How To Choose The Best BPA Vendor For Your Business
Technology’s ultimate purpose is to support human effort. Automating repetitive tasks and workflows through business process automation can free up a company’s team to focus on creativity and work with higher strategic value. Engaging an expert BPA vendor to support automation efforts can help a company’s leaders successfully identify and achieve smart automation goals.
Such an essential partnership requires careful thought and consideration, and there are multiple factors technology leaders and their colleagues should consider when choosing a BPA vendor. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council share their expert insights to help businesses of all stripes choose the best BPA vendor for their needs.
1. Define Your Goals
Before deciding to implement any BPA, define the goals. Ask, “Will these goals add value by saving time, increasing revenues or reducing cost?” Then, focus on the top five goals with the highest impact and lowest effort required. Ask the vendor to build the easiest one out of those five to showcase their expertise and ability to deliver a useful product. Upon successful delivery, scale slowly. - Hamed Mazrouei, Milagro
2. Eliminate Existing Inefficiencies
You can’t build a solid house on a shaky foundation. Automating a broken process doesn’t fix it—it just helps you mess things up faster. You need a vendor who first focuses on reengineering the process to eliminate inefficiencies. When automation is applied to a well-designed process, the results are transformative, driving efficiency and real impact. - Komal Goyal, 6e Technologies
3. Review The Vendor’s Security Measures And Compliance
When selecting a BPA vendor, companies must assess security measures like data encryption, access controls and vulnerability management to safeguard their sensitive information. Ensure the platform complies with the industry regulations (such as GDPR, HIPAA and PCI DSS) that are relevant to your needs. Prioritizing security and compliance mitigates risks, preventing legal issues and data breaches. - Neil Lampton, TIAG
4. Consider Scalability
When choosing a business process automation vendor, consider scalability. Scalability is crucial because it ensures the solution can grow with your business, handle increased workloads and adapt to changing needs without costly upgrades. Such flexibility supports long-term efficiency and performance. - Ovi Gherghel, Ingram Micro
5. Look At The Vendor’s Track Record For Innovation
When choosing a BPA vendor, look for one with a proven track record of using innovative technologies that automate any system’s user interface or API by leveraging AI. Scalability and flexibility are critical, but so is the ability to handle evolving technology and processes. A vendor with a history of innovation ensures your business stays ahead, adapting seamlessly to future demands without costly disruptions. - Alex ZAP Chernyak, ZAPTEST
6. Ensure There Are Self-Service Options
You must evaluate how you build and extend automations. Is there a simple editor that allows nontechnical people to automate their business functions, or do you need to master complex coding skills to leverage the platform? BPA tools that require business users to engage IT to make changes and extend functionality rarely reach critical mass. - Matt Dickson, Eclipse Telecom
7. Prioritize Flexibility
Prioritize flexibility and scalability. Your needs will evolve, and a vendor should offer solutions that adapt to changing processes without excessive customization. This ensures long-term value, minimizes disruption and supports future growth, making the partnership a key enabler for your business strategy. - Bill Rokos, Parsec Automation
8. Strive For Seamless Integration
It’s essential to consider integration capabilities when reviewing BPA vendors. It’s crucial that the vendor’s solution can seamlessly integrate with existing systems and workflows. Without this, automation efforts could lead to inefficiencies, data silos and disrupted operations, ultimately hindering the intended benefits of automation. - Mohit Gupta, Damco Solutions
9. Review The Vendor’s Previous And Current Clients
Company leaders must take a look at the previous and existing clients of the vendor they’re considering and their success stories in deploying BPA. It’s also important to consider how well a proposed BPA solution can adapt to your current core applications or future expansion plans. The scalability of the BPA solution and the security embedded in the application are crucial when making a buying decision. - Nihinlola Adeyemi, ErrandPay Limited
10. Focus On The Vendor’s Strategy For Integrating AI
In the fast-paced world of technology, the criteria for selecting a BPA vendor have evolved rapidly. Six months ago, priorities might have been different, but today, the most critical factor is the vendor’s strategy for integrating AI and machine learning models into their platform. This integration allows vendors to execute more complex processes, which enhances decision-making and helps companies maintain a competitive edge. - Ann Blakely, Baker Tilly
11. Ask About The Ability To Continue On Your Own
It’s important to ask, “If we’re successful and I make the choice to continue on my own, can I do so with your support and without high switching costs?” Vendors who are invested in solving a problem—with or without them, and while up-leveling your team in the process—are about more than the tech. They understand the investment is bi-directional, have staying power and bend over backward to maintain high quality. - Bernard Brantley, Corelight, Inc.
12. Pay Attention To Industry Expertise
When choosing a BPA vendor, prioritize scalability and integration capability alongside industry expertise. The solution must adapt to your growth, integrate seamlessly with existing systems and align with your industry’s unique challenges. A vendor experienced in similar industries ensures tailored solutions, faster deployment and higher success rates, maximizing ROI and operational efficiency. - Shyam Alok, Object Technology Solutions, Inc.
13. Ensure Reusability
For a successful BPA implementation, reusability is key. Far too many times, these implementations become redundant and bloated. Applying simple principles like DRY (don’t repeat yourself) will go a long way. - Gautam Velpula, GoTo Foods LLC
14. Choose Strong Data Stewardship
Choose a vendor with strong data stewardship and AI readiness. Look for platforms that use secure, well-governed data pipelines to feed advanced AI models, enabling real-time insights and adaptable workflows. Vendors offering AI-driven process optimization ensure your automation strategy remains agile and innovative and delivers measurable ROI. - Santhosh Vijayabaskar
15. Check For Ecosystem Interoperability
Ecosystem interoperability is a crucial factor. Through APIs and other integrative technologies, BPA solutions must seamlessly interface with existing enterprise software, such as ERP, CRM and HRIS platforms. Vendors who excel in providing highly compatible solutions minimize the risk of operational silos, ensuring a cohesive digital ecosystem and avoiding time-intensive customizations. - Cristian Randieri, Intellisystem Technologies
16. Consider Potential Downstream Ramifications
Because of the “blanket effect” that comes with working with BPA vendors, there is usually a lot at stake, along with significant implications. Any process automation considered must be thoroughly audited for potential downstream ramifications. Take care to understand the process, logic and potential outcomes to make well-informed, high-impact decisions. - WaiJe Coler, InfoTracer
17. Look At The User Interface On Mobile Devices
An essential factor to consider when reviewing BPA vendors is how well their metrics display on mobile devices. People are reliant on mobile phones and tablets more than ever, so having to rely on a laptop or desktop to effectively view a BPA isn’t going to cut it. - Syed Ahmed, Act-On Software
18. Question The Vendor’s Management Of Edge Cases And Process Exceptions
Look beyond the perfect demos and ask vendors how they handle messy edge cases and process exceptions. Every business has unique scenarios that break standard workflows, and your teams will spend most of their time managing these exceptions. The best vendors are up front about how they handle unexpected cases, won’t require constant workarounds and welcome honest conversations about limitations. - Adam Ennamli, General Bank of Canada
