BPOs are amid the hype of automation. Next stop? Hyper-Automation!

BPOs are amid the hype of automation. Next stop? Hyper-Automation!

The manner in which the world conducts business is ever changing. Humans have to keep track of so many variables when making a decision that it is almost impossible not to rely upon technology. An “educated guess” doesn′t make the cut anymore. In fact,?Gartner ?claims that?65% of the decisions made are more complex than just two years ago.

Being smart about what to automate is crucial for businesses to succeed. There are 5 key elements that can be automated: processes, customer service, employee experience, data entry and reporting. Doing so through a specialized automation partner such as a Business Process Outsourcer (BPO) increases efficiency and accuracy, reduces costs, and improves customer satisfaction.

For example, the Institute for Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence stated in a recent?publication ?that robotic process automation can create a 25-50% cost savings. Prior to automation, one BPO service provider that handled the application for processing insurance benefits employed a full-time human employee who could complete the process in an average of 12 minutes. Automation software completed the process in one-third the time, tripling the transaction volume for one-tenth of the full-time employee cost.

What does hyper-automation have to do with automation?

BPOs and other companies have initially been running different automation tools in a siloed fashion - many were used, but they were not interconnected. These businesses have been building out their automation fabrics, digital transformation frameworks, or automation suites, resulting in what we now call hyper-automation to deliver an optimal solution and bring a full suite of capabilities to their clients

Hyper automation simply refers to stacking and integrating several technologies, tools, or platforms. Examples of these include Artificial Intelligence (AI), event-driven software architecture, robotic process automation (RPA), business process management (BPM)/intelligent BPM suites (iBPMS), integration platform as a service (iPaaS), low-code/no-code tools, packaged software, and other types of decision, process, and task automation tools.

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Combining all these tools ultimately results in an exponential increase in speed to deliver value. Even though the processes remain the same, technology now enables fewer people to deliver more value, faster.

Does more automation mean better decision-making?

Survey data by?Gartner ?shows that hyper-automation initiatives enable business unit personnel to be much better equipped for data-driven decision-making with higher-quality data at a faster pace. So, it's not only about speed but about more informed decision-making.

BPOs are now taking hyper-automation to the next level by connecting the hyper-automation stack of technologies to different input and output systems such as their client's applications (SFDC, HubSpot, SAP, Oracle) and even their productivity tools (MS Teams, Slack). This next-level orchestration can be accommodated into what is called a hyper-automation pipeline.

What is a hyper-automation pipeline?

A hyper-automation pipeline is a process by which data is sent to and from applications and during these transfers data passes through an orchestrated suite of automation tools to perform actions or make business decisions.

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For example, multi-channel contact centers can gather a myriad of data from different sources: mobile, email and web platforms provide inputs in the form of voice, text, and numbers. These records are then filtered through an enterprise automation fabric that processes them, analyzes them through artificial intelligence, and mines the different processes to determine the best route to take. Software robots can then examine each scenario and trigger the right action to make the most optimal decision for the business. Humans may also interact with these tools to manually process exceptions or perform knowledge-based activities. These actions lead to results that can be displayed through dashboards, informing the stakeholders about the key performance indicators through multiple productivity tools where entire teams can have ready-to-drive-value insights at their fingertips.

How is all of this relevant?

Gartner ?estimates that more than 56% of organizations have an average of four or more concurrent hyper-automation initiatives underway. These same studies showed that over 15% had more than 10 concurrent initiatives.

Fierce competition coupled with new technologies being released every day means that businesses have to be more conscious than ever about their decision-making processes. Thus, it is important to take a holistic approach to automation rather than focusing on automating individual tasks to deliver value faster, less expensive, and better.


* All views and comments are my own.

Tracy Klitch

AI-First Product Leader | Trusted Advisor | Business Process Management & Outsourcing Leader | Enterprise Solutions Expert | US Army Veteran | Contact Center

2 年

Great article, James! Lots of valued content in your article.

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