Automation is the Robin to every developer's Batman. It can't fight supervillains but can streamline workflows, manage system complexity, and enhance efficiency. Digital process automation isn't just a convenience; it's a strategic investment that delivers tangible returns on the bottom line.

Beyond improving developer productivity, automation can directly impact your organization's revenue, workplace collaboration, and end user experience. Recent statistics quantify this impact, showing that the global business process automation market will grow to $19.6 billion by 2026.

What is digital process automation?

A quick Google search might bombard you with buzzwords like "digital transformation" and "optimizing customer journeys." But what does this actually mean for developers in the room?

Digital process automation (DPA) refers to the use of software to streamline and automate multi-step business processes (workflows) end-to-end. DPA increases efficiency, reduces errors, and accelerates overall workflow execution.

For example, consider a typical development workflow that involves API integrations, versioning, deploying applications, and monitoring. While each step is manageable, coordinating this process across the entire software development lifecycle can become complex. Hence, DPA allows you to create a unified, automated workflow that handles these tasks efficiently, improving reliability and reducing manual intervention.

Why do you need digital process automation?

Visibility

Debugging bash scripts isn't anyone's idea of a good time. With DPA, you get a clear view of what's happening in your workflows -- no more digging through log files or deciphering what went wrong. You can see each step, track progress, and quickly identify bottlenecks or errors.

Consistency

DPA ensures that every process, from testing to deployment, follows the same steps every single time. It reduces human error and ensures consistency across your development pipeline.

Scalability

As your project grows, so does the complexity of your processes. DPA scales with you, handling increased load and more complex workflows without breaking a sweat. It allows you to focus on writing great code, not managing an increasingly complex set of manual processes.

3 Essential Use Cases for Digital Process Automation

Digital process automation (DPA) shines brightest when tackling repetitive, multi-step tasks. Here are three capabilities to consider:

1. Workflow Automation

With DPA, you can automate multi-step processes that involve multiple systems or services. DPA orchestrates a series of actions triggered by an initial event, managing the flow of data and decision-making between steps.

One example is creating ephemeral environments for testing. Using a DPA tool, you can automate the infrastructure setup and deployment of new code each time a pull request is created.

In a second example, you can create a workflow that scans Hacker News, categorizes articles using ChatGPT, and sends Slack notifications for relevant content.

You could use a developer workflow engine like AutoKitteh to define the workflow, integrate with APIs (Hacker News, OpenAI, Slack), and schedule the process to run periodically.

2. Critical Transactions

This use case involves ensuring the integrity and reliability of important data operations across distributed systems. DPA implements transactional logic, state management, and error handling to guarantee that data transfers complete fully. A good example is migrating user data between databases. A DPA tool ensures data is correctly extracted, transformed, and loaded, even if system failures occur mid-process.

A typical workflow can be:

• Extract user data from the source database with mechanisms to handle temporary unavailability or failures of data sources.
• Transform data to match the target database schema
• Load data into the target database

3. Updating Outdated Processes

A good use case is transforming a manual data entry and approval process into an automated workflow with digital forms, automated routing, and integration with other tools and existing databases. 

For example, let's think about a healthcare organization with a manual and time-consuming process for handling patient referrals. Doctors fill out paper referral forms, which are then sent to specialists, often resulting in delays and miscommunication.

With DPA, developers can design digital forms that capture data directly, validate it in real time, and then automatically route it to the appropriate approvers based on predefined business rules. This strategy eliminates the need for manual data entry, reduces the risk of errors, and significantly speeds up the approval process.

4 Tips for Developers: How to Implement Digital Process Automation

Now that you're all caught up on the what and why of digital process automation, here are some steps to get you started.

1. Assess Your Current Processes

You're probably itching to dive into code -- but hold up. Start by mapping out your existing workflows. Ask yourself and your team what repetitive tasks eat up your time and which processes are error-prone. Don't aim to overhaul everything overnight. Instead, identify low-hanging fruit -- processes that are simple enough to automate but impactful enough to matter, such as your code review process or your deployment pipeline.

2. Set Clear Objectives

Before you write a single line of code, define what success looks like. Are you aiming to reduce deployment time by 50%? Or cut down on manual QA by automating test cases? Remember, your end user might not be the customer -- it could be your ops team or fellow developers.

DPA improves developers' lives by freeing up time for more creative coding tasks. Create a document outlining your objectives with measurable KPIs to guide you throughout the implementation process.

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3. Choose the Right DPA Tool

Building reliable, long-running, and durable workflow automation is complex and time-consuming. Luckily, DPA tools save you time and headaches. Look for platforms that offer the flexibility to integrate with your existing tech stack and scalability to grow with your needs.

One solution to consider is AutoKitteh. It's a serverless platform that lets you build reliable, long-running, and durable workflow automation. If you're comfortable with Python, you're already halfway there. AutoKitteh handles the complex infrastructure stuff like scaling, monitoring, API integrations, etc, letting you focus on the business logic of your automation.

4. Develop an Implementation Plan

Start small and iterate. Develop a proof of concept for a single process and gather feedback from the team using it. This approach lets you iron out every aspect before you scale up. Don't forget to feed your automation by using it internally before rolling it out widely. This approach will give you valuable insights and help you catch issues you might have missed.

Purr-fecting Your Automation

When evaluating digital process automation tools, prioritize flexibility and extendibility. An open-source solution like AutoKitteh empowers you to build durable workflow automation and orchestration with minimal coding knowledge.

But should your needs evolve, AutoKitteh gives you the freedom to seamlessly integrate with other tools, extend functionality through custom code, or even contribute back to the AutoKitteh community. It ensures your automation solution grows alongside your business, adapting to new challenges and opportunities without being constrained by proprietary limitations.

With AutoKitteh, you can build durable workflow automation with basic coding knowledge, and AutoKitteh takes care of what happens under the hood, like secrets management, authentication, and logging. There are no limitations to the automations you can create, and AutoKitteh's durable workflows ensure there is no risk of breakdown in the event of a server or computer failure. If the worst happens, AutoKitteh ensures seamless recovery with no queues, site management, or repeated messages.

Get a demo today and revolutionize your workflows.