Businesses have been faced with increasingly competitive markets amid the nation's recovery from the Great Recession, forcing each firm to find ways to become more productive, efficient and lean. One of the ways many decision-makers have gone about approaching these modern demands is automating certain core business processes to reduce the amount of data entry employees are expected to complete and bolster the accuracy of general content management.
There is no denying that a confluence of facts has made corporate management a bit more complex and dynamic today than in the past, and that the trends that have been streaming into the average workplace show no signs of slowing. Rather, the modern private sector has been fast-moving, innovation-driven and increasingly digital, and businesses must respond through the deployment of supportive solutions.
Workflow automation can quickly take any organization to the next level of competitive performance, as the tools and solutions optimize the movement of processes throughout departments without straining resources, staff members or budgets. Not surprisingly, several major trends such as big data and IT service management have been further driving interest in business process automation software.
Survey highlights value
Enterprise Apps Today recently reported a software vendor released the results of a new survey that revealed some of the ways in which businesses are deriving value from process automation tools, affirming that 82 percent of respondents are looking to leverage the technology to manage other new trends. Because cloud computing and big data, among other trends, are a bit more complex to manage and come with more opportunities to automate, they have ushered in new levels of demand for relevant software.
According to the news provider, 61 percent of those who responded to the survey believe that process automation boosts customer experiences, while 59 percent enjoyed stronger productivity and just over half are leveraging the tools to bolster knowledge sharing initiatives. These three objectives are generally shared among all firms deploying new automation tools for a range of processes and functions, including workflow, accounting and content management.
The source reached out to one consultant to gain insights regarding some of the complexities involved in aligning new automation software investments with standing and future goals.
"You gain efficiencies around better communication and eliminating miscommunication," David Ratcliffe, president of a consulting firm, told Enterprise Apps Today. "IT has suffered from an elitist ivory tower reputation, one that was somewhat self-inflicted. We've been trying to break that down for years and get IT to think of themselves as business people like everyone else. They can relate better to coworkers in other departments if they all speak the same language."
As for other obstacles that decision-makers will want to keep on their radar, the news provider suggested avoiding automation software siloing when possible, as this can lead to less than optimal outcomes when trying to integrate each of the tools.
Getting it right
The last component of that report might be the most important, as it highlighted some of the challenges that many businesses will face when they fail to comprehensively plan for these new deployments. IT departments must be highly involved in the early stages of provisioning, throughout the integration process and later on in the long-term management of the tools over time.
Without buy-in from technology workers, the chances of the solutions functioning optimally and assisting employees through their responsibilities will tend to be a bit lower. By using the right solutions and ensuring that communication among IT departments and the executive board is tight, businesses can often derive a bit more value from these and other technologies.
