Unlock maximum automation potential with “hyperautomation”

• Proper implementation and clear understanding are essential to harness its benefits.
• Right technologies and tools can not only augment work but are essential to generate more returns and better outcomes.

Hyperautomation is aimed at automating the process and tasks performed by humans with the use of new-age technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML).

With automation, humans can emphasise more on high-value tasks rather than performing low value/repetitive tasks. The combination of automation and human intellect will not only boost productivity but reduce operational costs and provide better customer experiences.

As per Gartner, “By 2024, organisations will lower operational costs by 30 per cent by combining hyperautomation technologies with redesigned operational processes.”

Hyperautomation created a buzz amongst industry leaders by securing top position in the “Gartner’s Top 10 strategic technology trends for 2020”. Some of the industry experts claim it to be the next phase of digital transformation.

Today, most organisations are familiar with the advantages of automation. It not only adds value to their automation strategy but at times goes beyond and performs tasks. 

Organisations are embracing the automation imperative and doubling their investment, especially due to the pandemic. 

As per “The 2020 Honeywell Intelligrated Automation Investment Study”, more than half of the US companies are increasingly open to investing in automation to survive changing market conditions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hyperautomation has been around for quite a while, and it will be a boon for most of the industries/sectors; here are some of the examples that prove it:

The key objective for the healthcare sector is advanced patient service, optimised process, and regulatory compliance. Hyperautomaiton can fulfil its objectives and deliver great value to the healthcare sector with its high-level automated process. Automation Anywhere saved $700,000 labour costs and increased the data processing by 5 times of its client ‘WebPT’ with its cloud-based RPA enterprise A2019 platform.

Banking and financial services involve financial and claim transactions with customers, fund managers, buyers, and other organizations. Hyperautomation can use technologies such as RPA and NLP to extract data and perform analytics to identify fraudulent actions. While optical character recognition (OCR), can reduce human intervention in banking procedures thus increasing accuracy. 

Manufacturing companies are adopting hyperautomation technologies especially in RPA and AI to increase efficiency and reduce cost. Vale one of the largest mining companies in the world saved more than $12 million in costs by implementing Automation Anywhere’s RPA.

It offers several benefits with the addition of new-age technologies, some of which are mentioned below:

• Workforce engagement: Hyerautomation optimizes workflow allocation by use of advanced technologies to ease manual work and improve quality. It involves employees from across the organization structure in its journey of digital transformation (right from developers to decision-makers) and helps organizations to build a more collaborative environment.
• Business Flexibility: With multiple new-age technologies, it makes it easier for businesses to grow and adapt to the ever-changing business environment. 
• Better ROI Value: Advanced analytics tools and capabilities helps organisations to increase operational efficiency and save labour cost. As per the survey conducted by Deloitte last year, executives estimate that intelligent automation will provide an average cost reduction of 22 per cent and an increase in revenue of 11 per cent over the next three years.
• Advanced analytics capabilities: It helps organisations especially the decision-makers to derive valuable insights on current as well as future trends.

Hyperautomation could be extremely beneficial to the organisation that requires low automation levels, but it becomes a challenge to those that require a high level of automation as the processes vary for each industry and application. Some of the key challenges include:

• Choosing the right tool and combining them with specific use cases.
• Most industry experts are worried about the potential misuse of data since various monitoring tools are used in hyperautomation.
• Organisations planning to implement hyperautomation can have a hard time convincing their workforce that it will boost productivity and efficiency rather than replacing them.

Conclusion: 

It is important to take vital steps towards managing the change, especially with the workforce. Taking a top-down approach to gain employee support and encounter their fears of replacement would be an essential step to get exponential returns.

Hyperautomation is undoubtedly an important step in the digital transformation that will positively impact our lives. However, proper implementation and clear understanding are essential to harness its benefits.

Right technologies and tools can not only augment work but are essential to generate more returns and better outcomes.

• Natasha Bhiwgade is a technology analyst since 2016. She is passionate about researching emerging technologies especially artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). She believes “Technology is best when it makes Life Easy.”