communications study
Base: 500 U.S. end users

11. About CompTIA Research
CompTIA’s research program publishes around 25 unique studies year.
CompTIA members have access to a research library containing more
than 100 reports covering technology, business, workforce and channel
trends.
This study and all CompTIA research is one way in which the association
re-invests resources in the IT channel. As the voice of the IT industry,
CompTIA has hundreds of tools, market intelligence reports and business
training programs to help IT channel organizations grow through
education, certification, advocacy and philanthropy. The full report is
available at no cost to CompTIA members to help them develop and
hone their business plans.
Visit www.comptia.org or contact research@comptia.org for more
information.