Every Digital Transformation Needs Automation Strategy
Automation strategy, cited by market leaders like Gartner as one of the most influential technologies for the next few years, will change the way every business operates. Specifically, whether you invest in RPA (Robotic Process Automation) tools to improve customer service or automated workflows to increase team productivity, your digital transformation strategy is sure to include automation.
The question companies need to ask themselves now is whether their automation agenda is complete and significant enough to ensure they can compete in today’s rapidly changing landscape.
Automation is increasingly making its way into our daily operations, reducing inefficiencies, and improving opportunities for profitable growth. If you are not taking advantage of every appropriate automation opportunity, you could be leaving money on the table.
To help you stay ahead of the competition, let us look at some items to include in your automation strategy in 2022.
Preparing for the Automation Mandate
The term “Automation Mandate” came up frequently at the UiPath FORWARD IV event. While it may sound a bit dramatic, numerous companies are beginning to see automation as the strategic imperative that it truly is.
For any company that wants to compete in a digital environment, it is becoming increasingly important to be “automation-ready.” Many of the world’s leading analysts, such as Forrester, believe that the only way to keep up with the demands of the modern customer and outshine the competition is to actively take steps toward an automated future.
Imagine your executives or stakeholders coming to you and asking you to prove that your company is as “automation-ready as it gets.” What problems would you need to solve now to make the leap? Some important items your automation strategy agenda should contain are:
- Invest in the right technology: Make sure you have the right technology or partnership with technology providers to support automation at the scale, scope, and level of complexity you require. The technology you deploy should be flexible enough to grow with your business.
- Improve organizational structure: Build out an organizational structure that enables the rapid development of automation strategies as part of your digital transformation This could include moving to a more agile methodology for your team.
- Change management: Developing and implementing the right change management programs is critical to helping your employees reap the benefits of automation. Change management can also be helpful in alleviating employee concerns.
- Training: Providing your employees with the right tools and training solutions can ensure they take full advantage of automation solutions in their work environment. The right training can even lead to empowering the citizen developers on your team.
- Implement governance: Building governance capabilities is critical to ensuring that your new employees are as safe, compliant, and reliable as possible. No organization can afford to overlook this area.
Looking at Both the Technical and People Sides
When companies across all industries are instructed by their board of directors to become “automation-enabled,” it will require a rapid shift in thinking among team leaders. If they do not adapt and evolve, they may not be able to compete in a modern digital world.
One point to keep in mind as you transition is that automation will change many different factors of our professional lives in the coming years. The right tools will update your work processes, your workplace, and even the actions of your workforce. For this reason, many experts recommend putting automation on the HR team’s agenda as well.
Your HR professionals play an important role in looking at automation from a human perspective. HR teams should take the lead on things like automation training, ensuring automation adoption, and preparing for digital change management.
As your human workforce evolves and works more closely with technology and robotics, HR should help ease the transition into this new landscape. Many teams at HR are currently trying to predict which jobs will be created and which will disappear in the automated world so they can create a transition and training plan for their employees who will be impacted by this change.
According to a Deloitte survey, executives currently expect to have to retrain about one-third of their workforce due to automation.
Their HR professionals will also have to play an important role in recruiting. In a world where robots are taking on more and more repetitive work, people are needed who can offer creativity, empathy, and added value beyond what robot replacements might be able to do. It will be the job of HR to find the right talent to fill the gaps.
Using Automation Strategy to Ease Pain Points for your Organization
An important item on any company’s automation agenda should be ensuring mass acceptance and appreciation of the new technology. Even if some business leaders are already convinced of the benefits of automation, they still need to make sure they can explain to their employees and shareholders how automation will solve some of their biggest issues.
Too often, companies rush into new technologies without clarifying what the new solution will actually do for them. Whether you are investing in 5G, automation, or AI, you need a clear vision of what you are trying to achieve. For example, look at recent enterprise investments in AI. Most companies have already invested in AI, but only a handful of them are actually achieving the returns they predicted. About two-thirds of respondents in one study said it took about a month for their AI models to become operational.
Automation can help you realize the potential of your other investments if used properly. For example, if you are struggling with the last mile of AI execution, a low-code, drag-and-drop platform can be the perfect solution for creating automated data extractions, transformations, and mergers. These tools are far faster in most cases than if you had to develop custom coding for each model.
Outside of the AI ecosystem, there are several other areas where your business can benefit from automation. For example, automation can help you take the right steps toward sustainability. An automated system can shut down your data centers and other equipment during periods of low usage, which significantly reduces power consumption.
If you are willing to include your employees in your automation strategy, you can also ask them for advice and guidance on how to take automation to the next level.
Upgrade your Automation Strategy Agenda
More and more companies from all sectors are beginning to realize how important automation can be. It’s not just another tool in your digital transformation project – automation is an investment you need to put on the table to stay ahead of the competition. As you head into 2022 and beyond, updating your automation agenda means focusing on a mindset that puts automation first – a mindset that constantly considers the benefits of an automated workplace.
Fortunately, there are companies that can help you make this important transition. If you’d like to discover the benefits of automation for yourself or find out what an automated platform could do for your business, contact Bulb Tech today.
We can work with you to update your automation agenda and implement the plans needed to take your business to the next level.
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