Future of Sourcing - Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO) http://futureofsourcing.com/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso en How to Minimise “Attention-Seeking” RPA http://futureofsourcing.com/how-to-minimise-attention-seeking-rpa <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/attention_seeking_rpa624x325_0.jpg"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/attention_seeking_rpa624x325_0.jpg" title="How to Minimise “Attention-Seeking” RPA" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1272-HNx8G3IBX8E"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/attention_seeking_rpa624x325_0.jpg?itok=bkc0_CSD" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <div>In 2018, the conversation around automation outsourcing has moved away from &ldquo;are you automating?&rdquo; to &ldquo;how are you doing it?&rdquo; Due to the <a href="https://www.enate.net/insights" target="_blank">very clear business benefits</a> of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and <a href="http://www.futureofsourcing.com/will-rso-change-the-world-in-2018" target="_blank">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a>, businesses are now drilling down into the specifics of how best to manage their combined human and digital workforce, and how to get the most out of their automation initiatives.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>One of the most pressing issues is that of attended versus unattended automation and how businesses can find the right balance of human resource to independent bot workers. Decision-makers are swiftly coming to realise that what may have at first appeared to be a single RPA platform is in fact an integrated system of complementary automation programmes, which when properly managed can deliver more than the sum of their parts. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>So what&rsquo;s the difference between the two? As the name would suggest, unattended automation needs minimal support from <a href="http://www.futureofsourcing.com/robot-workers-and-human-problems-hiring-and-firing-your-digital-workforce" target="_blank">human workers/managers</a>, whereas attended automation needs more careful supervision. Each subset brings both unique and complementary benefits to businesses.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Unattended RPA &ndash; Killing the &lsquo;Drudge Work&rsquo;&nbsp;</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>This is the RPA that needs minimal human involvement, with the software capable of taking on and processing a large amount of material. So, you&rsquo;re most likely to find unattended automation in the back office of large companies. There aren&rsquo;t too many barriers to access &ndash; employees can check in on the automation software from multiple locations. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Industries like insurance, banking, recruitment and local government can all benefit here. If there are a large number of invoices, claims to process and/or employee forms to fill out or analyse, then it&rsquo;s extremely helpful to have unattended automation at play. It works by itself, creating a smooth and streamlined process, boosting workflow efficiency and enhancing company profitability.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Attended RPA&nbsp;</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>When it comes to attended automation, humans have more of a direct role to play. The automation isn&rsquo;t as generally accessible as its unattended cousin who often stays with one particular team or at least within a certain department. It&rsquo;s being triggered by specific actions or events in a workflow, rather than dictating the entire workflow alone.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>It&rsquo;s a more complex world, where human workers have a far higher degree of responsibility. A result of this is that attended automation systems tend to be far more user friendly &ndash; switching between a range of interfaces needs to be made as agile as possible. Another benefit is that attended RPA is likely to optimise business processes end to end rather than just focus on one particular area.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>So, implementation is swift, <a href="http://www.futureofsourcing.com/ecosystems-roi-and-the-hot-air-balloon-myth" target="_blank">ROI is high</a> and disruption to existing workflows is often minimised for companies. This is also one of the clearest cases of automation not replacing human workers, but rather helping to optimise their working processes and ultimately deliver more value.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Getting the Best of Both Worlds&nbsp;</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Successful companies will deploy both attended and unattended automation to meet their RPA goals, and one of the keys to this is RSO. An RSO platform offers end-to-end visibility of all the RPA programmes that a company has in play and can speed up the process by which humans get involved. RSO lets businesses make the most of the versatility of both unattended and attended automation. Furthermore, RSO creates a great opportunity to drive automation benefits from predominantly covering the back office &ndash; automating routine, repetitive tasks &ndash; to addressing the front office, where typically attended automation will enable improved customer engagement and revenue generation. &nbsp;</div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/return-on-investment-roi" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Return on Investment (ROI)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/implementation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Implementation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/technology" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Technology</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/automation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Automation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="How to Minimise &amp;ldquo;Attention-Seeking&amp;rdquo; RPA - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/how-to-minimise-attention-seeking-rpa"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Wed, 05 Sep 2018 18:50:55 +0000 Kit Cox 1272 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/how-to-minimise-attention-seeking-rpa#comments It’s Always Good to (Twitter) Chat http://futureofsourcing.com/its-always-good-to-twitter-chat <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Enate%20Chat-624x325.jpg"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Enate%20Chat-624x325.jpg" title="It’s Always Good to (Twitter) Chat" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1220-HNx8G3IBX8E"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Enate%20Chat-624x325.jpg?itok=p8ycsNMW" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-intro field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p><span xml:lang="EN-GB">A</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">utomation lessons from the&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">first #</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">EnateChat</span></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{98d003a9-a995-45fc-a59a-c18a4319b0ff}{216}" paraid="491192179"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">On the 28</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"><span data-fontsize="11">th</span></span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;of June,&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Enate</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;held its first ever&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">#</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">EnateChat</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">Twitter chat. We were looking to tap into the thoughts, opinions and predictions of&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">the&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">automation/RP</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">A</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;community</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">and</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;I was</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">asked to lead the chat, posing&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">a series of questions</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">looking&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">to spark debate.</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">I&rsquo;m&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">thrilled&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">to say that</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;the</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23EnateChat&amp;src=typd" target="_blank">#</a></span><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23EnateChat&amp;src=typd" target="_blank"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">EnateChat</span></a><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;was a big success!&nbsp;</span></p> </div> <div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{df5a505c-9325-4e64-b2c5-9f43d96ca950}{23}" paraid="1203938019"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">I</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">n&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">the&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">rapid-fire</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;half-hour discussion on how to make the most&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">of&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">the combined human/digital workforce, we saw users joining the chat from as far afield as India, Poland</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;and the USA</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, pinging over 100 tweets&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">during the 30-</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">minute slot</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. Symphony Ventures, SIG</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;and ISG</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, were just a few of the companies that got involved</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, and we also&nbsp;</span>heard from journalist Adi Gaskell and Outsource Magazine editors Sarah Holliman and Hailey Corr, who were able to offer their own unique take on the automation space.</p> <p paraeid="{df5a505c-9325-4e64-b2c5-9f43d96ca950}{23}" paraid="1203938019"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">It was fantastic to see the interest and passion that people have when it comes to automation and&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">a</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;world&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">where&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">bots and human</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">are increasingly&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">co-</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">existing</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">. To that end, there were some common themes that&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">emerged during the chat, all&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">of which&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">cent</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">e</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">red</span>&nbsp;on the problem of&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">integrating the</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;digital workforce with human workers.</span></p> <p paraeid="{df5a505c-9325-4e64-b2c5-9f43d96ca950}{23}" paraid="1203938019"><strong><span xml:lang="EN-GB">1.)&nbsp;Automation&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">implementation&nbsp;and taking the &lsquo;R&rsquo; out of RPA and RSO</span></strong></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{df5a505c-9325-4e64-b2c5-9f43d96ca950}{152}" paraid="855469027"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">While Adi Gaskell made the point that it&rsquo;s nice to see&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">the silliness about robots taking over the world dying down</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rdquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;there seems to be a lingering problem for businesses&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">introducing</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;bots into their workforce.</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;Many users agreed that&nbsp;</span><a href="http://outsourcemag.com/robotic-process-automation-rpa-drives-value-and-saves-money-but-it-is-not-a-magic-wand" target="_blank"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">implementation is the main&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">issue</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rdquo;</span></a>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">and that interest in automation/RPA at</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;the</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;board-level wasn&rsquo;t matched by the&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">capability on the ground.</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">Sarah Holliman, SIG, suggested there</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;are also potential issues with making sure that the human workforce is comfortable with the introduction of</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;RPA software (or physical automation) into the working environment</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">:&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">H</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ow do you make the humans in the workplace feel like the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bots?src=hash" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">bot</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">s</span></a><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;are part of the team?</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rdquo;</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{df5a505c-9325-4e64-b2c5-9f43d96ca950}{217}" paraid="1059102894"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Humanising the digital, and making sure that humans remain in ultimate control, were</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;good</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;&lsquo;airbag&rsquo; solutions.&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Dawn&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Tiura</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;of SIG put forward:&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">I would love it if we were able to take the R out of RPA and RSO,&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">wouldn&rsquo;t</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;you?</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rdquo;</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://outsourcemag.com/author/kit-cox" target="_blank">Kit Cox</a> of&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Enate</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;responded:&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN">It would certainly</span><span xml:lang="EN">&nbsp;highlight the key difference between <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/gearing-up-for-the-fifth-industrial-revolution-a-glass-half-full" target="_blank">Process and Service</a>.</span><span xml:lang="EN">&rdquo;</span></p> <p paraeid="{df5a505c-9325-4e64-b2c5-9f43d96ca950}{217}" paraid="1059102894"><strong>2.) People are getting the business benefits of bots</strong></p> </div> </div> <div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{da2910bf-a8d2-4e6a-b7b5-2149c1433152}{13}" paraid="1763717290"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Kamal Saran provided an excellent example for the benefits of automation taking on tasks&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">that</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">might typically be seen as&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">drudge work</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;in order to provide a more efficient and beneficial service. He asked users to consider a&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">public sector</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;employee who can manage RPA software to collect data from multiple systems and verify the benefits&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">to which&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">a citizen might be entitled</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;The human worker can arrive at the correct decision more quickly</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;and has time freed up to focus on the unique elements of each case</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">which may&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">require soft skills.</span></p> <p paraeid="{da2910bf-a8d2-4e6a-b7b5-2149c1433152}{13}" paraid="1763717290"><strong><span xml:lang="EN-GB">3.)&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Automation needs to go hand in hand with orchestration</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></p> </div> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{da2910bf-a8d2-4e6a-b7b5-2149c1433152}{62}" paraid="1214523868"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Lee Lundy from Symphony Ventures stated that bots seemed most scary or alien when they&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">aren&rsquo;t doing a given role&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">[</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">as</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">]</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">part of the team</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rdquo;</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">It&rsquo;s this&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">disconnect</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;between</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;the</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;acquisition and</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;implementation</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;of&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">bots</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;that can lead to the workforce operating below expected levels. Chris&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Gayner</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, Lee&rsquo;s colleague,&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">also added that&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">not all bots are created equal</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&mdash;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">assistive bots that work with humans need to be treated differently to process/transaction bots</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&mdash;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">and thus require a different&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">comms</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">strategy</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.&rdquo;</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">He also added</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">that being clear about&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">virtual workers</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rsquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;purpose</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;and managing them efficiently with sufficient oversight was key to success.</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{da2910bf-a8d2-4e6a-b7b5-2149c1433152}{149}" paraid="1168555566"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Busy times during</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">#</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">EnateChat</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;over a half hour period</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&mdash;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">and&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">before I&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">knew it</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;it was time</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;bring things to a close</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">.&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Hey&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ho</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, &ldquo;l</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">eave them wanting more</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rdquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;as the saying goes.</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">We&rsquo;r</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">e already looking forward to the next one&hellip;watch this space!</span></p> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/digital-workforce" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Digital Workforce</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/automation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Automation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/task-bots" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Task Bots</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="It&amp;rsquo;s Always Good to (Twitter) Chat - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/its-always-good-to-twitter-chat"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Fri, 20 Jul 2018 16:48:18 +0000 Eleanor Matthews 1220 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/its-always-good-to-twitter-chat#comments Ecosystems, ROI and the Hot Air Balloon Myth http://futureofsourcing.com/ecosystems-roi-and-the-hot-air-balloon-myth <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Ecosystems%2C%20ROI%20and%20Hot%20Air%20Balloon%20Myth%20624x325_0.jpg"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Ecosystems%2C%20ROI%20and%20Hot%20Air%20Balloon%20Myth%20624x325_0.jpg" title="Ecosystems, ROI and the Hot Air Balloon Myth" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1152-HNx8G3IBX8E"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Ecosystems%2C%20ROI%20and%20Hot%20Air%20Balloon%20Myth%20624x325_0.jpg?itok=QmZbRZIR" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Whether you crossed the automation chasm early, or are just starting your journey into digital service delivery, you&rsquo;re not alone if you&rsquo;ve got questions surrounding technical ecosystem choices. Generating ROI&mdash;and how exactly to go about proving the value of numerous small automation projects versus one giant re-platforming initiative&mdash;is a common challenge.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Open vs. Closed Ecosystems&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>Should you pick one vendor and tie yourself to their technology, or <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/the-meaning-of-facebook’s-fall-out-centralized-vs-decentralized-systems" target="_blank">should you support an open ecosystem using the right tool for the right job</a>?</strong> Open APIs and cloud computing now allow us to create &lsquo;best of breed&rsquo; open ecosystems to support intelligent automation at scale. But how do you go about creating one?&nbsp;</p> <p>Here are several key questions all businesses should consider:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What data do you hold and where does it sit?&nbsp;</li> <li>How do human skillsets play into your operations environment? Do you have hundreds of human workers completing simple and repetitive tasks?&nbsp;</li> <li>Is your IT department ready for change? You need people with the knowledge, skills and inclination to experiment with intelligent automation tools and work out how they fit into your world.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>To create the most effective ecosystem possible, businesses should &lsquo;plant&rsquo; two or three different intelligent automation tools with similar capabilities into automation environments to see which one thrives. <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/orchestration-vs-integration-finding-the-best-way-to-manage-automation" target="_blank">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a> will let you &lsquo;plug and play&rsquo; and give you complete transparency to discover which vendor products and solutions work best to help meet your automation goals.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>The RSO &lsquo;Smart Meter&rsquo;&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>How do you identify and measure the benefits being achieved in end-to-end services when these benefits might come from fragmented automation activities, using various RPA and intelligent automation tools, as well as other process change or optimisation activities?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>If some benefits are coming from applying <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/node/828" target="_blank">RPA</a> for menial, systematic, repeatable tasks, while others are coming from applying other intelligent automation technologies, it is no wonder that many companies are finding it challenging to take an end-to-end view of benefits and ROI. It means that companies have to approach ROI differently and get a better view of more variables than ever before. RSO provides insight like cost performance data, helping companies see where these fragmented changes are delivering efficiency and other measurable ROI across an entire service. In the same way that we are using smart meters to more accurately measure energy consumption in the home, RSO gives a &ldquo;whole world&rdquo; view of the benefits being delivered across our automation and optimisation programmes.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Myth Busting: Size Matters. Or Does it?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>How do you compare the value delivered by numerous small process automations with those demanding single &lsquo;big ticket&rsquo; technology transformations?</strong></p> <p>If you&rsquo;re flying with one giant hot air balloon and it bursts, you&rsquo;re in trouble. But if you&rsquo;re flying with 1,000 small balloons and one bursts,&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 13.008px;">it doesn&rsquo;t really matter. Now, see this idea as having one large scale re-platforming initiative, compared to introducing a &lsquo;layer&rsquo; of digitalisation via multiple, small automation projects to your business. Many companies today are seeing more value in smaller automation initiatives. Previously, there was no real way to stick your hand up and say &quot;we need 1,000 small balloons to give us the most lift&hellip;not one big one!&quot; RSO is pretty new to the market, and so is its ability to quantify the value of your small automation initiatives to give a drilled down activity-based cost model.&nbsp;</span></p> <p>RSO provides the benefit of re-platforming without having to sink costs into an extensive IT project. With RSO, companies remove the need for programming and technical integration, minimising the technical challenges around &lsquo;hooking&rsquo; each tool into the next step of the automated process, which takes up a lot of IT resource.&nbsp;</p> <p>Food for thought&hellip;</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/value" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Value</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/cost" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Cost</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/artificial-intelligence-ai" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Artificial Intelligence (AI)</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Ecosystems, ROI and the Hot Air Balloon Myth - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/ecosystems-roi-and-the-hot-air-balloon-myth"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Wed, 18 Apr 2018 19:35:50 +0000 Kit Cox 1152 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/ecosystems-roi-and-the-hot-air-balloon-myth#comments Around the World with RPA at Full Speed http://futureofsourcing.com/around-the-world-with-rpa-at-full-speed <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/RPA%20around%20the%20world%20624.jpg"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/RPA%20around%20the%20world%20624.jpg" title="Around the World with RPA at Full Speed" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1088-HNx8G3IBX8E"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/RPA%20around%20the%20world%20624.jpg?itok=qEuYBY68" width="624" height="325" alt="Around the World with RPA at Full Speed" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Towards the end of 2017 and early 2018 we attended the &lsquo;UiPath Forward: The User Summit on RPA at Full Speed,&rsquo; in New York, London and Bangalore. The conference offered valuable insights surrounding automation and digital service delivery&mdash;here are our key takeaways.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>The &lsquo;Automation Odyssey&rsquo; is About to Begin&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Ten years ago, companies were setting off on their &lsquo;Shared Services Journey.&rsquo; Prior to that it would have been labelled the &lsquo;Great Journey Online.&rsquo; Now, increasingly it seems that companies are on an Automation Journey. Yawn&hellip;&nbsp;</p> <p>We know automation is not a one-off project; it&rsquo;s a process of ongoing improvement, with constant tweaking. However, &lsquo;journey&rsquo; is the wrong &ndash; and highly overused &ndash; word. Perhaps it is better thought of as an &ldquo;Automation Odyssey&rdquo; &ndash; a period of continual learning, overcoming challenges at times and thinking resourcefully at each stage.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Roadmaps are focusing on the &lsquo;Route to AI&rsquo; &ndash; is this right?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Whether in noisy New York or beautiful Bangalore, RPA as the &lsquo;Route to AI&rsquo; always seemed to feature heavily in many organisations&rsquo; automation action plans. But does this make complete sense in 2018? Ultimately, RPA is simply a capability that addresses one part of the service flow.&nbsp;</p> <p>You can break almost any service into three steps, as follows: first figure out what the customer wants. Second, get the materials (data, etc.) required to deliver it. Lastly, just get on with it. This last step is deterministic 90% of the time and will always be the home for RPA. AI and machine learning help us tackle the first two.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Importance of Human/Robot Governance&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Across the events, we saw a trend in terms of companies wanting to discuss problems around human/robot governance, because, as we all know, governance, insight and control across a digital and human workforce are easier said than done. It&rsquo;s worth noting, bots are by no means created equal &ndash; some are programmed to follow rules, while others are taught to learn and &lsquo;think.&rsquo; At least 20 different companies spoke to us about the problems of governance between the human and robot worlds, wanting to know how to deal with the &lsquo;edges around bots,&rsquo; which were noticeably fraying.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Note,&nbsp;Big&nbsp;Industry&nbsp;Players are&nbsp;Waking Up to RSO</strong><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Major organisations like IBM are building out Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO) platforms. RSO can help companies put governance in place while also helping to tackle control issues, simply by offering the visibility required to make important decisions surrounding services.&nbsp;</p> <p>To provide an example, if a business-critical service level is being missed, RSO makes it simple to investigate the processes that go into forming that service. A service manager can use RSO to change the blend of human and digital resources dedicated to the service over time to assess whether this improves the situation, and replace robots with human workers, or vice versa.&nbsp;</p> <p>Looks like key players have quickly realised that at the point they&rsquo;re reaching scale, orchestration is a necessity &ndash; and orchestration that ultimately must be separate to the robotic platforms themselves, at that.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Job&nbsp;Market&nbsp;Evolution is&nbsp;Nothing&nbsp;New</strong><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>With plenty of noise that future generations will hold jobs in areas that don&rsquo;t exist currently, we at Enate thought we&rsquo;d survey the market in its current state, to try and decipher whether the rapid evolution of jobs was simply a case of &lsquo;plus ça change.&rsquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>At the event in London,&nbsp;the Enate team&nbsp;demonstrated this by&nbsp;asking&nbsp;visitors to place their business card in one of two bowls and asked visitors to place their business card in one of the two, depending on whether their job did or did not exist when they were in primary school. Combining the results with that of a similar Twitter poll, we found that two thirds (67%) of respondents said that their job hadn&rsquo;t existed when they were a child. So there we go - the evolution of the job market is in fact nothing new&hellip;something to think about for automation pessimists at least.&nbsp;</p> <p>All around, it was a great event series and one that highlights that debate and discussion around scaling automation initiatives is still at the forefront of businesses who are well into their Automation Odyssey and those that are gearing up to begin on the road to digital service delivery excellence.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/governance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Governance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/artificial-intelligence-ai" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Artificial Intelligence (AI)</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Around the World with RPA at Full Speed - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/around-the-world-with-rpa-at-full-speed"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Fri, 23 Feb 2018 20:19:28 +0000 Kit Cox 1088 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/around-the-world-with-rpa-at-full-speed#comments Will RSO Change the World in 2018? http://futureofsourcing.com/will-rso-change-the-world-in-2018 <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/RSO-Kit%20Cox.jpg"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/RSO-Kit%20Cox.jpg" title="Will RSO Change the World in 2018?" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1060-HNx8G3IBX8E"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/RSO-Kit%20Cox.jpg?itok=Qc2ZopGL" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>In 2017, organisations started to get serious about automation. Research from the wider automation industry has revealed a lot about how businesses are developing and controlling their automation programmes. I was recently at the RPA (Robotic Process Automation) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) in BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) show in London; here&rsquo;s a snapshot of the top automation concerns amongst the event attendees I spoke to:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Quantifying the total value delivered by small automation initiatives&nbsp;</li> <li>Maintaining insight and control over a combined human and digital workforce&nbsp;</li> <li>Measuring the benefits of automation beyond simple cost savings</li> </ul> <p>Tom Reuner, an HfS analyst, also recently revealed that only 3% of companies are happy with how their RPA programmes are progressing. It seems remarkably common for buyers to simply purchase the wrong product, or fail to anticipate the impact of their robots on other work processes within their business.&nbsp;</p> <p>What does that mean? Organisations seem to be embracing automation and looking to implement programmes across the board, but only a very small number are reaping rewards, especially when it comes to succeeding at scale.&nbsp;</p> <p>There is a solution. Decision makers have to wake up to improved service delivery and scale via the use of RPA and Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO) together &ndash; many already are. This combination sees a central RSO platform monitor the health and efficiency of RPA within a business.&nbsp;</p> <p>RSO is moving increasingly into public awareness. And with that in mind here are my three RSO predictions for the new year.&nbsp;</p> <p>1) The beginning of the end-to-end&nbsp;</p> <p>2018 will be the year that RPA users will start to understand that they need RSO to deliver automation at scale.&nbsp;</p> <p>The value of multiple small RPA integrations is low, as it is similar to patching a tear that doesn&rsquo;t help you take advantage of transformational end-to-end automation services. Currently, making RPA work without issue requires either direct technology integration between various tools, or a dedicated resource (aka a salaried human) managing the whole workflow. It&rsquo;s a complex and sometimes expensive overhead.&nbsp;</p> <p>On the other hand, Robotic Service Orchestration manages the entire process seamlessly. Acting as an underlying &lsquo;conveyor belt&rsquo; for automation programmes, RSO moves work through each stage of a process and allocates it to be completed by the worker (whether human or bot) that is most suited.&nbsp;</p> <p>2) The rise of the digital native&nbsp;</p> <p>At this point in time, there is a significant discrepancy between &lsquo;digitally native&rsquo; organisations and competitors trying to make up ground. There are also an awful lot of companies closing their eyes to the limitations of their automation systems. Some insurance companies still only communicate with customers via letter for example. Every part of a system needs to be covered by a combined human and digital workforce, and in 2018 a large number of decision makers are going to wake up to this requirement.&nbsp;</p> <p>Introducing RSO into the equation means the best of both worlds for companies. There are the efficiencies of RPA linking to other systems, and also the customer experience and service layer being managed by RSO. This means that organisations can keep customers happy by delivering their service in the most suitable way.&nbsp;</p> <p>3) Saving time and money&nbsp;</p> <p>&lsquo;Strategic IT&rsquo; projects often have a poor reputation, and with good reason. Take &lsquo;re-platforming projects&rsquo; for example. Companies effectively chuck their pre-existing systems before replacing them with the exact same technology in a slightly different package.&nbsp;</p> <p>Not only is this bizarre, it&rsquo;s a time-consuming exercise that can cost upwards of &pound;20m for someone like an insurer. It&rsquo;s also fraught with risk, because often organisations will look to replace something that isn&rsquo;t really broken in the first place.&nbsp;</p> <p>In 2018, I think people will wake up and start saving themselves a lot of time and money simply by RSO. With RSO, companies remove the need for programming and technical integration, and lose the technical challenges around introducing each tool into the next stage of their automated process.&nbsp;</p> <p>RSO is allowing companies at all levels of automation maturity to create digital services that deliver more and cost less. In 2018, many companies will see that achieving automation success lies in addressing legacy thinking as much as it does in removing legacy technology.&nbsp;</p> <p>The new year is the time for shrugging off outdated processes; the speed and agility of digitally native organisations won&rsquo;t be matched by those playing catch up by relying on the decision of the past. By encouraging the right culture and process around automation, organisations can have a happy new year with the help of RSO.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/transformation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Transformation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/artificial-intelligence-ai" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Artificial Intelligence (AI)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/banking" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Banking</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/financial-services" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Financial Services</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Insurance</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Will RSO Change the World in 2018? - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/will-rso-change-the-world-in-2018"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Thu, 21 Dec 2017 21:55:22 +0000 Kit Cox 1060 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/will-rso-change-the-world-in-2018#comments Orchestration vs. Integration: Finding the Best Way to Manage Automation http://futureofsourcing.com/orchestration-vs-integration-finding-the-best-way-to-manage-automation <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/automation%20vs.%20orchestration.jpg"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/automation%20vs.%20orchestration.jpg" title="Orchestration vs. Integration: Finding the Best Way to Manage Automation" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1038-HNx8G3IBX8E"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/automation%20vs.%20orchestration.jpg?itok=yz05kTXZ" width="624" height="325" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Using a diverse set of intelligent automation tools together to achieve your business aims isn&rsquo;t always easy. More often than not, it involves figuring out how to integrate these different tools in what can become a very complex IT project.&nbsp;</p> <p>RPA is becoming more mature, and it&rsquo;s designed in part to address the challenge of integration within an underlying business system. However, when you start to put multiple tools together, for example using an RPA tool alongside an OCR, you&rsquo;ll typically start to experience more challenges in making these tools work seamlessly together.&nbsp;</p> <p>The concept of orchestration is quickly becoming a hot topic in the automation community, as companies continue to experience difficulty in integrating multiple tools to provide an end-to-end service. In fact, the days of direct technical integration may well be limited. Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO) is taking us in another direction entirely, helping to model processors and &lsquo;kick off the bots&rsquo; directly.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Why use RSO?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Picture the scene: you have a joiner/leaver process which involves multiple Intelligent Automation tools working alongside humans. The normal process is triggered by an email, where a natural language processing tool interprets the key facts. Then an RPA tool handles the system updates and triggers an IT asset management tool. A natural language generation engine produces documents for the joiner/leaver. Meanwhile, if queries are received either by online chat, email or text, they are handled by a chatbot or human. Lots of moving parts!&nbsp;</p> <p>To make this work seamlessly requires either direct technology integration between the various tools, or a dedicated person managing the process workflow. Both of these approaches involve a heavy overhead and in the case of the technical integration, can cause complexity and problems when the process changes later. Alternatively...you could use a RSO tool that manages this entire process seamlessly.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>How does RSO help?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Orchestration acts as an underlying &lsquo;conveyor belt&rsquo; for your automation program, moving work through each stage of the process to be dealt with by RPA bots, other intelligent automation technology agents or humans, depending on the most suitable worker for the task. RSO really is excellent at getting the balance between the human and digital workforce right for companies, and maintaining functional oversight of an organisation&rsquo;s whole process.&nbsp;</p> <p>The technical challenges around &lsquo;hooking&rsquo; each tool into the next step of an automated process are numerous, taking up a lot of IT and team resources. The option of having a human managing this work queue is expensive (and could be a mind-numbing task for most human workers&hellip;)&nbsp;</p> <p>With orchestration, companies remove the need for programming and technical integration. Addtionally, companies avoid getting pinned down by a reliance on one tool provider when it comes to developing their processes, if they are outsourcing their requirements.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>A &lsquo;plug and play&rsquo; mindset&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>For many organisations, automation requirements are likely to be broader than they can hope to meet with any one tool. Decision-makers can shoot themselves in the foot somewhat by approaching business issues with a mentality that they need a complete match for the area of business requirement from their intelligent automation tool.&nbsp;</p> <p>This puts a real barrier up against quick implementation (which would have helped improve efficiency and costs). After all, when looking to match a process to a tool totally, what if there isn&#39;t a 100% match? Long wait times, wasted resources and lost opportunities.&nbsp;</p> <p>Orchestration allows stakeholders to use a tool to deliver smaller chunks of capability within a process. This opens up time benefits such as efficiency and headcount savings, as it avoids the need to wait until a tool can offer a better fit with the total requirements. This allows companies to redeploy people to do more interesting or valuable things in the shorter term. Essentially, before capability for an entire process is available, companies can &lsquo;plug and play&rsquo; by going straight to one specific capability area.&nbsp;</p> <p>Up to now, many organisations simply haven&rsquo;t seen another option to replace the often costly and time consuming integrations that are required to keep the elements of their RPA programme working as one. But now, with the rise of Robotic Service Orchestration, they have the opportunity to reduce time and effort spent on running automation initiatives.&nbsp;</p> <p>RSO negates the need for extensive IT resources being invested into making intelligent automation tools work together; matches the right task to the right workforce member (robot or human); and lets organisations meet capability requirements that much quicker. It&rsquo;s very quickly becoming obvious that the new key for automation success is &lsquo;orchestrate to innovate.&rsquo;</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/automation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Automation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/innovation-technology-it" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Innovation Technology (IT)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Orchestration vs. Integration: Finding the Best Way to Manage Automation - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/orchestration-vs-integration-finding-the-best-way-to-manage-automation"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div> Wed, 22 Nov 2017 18:48:51 +0000 Kit Cox 1038 at http://futureofsourcing.com Live Wires #3: What is RPA? http://futureofsourcing.com/node/880 <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Live-Wires-updated-logo-420x215.jpg"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Live-Wires-updated-logo-420x215.jpg" title="Live Wires #3: What is RPA?" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-880-HNx8G3IBX8E"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Live-Wires-updated-logo-420x215.jpg?itok=jpIyfGkb" width="420" height="215" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Three blogs in already and we have yet to tackle the elephant in the room: what precisely is robotic process automation (RPA)?</p> <p>Basically, RPA is a new type of software that acts as a virtual workforce. It is configured to replicate the activities previously carried out by human workers, delivered by &lsquo;robots&rsquo; or &lsquo;bots&rsquo; or &lsquo;virtual engineers&rsquo;. There are a number of emerging software providers that sell RPA platforms, such as Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere, UIPath, OpenSpan and others &ndash; including some of the large outsourcing companies. RPA is &lsquo;robotic&rsquo; in the sense that it is designed to replicate and replace human work. RPA is only and always digital &ndash; it is computer-based work, hosted on servers. The images of shiny metal robots &ndash; so beloved of technology marketing departments &ndash; are all very nice but misplaced. RPA has not caused a single metal finger to press a keyboard, and never will.</p> <p>So far RPA has been deployed most in high volume, digital environments where there are labour-intensive processes to enter or check data, format or analyse information, or monitor and escalate issues &ndash; simple transactional tasks that don&rsquo;t require great intelligence but can soak up vast amounts of labour because they are fiddly. In particular insurance, telecoms and utility companies have been early adopters, deploying RPA to the core operations such as new business, admin, and non-voice customer contact.</p> <p>So far, RPA may not sound all that different to other types of automation, such as ERP, workflow, BPMS, or other business applications &ndash; after all each of these directly or indirectly seeks to replace human workers. However the focus of RPA software is to operate existing applications and systems, recording and mimicking the way that human users login, navigate and interact with these tools (some people use the word &ldquo;orchestration&rdquo; &ndash; RPA conducts your legacy system orchestra). RPA is not integrated with these systems; in other words the existing applications &lsquo;think&rsquo; the RPA robot is a human user. This sounds simple, and it is, but it is different to how most other automation works. In a word RPA is &lsquo;non-integrated&rsquo;, it sits on top of legacy systems without the need for complex, bespoke interfacing.</p> <p>This leads to another differentiator: RPA is quick (some might say &lsquo;quick and dirty&rsquo;). Because RPA software is not integrated in the same way as other software, it doesn&rsquo;t require extensive use of programmers to develop code and interfaces; instead the focus of RPA development is on modelling the process flows and business rules that the robots need to follow. This is typically a two-to-three-month process rather than the 12 to 18 months of intensive IT-surgery required for an ERP module implementation, for example.</p> <p>This short, lean development cycle means that development costs are also lower, resulting in quicker payback &ndash; and another differentiator compared to traditional automation. RPA projects, particularly pilots, can start small because there is no massive development overhead to recoup. If an RPA implementation can be done in a few months, for say &pound;50k, then it makes sense to target very specific, irritating points of failure in a given process that were previously too small, or expensive to address via automation. So for example, there are use cases of RPA solutions to handle peaks of cash receipts in accounts receivable, of SIM card set up in mobile telecoms, or password admin in IT helpdesk.</p> <p>But RPA is not just about small-scale point automations &ndash; and this differentiates it from the lower end of the automation hierarchy, macros. For years companies have been deploying very rapid, very cheap automation via Excel macros and other desktop automation. Macros can certainly be effective, but are seen as cumbersome and risky for being used on any significant scale. RPA is closely related to desktop automation, but is designed to be scaled up across an enterprise, and I am aware of RPA deployments now delivering work equivalent to hundreds of workers, and rising.</p> <p>Finally RPA is not artificial intelligence. It is robotic in the sense that it mimics human interactions with your systems, but it follows user-defined rules to deliver this. RPA is based on smart new software, but it doesn&rsquo;t deploy cognitive technologies to spot patterns, learn or handle &lsquo;fuzzy situations&rsquo;. AI in services (such as Celaton InStream, IBM Watson, IPSoft Amelia, Wipro Holmes) is the next generation of automation. This will be the subject for many Live Wires blogs in due course, but for the moment is suffices to note it is not RPA. It is also in terms of business impact some years behind RPA &ndash; the list of actual public use cases for AI/cognitive automation is rather, ahem, limited.</p> <p>So RPA is a new type of software that acts as a virtual workforce. It targets labour-intensive, rules-based computer work. It sits on top of your existing applications and systems, is quick and cheap to implement, and can be scaled. So in principle, it is clearly different to traditional automation applications, or digitisation tools, or desktop automation. Stepping beyond the definition, though, there are challenges. In practice different RPA tools don&rsquo;t always fit neatly into this categorisation. Some RPA tools incorporate elements of other types of automation such as workflow or digitisation technologies. Some new automation tools share most of the features of RPA listed above, but not all. Some vendors of RPA tools rather confusingly don&rsquo;t use the word RPA (you might see the words virtual worker, robot agent, autonomics).</p> <p>The reality is that RPA is a convenient label for a family of similar tools and technologies, a family which is still growing and finding its shape. In the last few years, as the number of vendors has increased, and as awareness amongst potential buyers has grown, use of the RPA label has gathered momentum. It seems likely that this will gather pace and in the years ahead RPA will become a more coherent market. At the same time, it is also clear that specialisation and fragmentation will occur, with niche automation tools for sectors such as insurance, local government, pharma, and functional specialisations such as ITPA (IT RPA).</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/automation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Automation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/software" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Software</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/innovation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Innovation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Live Wires #3: What is RPA? - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/node/880"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Wed, 02 Mar 2016 20:17:56 +0000 Paul Morrison 880 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/node/880#comments Live Wires #2: RPA is eating the old outsourcing business model http://futureofsourcing.com/node/869 <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/LiveWires-logo-oNexus-420x215.jpg"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/LiveWires-logo-oNexus-420x215.jpg" title="Live Wires #2: RPA is eating the old outsourcing business model" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-869-HNx8G3IBX8E"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/LiveWires-logo-oNexus-420x215.jpg?itok=kk7jw9bS" width="420" height="215" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>In our quest for robotic process automation (RPA) enlightenment, we will come across a lot of speculation and hyperbole on the way. In such a young industry this is perhaps inevitable, but on this journey we will try to separate the wheat from the chaff and pick out real evidence as much as possible. Let&rsquo;s start as we mean to go on:</p> <p>Last month I saw the most startling and fundamentally new demonstration I have yet encountered of how RPA is turning the old world of outsourcing upside down. As a sourcing advisor, I get to look at many outsourcing tenders for clients, in particular assessing the pricing and resourcing assumptions projected out over the course of deals. In the world of BPO, in areas such as Finance, HR or industry-specific processing, pricing levels and approaches haven&rsquo;t changed dramatically over the past decade.</p> <p>But last month I reviewed pricing submissions for three blue chip service providers to deliver a BPO service. Instead of the usual price per resource with a gradual year-on-year efficiency improvement (&lsquo;the glidepath&rsquo; of resources being removed from scope as operations become more efficient), we saw pricing in which there were material headcount reductions in each year of the deal. Not just the gradual FTE improvements of a few percent per year, but significant savings each year of 10 or 15% or more per year.</p> <p>This may sound like a small or technical change. But it represents a revolution. Automation as part of an outsourcing deal is not new, but the speed and scale of automation that outsourcing suppliers are starting to commit to is much more radical than we have seen before. With annual headcount reductions at this rate over the course of a five-year deal, the cumulative efficiencies will be radical with perhaps 50% or less of the staffing required to deliver a service at the end of the deal compared to what was required at the outset.</p> <p>In other words, it looks like outsourcing deals will be much less static than buyers are used to. Large chunks of the BPO and ITO worlds are very people- or &lsquo;FTE&rsquo;-intensive &ndash; with service delivery centres of several hundred or more people in locations in the UK, Europe, India and beyond. As a result of RPA, it seems that buying outsourcing will be much less about buying &lsquo;people&rsquo;, and much more about buying technology and automation. Nothing quite like this has happened in the 20-year history of mass outsourcing. It even threatens to overturn old assumptions about globalisation: why send work to cheap offshore locations, or build up large hubs of global resourcing around the world if the cheapest workforce of all is the robotic labour hosted inside your server farm?</p> <p>These recent bids also show that outsourcers now need robotics to compete. For this client, any bidder providing a bid response without the RPA element would have not got into the final selection. Competing with the old commercial assumptions (i.e. cheaper resourcing, slightly fewer each year) just won&rsquo;t win tenders where other bidders are able to deploy new automation tools. Admittedly not every process will be amenable to RPA-style improvements, but the list of use cases is growing by the day.</p> <p>So this one data point, of significantly accelerated supplier efficiencies through RPA, is an illustration of how compelling the commercials of automation are becoming. It seems likely that this is just the opening salvo in a competitive war in which automation will be fundamental to compete. If it has not already happened for your organisation yet, in the next few months I predict the question regarding RPA will quickly turn from &lsquo;why&rsquo; to &lsquo;why not&rsquo;.</p> <p>This small example is also an illustration of how unpredictable and disruptive RPA change could be. There is no single agreed view of RPA, no standard approach, little in the way of history, but already the leading outsourcing providers are spontaneously building RPA into their offerings and a new competitive standard is emerging. RPA is devouring the old commercial certainties of outsourcing. It will have a similar impact no doubt on shared services and other areas. Hold tight.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/business-process-outsourcing-bpo" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/automation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Automation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotics" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotics</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Live Wires #2: RPA is eating the old outsourcing business model - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/node/869"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div> Fri, 19 Feb 2016 13:56:44 +0000 Paul Morrison 869 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/node/869#comments Live Wires #1: Why, Robot? http://futureofsourcing.com/node/864 <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/xLive-Wires-updated-logo-420x215.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.QCj5wsOI2-.jpg"><a href="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/xLive-Wires-updated-logo-420x215.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.QCj5wsOI2-.jpg" title="Live Wires #1: Why, Robot?" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-864-HNx8G3IBX8E"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/xLive-Wires-updated-logo-420x215.jpg.pagespeed.ic_.QCj5wsOI2-.jpg?itok=dANF8Fio" width="420" height="215" alt="" title="" /></a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Automation is unquestionably the flavour of the month in business chatter today. Robotic process automation (RPA), and a storm of other smart automation approaches like Artificial Intelligence, are being pitched and perceived as the NEXT BIG THING, akin to the emergence of outsourcing some 30 years ago, and offshoring 15 years ago. Smart automation through RPA or AI promises massive efficiency savings, increased compliance, faster processing, deeper insights and any number of other good things for transaction processing, customer engagement, IT, Finance, HR, Procurement and other business processes. What is more RPA and AI offer this change at low cost and high speed, setting them apart from their automation ancestors such as ERP and applications development &ndash; which consume years of implementation effort. So with RPA and AI there are new kids on the automation block, and it is time to find out who they are.</p> <p>The speed of change, from initial rumours to the current frenzy of hype and expectation, has been amazing. The first visionaries emerged with wild and amazing tales of RPA just over three years ago. Since then we have had a period of debate and theorisation &ndash; is RPA just &lsquo;macros on steroids&rsquo; or glorified workflow, or something genuinely new? (It is &ndash; see the next post). But in the last year in particular, the trickle of anecdotes has turned into a torrent of real live cases of new types of automation being deployed in reality, and to great effect. As an adviser on outsourcing and operations, my own initial scepticism has been steadily eroded as I too have seen real cases have a big impact on client operations &ndash; in insurance, banking, transportation, telecoms and other sectors.</p> <p>The more examples that emerge, the more it seems that RPA, AI and other emerging automation technologies will overturn the established order in the services industry. Long-standing and successful ways of working based around labour-intensive shared services and large-scale resource outsourcing may cease to be relevant for many processes. This change could happen within a few years. For example, if an RPA tool can replace and improve fiddly and inefficient manual data checking and processing tasks for a new business team in a matter of months, why will this work still be done by humans in five&nbsp;years? If a contact centre can use automated software with artificial intelligence to talk with clients, what parts of the process will customers demand be delivered by humans? As the roster of use cases extends from a handful into dozens and more, initial questions are turning from &lsquo;why automate?&rsquo; to &lsquo;why not&rsquo;?</p> <p>Projecting this initial promise forward across the economy, there are some pretty startling future scenarios, ranging from a world in which RPA and AI quickly become widespread in organisations of all kinds, to a more extreme robotic takeover in which vast swathes of the workforce are displaced by a tireless, error-free and unregulated electronic workforce. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Even the near future is far from clear. Most of the chewy questions remain as yet unanswered &ndash; what does &lsquo;smart automation&rsquo; mean for businesses? How far will it go? Can it be scaled up significantly? What does it mean for established ways of working such as outsourcing and shared services? Who are the key players? What does a good RPA/AI strategy look like? What are the commercial models? What about my current contracts? How will the different technologies interact? Who will make the tea?</p> <p>A few caveats. Smart automation encompasses a very wide range of tools and technologies &ndash; it is not one thing. We are not talking about physical robots: smart automation lives on servers and looks more hi-fi than sci-fi. Real artificial intelligence may or may not be near. Most importantly, no-one yet knows all of the answers &ndash; outsourcing service providers, automation software vendors, consultants and their clients are all looking to make sense of these new trends, and anyone telling you that the future is manifestly clear is lying or deluded or both.</p> <p>That is where this blog comes in. As I continue to explore this emerging landscape, we will look at the big questions, meet the key personalities and players, and provide a provocative point of view on what it all means. We hope you come on the journey with us.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-service-orchestration-rso" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO)</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/automation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Automation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/transformation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Transformation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/artificial-intelligence-ai" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Artificial Intelligence (AI)</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-addthis field-type-addthis field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " addthis:title="Live Wires #1: Why, Robot? - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="http://futureofsourcing.com/node/864"><a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_linkedin"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_googleplus"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_pinterest_share"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_reddit"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a href="https://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300" class="addthis_button_print"></a> </div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-region field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Region:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/regions/global" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global</a></div></div></div> Fri, 05 Feb 2016 17:05:57 +0000 Paul Morrison 864 at http://futureofsourcing.com http://futureofsourcing.com/node/864#comments