In the past several years, automation software has been in high demand among a wealth of businesses, largely driven by the technology's ability to reduce error rates, drive efficiency and improve the ebb and flow of general operations. Now, a few emerging trends have had an even greater impact on the ways in which companies are approaching automation, as well as how the tools are being used following implementation and why investments are streaming in this direction.
When looking around the modern workplace, it should not take long to realize just how complex and novel the average IT framework has become, with cloud computing, advanced analytics, new networking and mobility all challenging the mettle of decision-makers and technology workers. Automation can be viewed as one method of reducing the strain placed on people and processes when implementing new technologies and strategies fit for the current era.
Key drivers
TechNavio recently released its Global Scheduling and Automation Software Market report that forecast investments in the technology to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 11.75 percent through 2018. As a note, the analysts there defined scheduling and automation tools as software that helps companies better manage workflows and streamline IT infrastructure for more prolific performance.
Not surprisingly, researchers affirmed that growth in big data and social networks has combined to force the issue for many organizations, stimulating more demand for automation tools that can streamline management and oversight in these areas.
"Social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are helping retailers in advertising, promoting and driving sales," TechNavio Vice President Faisal Ghaus explained. "As a result, big data and social networks are contributing to increased traffic and changing traffic patterns, which cannot be handled by traditional networks and their operational models. Thus, to overcome this issue, performance and scalability need to be improved with automation and orchestration that can provide agility and flexibility to data centers and organizations."
In many ways, one can look at the reasons for automation market expansion as being highly organic, as companies work to get the most out of their various investments by capitalizing on their strengths. For example, TechNavio asserted that social media websites can help businesses reach more users, build solid relationships and bolster the efficiency of commerce-related procedures to enable higher profit margins.
Since automation can further streamline these matters and optimize the management of workflows across the business, it is well-suited to these types of pursuits. Likewise, big data relies on automation to take massive volumes of unstructured and structured data and turn them into actionable insights to better inform the decision-making process, and automation can help those responsible for overseeing the investments move through their activities more smoothly.
Boundless opportunities
In a word, automation technology truly knows no bounds, and businesses that keep an open mind when approaching the alignment of investments to core objectives will tend to get a little more from these deployments than those taking a cookie-cutter approach. When a firm's decision-makers understand exactly where operations stand – and where they ought to – they will have a better chance at deriving value from automation tools.
From reporting analytics and workflows to accounts payable and beyond, automation software can have a profoundly positive impact on any organization so long as the tools are well-matched to core requirements and needs. Considering the fact that a growing majority of businesses are automating at least some procedures in their operational and IT frameworks, those that are yet to embrace the technology might find themselves at a competitive disadvantage before long.
