How to get started

Reading headlines and multiple reports, one would think that by now most organisations have already automated most of their repetitive routine activities and processes, and are now well into automating knowledge – reasoning, judgement, probabilistic decision-making, and prediction. But this is far from the case, we have found that intelligent automation has not featured highly in many organisations’ forward plans and actions. Digital businesses are more efficient, operating at lower cost income ratios. Across industries, the bar is being set higher and higher. To deliver shareholder returns, attract capital, and succeed in a competitive landscape, businesses will have to succeed in their efforts to automate and increase profit per employee. We’ve used our extensive experience to develop a list of key considerations that organisations should take into account as they embark on IA implementations. These tips are designed to help companies ensure that their deployments are both successful and sustainable. Transforming a business by leveraging automation technologies should be a C-level agenda item. By starting with a business process lens, organisations should evaluate where automation will be most valuable for their business, where to start, and how fast they need to move.

1. CIOs must then work with stakeholders to clearly define the business problems that need to be solved, and paint a clear picture of the desired business outcome.
2. Redesign the business process to achieve the desired business outcome. Plugging an automation tool into a poorly designed process won’t make it better. It will extend the life of that process and likely create more work and expense further down the line.
3. When CIOs look for automation solutions, they are inundated with choice. To assemble the right set of tools, they should focus on how each solution can help them achieve their desired business outcome.
4. CIOs should measure their success in terms of added business value. They should look at metrics related to their desired business outcomes, instead of focusing on cost and efficiency.

Although these points provide useful general advice, IA presents different challenges and opportunities for each business.