2021 was the year of adopting new automation technologies keeping in mind the ongoing pandemic. Organizations and the world, in general, have observed multiple technology trends that accelerated across the Covid-19 timeline.
In 2021, the focus was more on ensuring accessible communication and improving operational agility, and it is going to continue in 2022 as well.
What if Automation can contribute to more than just eliminating repetitive tasks and manual labor?
For this, organizations need to think beyond just adopting Automation and explore the possibilities of leveraging automation solutions built upon more advanced automated technologies to get the maximum benefit.
According to 2022 predictions by Gartner, digital businesses are accelerating, and the role of IT has also become more prominent with it. One of the reasons could constantly increase data diversity and the organization’s growing interest in fully automated value chains. But there is much more to adopting Automation. Successful automation implementation is achieved by removing process ambiguities. Utilizing adequate tools and expertise will only lead to an end-to-end solution and successful adoption of Automation.
So, let’s get into the depth of the following ideal steps to adopting Automation.
Time to adopt Automation holistically
Numerous organizations across multiple industries have adopted Automation, especially in the last 1.5 years. Adopting Automation is not enough; mapping and aligning it with the overall business strategy and model will succeed. But for this, organizations need to have the right resources who understand the implications of Automation and how to utilize it optimally.
The differentiating factor among organizations that have adopted Automation is the approach with which the Automation is implemented. Integrating automated technologies like RPA, ML, etc., calls for a panel of experts with in-depth knowledge of such technologies. Hence it is equally important to invest in people as it is to invest in technology.
Let us go through the changes required for the holistic adoption of Automation in the future.
- Combining RPA and AI- Intelligent technologies, i.e., RPA and machine learning, help process the data more quickly and efficiently. RPA, i.e., Robotic process automation, uses structured data and logic, and AI, i.e., Artificial Intelligence, stimulates human intelligence into machines. Combining RPA and AI will lead you to optimum results and wonders in the business process.
Intelligent Automation makes production flexible by responding to fluctuations in supply and demand. For example, intelligent Automation helps analyze real-time workload by computing data and then optimizing workloads like in a production organization; IA-based OCRs (Optical character recognition) help analyze and select vendors. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based OCRs read the many different invoice formats from various vendors with little human intervention, making it easier to manage multiple vendors and their invoices.
So, not just in a production environment, Intelligent Automation holds infinite potential across all domains.
- Adopting end-to-end Automation- The next logical step to adopting Automation and combining AI and RPA is expansion into end-to-end Automation across domains, processes, and operations. An end-to-end integrated platform will reduce complexities and standardize the organizational processes holistically. An integrated automation platform will help the teams to keep a check on the status of a process. For example, some approvals are required for Automation; then, the end-to-end automation platform will constantly audit the changes made by which team member and when. Thus, an end-to-end automation platform will streamline the business flow and guarantee optimum outcomes.
- Role-based automation training – Although organizations can successfully implement Automation, they still struggle with a shortage of skills in their workforce. According to Harvard Business Review, 44% of organizations have not yet calculated how their workforce’s roles and tasks will change and how tasks are performed. Hence the very next step to adopting end-to-end Automation is to train your workforce based on their roles and responsibilities in the whole process. Thus, organizations should be ready with the right set of mentors to provide real-time training and certifications. Reliance on experts after automating will lead to the reduction of risks. Hence, in 2022, we expect to see changes in role definitions and the workforce gaining skills to advance with Automation.
Looking ahead
All the points discussed earlier are equally crucial for the optimum implementation of Automation within the organization. There are many organizations and industries where Automation has not been able to make much of inroads, such as the education sector. This sector has a lot of scope for Automation.
Irrespective of the criticality of the business processes, Automation can bring wonders to all of them. Hence moving forward, taking a systematic approach, and utilizing Automation to enhance workforce productivity must be the best way to move ahead.
If you want to take the business to the next level and achieve all your goals, you should consider adopting a standardized approach to Automation. Doing so will save time and boost efficiency, simultaneously allowing your business to run at its peak.