As organizations push back the pandemic-caused disruption with investment in automation to provide business continuity and keep employees safe, What’s a good automation strategy to maximize the ROI? How do use cases help achieve faster results? In this article by ITC Infotech, co-authored with Automation Anywhere and Zinnov, we examine why maximizing ROI is the next inflection point.
Organizations, hit by lockdowns, social distancing, and other restrictions placed by local administrations to fight the pandemic, are keen to invest in automation to push back the disruption, ensure business continuity, and keep employees safe. A recent survey conducted by Automation Anywhere, studying close to 5000 executives across India, the Middle-east, Africa, and parts of South-east Asia, revealed nearly 50% of firms plan to invest in robotic process automation to increase business resiliency in the post-COVID-19 world and 70% of the respondents anticipate at least half of their workforce will be digital workers. The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have catapulted the urgency for embracing digital technologies. We will see automation gain wider traction as a growing number of organizations put anti-fragility measures in place.
Automation is not just a good technology—it is the most obvious path to a better future. Take the COVID-19 crisis as an example. Physicians, on an average, spend over 16 minutes and 14 seconds of active time using EHR for every patient they see.[i] This is longer than the typical 15-minute appointment slot that doctors have for patients. This means doctors are spending more time on EHR than with patients. Automation can help reduce the time spent on EHR, thereby giving doctors an opportunity to spend more time examining patients. This is an obvious use case for automation that suggests itself. But, for most industries, the use cases may not be quite as evident. Without the right use cases, ROI on automation can be frustratingly low and can quickly result in management losing interest.
Our conversations with clients in the light of COVID-19 have shown that three out of 10 require automation to improve their Business Continuity Planning (BCP) ensuring their workforce is as productive as it was during pre-COVID-19. This is among the more valuable use cases to invest in for the short and the long term.
However, a good automation strategy must keep a few non-negotiable end goals in mind:
Many customers we interact with want to examine the use-case led model. What increases the willingness to apply automation for a prospect is when a particular process has been automated before by another player. If even three of the four goals mentioned above are met, and the use case can be measured for the value it delivers, it is time to roll out automation.
Automation has an important role to play in addressing the immediate needs created by COVID-19. It can quickly return workplace efficiencies and productivity to pre COVID-19 levels, and at the same time keep employees safe. Most importantly, it can scale for volume without linear investments. That is why organizations must choose their business processes for automation with care. They can begin by picking low hanging fruits for quick returns. With progress, they can set their sights higher.
[i] https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/01/13/electronic-health-records-here-is-how-much-time-doctors-are-spending-with-them/#728a8a7f5172
Co-authored by:
Sandeep Kumar
Senior Vice President, ITC Infotech
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kumarsandeep/
Website: https://www.itcinfotech.com/capabilities/automation/
Milan Seth
Executive Vice President, IMEA Region, Automation Anywhere
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/milan-sheth-6681a23
Praveen Bhadada
Managing Partner, Emerging Tech & Private Equity, Zinnov
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pbhadada/
The risk of using ‘half-baked’ data to address the challenges posed by COVID-19
COVID-19 still has a lingering effect on our lives. It has a profound impact on how the future is going to shape up for businesses and organizations. Many businesses like travel, hospitality, retail, CPG, Banking and financial services, and technology services have cut budgets or spend on their projects. Consumer behavioral traits are changing, operations are becoming more touch-less and resilient, partners need to support with services and products that are safe and secure.
The essential role of automation in end-user computing
The CIOs and IT leaders across the globe are facing the pressure of managing and addressing the technology and IT needs of the organization against the ever-existing challenge of reducing IT spend. CIOs in the current scenario also need to rethink how IT infrastructure services are delivered in a secured manner also looking at the aspect of data security. Security is a big consideration in the new world of accessing data from the outside. The old world of connecting to data and systems from inside to outside has shifted 180 degrees to access data from outside in– especially after the pandemic has impacted global business
PLM as a backbone for Disruptive Digital Thread
Product complexity is on the rise. while PLM has done well in discrete manufacturing, it is about to make a huge dent in process industries such as oil and gas, paper products, textiles, and chemicals. PLM is emerging as the backbone of a disruptive digital thread. The adoption of PLM is helping manufacturers optimize the operations and maximize ROI on digital and industry 4.0 technologies.
