Transform Your Business Operations with Comprehensive Knoa Task Mining

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Introduction

An enhanced Knoa task mining solution, which will now include analytics for both SAP and non-SAP applications, is available to SAP customers in Q3, 2024. The solution brings visibility into user tasks and activities performed across a broad set of business and productivity applications. It enables companies to identify process improvement opportunities, monitor process compliance, and design automation strategies based on a holistic and user-centric view of as-is processes. Knoa Task Mining is available on the SAP Store as SAP User Experience Management by Knoa. 

This enhanced capability reflects the strategic alignment between Knoa and SAP Signavio solutions, aimed at delivering complete observability for critical business processes across both SAP and non-SAP applications. "Our commitment to our customers at SAP Signavio is to enable them to reach their full potential through enterprise-wide process observability. With the integration of Knoa's task mining solutions, we are enhancing our offering to deliver comprehensive process observability by including visibility into user interactions across SAP and non-SAP, enterprise and productivity applications" (Fabio Ferrari, Senior Product Manager, SAP Signavio Process Intelligence). 

SAP customers embarking on digital transformation initiatives can leverage Knoa’s task mining solution to achieve multiple business benefits, including: 

• Optimizing business processes 
• Automating tasks 
• Rationalizing applications and ensuring process compliance 
• Enhancing workforce productivity 

Task Mining for Business Process Optimization

Task mining from Knoa complements process mining data from SAP Signavio to give process analysts a holistic view of process execution by generating a detailed log of user interactions with the application UI. With the enhanced Knoa task mining solution, process analysts can see how users interact with the SAP ERP or CRM system, as well as which other applications they use in conjunction with these systems, for any given business process. For privacy considerations, user identity can be anonymized for reporting, analytics can be consolidated into groups of users, and user data can be purged from the system based on user requests. 

Building a complete view of the as-is process, which includes not only transactional systems like SAP but also any other ancillary tools used by employees, is the first step in identifying efficiency leaks in the process. This is especially useful in industries with wide process variations, where it is important to map the as-is process, which may be vastly different than the standard process.  

Based on this empirical data, process analysts can identify remedial actions, such as: 

• reinforcing process requirements 

• eliminating redundant applications 

• streamlining the process flow across different applications 

• delivering additional end-user training.   

Process compliance issues, process improvement opportunities, and end-user training needs can be identified either at the group level, across the entire organization. User-level data can augment the support process through improved troubleshooting and faster issue resolution of user-raised support issues.  

Fig 1. Complete view of business process execution available for process analysts, which includes step by step user interactions and tasks performed within and outside of the SAP system

Task Mining for Task Automation

Task mining is commonly used to identify repetitive, rule-based, and time-consuming tasks that can be automated, freeing employees to focus on more critical activities. By analyzing user interactions at the micro level, task mining can pinpoint tasks that are best candidates for automation, such as: 

• repetitive data entry 

• manual data transfer between different systems 

• report generation or email processing 

• error-prone transactions  

• standardized workflows of tasks, with few to no variants 

Automation potential is determined based on metrics such as frequency, volume, and repetitiveness of tasks, as well as the transactional nature of tasks performed within and outside of enterprise systems.  

After discovering potential automation opportunities, task mining is also used to project the potential impact (cost savings) of automation, helping enterprises prioritize the automation initiatives. Overall, task mining for both enterprise systems and productivity applications provides data driven insights to design automation strategies that result in improved employee productivity and more efficient processes. 

Fig 2. Aggregate report showing application and screen level activity metrics (active time, idle time, number of users) for applications discovered by Knoa’s task mining

Task Mining for Application Rationalization and Process Compliance 

The ability to measure user engagement and adoption of applications is a critical factor for rationalization and modernization initiatives. Access to empirical data on active and idle time across a wide spectrum of applications and processes is a key enabler for these programs. The ability to “discover” application usage is especially critical in overly complex environments, with substantial number of legacy or custom-built applications. 

Task mining provides the ability to measure how employees use applications in their daily work, to ensure that their use is efficient and compliant with company policies. Based on this data, IT departments can identify: 

• non-compliant applications or application usage 

• redundant applications which can be consolidated 

• applications that are no longer needed and can be discontinued  

Compliance teams can identify non-compliant usage patterns and process flows, which is especially critical in environments with strict regulatory controls, such as financial services and healthcare. 

Fig 3. Knoa task mining dashboard showing non-SAP application usage patterns (active time, idle time, number of users) across all discovered applications, for different groups of users within the organization, along with trends of activity. 

Task Mining for Workforce Productivity  

Task mining can help organizations ensure that their employees are successfully adopting the applications and processes needed for their daily jobs. By discovering applications most frequently used, or those that have the greatest impact on the business, and analyzing usage patterns of highly productive teams, task mining can identify areas where additional support or resources may be needed, such as improved workflows or new tools.  

Task mining can also guide the design of more intuitive and user-friendly processes and applications. By pinpointing usability issues or inefficient workflows, task mining enables organizations to make targeted changes to applications or processes, that result in improved productivity and enhanced employee satisfaction. 

Insights into task duration and complexity can be used to simplify workflows, such that employees face fewer distractions and can focus more on critical thinking and decision-making. Similarly, task mining can be used to identify training opportunities, better allocate resources, and distribute workload more efficiently. This not only improves the overall employee experience but also contributes to a more engaged workforce. 

About Knoa 

Knoa has been an SAP Solution Extension partner for 16 years. Knoa’s task mining product for SAP is used by enterprise customers worldwide to ensure successful adoption and efficient use of enterprise systems that drive the success of their businesses. For more information about using Knoa task mining together with SAP Signavio process mining, see Unify your Process and Task Mining Insights: How SAP UEM by Knoa Integrates with SAP Signavio.