What is a BOAT Platform

A Business Operations Automation & Transformation Platform is a unified and integrated solution that combines automation, orchestration, process management, content management, and AI into a single scalable system. The term BOAT refers to a platform that does not focus solely on one aspect (like BPM or RPA) but offers a holistic approach to managing and transforming business operations.

How does it differ from
traditional platforms?

While traditional platforms like BPM, BPA, RPA, and Content Management focus on specific areas such as process automation or document management, a BOAT Platform is cross-functional and allows businesses to unify all operational needs without creating technological silos.

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  • BOAT

  • BPM

  • Objective

  • Unified orchestration of processes, data, automation, and AI

  • Modeling, execution, and monitoring of business processes

  • Scalability

  •  Scalable for any volume of data and processes, integrated with AI and advanced automation

  • Scalable but often depends on other tools for AI integration and automation

  • Automation

  •  Includes both workflow automation and RPA, AI, and content management

  • Focused only on workflow automation

  • Data Management

  • Native support for data-driven workflows, document management, AI, and advanced analytics

  • Requires other platforms to integrate documents and external data

  • Integration

  • Native connectivity with BPA, RPA, AI, and case management

  • Needs integration with other tools for advanced functionalities

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  • BOAT

  • RPA

  • Objective

  • Combines automation with orchestration, document management, and AI

  • Automates repetitive, rule-based tasks

  • Scalability

  • Scales across various business functions with AI-driven automation

  • Limited to task-level automation, requires additional systems

  • Process Interaction

  • Manages complex workflows beyond simple UI interactions

  • Interacts with existing systems via screen scraping

  • Data Utilization

  • Integrates structured and unstructured data for intelligent automation

  • Mostly relies on structured data from predefined UI interactions

  • Adaptability

  • Flexible across dynamic business processes and evolving workflows

  • Works best with static, rule-based tasks that do not change frequently

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  • BOAT

  • ECM

  • Objective

  • Integrates document management with AI, automation, and workflows

  • Focuses on document storage and retrieval

  • Process Management

  • AI-driven workflows for intelligent content handling

  • Mostly focused on document centric workflow with limited capabilities

  • Automation

  • Extracts metadata, recognizes documents, and automates workflows

  • Primarily used for storage, requiring external automation tools

  • AI Utilization

  • Uses AI for smart categorization and intelligent search

  • Limited AI capabilities, mostly search-based retrieval

  • Integration

  • Seamlessly integrates with BPM, RPA, BPA, and AI

  • Usually requires custom or predefined connectors

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  • BOAT

  • CM

  • Objective

  • Integrates case management, process automation, and AI

  • Manages case-specific workflows only

  • Flexibility

  • Supports adaptive, structured, and unstructured workflows

  • Primarily structured with predefined steps of the case

  • AI Automation

  •  Includes both workflow automation and RPA, AI, and content management

  • Focused only on workflow automation

  • Data Management

  • Uses AI for classification, analytics, and decision-making

  • Relies on manual decision-making

  • Integration

  • Seamlessly connects with BPM, RPA, AI, and ECM

  • Limited integration with external systems trough predefined connectors

    • What makes a Perfect BOAT?

    Gartner defines a BOAT platform (Business Operations Automation Technology) as a comprehensive, scalable, and flexible automation platform that supports enterprises in orchestrating business operations efficiently. A "perfect" BOAT platform, according to Gartner, should have the following key characteristics.

    • Seamlessly integrates automation capabilities across multiple domains, including BPM (Business Process Management), RPA (Robotic Process Automation), AI, Decision Management, and Workflow Automation.
    • Provides low-code/no-code tools to allow both business users and developers to design, execute, and optimize business processes.
    • Supports end-to-end process automation, including human-in-the-loop decision-making.
    • Built on a microservices-based or modular architecture to ensure scalability and flexibility.
    • Supports containerized deployment (Kubernetes, Docker, etc.) for cloud-native implementations.
    • Offers APIs and SDKs for easy extensibility and customization.
    • Leverages AI-driven decision automation and predictive analytics to enhance workflows.
    • Includes document understanding, AI-based recommendations, and cognitive automation.
    • Uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to extract insights from unstructured data.
    • Provides pre-built connectors for common enterprise systems like ERP, CRM, HRM, ECM, etc.
    • Offers support for RESTful APIs, GraphQL, Webhooks, and event-driven architectures for real-time automation.
    • Allows easy integration with legacy systems without major rework.
    • Enables process mining and task mining to identify inefficiencies and optimize workflows.
    • Provides real-time analytics dashboards for tracking KPIs, SLAs, and operational performance.
    • Supports event-driven monitoring to trigger automation based on predefined business rules.
    • Ensures role-based access control (RBAC) and zero-trust security models.
    • Supports compliance with GDPR, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and other regulatory frameworks.
    • Offers audit trails, logging, and data encryption for secure operations.
    • Aligns with Gartner's Hyperautomation strategy by integrating Process automation, AI-driven decision-making, RPA bots, Event-driven automation, Low-code app development
    • Enables organizations to scale automation initiatives across the enterprise.
    • Provides a drag-and-drop process modeling interface.
    • Allows business users to configure workflows without needing deep technical expertise.
    • Supports BPMN 2.0, DMN, and CMMN for standardized business modeling.
    • Supports on-premise, cloud, and hybrid deployment models.
    • Provides SaaS, PaaS, and self-hosted options for flexibility.
    • Enables multi-tenant architecture for large enterprises.
    • Goes beyond process automation by offering case management, content management, and enterprise integration.
    • Provides collaboration tools to enable smooth communication across teams.
    • Supports AI-assisted decision-making to enhance operational efficiency.

    Covers all business needs without requiring multiple separate tools.

    Integrates AI, BPM, RPA, document management, and BPA in a single solution.

    Suitable for businesses of any size and integrates seamlessly with existing systems.

    Native AI and Machine Learning for predictive, data-driven automation.

    Unifies the management of data, documents, and processes into a single platform.

    Key Advantages

    BOAT Advantages
    over traditional solutions

    A BOAT Platform like Coopera represents a new paradigm in business automation and digital transformation. Unlike traditional platforms that focus on specific areas (BPM, RPA, ECM, etc.), a BOAT Platform integrates all these elements into a single solution, eliminating the complexities of integration and the limitations of vertical platforms.

    This flexibility and completeness make a BOAT Platform ideal for organizations looking to unify automation, orchestration, and content management in an intelligent and scalable way.

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