The need for automation in processes is continually expanding. According to a McKinsey report, ‘45% of current paid activities can be automated by today’s Technology, an equivalent of $2 trillion in total annual wages.’ When McKinsey surveyed 1500 executives across all industries and regions, 66% responded that “addressing potential skills gaps related to automation/digitisation” was a top-ten priority. Almost 30% put it in their top five priorities.
Technology is only the enabler – Here’s what we have learnt from experience
ABP has helped business transform to as part of digital transition and from our experience, here are the top 5 factors that contribute most toward a successful implementation for any organisation.
Technology as a Vehicle of Change – Technology is an enabler to achieve short term and long-term business goals by addressing inefficiency challenges. A suitable choice of Technology applied to the right processes creates the most effective results. For example, automation is applied to a dynamic process, marginal gains are achieved, but if the process is highly repetitive benefits could be achieved in terms of cost reduction and eliminating human errors.
Commit and Communicate. Automation is not an effort that is isolated to a single business unit or IT function. For companies to be successful in approaching automation; it must be a blended initiative. Once a common automation goal is established, it should be communicated through the organisation, encouraging individual business units to analyse, prioritise and select processes that align with the overall business objective. It is the business owners' responsibility or centre of excellence stakeholders to ensure that the goals are adequately communicated through the organisation.
For businesses to create, change and evolve as market trends demand, they should implement Technology as an Agility Enabler With continuous change in technologies, the business can succeed more with low-code/no-code technologies. This makes the organisation more agile. Covid pandemic is a classic example where more agile companies could adapt and respond quicker than businesses who were stuck with legacy systems.
Create Internal Capabilities is the fourth key factor for consideration to obtain optimal results. By building a centre of technology excellence, a talent pool of Technology within the organisation, businesses can scale implementations and get the best returns from their investment. Suppliers should provide an augmentation of skills and not be the complete skill pool itself.
Lastly, Hyperautomation is the fifth factor for successful automation. However, it's an amalgamation of various factors in itself – processes, measurements and KPI’s, governance, several automation components, integrating tools and technologies amplify the ability to scale and drive the change through a Citizen Developer model.
ABP Consultancy believes that Technology is only the enabler to Business Process Automation, and that an inclusive approach, considering all factors stated above, leads to a successful automation transformation. Automated Business Process initiatives administer profitable results when strategically coordinated with the goals of the business. Get in touch if you have any questions.