"The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement."
– Helmut Schmidt
"I don’t know about automation in business. And I don’t need to introduce automation in my business" ….
…is not something a smart, future-focused organisation would say.
And yet, many companies continue to assume that Automation is not something they currently want or need. Maybe they’re too focused on putting out short-term fires, and therefore don’t have the time to think about automation. Or maybe they just don’t see its value. Regardless of the reason, this kind of thinking can be erroneous, and even dangerously short-sighted in a world that’s rapidly moving towards digitisation and automation.
The Rapid Acceleration of Business Process Automation
The past few years have seen rapid development in Business Process Automation (BPA) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions. The future of global digital process automation is bright as well, with the market poised to grow from $6.77 billion in 2018 to $12.61 billion by 2023.
For organisations in the modern capitalist economy, Business Process Management (BPM) has always been important. BPM enables companies to understand their "current state", identify improvement areas, and devise action plans to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and profitability. BPM is also the key to aligning Information Technology and Operational Technology investments with business strategy.
Visionary business leaders recognised the value of Business Process Automation decades ago. But it’s only recently that world-class innovations and technological progress have clarified the true potential impact of BPA. Further, falling costs and fewer barriers to adoption are levelling the BPA playing field. Therefore, it’s now possible for small and large organisations alike to automate key areas of their business successfully and profitably.
Why Business Process Automation
BPA involves the use of technology, digital tools, and software to automate business processes and workflows.
If done right, BPA can generate numerous and long-standing benefits for organisations in all kinds of industries:
- More efficient and faster processes
- Lower costs
- Reliable, consistent and transparent operations
- Accurate output
Over time, automation in business can generate Productivity boosts at the process, workflow, and workforce levels. BPA enables workers to move away from mundane, repetitive tasks, and focus their energies on high-value activities where their talents and skills can be used to their potential. This can have a huge impact on motivation and engagement, which creates a virtuous cycle of high productivity, enhanced profitability, and competitive advantage for the organisation.
Automation in Business: Looking to the Future
According to the MuleSoft Connectivity Benchmark Report, the top trends that will shape digital transformation in the near future are:
- Growth of a digital-ready culture
- Innovation will be democratised
- Enterprises will be composable for greater agility and execution velocity
- API security will assume greater importance
- Microservices will be leveraged to support greater innovation
- The ability to unlock and utilise data will determine organisational growth and longevity
And last but not least, automation will improve business processes, drive operational efficiencies, and enable business relevance. On the other side of the spectrum, a lack of automation will create or aggravate process inefficiencies, and may even lead to business obsolescence.
All these considerations are driving the rapid adoption of BPA, which is why:
- 67% of organisations are exploring process automation in at least one or more business units or functions
- 77% of business leaders aim to streamline operations via automation-led digital transformation
- 50% of companies plan to accelerate the automation of repetitive tasks
These current realities raise important questions for the future:
In the near term, how many processes that are viable for BPA will still be done manually?
And how long will organisations continue with manual processes that waste time and money, and sap their workforce’s energy?
When Is The Right Time to Start with Automation in Business
Best answer – yesterday.
Feasible answer – as soon as possible.
BPA and RPA are already impacting the workplace in numerous positive ways. For example, with workflow automation platforms, organisations can automate repetitive tasks to save time and achieve economies of scale. Tools are also available to automate many types of processes, including file transfers, order entries, report generation, email marketing, event log monitoring, and batch processing. Even customer support processes are being automated with conversational AI chatbots, voicebots, and voice assistants.
The current BPA landscape is already quite vast, and it’s only going to get bigger over the years. And organisations that recognise this now will be in a good position to garner all the benefits of automation in business in future.
Will your organisation be part of this success club?
The simple truth is that when it comes to process automation, you just can’t afford to waste time. If your business continues with manual processes and continues to tolerate the inefficiencies thus created for even 2–3 years, you will fall behind. However, your competitors who recognise the value of BPA, and create the right BPA implementation strategies and roadmap will soon zoom ahead of you.That’s why you need to update your business plan around BPA adoption sooner, rather than later. Moreover, the plan must be built around BPA, not the other way around.
Conclusion
Here’s some good news: Your organisation can ensure business continuity, competitiveness and growth in future, if you have a BPA plan in place. And this is possible even if your existing manual processes are inefficient.
However, if BPA is not on your radar yet – and may not be on your radar in the foreseeable future – then you’re already fighting a losing battle in the competitive landscape. Worst case, this lack of foresight may end in business failure. To avoid this fate, don’t make this mistake (or any automation mistakes for that matter). Start thinking about BPA as soon as possible. Your organisation’s future may depend on it.
