Roadmap to an Intelligent Automation Centre of Excellence

Most organisations have adopted some form of automation, though many are struggling to scale and accelerate their programs. Building an Intelligent Automation CoE (IA CoE) is unarguably one of the most important steps any organisation can take if they want to achieve digital transformation.?

The main purpose of a CoE is to ensure standardised practices are in alignment with organisational goals and ensure automation provides synergistic benefits. Firms will need to make important decisions on when to establish a CoE, identify the most suitable CoE model, adopt best practices established by consultants, resource it appropriately and set realistic expectations to drive automation programs across the enterprise.?

What is an Intelligent Automation CoE??

Intelligent automation (IA) CoE is a team of highly skilled individuals, with well-defined roles from across the organisation, working together to enable and accelerate automation adoption across the enterprise. The IA CoE helps identify automation opportunities, establish the process of automation, share best practices, select appropriate tools and technologies, and track its results. It is built around critical processes, technologies, or applications that an organisation uses for its day-to-day operations.

An IA CoE can guide organisations towards high-value and long-lasting automation initiatives by strategically using robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and analytics to effectively accomplish its objectives of a successful and self-sustaining transformation.?

When is the best time to create it??

Opportunities for automation exist in every part of an organisation. As automation scales, a well-designed Intelligent Automation CoE can be the key to success in the digital future of the organisation.?

Typically, an IA CoE is established once an organisation has automated a few processes or undertaken a few proofs-of-concept and realises there are significant benefits to expanding across the business. At this point, the organisation also has a few automation experts that would be better utilised in a team designed specifically for automation initiatives.?

While an IA CoE can be established right at the start of the automation journey composed of only the four critical roles (business analyst, developer, infrastructure engineer, and the C-Suite Champion), once the business aligns its goals and long-term plans and automation adoption spreads within the firm, the team can be scaled.??

Start with a small CoE in the initial stages of your automation journey and gradually add more roles to the CoE as automation matures and the process pipeline expands. You may not want to start with a large CoE as costs may increase and the team will be underutilised.?

Automation silos are also a key challenge in scaling automation. When pockets of automation exist in a firm and are not inter-connected, businesses incur a higher cost and don’t realise tangible returns. An IA CoE can help connect these automation silos into an automation program connecting processes within functions, bringing in economies of scale, and higher returns on investment It’s never too late to establish and utilise the expertise and vast knowledge that industry practitioners bring. Firms with a strategy to rapidly scale their programs need such a team to support their plans.?

Why is it needed??

Organisations face multiple challenges when implementing g their intelligent automation strategy. Some of these challenges include:?

• Process fragmentation – In most organisations, processes are spread across different functions in the front, middle, and back offices. Implementing automation in the front office can be impacted by and impact stakeholders in the middle- and back offices. This restricts the scope of automation and limits the benefits it can provide.
• Lack of support from IT teams – With competing priorities of IT systems management, sometimes automation takes a back seat. In addition, IT teams are focused on applications, and automation is often focused on these applications rather than a holistic view of a process.??
• Limited employee engagement – While the fear of losing jobs due to automation has reduced, it is important to ensure employee engagement with these initiatives. Firms often take only a top-down approach to automation, with little or no input from the people closest to the process and process owners, leading to scepticism around these strategies.??
• Lack of clear objectives and vision or clear communication – Many firms create an automation strategy but often haven’t clearly defined their goals and visions. It is critical to clearly lay out why an automation program is needed and communicate its need across the enterprise.??

What are its benefits??

An IA CoE is the backbone of a successful automation program. It brings together people, processes, and technologies, so an organisation can realise its goals, save costs, and automate faster.?

• Organised automation implementation - An IA CoE will help translate an organisation’s automation vision into concrete actions backed by data and expertise. It brings in a cohesive and standardised approach, sharing best practices to ensure the efficient rollout of automation projects while making sure all standards of compliance and security are met.?
• Cost Management - Infrastructure costs can sometimes be prohibitive for firms and curb their automation ambitions. With an IA CoE, these costs can be easily optimised with reusable components, shared licenses, and technology setup. Also, an IA CoE can identify low-hanging fruits that can provide the impetus for an effective enterprise-wide automation program.??
• Resource Management - As automation programs scale within an organisation, an IA CoE can provide expert resources and guidance to identify and fill resource gaps, enabling better utilisation of existing resources.?
• Competitive Edge - To generate and maintain a competitive advantage, businesses need to find ways to better utilise technology advancements. An IA CoE helps leverage technologies effectively to provide deeper customer insights, launch new products faster, improve process efficiencies, reduce costs, and provide a competitive edge over peers.?

The COE program helped us accelerate our digital and operational excellence initiatives across the company. - Programme Director, Business Process??Services Company

A well-planned and executed Intelligent Automation Centre of Excellence (IA CoE) can deliver significant business impact to the organization by fostering an open and innovative culture, enhancing employee and customer engagement, and delivering a competitive edge.??

A typical IA CoE team consists of people with different skill sets, sharing resources and working collaboratively to ensure smooth implementation of automation processes across the enterprise.?

How is an IA CoE created???

Establishing a CoE framework is as important as, if not more, than the work it does. Businesses need to invest time into creating a clear and effective framework for sustained success. Below are the five critical steps on how to establish an IA CoE.??

Step 1:?Define why a CoE is needed?

The most critical step is to establish the purpose and objectives of the centre. While the team and projects can start small, the overall objectives need to be in alignment with larger business priorities. It is also important to establish design principles, lay out the scope of work, and its operating model and articulate how success will be measured.??

Step 2: Determine the technology stack?

Ascertain the technology scope of the center and what tools it will be responsible for implementing, managing, and maintaining based on the organisation’s automation objectives. This stack should enable the business to achieve its vision rather than just meet current requirements. It is vital to avoid legacy tools that would prevent you from futureproofing.??

Step 3: Establish a governance structure

A CoE needs to be innovative, agile, and well-organised for it to be successful. Based on the automation goals of the business and where it is in its automation journey, an appropriate governance structure must be implemented.??

• Centralised CoE: In this structure, all automation activities from development, testing, documentation, and delivery are handled by a unified, central team. It is most beneficial for companies that are starting or have just started their automation journey. It sets the stage for scaling with best practices, standardised deployment and methodology, and reusable assets.?
• Federated CoE: In this structure, each business unit has its own CoE, enabling faster scaling of automation programs. It is usually used when the automation journey picks up within an enterprise as the need of the hour is accelerated adoption across the enterprise.??
• Hybrid / Partially Federated CoE: This structure is usually adopted when a company is moving from a centralised CoE model to a Federated CoE model. In this model, smaller CoEs have formed but still leverage skills and resources from the centralised CoE. It is effective when certain business units have larger requirements that need to be prioritised or a niche requires specialised skills.??

A strong and relevant governance structure provides stability to automation programs and ensures clear and rapid implementation of automation opportunities.??

Step 4: Mobilise the resources and skills??

Assemble a strong team with the right attitude, knowledge, and expertise and empower them with the relevant tools and budget. For businesses starting small, the team can comprise only the critical roles that are well-defined. As the automation program grows, so does the IA CoE team.??

Step 5: Futureproof the CoE?

To ensure the sustainability of the CoE, it must stay relevant, and useful and improve continuously. Reusing existing components and developing new reusable components ensure standardisation across the business, while also bringing down costs. Also, leveraging ideas and assets from the grassroots builds a stronger automation culture, allowing businesses to stay competitive. Regular monitoring and review of the CoE’s progress can enable quicker course corrections or sprints as needed and feed into the firm’s success factors.?

Who should be on the CoE??

An IA CoE is responsible for using its collective expertise and knowledge about the industry to support the organisation’s automation objectives. An effective unit must include both technical and business roles.??

In its infancy, a nimble and effective CoE should have four critical roles - Business Analyst, Infrastructure Engineer, Developer, and C-Suite Champion. The C-Suite champion needs to come on board as soon as possible because it plays a key role in finding new automation opportunities for the organisation.??

• Business Analyst: Business analysts help identify the right opportunities for automation, liaise between business and automation teams, and oversee the process definitions and process maps.??
• Developer: A developer designs, develops, tests, and supports the automation implementation.??
• IT Infrastructure Engineer: Infrastructure engineers are mainly responsible for providing support for installing and troubleshooting servers.?
• C-suite champion: This person is the executive sponsor and is critical to ensure various team rally together to ensure successful automation. Typically, the COO is the sponsor with CTO supporting the program.

As the CoE team grows, there are more roles required in a typical CoE.

• Evangelist: Someone who will advocate adopting automation across the organisation. The evangelist’s responsibility lies in showcasing the benefits of automation and building an automation pipeline.?
• Change Manager: A change manager oversees a smooth transition and is responsible for communicating with all stakeholders about the changes and keeping them updated throughout the process.??
• Solution Architect: The Solution Architect is the technical backbone and is responsible for designing the solution, how it will be built, and overseeing its progression through the development and implementation phases.?

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