2024 International Conference on Computer, Control, Informatics and its Applications (IC3INA)

Process Mining Benefits Model: A Preliminary

Study
Nungki Dian S Darmayanti Abel Armas Cervantes Sherah Kurnia
The School of Computing and The School of Computing and The School of Computing and
2024 International Conference on Computer, Control, Informatics and its Applications (IC3INA) | 979-8-3315-4231-3/24/$31.00 ©2024 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IC3INA64086.2024.10732567

Information Systems Information Systems Information Systems

The University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne
Australia Australia Australia
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Arti Dian Nastiti

Research Center for Artificial
Intelligent and Cybersecurity
National Research and Innovation
Agency
Indonesia
[email protected]

Abstract— Process mining is a family of tools and techniques Given the new paradigm of process mining, its
that analyzes business process data, collected by information implementation presents several challenges. For example,
systems, through a process lens. This technology can be used by given that process mining relies on data, it is key to ensure
organizations to discover valuable insights, identify bottlenecks, data availability, check the quality of event logs, and invest
and improve business processes. However, despite the growing in tools and employee training. Furthermore, there are
popularity of process mining in the industry, there is limited common misconceptions that recognize process mining as an
understanding of its benefits and success factors. This study aims overly complex technology that requires expertise to interpret
to fill the gap by providing a set of guidelines to understand the the results and that can offer minimum value propositions [3].
benefits and success factors of process mining, as well as potential
These challenges and misconceptions obscure the positive
inhibitors that may hinder such benefits. As the study remains
value of process mining and hinder its potential [9].
ongoing, this paper provides a preliminary assessment of the
benefits and success factors of process mining through a literature Recent studies have identified benefits of process mining
review to identify the benefits, success factors, and inhibitors or within organizations from critical literature perspectives,
process mining before we construct a PMBM framework. Our coupled with practical insights from its implementation [10].
findings will help organizations making an informed decision While there are various benefits, it remains fragmented and
when adopting process mining to maximize the success factors and domain-centric, making it hard to understand the potential
remain conscious of the barriers that can hinder the benefits of
gain process mining can offer [11], [12]. This indicates an
this technology.
urge to thoroughly understand the benefits of process mining
Keywords—process mining, process mining benefits, benefits to organizations and its success factor. Therefore, this study
framework, critical success factors, process mining success aims to extend the current understanding related to process
mining benefits and its success factors. Furthermore, it seeks
I. INTRODUCTION to offer a set of general guidelines in understanding process
mining benefits, including how it relates to the success factors
Process mining [1] is a family of tools and techniques that
and inhibitors. The attention to understanding this
analyzes data through a process lens. The data are event logs
phenomenon prompts the following research question:
containing historical business process executions, which are
recorded by the information systems where business - What are the benefits of process mining for
processes are implemented. Since its introduction, process organizations?
mining has gained tremendous attention as it provides an - What are the key success factors in achieving the
important bridge between the expected and actual execution benefits of process mining?
of a business process [2]. Hence, organizations can make
data-informed decisions for business process improvements. As this study remains ongoing, this paper provides a
preliminary assessment of the benefits and success factors of
Using process mining, organizations can discover a process mining through a literature review. Our research can
graphical model describing the process executions captured be divided into three stages. The first stage is to identify the
in the event log also referred to process discovery), identify benefits and success factors of process mining. Second, we
undesired process deviations (conformance checking) and identify inhibitors that can hinder the achievement of the
improve a model with insights extracted from the log (process benefits from process mining. These two stages are
enhancement). Various process mining techniques can be completed through a literature review covering studies from
leveraged to unlock value-added insights, identify 2012 to 2024. Finally, in the third stage, we construct a
bottlenecks present in the business processes, as well as Process Mining Benefits Model framework (PM-BM) based
anticipate future problems and streamline business processes on the identified benefits, success factors, and inhibitors.
[3]. Additionally, process mining has been showed to provide
benefits in various domains, such as healthcare [4],[5], The paper is structured as follows: Section II presents an
education [6] and others [7], [8]. overview of process mining. In Section III, we synthesize the
literature review. Next, Section IV proposes our new
framework, PM-BM. Finally, Section V concludes the study.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Princess Sumaya University for Technology. Downloaded on May 24,2025 at 20:24:34 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
979-8-3315-4231-3/24/$31.00 ©2024 IEEE 13
 2024 International Conference on Computer, Control, Informatics and its Applications (IC3INA)

II. BACKGROUND: PROCESS MINING support’ to ‘stakeholders' support as noted in [13] and
incorporate new sub-factors influencing it that consisting of
A. Process Mining: State of The Art management support, external stakeholders, subject matter
There are two main influence factors associated with the experts, and the end users. Recently, Mamudu [16] extended
development in process mining. First, the amount of available its previous success factor framework by adding the ‘team
data from the digitally-enabled process execution makes it configurations’ and proposed a new framework that will be
possible to record event logs. These event logs are essential adapted as a baseline model in understanding success factors
to depict the process based on the process executed. In of process mining in this study.
parallel, the need for improving business processes in a vast
changing environment is also amplified [3]. Process mining III. LITERATURE REVIEW
is initiated through event logs, all its techniques are assuming We reviewed 30 papers consisting of 12 case studies from
that each event log is tied to an activity which stored the book [10] and 18 journals and proceedings. The search
additional information, such as resource and timestamps. The for of relevant papers was carried out using The University
event logs can be used to conduct three popular types of Melbourne library’s search engine, which is connected to
process mining operations, namely process discovery, various databases to ensure good coverage. We used several
conformance checking and process enhancement [1]. search keywords, including “process mining success”,
Process discovery is the most well-known type of process “process mining success factors”, “process mining value”,
mining, which illustrates the model through recorded event “process mining benefits” and “process mining advantages”.
logs without using any prior information. While the process After collecting all papers, we identified the benefits,
discovery only models the process based on the recorded success factors, and challenges—that we called later as
event logs, the conformance checking requires the existing ‘inhibitors’ and mapped them based on Shang and Seddon
process model to be compared with the event logs in the same [17] and Mamudu et al.[16].
process. Another type of process mining is process
enhancement. The notion of this type is to use an existing A. Process Mining Benefits
process model and enhance it using information captured in Based on the synthesize of the selected papers, twenty-
some event logs. Conformance checking focuses on four process mining benefits were identified (Table 1) and are
alignment between the existing and actual process model, and mapped based on Shang and Seddon benefits framework
the process enhancement aims to change the previous process [17]. The identified benefits include five operational benefits,
model [3]. Figure 1 below illustrates positioning three basic eight managerial benefits, two strategic benefits, three IT
types of process mining. infrastructure benefits, and six Organizational benefits.
First, in terms of Operational benefits, the most notable
benefits of process mining are its ability to provide
transparency of business processes [10]. Process mining
allows organizations to depict all of their business processes
and enables them to identify the inefficiencies thus improving
effectiveness and operational efficiency.
Second, the benefits related to Managerial activities
include managing data, resources, and decision-making
capability. Process mining allows actionable insights to be
derived, and it is then accelerating the decision-making
capability [10], [18]. Then, in terms of Strategic benefits,
process mining provides the ability to anticipate future
Fig. 1. POSITIONING TYPES OF PROCESS MINING [13] problems and increase the customer experience and
satisfaction [10]. For IT infrastructure benefits, process
B. Growing Attention on Benefits and Success factors
mining allowing agility and responsiveness of an
Many organizations have initiated reporting the benefits organization to facilitate future change. It also provides
of process mining through case studies in various sectors standardization capability.
[10], [14]. Recently, the research broadened into a more non-
technical perspective, complementing the previous study that Lastly, in terms of Organizational benefits, process
primarily focused on algorithmic improvements. Recent mining enable collaboration among stakeholders and
effort has focused on critical success factors in process enabling value creation [10], it is also evident to foster
mining. For example, [15] conducted eight interviews and digitalization and support the existing digital transformation
has identified six success factors of process mining projects. project [10], [18].
It include sufficient management support, good project TABLE I. IDENTIFIED BENEFITS FROM LITERATURE
management, domain expertise involvement, technical
L
expertise in handling process mining, the level of process ID Identified Benefits
(n=18)
mining approach, and the quality of the event logs [15].
Operational
In 2022, Mamudu et al. continued the notion by extending
B2 Identify process bottlenecks 5
the critical success factors of process mining and argued that
some of the core success factors can be influenced by other B5 Enhance and streamline business processes 6
sub-critical success factors [13]. Additionally, they also B6 Allows full transparency of business processes 11
refine previous study’s findings and introduced several new
factors. For instance, Mamudu adjusted ‘management B7 Improve effectiveness and operational efficiency 11

Authorized licensed use limited to: Princess Sumaya University for Technology. Downloaded on May 24,2025 at 20:24:34 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
14
 2024 International Conference on Computer, Control, Informatics and its Applications (IC3INA)

B13 Reduce cost 6 S8 Quality of event logs 3

Managerial S13 Data availability 4
B1 Provide actionable insights 7 Tools Capability
B4 Improve compliance 4 S7 Tools for process mining 9
B9 Assist and accelerate decision-making processes 6 Structured Process Mining Approach
B11 Seize process improvement opportunities 1 S6 Process mining techniques 1
B15 Reduce complexity 2 S18 Adequate IT infrastructure 2
B21 Supporting data management and knowledge 1 Project Management
B22 Improve management approach 1 S10 Regular monitoring 2
B23 Enable business process risk management 2 S16 Clear focus on business vision 6
Strategic Team Configuration
B3 Anticipate future problems 3 S17 Established Chief Process Officer 1
B12 Improve customer experience and satisfaction 4 Technical Expertise
IT infrastructure S19 Technical expertise 1
B10 Enable agility and responsiveness 2 Change Management
B17 Facilitate capacity for future changes 1 S12 Good incentives 1
B20 Increase standardization 1 S15 Change management 3
Organizational Training
B8 Enable collaboration among stakeholders 3 S3 Training 4
Foster digitalization/supporting digital Others (new)
B14 5
transformation
B16 Enabling value creation 1 S1 On-going process improvement project 7

B18 Enable clear organizational vision 1 S9 Privacy and security concerns 2

Note: L (n=17) : Literature evidence
B19 Support positive changes mindset 3
C. Process Mining Inhibitors
B24 Increase organizational growth 2
Note: L (n=18) : Literature evidence Based on the chosen literature, nineteen process mining
inhibitors have been sourced, as shown in Table 3. The
B. Process Mining Success Factors inhibitors are then grouped based on Shang and Seddon [17]:
Twenty-four success factors were identified and they are it includes ten Operational inhibitors, three identified
shown in Table 2. They are grouped based on [16], which Managerial inhibitors, one Strategic inhibitor, two IT
includes five success factors related to Stakeholders support infrastructure inhibitors and lastly, in terms of
and involvement as the majority. Three success factors were Organizational, there are three identified inhibitors.
identified related to Information Availability, Data Most of the inhibitors we identified fall under the
Availability, Tools and Project management. It is noteworthy Operational group, ranging from the fragmented process,
that our analysis has identified new success factors that we systems, and data to the large variety of processes [10]. In the
consider cannot belong to the framework as outlined in [16]. Managerial inhibitors lack of budget and investment remain
These factors, termed "New" are associated with "On-going challenging. Additionally, coordinative efforts are required
projects." Another new success factor is related to privacy considering that process mining initiatives often involve
and security concerns, given that process mining techniques multiple business units.
involve the analysis of data traces generated by human-
executed processes. In terms of Strategic inhibitors lack of visible short-term
TABLE 2. IDENTIFIED SUCCESS FACTORS
positive outcomes hinder the achievement of perceived
benefits. For IT infrastructure, the challenge remains in the
ID Identified Success Factor
L scattered data source and the fast-changing technology that
(n=17) require different logs produced. Interestingly, in terms of
Stakeholders Support Involvement Organizational inhibitors, it is evident that limited
S2 Managerial support from business units 4 competency may hinder the benefits of process mining.
Furthermore, lack of top management support and potential
S5 Collaboration and stakeholder involvement 7 resistance on new technology also contribute to hinder the
S4 Involved in a process mining community 6 achievement of process mining benefits.
Information Availability TABLE 3. IDENTIFIED INHIBITORS FROM LITERATURE

S4 Well-defined process, structure, and events 4 L

ID Identified Inhibitor
(n=15)
S11 Clear understanding and knowledge of process 2
Operational
Data and Events Log
C2 Silo-based process 4

Authorized licensed use limited to: Princess Sumaya University for Technology. Downloaded on May 24,2025 at 20:24:34 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
15
 2024 International Conference on Computer, Control, Informatics and its Applications (IC3INA)

C7 Systems, log, and data were not standardized 2

C9 Low data quality 5

Difficulty in identifying terminology, naming, and
C10 3
definition
C11 Large variety of business processes 4
C12 Disharmonize and enormous amount of data 5

Difficulty in discovering and porting of process and

C16 2
data model

C17 Inefficiencies in processes and systems 2

C18 Immature process work 3

C19 High execution time 3
Managerial
C4 Coordinative effort 1
C5 Non-compliant behaviour 1
C6 Lack of budget 3
Strategic
C8 Lack of speed or visible positive outcomes 1
IT Infrastructure
C1 Scattered data source 2
C14 Fast-changing world of technology 1
Organizational
C3 Lack of Top management support 2 Fig. 2. PROCESS MINING BENEFIT MODEL (PM-BM)
FRAMEWORK
C13 Lack of competency 10
The detailed explanation of each success factor, benefits,
C15 Potential resistance of new technology 4 and inhibitors is provided below.
Note: L (n=15) : Literature evidence
TABLE 4 . DESCRIPTION OF THE SUCCESS FACTOR OF PROCESS
MINING
IV. FRAMEWORK
Success
Description
A. Process Mining Benefits Model: A proposed framework Factor

This study deploys the benefits framework from Shang The level of stakeholders commitment in the PM
and Seddon [17]. Despite its origin in understanding benefits Stakeholders initiatives. It consist of management support, External
from enterprise systems, this framework is chosen due to its support and stakeholders support (refers to external parties such as
comprehensiveness in explaining benefits based on various involvement industry collaborator), subject matter experts (SMEs),
levels of abstraction, ranging from strategic benefits to and user groups
technical benefits. Additionally, the success factors for
Management activities that conducted in the process
process mining explored by Mamudu et al. [16] are also Project
mining project to obtain the intended goal. It consist of
adapted to depict the factors that affect process mining Management
project scope, governance, cost and budget
benefits. To sum up, adapted from Shang and Seddon [17]and
Mamudu et al. [16], we propose the next framework: The availability of data and documentation for process
Information
mining initiatives. It consist of event data availability
Availability
and availability of contextual information

Technical experience in handling process mining

Technical
initiatives, consist of process mining expertise, data
Expertise
extraction expertise, process analyst expertise

The extent to an organization follows the approach in

Structured
executing process mining initiatives. It consist of
process
planning, extraction, data processing, mining and
mining
analysis, evaluation and process improvement and
approach
support

Data and Quality considerations while executing process mining

Event logs initiatives. It consist of data pre-processing, event log
quality quality considerations

Tools The features included in the process mining tools that

capabilities organization used within their process mining

Authorized licensed use limited to: Princess Sumaya University for Technology. Downloaded on May 24,2025 at 20:24:34 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
16
 2024 International Conference on Computer, Control, Informatics and its Applications (IC3INA)

initiatives. It include process discovery, process

REFERENCES
benchmarking, conformance checking, pattern [1] W. van der Aalst, Process Mining. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer
analysis, filtering, drill downs, integration capabilities Berlin Heidelberg, 2016. doi: 10.1007/978-3-662-49851-4.
and analytical scalability [2] G. Vossen, “The Process Mining Manifesto—An interview with
Wil van der Aalst,” Inf Syst, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 288–290, May 2012,
Change Set of activities that ensure the change in Process doi: 10.1016/j.is.2011.10.006.
management mining initiatives is handled in organizations [3] W. van der Aalst et al., “Process Mining Manifesto,” 2012, pp.
169–194. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-28108-2_19.
Education program for stakeholders for process mining [4] A. P. Kurniati, E. Rojas, D. Hogg, G. Hall, and O. A. Johnson,
Training “The assessment of data quality issues for process mining in
initiatives for the intended results
healthcare using Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III,
a freely available e-health record database,” Health Informatics J,
Team A configuration between technical and non-technical
vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 1878–1893, Dec. 2019, doi:
configuration experts in embarking process mining initiatives
10.1177/1460458218810760.
[5] A. Erhard, K. Arthofer, and E. Helm, “Extending a Data
Management Maturity Model for Process Mining in Healthcare,”
TABLE 5. DESCRIPTION OF BENEFITS AND INHIBITORS
2023. doi: 10.3233/SHTI230038.
Benefits & Inhibitors Description [6] M. A. Ghazal, O. Ibrahim, and M. A. Salama, “Educational
Process Mining: A Systematic Literature Review,” in 2017
The extent of improvement and challenges European Conference on Electrical Engineering and Computer
in day-to-day business activities, including Science (EECS), IEEE, Nov. 2017, pp. 198–203. doi:
Operational 10.1109/EECS.2017.45.
cost reduction, cycle time reduction,
productivity, and quality improvement [7] C. dos S. Garcia et al., “Process mining techniques and
applications – A systematic mapping study,” Expert Syst Appl, vol.
133, pp. 260–295, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.eswa.2019.05.003.
Improvement and challenges in decision-
[8] A. R. C. Maita et al., “A systematic mapping study of process
making, planning, and controlling, consist
Managerial mining,” Enterp Inf Syst, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 505–549, May 2018,
of better resource management, improved
doi: 10.1080/17517575.2017.1402371.
decision making and planning
[9] M. Ghasemi, “Towards Goal-Oriented Process Mining,” in 2018
IEEE 26th International Requirements Engineering Conference
Improvements and challenges related to the (RE), IEEE, Aug. 2018, pp. 484–489. doi:
IT Infrastructure
use and management IT resources 10.1109/RE.2018.00066.
[10] L. Reinkemeyer, Process Mining in Action. Cham: Springer
Improvements and challenges that International Publishing, 2020. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-40172-6.
contribute to enhancing the competitive [11] M. R. Dallagassa, C. dos Santos Garcia, E. E. Scalabrin, S. O.
Strategic position, including supporting business Ioshii, and D. R. Carvalho, “Opportunities and challenges for
growth, building innovation, and generating applying process mining in healthcare: a systematic mapping
expansion study,” J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 165–
182, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.1007/s12652-021-02894-7.
Benefit gained related to improvement and [12] M. Imran, S. Hamid, and M. A. Ismail, “Advancing Process Audits
Organizational challenges in focus, learning and execution With Process Mining: A Systematic Review of Trends,
of organization’s strategies Challenges, and Opportunities,” IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 68340–
68357, 2023, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3292117.
[13] A. Mamudu, W. Bandara, M. T. Wynn, and S. J. J. Leemans, “A
The study proposes a simple framework named PM-BM Process Mining Success Factors Model,” 2022, pp. 143–160. doi:
10.1007/978-3-031-16103-2_12.
(Process Mining Benefits Model). It highlights three different
[14] T. Grisold, J. Mendling, M. Otto, and J. vom Brocke, “Adoption,
focuses, namely success factors, benefits and inhibitors. As use and management of process mining in practice,” Business
shown in Figure 3, the model contains two perspectives Process Management Journal, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 369–
pointing to the benefits element. The left element indicates 387, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.1108/BPMJ-03-2020-0112.
the factors that will affect the process mining success, while [15] R. Mans, H. Reijers, H. Barends, W. Bandara, and R. Prince,
“Business process mining success,” in Proceedings of the 21st
the right element points out the inhibitors that hinder the
European Conference on Information System, Utrecht: AIS
benefits achieved. The left elements are described based on Electronic Library, 2013, pp. 102–1/13. [Online]. Available:
the success factors by Mamudu et al.[16] and the right https://research.tue.nl/files/3943427/352067450737801.pdf
elements use Shang and Seddon [17] as a baseline. [16] A. Mamudu, W. Bandara, M. T. Wynn, and S. J. J. Leemans,
“Process Mining Success Factors and Their Interrelationships,”
Business & Information Systems Engineering, Mar. 2024, doi:
V. CONCLUSION 10.1007/s12599-024-00860-z.
[17] S. Shang and P. B. Seddon, “Assessing and managing the benefits
This study explored the benefits and success factors of of enterprise systems: the business manager’s perspective,”
process mining through a comprehensive literature review. Information Systems Journal, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 271–299, Oct.
The findings presented in this study are preliminary and 2002, doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2575.2002.00132.x.
necessitate further exploration to address identified [18] N. Martin et al., “Opportunities and Challenges for Process Mining
limitations, such as the absence of model validation. Validate in Organizations: Results of a Delphi Study,” Business &
the PM-BM model is required. Especially to add empirical Information Systems Engineering, vol. 63, no. 5, pp. 511–527, Oct.
2021, doi: 10.1007/s12599-021-00720-0.
evidence, and validate the relationship among success
factors, benefits, and inhibitors. Thus, an in-depth qualitative
analysis is suggested to complement this initial work.

Authorized licensed use limited to: Princess Sumaya University for Technology. Downloaded on May 24,2025 at 20:24:34 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
17