Comparison
Process discovery vs process mining
Logs show what systems recorded. Documents show what people do. Process mining reads event logs, and ThinkPrior reads the document pile, including work that never hits those logs.
ThinkPrior
- Source · DocumentsSOPs and policies
- Source · RecordingsTranscripts
Process mining
- Action StepERP event log
- GapOff-system work absent
ThinkPrior reads the document pile. Process mining reads event logs.
Document-based discovery and process mining
| Dimension | ThinkPrior | Process mining |
|---|---|---|
| Input | SOPs, transcripts, policies, decks, recordings | Event logs from systems such as an ERP |
| What you get | A current-state map, about 70 percent complete, with gaps visible | Paths reconstructed from events the system logged |
| Work that never hits the logged system | Included when the documents describe it | Absent from the log, so absent from the mined path |
| What it will not do | Mine event logs, replace a mining platform, or finish the map with no analyst | Treat a folder of SOPs as its source of truth |
Input
- ThinkPrior
- SOPs, transcripts, policies, decks, recordings
- Process mining
- Event logs from systems such as an ERP
What you get
- ThinkPrior
- A current-state map, about 70 percent complete, with gaps visible
- Process mining
- Paths reconstructed from events the system logged
Work that never hits the logged system
- ThinkPrior
- Included when the documents describe it
- Process mining
- Absent from the log, so absent from the mined path
What it will not do
- ThinkPrior
- Mine event logs, replace a mining platform, or finish the map with no analyst
- Process mining
- Treat a folder of SOPs as its source of truth
01 · Logs and documents answer different questions
What is the difference between process discovery and process mining?
Process mining reconstructs a path from event logs that operational systems already emit.
Process discovery from documents, which is what ThinkPrior does, reads SOPs, transcripts, policies, decks, and recordings and drafts the process those files describe. Celonis is an example of log mining. ThinkPrior does not replace Celonis.
A prompt in a general chat tool sketches a flow from whatever you type. ThinkPrior runs an engagement over a multi-document pile, with scope, review, links back to source files, and gaps left visible. The inputs are the difference, and the inputs decide what the map can honestly show.
Documents
SOPs, transcripts, policies, decks, recordings.
Event logs
What an operational system already emitted.
02 · Some of the work is in the system. Some of it is not.
When do teams use both?
Teams use both when some of the work is in a system log and some of it is not.
Mined paths show what the logged system recorded. The document map shows the procedure people described, including handoffs that never become an event. Off-system work is a common reason the two pictures disagree.
ThinkPrior is the document side of that pair. It will not ingest an event log and pretend that is the same job. An analyst still confirms scope and finishes gaps before the document map is treated as the as-is.
Off-system
Included when the documents describe it.
Analyst
Scope is confirmed before the map is treated as as-is.
Teams use both when some of the work is in a system log and some of it is not.