Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has acquired Minit j.s.a., a startup focused on helping organizations make their business operations more efficient.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Slovakia-based Minit previously raised more than $10 million in funding from investors that included Salesforce.com Inc.’s venture capital arm.

Minit provides a process mining platform that helps companies understand how workers carry out business tasks. A retailer, for example, could use the platform to map out how the supply chain team orders new merchandise from suppliers. Minit might determine that the supply chain team usually carries out the task in five steps, each of which takes an average of 20 minutes to complete.

The startup’s platform collects detailed data on every step involved in a given business task. It visualizes this data in graphs and provides tools that are designed to help executives find ways of increasing operational efficiency.

According to Minit, one of the tools included in its platform can automatically identify cases where a business task is carried out less efficiently than it could be. Another feature uses machine learning to determine the most likely cause of an inefficiency. Executives can use a built-in simulation engine to test different ways of solving the issue and find the approach that would prove most effective.

‘Minit currently enables businesses to transform the way they analyze, monitor and optimize their processes,” stated Justin Graham, general manager of Microsoft’s Process Insights business unit. “Minit’s solutions have helped businesses gain deep insights into how processes run, uncover root causes of operational challenges and help mitigate undesired process outcomes.”

Companies often use process mining products such as Minit’s platform as part of business automation initiatives. 

Before an organization can start automating manual business tasks, it has to determine which tasks should be automated first. Then, executives must determine the best way of implementing the initiative. The insights that process mining software collects on how a company performs business tasks make it easier for companies to find the best way of carrying out automation initiatives.

The acquisition of Minit could help Microsoft grow its presence in the business automation software market. The technology giant provides a platform called Power Automate that enables companies to create workflows for automating repetitive business tasks. Minit’s process mining capabilities will complement the platform’s feature set.

Power Automate already provides a number of built-in process mining capabilities. Users of the platform can map out the steps involved in a given business task, identify which steps take the most time to complete and find opportunities to increase operational efficiency.

“This acquisition will further empower Microsoft to help our customers digitally transform and drive operational excellence by creating a complete picture of their business processes, enabling every process to be easily and automatically analyzed and improved,” Graham said. 

Image: Minit