The future of business and how we do work is rapidly changing. Companies no longer see automation as a mere tool to eradicate repetitive tasks. It has gone far beyond, becoming crucial in running a business.
In fact, from $9.8 billion in 2020, the business process automation (BPA) market is expected to reach $19.6 billion in 2026. Moreover, about 62 percent of businesses use AI to support their IT operations. If you don't tap into intelligent business automation to handle volumes of work, you’ll get left behind.
What Is Intelligent Automation?
Currently, businesses use intelligent automation extensively to automate operations, produce and process vast data, and increase productivity. This involves software using artificial intelligence (AI) and other innovative technologies to automate tasks that don’t require human expertise.
There are various benefits to intelligent automation that businesses are scrambling to adapt the technology to outperform their competition.
The Hype of Intelligent Business Automation (IBA)
IBA takes automation a step further by leveraging smart algorithms which can predict upcoming trends and uncover data patterns. This makes it simpler for organizations to determine what next steps to take for processes to run smoothly without setbacks. No wonder businesses are jumping on board as the hype around IBA is at an all-time high.
IBA has diverse applications, and it can be used by financial institutions, governments, hospitals, schools, and more. It also boosts support for collaboration in analytics, decision-making, and social media integration.
The Three Components
Intelligent automation is an integration of the following cognitive technologies.
- Artificial Intelligence - AI is crucial to intelligent automation as it functions as the decision-making engine. It uses complicated algorithms and machine learning to analyze and observe different kinds of data. Companies use AI to create an information base and use it to analyze and predict.
- Business Process Management - This next component automates, designs, and manages an organization's workflow. This is where automation tools like low-code automation engines and software project management come in.
- Robotic Process Automation - This is the last component that uses bots to perform basic tasks like data acquisition through forms or to ask simple questions.
How To Use IBA To Improve Processes
What’s exciting about intelligent automation is that it’s easy to deploy. If you are considering incorporating IBA into your company’s processes, follow these steps:
1) Determine Which Process To Automate
Identify the parts of your business processes that you can automate and not affect output quality. You can determine this by observing the data you have from your past inefficient processes.
2) Establish Goals
Why do you want to automate? When designing your automation strategy, remember your goals for clear direction. Do you want to improve quality or save time and money?
3) Map Out the Entire Workflow
This is where you design the workflow with complete details. Try to add parallel workflows and extra or optional tasks. Consult with the team involved in the process and gather input while you revise your workflow design.
4) Automate and Test
Automate particular tasks in your workflow by using low-code automation. You can do this without the need for traditional computer programming. Once the tasks are set up, you can start executing the process in a controlled environment to test its efficiency.
Automate in Ways Never Done Before
In this fast-paced environment, mistakes are hard to avoid. This makes automation vital to organizations -- to streamline processes where human flaws commonly occur.