A quick story: My beginnings in “Business Process Automation” (BPA)

Back in 1999, my business language school in Paris had a small account with a very large client (EDF – Gas & Electricity Supplier). We had around 15 individual language contracts and needed to do regular reporting on objectives and progress. Our reports were almost instantaneous after the instructor gave us the information.

The HR manager at the time asked us: “How do you do this so fast? Your biggest competitor takes up to 6 months to do the same thing?” She didn’t even wait for my answer before offering our company to take over all of the competitors’ clients! Yes, we went from 15 to around 200 new contracts in a very small period! We made her job easier, she impressed her boss, and she loved us for it!

The solution we had was a process and application I built to centralize data and automate different parts for different role players. Everyone loved using the system because it saved time, was always consistent and user friendly. This project was the first success in “Business Process Automation” (BPA) before it was even a term.

For those who are curious about the application “tech stack”, it was MS Access as the front end, SQL server on the back end, lots of VB/VBA scripting, Word merge and RDP. It was also linked to our website with Coldfusion for certain self-serve features.

If you would like my company Optipath Systems help you and your team win more clients, make your employees happier and increase your ROI, please contact me and we can start the conversation.