You might have heard the term “process mining” before. It is often thrown around in meetings and LinkedIn posts these days. But what does it actually mean? Why is everyone talking about it? If you’ve ever wanted to lift the hood on your business operations and really see what’s happening, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive into the world of process mining.
What Is Process Mining?
Process mining is a data-driven technique that reconstructs and analyses real-world business workflows. It achieves this by extracting event‑log “breadcrumbs” from systems like ERPs or CRMs. A process mining system uses specialised algorithms to build a visual “digital twin”. It is nothing but a representation of how processes actually run instead of how they are supposed to operate. This visual digital twin includes timestamps, case IDs, activities, bottlenecks, deviations, and cycle times.
For example, imagine you are using process mining on your order-to-cash workflow. After mining CRM and invoicing logs, the system uncovers that 30 % of orders experience a two‑day delay. This is because an approval step is skipped around weekends. With this insight, you can adjust staffing or automate approvals, reducing that delay.
Types of Process Mining
The three core types of process mining are:
- Discovery: It involves generating a process model solely from event log data. In this, the system doesn’t rely on any pre-existing models. Such an approach helps in finding how a process actually functions in reality. It is also the most commonly used type of process mining.
- Conformance: It involves checking whether the real-life execution of a process aligns with the intended design. The system compares event logs to the original process model to perform this. The final output involves highlighting the deviations and non-compliance issues.
- Enhancement: It is also known as extension/organisational mining/performance mining. It focuses on improving an existing process model using additional data. For instance, insights from conformance checking can pinpoint delays or bottlenecks.
Process Mining vs Traditional Business Process Management (BPM)
We have already seen how process mining helps uncover how your business processes actually operate by analysing digital footprints left in system event logs. In contrast, traditional BPM is model-driven and relies on interviews and documentation to define how processes are supposed to work. This difference makes process mining more accurate and adaptable to real-world deviations and inefficiencies. Here are the main differences between the two concepts:
Why Businesses Are Turning to It in 2025?
In 2025, businesses are under immense pressure as customer expectations are at an all-time high. Traditional methods of managing processes no longer work. For instance, a traditional BPM rely on assumptions or outdated documentation. This leaves massive gaps in processes that could lead to compliance risks and inefficiencies. This is where process mining comes in.
Process mining reveals exactly how workflows get executed in your organisation by analysing real-time data from your existing systems. It then provides a clear and objective view of what’s really happening behind the scenes. This enables you to quickly identify inefficiencies based on actual data instead of relying on what’s on paper.
In a cutthroat world where every second counts, businesses across the globe are slowly turning to process mining in an attempt to gain complete control over their business operations
How Process Mining Works?
Here are the different steps covering how process mining actually works:
Step 1: Event Log Generation
Enterprise systems like ERP, CRM, or workflow tools generate event logs every time an action occurs. It could be anything from order placements to stakeholder approvals. These logs contain critical data such as Case ID, Activity Name, Timestamp, etc.
Step 2: Data Preparation & Cleaning
The previous raw log data is extracted and cleaned to ensure consistency. Irrelevant or incomplete records are filtered out to focus only on meaningful process events.
Step 3: Process Discovery
Using specialised algorithms, the system reconstructs the actual process flow from the sequence of logged events. It maps out every variation, including loops, skipped steps, and parallel paths.
Step 4: Visualisation
The reconstructed process is then displayed in interactive visual models. For instance, flowcharts or graphs. They clearly depict how tasks are executed across different cases and where delays or deviations occur.
Step 5: Conformance Checking
The discovered process is compared against the intended or ideal process model. The goal of this step is to identify mismatches or areas that require corrective action.
Step 6: Performance Analysis
The system then analyses metrics like cycle times, bottlenecks, rework rates, and throughput. This is done to identify inefficiencies and opportunities for optimisation.
Step 7: Continuous Monitoring & Improvement
A process mining system can run continuously and offer real-time insights consistently. It helps you make data-backed decisions 24/7 and refine workflows for ongoing efficiency.
Where Process Mining Delivers the Most Impact?
Process mining delivers powerful results across a variety of business functions. Here are some of them:
- Operations: It streamlines supply chains and optimises manufacturing workflows. It even helps in reducing downtime by identifying process delays and root causes.
- Sales: It tracks the entire lead-to-order journey. It helps your sales teams eliminate bottlenecks in approvals and improve quote accuracy. Ultimately, they can close deals faster.
- Finance: It enhances the accuracy and speed of order-to-cash and procure-to-pay cycles. It can even detect compliance issues and reduce manual effort in invoicing or reconciliation.
- Customer service: It provides deep visibility into ticket resolution flows. It helps improve first-contact resolution rates and reduce response times. Ultimately, you will be able to ensure consistent service delivery.
How Process Mining Works with Salesforce?
Every action within Salesforce (like lead assignment or opportunity creation) leaves behind digital footprints in the form of event logs. Process mining tools extract these logs to reconstruct the end-to-end sales process in real time. It then reveals how leads flow through the funnel and which steps deviate from the ideal path.
For example, it can highlight where opportunities stall after a proposal is sent. Or it can uncover frequent reassignments that slow down conversions. By visualising these patterns, your sales managers can standardise best practices across teams and reduce cycle times from lead to revenue.
Combined with Salesforce’s data-rich environment, process mining helps you improve forecast accuracy and deliver a smoother, faster buying experience for customers.
Tips to Get Started in 2025
Here are some handy tips to follow when implementing process mining in your organisation:
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Choose a core workflow to get started with process mining. For instance, it could be anything from order-to-cash to customer support. The idea is to pick something that has clear pain points and also strong data availability.
- Before adopting process mining, ensure your existing systems can generate structured event logs. More importantly, these logs should have basic elements like case IDs, activities, and timestamps.
- Focus on a specific department or time period. This will keep the initial project manageable.
- Work closely with business and IT stakeholders to validate the findings. They can provide valuable context for the process variations.
- Once the pilot shows value, expand to other processes or departments. Integrate with automation or AI tools for broader transformation.
- Train internal teams in process mining. This will sustain process mining and evolve the practice over time.
Unlock the Complete Picture: Process Mining + Salesforce for End-to-End Efficiency
To truly optimise business performance, you need more than just data. You need visibility. On the one hand, process mining helps you understand how your operations actually run. On the other hand, Salesforce gives you the tools to act on that insight. Together, they offer a powerful combination for improving customer journeys and driving measurable impact. That’s where Brysa comes in. As a leading Salesforce consultant in the UK, Brysa specialises in implementation and strategic consulting to help you integrate process mining into your Salesforce ecosystem. With Brysa’s expertise, you get an end-to-end solution that brings clarity and continuous improvement to every process. Contact us now to start your process mining + Salesforce journey.