Process Mining Services

Process mining extracts event logs from IT systems, ERP, CRM, helpdesk, BPM platforms, and reconstructs the actual sequence of steps taken in a business process. Unlike process mapping workshops (which capture the intended process), process mining shows you what actually happened: every variant, every exception, every case that took 3 days instead of 3 hours, and exactly where it got stuck. The output is a data-driven process map rather than a whiteboard diagram.

We extract event logs from SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Jira, Zendesk, Freshdesk, HubSpot, custom databases, and any system with a transaction log or audit trail. Most ERP and CRM systems have built-in event tables (SAP CDHDR/CDPOS, Oracle WF_ITEM_ACTIVITY_STATUSES). For systems without native event logs, we build lightweight instrumentation at the API or database layer to capture the events we need. Minimum requirements: a case ID, an activity name, and a timestamp per event.

We use Celonis for commercial process mining engagements where the client wants an ongoing live dashboard connected to production data. For project-based engagements, we use PM4Py (open-source Python library) and custom Jupyter-based analysis pipelines, which give us more flexibility for custom metrics and are more cost-effective for a one-time discovery engagement. We also use ProM for academic-grade conformance checking. Tool selection is based on your needs: ongoing monitoring vs. one-time discovery, and whether you want a standalone dashboard or findings integrated into your existing BI tooling.

Process mapping is a workshop exercise where you ask people how the process works and draw what they tell you. It captures the intended process and is useful for documentation and alignment. Process mining is data-driven: it reads the actual transaction logs from your systems and reconstructs what happened case by case. The two often disagree significantly, the mapped process shows the happy path; the mined process shows that 40% of cases take a completely different route, usually because of a workaround your team developed 3 years ago and forgot to document.

A focused process mining engagement covering one end-to-end process (order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, incident-to-resolution) typically runs $12,000-$30,000 and takes 3-5 weeks. A broader discovery engagement covering multiple processes to identify the highest-value automation targets typically runs $25,000-$60,000 over 6-10 weeks. Cost depends on the number of systems requiring event log extraction, the volume and quality of event data, and the depth of variant and conformance analysis required.

Process mining produces a ranked list of automation opportunities with supporting data: which variants to target, which bottlenecks to remove, and which exceptions to route differently. From there, the findings feed directly into an automation or RPA project scoped around the actual process reality rather than an assumed one. RaftLabs handles both, process mining to find what to fix, and automation or workflow development to fix it. See our business process automation and RPA services for what comes next.

Yes. Conformance checking compares your actual process against the defined process model and flags deviations: steps taken out of sequence, required approvals skipped, controls bypassed in specific cases. This is directly applicable to SOX compliance in finance (are every journal entry posting and approval happening in the required order), to GDPR compliance in customer data handling (are data subject requests being processed within the required window), and to internal audit requirements in procurement (are purchase orders being approved before invoices are processed). The output is a list of specific cases where the process deviated from the required sequence, with the case ID, the deviation, and the frequency.