Future of Sourcing - Robotic Process Automation (RPA) https://futureofsourcing.com/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0 en Artificial Intelligence Helps Business Services Re-imagine Boundaries https://futureofsourcing.com/artificial-intelligence-helps-business-services-re-imagine-boundaries <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="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Artificial%20Intelligence%20Helps%20Business%20Services%20Re-imagine%20Boundaries.jpg"><a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Artificial%20Intelligence%20Helps%20Business%20Services%20Re-imagine%20Boundaries.jpg" title="Artificial Intelligence Helps Business Services Re-imagine Boundaries" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1565-i3rHMDuFnZA"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Artificial%20Intelligence%20Helps%20Business%20Services%20Re-imagine%20Boundaries.jpg?itok=sMvX_HVc" 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>A recent <a href="https://www.abbyy.com/en-us/news/two-thirds-of-uk-employees-want-to-delegate-work-to-robots/#sthash.eiKeRfnJ.nZiaSeHN.dpbs" target="_blank">European</a> and <a href="https://www.abbyy.com/en-us/news/survey-finds-us-workers-want-to-delegate-48-percent-of-tasks-to-artificial-intelligence/#sthash.wgrtqrps.dpbs" target="_blank">US survey</a> asked workers the tasks they hated most at work and the impact of automation, robotics and digitalization. Besides attending meetings, the most hated task was reviewing long documents &ndash; whether they were digital or paper. And, when asked what they wish to delegate to a robot, data entry topped the list with 48% (U.S.) to 63% (U.K.) of workers saying they&rsquo;d happily outsource tasks to a robot.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>It is encouraging to see that a majority of workers would welcome the opportunity to <a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/interview-with-a-robotics-expert-nick-andrews" target="_blank">delegate annoying tasks to robots</a>, yet for the vast majority, the idea of working with robots is still hypothetical. Let&rsquo;s be clear &ndash; in the world of sourcing, we&rsquo;re not talking about mechanical robots sitting beside us at our desks. Rather, we&rsquo;re talking about Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software robots that have become a viable, new digital workforce. We find that enabling employees to work in partnership with digital workers enhances their job satisfaction, allowing them to spend more time on adding value to their businesses where it matters most.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Business process outsourcing (BPO) providers are beginning to utilize digital workers as they see the value RPA delivers to quickly automate processes. Yet, they are also finding there is potential for RPA projects to fail.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Human Intelligence a Factor in RPA Success</strong></div> <div>Many organizations fail to realize the potential of their RPA investment. Hard and soft factors play a role. Next to basic change management failures such as lack of communication, there is often not enough thought put into implementing the new technology in the workplace. Consequently, <a href="https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/416323/UiPathForward%20UK%202017/UiPathForward%20Presentations/%23UiPathForward%20UK%202017%20-%20HfS%20Keynote.pdf?t=1513532059524" target="_blank">41% of companies won&rsquo;t switch to RPA</a> because of lack of clarity of the business process. Here are common &ldquo;soft&rdquo; challenges and the human intelligence impact:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Lack of shared vision = Deficient change management</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Lack of use cases = Insufficient planning and involvement</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Lack of focus = Negative experience &amp; resource management</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Unclean data = Missing automation&nbsp;</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">&nbsp;</div> <div> <div>There are counter measures that can lead to successful <a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/interview-with-a-robotics-expert-clare-horn" target="_blank">RPA deployments</a>. For example, the creation of an innovation center to lead the innitiative. With an innovation team, use cases can be fully developed and lead to early success stories. These early successes can then be communicated, taught among the team, then repeated across departments.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Also, as silly as it may sound, giving digital workers a name and making them more accessible has helped organizations bring the human factor behind the idea of automation. So instead of referring to a digital worker as &ldquo;<a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/why-chatbots-are-key-to-support-automation" target="_blank">bot 1</a>,&rdquo; call it &ldquo;Robby&rdquo; &ndash; we&rsquo;ve found it actually makes a difference.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>There is significant return on investment expected in this collaboration, according to Accenture Research. The firm estimates that the AI and human-machine collaboration can boost revenues by at least 38% by 2022. However, there are also two other factors that BPOs need to be aware of when working with RPA workers. The first is that RPA is not the savior for all processes, and second, automation needs to go beyond simply replacing manual tasks to be successful.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>After automation, BPOs can add value to clients by having a firm grip on the process control to have clear views of inputs, outputs, clean data and content intelligence.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Content IQ Key to Smarter Digital Workers</strong></div> <div>With RPA a new tool for sourcing providers, there is opportunity to further expand the boundaries of services by adding AI to digital workers in the form of content IQ skills. Content IQ combines the technology for understanding and processing content with a fresh approach to how organizations can quickly consume and use digital workers, and thereby realize greater benefits. BPOs can continue to maintain control of &ldquo;human strengths&rdquo; in the forms of critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity, while the digital workforce maintains its strengths in machine learning, statistical correlation, rapid search, content analysis and repetitive task execution.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Content IQ skills are available as micro-services that are transaction oriented and simple to use. And, whereas existing capture technology is built to be centrally deployed for the highly skilled capture expert, content IQ skills are built for the business user.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>AI-enabling technologies, such as content IQ skills, are offering exciting opportunities for outsourcing providers. They benefit by its ability to complement any intelligent automation platform, not just RPA platforms, and deliver cognitive skills that perform like humans.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>BPOs can deploy content IQ skills in a variety of content-centric processes such sales order, accounts payable, payroll funding, claims processing and more. As a result, digital workers gain the ability to understand and process a document so it can be routed, data can be extracted and inputted into a system, and a decision can be made to more quickly to add business value.</div> </div> </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/automation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Automation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/digitalization" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Digitalization</a></div><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-0" 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/content-iq" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Content IQ</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="Artificial Intelligence Helps Business Services Re-imagine Boundaries - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/artificial-intelligence-helps-business-services-re-imagine-boundaries"><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> Mon, 09 Sep 2019 22:51:39 +0000 Susanne Richter-Wills 1565 at https://futureofsourcing.com https://futureofsourcing.com/artificial-intelligence-helps-business-services-re-imagine-boundaries#comments Rising Stars of Sourcing: Biswa Panigrahi https://futureofsourcing.com/rising-stars-of-sourcing-biswa-panigrahi <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="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Rising%20Stars%20of%20Sourcing_BISWA%20PANIGRAHI.png"><a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Rising%20Stars%20of%20Sourcing_BISWA%20PANIGRAHI.png" title="Rising Stars of Sourcing: Biswa Panigrahi" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1359-i3rHMDuFnZA"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Rising%20Stars%20of%20Sourcing_BISWA%20PANIGRAHI.png?itok=swNJoyWL" 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>Future of Sourcing Digital&#39;s series, &ldquo;Rising Stars of Sourcing,&rdquo; recognizes individuals newer to the industry whose thought leadership and expertise have shown promise that is likely to have a lasting impact on the industry. We are excited to continue this series with Biswa Panigrahi, who was recently promoted within his organization.</p> <p>Biswa was recently promoted to Category Management Principal role in Sourcing at FedEx Services. Biswa joined FedEx as a Category Manager II in June 2017 and was responsible for Security and Purchase Transportation categories, focusing on Big Data and emerging technology areas.</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><strong><em>Tell us about your career path and how you got into this field &ndash; was it purposeful or by accident?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I started working in the Oil and Gas industry in India after completing my undergraduate degree in Instrumentation Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology in 2009. I spent about six years across engineering, project execution and operations and maintenance, before moving to the United States to pursue my MBA from Ohio State University. My MBA was quite focused on courses from supply chain management, operations and finance. It was during one of the courses known as &ldquo;Global Sourcing,&rdquo; that I got an opportunity to work on a student project with FedEx for about four months and I received a lot of exposure into various aspects of category management. I loved the overall experience and was fortunate enough to land a job with FedEx in Sourcing in 2017. It has been a very holistic experience so far in sourcing, which allows me to use all of my skill sets ranging from technology to operations.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>If you didn&rsquo;t work in sourcing, what career path would you have chosen?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I can think of a few options &ndash; maybe I would have continued with core engineering as I still love the field and remember the basics well from my undergrad days. During that time, I was quite focused on robotics and image processing and even have a scientific publication in <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/books/recent-advances-in-biomedical-engineering/a-prototype-device-to-measure-and-supervise-urine-output-of-critical-patients" target="_blank">Recent Advances in Biomedical Engineering (2009</a><a href="http://www.intechopen.com/books/recent-advances-in-biomedical-engineering/a-prototype-device-to-measure-and-supervise-urine-output-of-critical-patients" target="_blank">)</a>. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I may have chosen investment banking/corporate M&amp;A as a career as I really developed a keen interest during my business school days in learning all the fundamentals of valuation and financial modeling. Someday, I would love to get more exposure in this area.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Alternately, I might have continued with operations since that was essentially what I was doing prior to my MBA &ndash; that would have been an easy choice!&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What do you feel sets you apart as a rising star of sourcing?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I think it really boils down to a few simple things. I am very data driven and analytical in my approach, which helps me to simplify complex things or reduce ambiguity. I am also good at navigating myself really well at various communication levels based on required details &ndash; knowing when to keep things high level and when to go into the tactical aspects of something. It&rsquo;s really just about knowing how much detail your audience wants. I am also very good with people &ndash; my default behavioral style is &ldquo;promoting&rdquo; and I enjoy brainstorming on new ideas or helping people succeed. And I think above all, I am an extremely hard working and optimistic person &ndash; I derive my self-confidence from this! &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>Do you have any mentors who have helped you in your career?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I have had several mentors throughout my career. I always try to have at least three mentors in every phase of my professional career. For example, currently I have two mentors from FedEx Senior Leadership, with whom I meet once every couple of months. Most of the discussions I have with them are around understanding how to balance short-term and long-term goals. I also have one external mentor to get some outside perspective.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><em><strong>What professionally motivates and drives you?&nbsp;</strong></em></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>When you work for a company such as FedEx, which delivers the Purple Promise to make every FedEx experience outstanding, you develop a deep sense of purpose to do something meaningful every day that generates value for all stakeholders.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>Can you share any professional goals you&rsquo;ve set for yourself for 2019 and how you plan to achieve them?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I am currently undergoing the CFA program and am targeting Level 2 exam in June 2019, which means numerous hours of study on various financial subjects. I try to set apart 10-15 hours of study time during the weekends &ndash; I am still trying to gain momentum here.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What do you think will be the big trends in sourcing and procurement this year?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I think robotic process automation (RPA) and machine learning/artificial intelligence (AI) are the big technology trends this year, more so from an adoption standpoint. In fact, it&rsquo;s interesting to note that AI-based RPA is emerging in this space, which should gain a lot of traction in the next couple of years. Blockchain is another emerging trend. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>Similarly, what or who are the disruptors you think will have the biggest impact on the industry?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>In terms of impact, I think companies who are early adopters of emerging technologies will have an edge when the technologies are mature for full-scale implementation.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What do you enjoy doing in your time outside of the office?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I mostly like to read or travel outside of work. I have yet to travel to many places in the United States.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong><em>What advice do you have for those who are new to the profession or considering entering the industry?&nbsp;</em></strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Take it slow, learn the basics really well, develop a higher emotional quotient (EQ) to be a people person, be comfortable with ambiguity, be curious and keep learning!</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/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0" 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/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/leadership" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Leadership</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/sourcing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sourcing</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/career-building" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Career Building</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="Rising Stars of Sourcing: Biswa Panigrahi - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/rising-stars-of-sourcing-biswa-panigrahi"><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, 01 Feb 2019 20:06:17 +0000 Biswa Panigrahi 1359 at https://futureofsourcing.com https://futureofsourcing.com/rising-stars-of-sourcing-biswa-panigrahi#comments 3 Ways Nearshoring Addresses Challenges Faced by IT Leaders https://futureofsourcing.com/3-ways-nearshoring-addresses-challenges-faced-by-it-leaders <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="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/IT_Nearshoring.jpg"><a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/IT_Nearshoring.jpg" title="3 Ways Nearshoring Addresses Challenges Faced by IT Leaders" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1291-i3rHMDuFnZA"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/IT_Nearshoring.jpg?itok=-Wf9woiD" 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 today&rsquo;s rapidly advancing and technologically driven landscape, IT leaders face a challenging reality. London was recently named as the leading <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/09/05/london-fights-paris-land-title-leading-tech-cluster-europe/" target="_blank">tech cluster in Europe</a>, but organisations in the U.K. and around the world are still slow to adopt emerging technologies. Keeping up to date no longer means <a href="http://www.futureofsourcing.com/from-compliance-to-guidance-the-evolution-of-outsourcing" target="_blank">adopting new technologies</a> as they are released. IT leaders who seek to drive innovation with new technology face many challenges along the way.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Although IT leaders often have the knowledge to solve problems posed by keeping up with emerging technology, it&rsquo;s not always quick and easy to do so, nor is it realistic for an in-house team to have expertise in every area. That&rsquo;s where nearshoring comes in, by turning these challenges into opportunities to innovate and thrive. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>There are the three main challenges that IT leaders faces as they adapt to emerging technologies. Here&rsquo;s how nearshoring can address each of them:&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Understanding Emerging Technology&nbsp;</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>With the rate of technological advancement in the 21st century, staying on top of new technologies can be a daunting task. For example, there is huge potential for artificial intelligence to be deployed alongside the human workforce to augment its abilities, yet implementing this technology into an organisation is a significant undertaking. However, it&rsquo;s important to innovate fast in order to provide the best service for customers. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Understanding how the technology can best fit into the organisation and improve the service for the customer is key. It&rsquo;s not possible for every team member to be an expert on every niche technology in the industry, but for an IT outsourcing or nearshoring provider, this is all part of the service it provides.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>A team of nearshore IT experts will understand the technology and work with clients to understand how it best works for them. If an organisation nearshores, it gains access to specialists in different technologies. So, rather than hiring expensive specialists, re-training your in-house team, and buying hardware and licenses, if an organisation needs AI for a project it can turn to a team of outsourced experts and utilise knowledge on demand. Combining in-house industry knowledge with the nearshorer&rsquo;s specialties will benefit the business and its customers by efficiently driving innovation.  &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Sourcing Expert Talent&nbsp;</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The skills gap continues to widen as companies struggle to find the <a href="http://www.futureofsourcing.com/how-outsourcing-can-help-companies-to-prepare-for-ai-and-automation" target="_blank">expertise they require to innovate</a>. If the expertise is available, the likelihood is that it will be expensive and a lot of training will be required to maintain that knowledge. However, rather than spending time and resources sourcing talent for the in-house team (for what might be a short project), outsourcing to an IT provider can avoid this costly and time-consuming process.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>IT outsourcing companies provide teams, rather than individuals, a ready-made group of IT experts who can help an organisation overcome its challenges by utilising broad expertise to enable innovation that fits with the organisation&rsquo;s needs. They will already have the project management knowledge, understand how to adopt technologies and know how to overcome challenges to ensure the technology enables innovation rather than cause problems and costs to the business. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>If the organisation develops a trustworthy, two-way relationship with outsourced experts, it can ultimately utilise expert IT knowledge based on a thorough knowledge of the customer&rsquo;s needs. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>Keeping Within Budget &nbsp;</strong></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The speed at which organisations want to adapt and grow can make it costly to train and develop the required in-house expertise, and if the knowledge of the IT department is not sufficient it can cause problems down the line as the project develops. Yet, organisations often have a limited budget for a project and therefore it might not be feasible to develop this specific in-house knowledge for a short period. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Nearshored IT experts are able to work with a company in the short term with a smaller budget while still providing the expertise and collaboration potential that is equal to or better than that of an in-house team. Innovation shouldn&rsquo;t have to break the bank.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Rather than attempting to face the challenge of emerging technologies alone, organisations can turn to experts who are already on top of the technological developments that enable them to streamline the business and provide the best service possible to customers. When an organisation nearshores IT expertise, the challenges it faces can be transformed into opportunities to innovate and stay on top of emerging technologies to keep ahead of industry competitors.</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/nearshoring" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Nearshoring</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/artificial-intelligence-ai" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Artificial Intelligence (AI)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0" 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/talent-acquisition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Talent Acquisition</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></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="3 Ways Nearshoring Addresses Challenges Faced by IT Leaders - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/3-ways-nearshoring-addresses-challenges-faced-by-it-leaders"><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/europemiddle-eastafrica" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Europe/Middle East/Africa</a></div></div></div> Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:58:09 +0000 Jaroslaw Czaja 1291 at https://futureofsourcing.com https://futureofsourcing.com/3-ways-nearshoring-addresses-challenges-faced-by-it-leaders#comments RPA is Here to Stay with Ian Barkin https://futureofsourcing.com/rpa-is-here-to-stay-with-ian-barkin <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="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Podcast_Sourcing_Industry%20Landscape_8.png"><a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Podcast_Sourcing_Industry%20Landscape_8.png" title="RPA is Here to Stay with Ian Barkin" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1486-i3rHMDuFnZA"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Podcast_Sourcing_Industry%20Landscape_8.png?itok=1PbG60Rf" 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><strong>Are you ready for the next wave of disruption in procurement? Join Sourcing Industry Group CEO and President, Dawn Tiura, for conversations on The Sourcing Industry Landscape with innovators who embrace technology to improve, influence and inspire procurement professionals.&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong><span style="font-size: 13.008px;">Check out&nbsp;</span><a href="https://sig.org/sourcing-industry-landscape?__hstc=215510152.344406f4865c40604cf6029be7e958e0.1543422516683.1560384261223.1560386358147.373&amp;__hssc=215510152.2.1560386358147&amp;__hsfp=726271731" style="font-size: 13.008px;" target="_blank">all episodes of The Sourcing Industry Landscape</a><span style="font-size: 13.008px;">&nbsp;to date and subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can listen to the podcast in iTunes, through your favorite podcast app or&nbsp;</span><a href="https://sig.org/sourcing-industry-landscape?__hstc=215510152.344406f4865c40604cf6029be7e958e0.1543422516683.1560384261223.1560386358147.373&amp;__hssc=215510152.2.1560386358147&amp;__hsfp=726271731" style="font-size: 13.008px;" target="_blank">on our website</a><span style="font-size: 13.008px;">.</span></strong></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"> <p><em><strong>In&nbsp;<a href="https://sig.org/rpa-here-stay-w-ian-barkin" target="_blank">this episode of the Sourcing Industry Landscape</a>, Dawn Tiura interviews Ian Barkin.&nbsp;Ian Barkin is Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Symphony Ventures, a professional services firm that helps enterprises leverage automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and innovative resourcing solutions. When it comes to implementing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) into workplace culture, Ian is sympathetic workers&rsquo; concerns.</strong></em></p> <div>Dawn Tiura: Hi, this is Dawn Tiura. I&#39;m President and CEO of Sourcing Industry Group, also known as SIG. Now today I have someone who I like to think of as a friend as well as a professional colleague, and actually, a young gentleman that has impressed me so much since I met him a couple years ago. And I think his story will actually confound all of you as how he could have achieved so much in very few years actually overall.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: So today I&#39;m welcoming Ian Barkin. He&#39;s a digital-ops sherpa, RPA industry veteran, speaker, here to help, and co-founder of the world&#39;s leading RPA and IA pure play and that would be Symphony Ventures. So Ian, welcome to the show.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Thank you so much Dawn. Great to be here.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Yeah, and so I met you a couple years ago. I thought there was a couple young brash guys saying that they are going to be able to do robotic process automation and it&#39;s probably</div> <div><span style="font-size: 13.008px;">all smoke and mirrors, and you guys have blown me away. You in particular. I&#39;m just so impressed with your vision, your drive, and to have co-founded Symphony Ventures, which is easily the best consulting organization for RPA that we have ever run across. So, let&#39;s just talk about your personal journey. Is that okay?</span></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Yeah, my pleasure. And thank you, by the way, for the kind words. I&#39;m thrilled you think that. We&#39;ve worked pretty hard to get to where we are. So where should I start? I can give background on just&mdash;my career and what I did.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Why don&#39;t you start with&mdash;yeah, a little bit about your career and let&#39;s just wander through it. Then I really want to get to the point where you&#39;re obviously making it, and you were the global head of innovation at Sutherland, and then suddenly now you have this company. So tell us about your journey.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: I think anyone who claims that there was method to madness after the fact is probably trying to clean up the story, but I was lucky enough that I bounced a few times in my career and picked up relevant skills and experiences and insights along the way that have served me pretty well in the last few years. So, I started in consulting,[I] was doing ERP implementations, actually&mdash;people soft implementations&mdash;and I didn&#39;t know it at the time, but it was exposing me to large enterprise-grade complex environments, and projects, and working with really dynamic teams. So, I did that for a while, and then I went into consulting. More management consulting, generally helping enterprises understand strategy and how they apply, at the time, what was the newest flavor which happened to be if you can believe it&mdash;the Internet.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: So, sort of the e-business strategy consulting realm of: how do we use the internet to better serve our patrons, our customers, our clients, our citizens? And from that, I did learn quite a bit more about strategy and narrative. I met my wife. So, that was a huge win. She and I worked together at a consulting firm. And then, from there, I went into outsourcing. And it was actually&mdash;I followed a mentor. I followed somebody who had been sort of an advisor to me throughout my career who happens to be at a big business process outsourcing organization.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: And got to then see real work being done. Got to see operations being set up; teams being hired and recruited and hired and trained and retained. And then had the luck of just watching that industry evolve from it being good enough that you could pull a labor arbitrage lever to then it no longer being good enough, and you needed to do insight and analytics and transformation and innovation. That kind of brings us to almost today where I just, I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time with the right challenge, that said, &ldquo;you [have] got to do something differently,&rdquo; because arbitrage is not going to win this next big opportunity.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: So that&#39;s where we stumbled into what was not called &lsquo;robotics process automation&rsquo; at the time, but now it is and so the rest is history. We saw an opportunity.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: So do you mind sharing the name of your mentor?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Yeah his name was Claude Hartrig. I&#39;ve known him since, actually before I even started working. He was the one who introduced me to consulting and outsourcing, before I knew those were options for a career. As a kid you, what you hear is all the cool exciting things like traveling all over the world and that seemed really neat. So, I went into consulting partly to travel all over the world.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Neat.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: And ironically my first consultant job, I joke, allowed me to see all parts of New Jersey, and it was only until I moved into outsourcing that I got to actually see all parts of the world. But I have since had the privilege of developing tremendous friendships with people in India and Guatemala and China and Brazil and Germany and Finland. You name it, it&#39;s been an extraordinary journey. I wouldn&#39;t trade it for the world.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: That&#39;s awesome. So when you were at Sutherland Global, you were the head of the innovation labs. Is that when you first started tinkering around with RPA? Or tell me how did you get into that?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Yeah it was interesting. Again, it was all about sort of luck and location and timing in that it was a little bit before that, actually, a friend and partner of both of ours, Phil Furst, from HFS Research had published an article on Robotostan. It was actually November 1st, 2012, I fondly remember the date. And that report enlightened me and so many others to this idea that this software could emulate this work that people were doing. And after I read that, you can&#39;t help but think, &ldquo;that sounds cool &ldquo;and, &ldquo;I want to do that if I get a chance to.&rdquo; And then lo and behold as you said, I was given an opportunity to lead an innovation operation in one of the areas that we chose to focus on was robotic process automation.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: And then again another good stroke of timing and luck there just happened to be an opportunity that benefited from the application of it, and that&#39;s where we really cut our teeth on RPA and proved to ourselves, as you said, that it wasn&#39;t smoke and mirrors and that this really was going to be game changing.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: That&#39;s neat. So now you&#39;re partners. Where did you meet them, and how did you guys come together to form Symphony Ventures?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Absolutely. It&#39;s a four musketeers story. We all met at Cap Gemini. So, David Poole, who is now CEO of Symphony was one of the individuals really integral in the establishment of Cap Gemini&#39;s BPO&#39;s operation. He was several levels above me and I had the privilege of working in the BPO practice and then soon after joining he actually set up an innovation lab within Cap Gemini and I had the opportunity to work in that.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: So, I was part of a BPO Innovation Lab at Cap and then Pascal Baker, who is our Chief Client Officer, was closing big deals in Europe. He was a big deal sales guy rock star for the BPO practice in the UK and winning deals across Europe. Then David Brain, who is our Chief Operating Officer, and really one of the true visionaries behind what makes us so good, he joined Cap and&mdash;I&#39;ll let him weigh in whether it&#39;s fortune or misfortune&mdash;of getting to work closely with me several different times. So, he actually&mdash;he helped me within Cap establish a supply chain outsourcing practice and sort of the rest is history.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: We stuck together over time. David and I then moved to two other firms, but always stuck together. Then, when RPA reared its head and we thought this is an opportunity to do something really interesting, you look for who you trust. You look for who you have faith in and who you know will be a partner on a journey that&#39;s, as you know as an entrepreneur, it&#39;s not always sunshine and roses, but you can trust your sort of your partners. That&#39;s what we have. It&#39;s been an extraordinary brotherhood in our case, that&#39;s got us to where we are today.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: So it&#39;s only been four years. Going on four and a half years right now, that you guys have been together, correct?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Yeah. Yeah. Actually, it&#39;s been about three and a half years.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: That&#39;s right.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: It was the end of 2014. So, we&#39;re closing in on four years now. So yeah, it was the four amigos and then over time we&#39;ve had the good fortune of working with tremendous organizations, tremendous clients doing big work and so we&#39;ve grown the operations to&mdash;we&#39;re about 200 people, now&mdash;and have a global team. We&#39;ve got folks in India and Poland and Mexico and the U.S. and in the U.K.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Yeah, that&#39;s amazing. I&#39;ve met two of the other partners and David and David and I&#39;m so impressed with them. I just think you guys work together seamlessly and not competitively. So, it shows that you&#39;ve had this camaraderie for a number of years because everybody just seems to build on each other rather than try and beat each other.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Yup. It&#39;s actually funny. There was a woman who worked for us one time and I explained the founders, the team, like I mentioned earlier. I explained it like a brotherhood. And the funny thing is&mdash;I never had a brother. I had a younger sister, so in my mind brotherhood meant camaraderie and supporting each other, but this woman happened to have triplets. So she had three boys. And when she heard brotherhood, all she heard was boys attacking each other and fighting for things. So, that is not what I meant by brotherhood but we truly do as you say: we communicate openly, we complement each other&#39;s&hellip;where one of us is weak, the other is strong, and we&mdash;I think it really has been testament to that, and just having four sets of shoulders to bear the weight of just entrepreneurship that has allowed us to scale as fast as we have.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Has it been as much fun as you thought it would be?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Yes. I think so. You know, again, you certainly sign up for a lot of stress, and I don&#39;t mean that in a bad way. But a lot of responsibility when you take on the burden of building a team, building a brand, building a pipeline, keeping enterprises happy, keeping teams happy, meeting payroll. All of that. But it&#39;s truly been a joy the whole time. It&#39;s our baby and by our I mean the entire team&#39;s baby. We refer to ourselves as the Symphony Family, not by mistake. Everybody owns this company. Everyone is part of the story and part of the success.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: That&#39;s neat. So, where you do see Symphony Ventures moving toward? So, RPA...you guys proved it live at one our summits that it&#39;s real, it&#39;s here, it&#39;s now. And everybody needs to be doing it. So what is next? Is it just faster, smarter RPA? Is it new tools and technologies? Is it adding AI? Where do you see it going?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Yeah. I think&mdash;first and foremost it is going to become a fabric of how business is done or part of the fabric of how business is done, in the same way that people and computers and Microsoft excel are part of the fabric of how business is done. So, I think that RPA is here to stay. Enterprises will bed it into their operations front middle and back office in deeper and deeper ways over time. But as you say, it&#39;s really just the foundation because the story is much more than about emulating and replacing manual data entry with software that does the same thing. And the story is much more about data. And it&#39;s much more about real vision and transformation for enterprises and so as you rightly said, the next chapters are now that I&#39;ve digitized my HR onboarding function, what is it teaching me about my business? And as a result of effectively time stamps for everything, you can start to really analyze that data.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: In fact, I call this the &lsquo;Renaissance for the Data Scientist&rsquo;. I really do think that not only can individuals really put their minds to work on examining and transforming enterprises, but also algorithms can do the same thing; you can now feed machine learning with data that wasn&#39;t available before. So, I think that&#39;s going to be a big next step and it&#39;s not an easy one, because enterprises have a lot of really hard-working, smart, passionate people who have just been tirelessly working to keep the lights on, right? Just to keep to boat floating in operations.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: So, no discredit to them at all, they&#39;ve been doing a great job, but now that some of the burden can be off-loaded, we&#39;ll need to reskill and sort of redirect some of that passion and intelligence to the sort of higher order process redesign and experience design activities.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Interesting.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: I think that&#39;s what&#39;s coming next.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: So, sort of a light bulb for me came on because for years, and this is probably, I would say five, six years, people have been saying &ldquo;big data, big data, big data.&rdquo; And a lot of people are saying, so what? Nobody knows how to analyze this data, and this is how it&#39;s finally consumable data. We can actually do something with it. Make sense out of it and it just sort of takes it from this huge explosion of data into really incredible breakthroughs and thoughts and learnings. So, I love that that&#39;s really what it&#39;s going to start consuming is all that data and making sense out of it.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Right. And I saw this, I actually used to in covering the &lsquo;Internet of Things&rsquo; trend, which actually used to be called machine-to-machine, about 16 years ago, I happened to play a part in that trend as well. I was always talking about how if you were to enable all of your devices, name it, cars, lightening ballast, vending machines, parking meters. If you gave them all the ability to start to share all the information about themselves, the status and transactional activity, it would overwhelm you. It would just come flooding out. So, yeah, you&#39;ve got volume, but is there any value in that? And you just need to prepare yourself for it.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Same exact way in business now. In the old BPO era, again, people working hard to do lean, Kaizen Six Sigma projects, but it was via laminated number cards you&#39;d post on the top of cubicles to say this is the number of phone calls I&#39;ve taken, and then someone would be the runner that would write that information on a white board. That was how we did it. That was how you did the sort of Frederick Taylor time study, because it&#39;s the mechanisms that we had at our disposal at the time. Now, as you say, you&#39;re going to have a wealth of data. So, we truly will have big data in the enterprise, and now it&#39;s incumbent on us to do something with it.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: So, you came from an industry of outsourcing where when you would walk into a premise&mdash;you weren&#39;t the savior&mdash;you were the person that was possibly going to eliminate some jobs, or move them offshore or out of the company.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Yeah.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Do people view you that way when you come in and start talking about RPA? Are you once again seen as someone that&#39;s a job-taker, or are you someone that&#39;s seen as&mdash;get rid of the grunt work, let us do the really important interesting stuff?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: That&#39;s a great question. You&#39;ve touched on something that I&#39;m really passionate about right now and a real focus for me and some almost extracurricular research I&#39;m doing. Because you&#39;re right. Because the narrative in the world right now is this idea that automation is going to take all the jobs, right? AI is coming for your job. I haven&#39;t seen it. In the four years that we&#39;ve been doing this, and this is&mdash;sometimes people, CFOs are disappointed by that statement that I haven&#39;t seen all the jobs go away but I just haven&#39;t because enterprises always have more than they can and know they should do. And, they are growing and there is higher orders of service that you can offer.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: So, more often than not, if tech out comes out, it&#39;s because of natural attrition glide path or you reallocate staff to other things. But I&#39;m seeing people actually be really happy with the outcome of automation of tasks that truly were mundane, and things that did not get them up in the morning. It wasn&#39;t their favorite part of their job. So, that&#39;s one thing I&#39;m seeing. I&#39;m actually, I&#39;ve started to interview people in our client&#39;s teams whose roles have changed as a result of RPA.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: They were part of a&hellip;they were a process lead or a process owner or transactional subject matter expert prior to RPA, and now they are something different. Still associated with the function of the business, but RPAs allowed them to do a different role. I just wanted to hear their stories from them. So, I&#39;ve actually asked my team to connect me with some of those individuals at various clients, and that&#39;s honestly the best discussion I have all week. I&#39;ve had several interviews now and I just hang up giddy because they are so happy about their new role and what they get to do to apply their knowledge of the business and the process. Yet, do so with a greater degree of scientific rigor thanks to RPA.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: So, I actually think it&#39;s a good news story, much more so than sort of the, sort of the FDE reduction impending doom story that seems to find its way into the headlines a lot.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Well, you know what? I would love to do a podcast with some of the folks that you&#39;ve been talking to and get that out there, because I see nothing but good news stories from people saying finally, we don&#39;t have human error and one system matches the other system and I&#39;m freed up; I don&#39;t have to spend all this time looking for the errors and fixing it. So, I&#39;ve heard nothing but happiness but I would love to get someone on the podcast that has gone through one of these transformations.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Right. And I&#39;m taking notes as fast as I can while I&#39;m talking to them, but there are comments like I feel like this job was made for me&mdash;about their new role. True excitement and passion in folks because of this transformation at work. Like I said, it makes my day, every time I have one of these conversations.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: That is so neat. So, for you personally, I mean I don&#39;t see you slowing down anytime soon and your light bulbs seem to be going off as fast as they can flicker, they turn back on. They flicker, they turn back on, and you keep going. So, what&#39;s next for Ian Barkin?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: That&#39;s a great question. Obviously, I&#39;m really passionate about this. I&#39;m really passionate about the transformation of work and the role that it&rsquo;ll have on jobs and people, and I think Symphony is a tremendous platform for that, so I don&#39;t see that changing in the next several years. We&#39;ve got so many exciting new service offerings and platforms and teams opening up and projects that we&#39;re doing. So, I think that just gives me the wherewithal and the ability to just spread out and learn more about different industries and as you mentioned earlier, different tool sets, because things like cognitive and machine learning are getting better and better and more enterprise grade. I&#39;m spending a lot of time right now just trying to figure them out, so that I have an informed opinions on them.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: But, the other thing, and we segued into that with the discussion with individuals. The other thing that I&#39;m really passionate about is the impact on the job market. And so, I am doing a lot of research on things like education reform, and talent upscaling, and rescaling. And in whatever free time I can find, I want to spend more and more time understanding how we as professionals really making this trend happen quickly&mdash;sort of the obligations that we have to contribute to the next generation.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: I&#39;ve got two young children who will be in this new workforce that I&#39;m in some small way, I&#39;m helping sort of shape and define for them, so I want to figure out how we educate, how we train, how we prepare the next generation to work more seamlessly with algorithms, and automations, and augmentation, and avatars, and all the &lsquo;A&#39;s&rsquo; apparently. I just alliterated very nicely. But all the &lsquo;A&#39;s&rsquo; that will be part of their future lives.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Oh, I think that&#39;s fantastic, and I&#39;d love for you to write some of this for Outsource and get it published out there and get your thoughts out there. I think it would just be fantastic to just get more professionals to start thinking about, as we change the way society works, we have an obligation to make sure that the next generation is prepared. And I think you&#39;re absolutely right. And I&#39;m lucky enough to have three of my four, so three, my third is going to college this year and studying computers and he wants to be a Data Scientist, but I still have a 14-year-old that still has to go all the way through that. And figure out, because the world will be different by the time she gets in college and then out of college. It&#39;s going to be a completely different world. So, I&#39;d like that-</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Absolutely.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: -and anything I can do to support you or help get that word out, I would love to do that at SIG. And Ian, I have to tell you too, within SIG, people respect you and I love the fact that you volunteered to work with our RPA Group through the SIG Resource Center Thought Leadership Council. You bring a human side to RPA and both you and David, when you guys are there, you&#39;re real. You&#39;re human. You have compassion for people. You are very relatable and that is very unique for people that are as smart as you guys, to have the people skills and just the way you&#39;re talking about obligations that we have back to society shows that you&#39;re not the typical entrepreneur or typical nerd that&rsquo;s out there running a tech company.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Thank you. I appreciate that.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: You&#39;re a compassionate nerd. How&#39;s that?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Aw. Thank you very much. There needs to be a t-shirt that says that. I&#39;m going to spend the rest of my day designing that t-shirt. But no, and thank you for letting us be part of the SIG family. From London, we started working together, several years ago with that Build-a-Bot live on stage activity and the, just the network, the camaraderie, the closeness of your community, struck us immediately and continues to impress me to this day, and the passion that they have. As you mentioned, your RPA group is a lot of people who care a lot about contributing to the community. So, it&#39;s been a thrill to be part of. Thank you so much for letting us play some small role in it.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Oh it&#39;s been very important to have people like you showing these executives that the world has changed, and it&#39;s not coming in five years, and you guys brought it right down to reality. And for us to be able to get the sourcing industry to be one of the first ones to fully embrace RPA is tremendous, and it&#39;s serving our desire, which is to elevate the CPO to really be the one that embraces change and be seen as strategic. So it&#39;s been so helpful.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: And to that end too, you can go down the route of sourcing the lowest cost RPA license and that&#39;s what&#39;s happened in general, not particularly because of sourcing industry, but it was the behavior in the market for a while. It needs to elevate. It needs to become easier, because of this concept of, as HFS refers to it, as the &lsquo;one office&rsquo; or this concept of general, sort of a holistic digital operation that enterprises have to figure out how to evolve to. It&#39;s&mdash;this is a much bigger story than the cost of a particular license or the type of software you choose. It&#39;s far more holistic. In anyway, if anyone can contribute to their organization but think look, we have a chance to fundamentally redefine our role in our industry by being digital about the way that we interact with our customers, interact with our employees, our patients, our citizens. That&#39;s the real trick. That&#39;s what&#39;s going to keep enterprises future proof.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: To the extent that the sourcing community can play a role in that and opening the aperture for their organization, so that it&#39;s bigger than just a spot by of a particular component of that tapestry, is critical.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: I love it. So, alright you&#39;ve had an exciting career and you&#39;re still young, but if you could look back 10 years and talk to your younger self, what kind of advice would you have given yourself? What would you have done differently?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: That&#39;s a great question. I guess&mdash;probably a lot of things. One of them is I think that&mdash;spend the time to work really hard at the hard work. And just stay head&#39;s down. Work on understanding and becoming an expert in process improvement or software development, or whatever trade you&#39;re in. Whatever drives you, or perhaps whatever is sort of tangential but supporting your overall passion.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Just focus on that tirelessly. It&#39;s about hard work. I&#39;d like to think I&#39;m a pretty committed, passionate hard worker, but it really is just about putting in the hours, and then the other thing that I would say is more confidently build your network, right? Reach out to more and more people. I get the chance to do that more and more these days in my position, but I could have done it more freely ten years ago and interacted with the idea makers, the decision makers, the visionaries, the authors, the academics, because they are all very accessible, and they&#39;re the ones that start to inform your perspective on the future and what you&#39;re both interested in, good at, and the opportunities that you can sort of carve out for yourself.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: I mean just like this. This discussion with you. I&#39;m thrilled that we are friends and we get to speak as often as we do these days. And a relationship ten years ago would have put me in a better position. Symphony would be huge if I knew you ten years ago. So, that&#39;s I guess one of my recommendations to my younger, skinnier, healthier self.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: I love that. So Ian, I just want to thank you so much. You&#39;ve given me lots of ideas for future podcasts. And lots of ideas for blogs and just ideas on other things we need to do at SIG. So, thank you for your time today and I hope you enjoyed the chat, and we will be talking soon. You know that.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ian Barkin: Thanks so much Dawn. It was a real pleasure. Great talking to you.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Dawn Tiura: Thank you. And folks that&#39;s the end of our podcast today. This is Dawn Tiura signing off and hopefully you&#39;ll come and listen next week, too. Thanks, bye-bye.</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/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0" 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/networking" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Networking</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 class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/technology" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Technology</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/procurement" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Procurement</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/sourcing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sourcing</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="RPA is Here to Stay with Ian Barkin - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/rpa-is-here-to-stay-with-ian-barkin"><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, 29 Aug 2018 00:08:25 +0000 Ian Barkin 1486 at https://futureofsourcing.com https://futureofsourcing.com/rpa-is-here-to-stay-with-ian-barkin#comments Robot Workers and Human Problems: Hiring (and firing) your digital workforce https://futureofsourcing.com/robot-workers-and-human-problems-hiring-and-firing-your-digital-workforce <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="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Robot%20Workers-Human%20Problems.jpg"><a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Robot%20Workers-Human%20Problems.jpg" title="Robot Workers and Human Problems: Hiring (and firing) your digital workforce " class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1189-i3rHMDuFnZA"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Robot%20Workers-Human%20Problems.jpg?itok=iFK7NaZE" 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 style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{48a7008a-7edd-4cc2-9d71-7406d4943cce}{187}" paraid="791694753"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Picture the scene:</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;you&rsquo;re in the middle</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;of hiring for a role in your HR department.</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;At the interview stage, some bright young candidate takes a seat.</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;You ask the classic question, &ldquo;So why should I hire you?&rdquo;</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{48a7008a-7edd-4cc2-9d71-7406d4943cce}{201}" paraid="1797190502" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;Erm</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&hellip;you shouldn&rsquo;t really.&rdquo;</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{48a7008a-7edd-4cc2-9d71-7406d4943cce}{209}" paraid="493653776" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry?</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rdquo;</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{48a7008a-7edd-4cc2-9d71-7406d4943cce}{217}" paraid="1756956618" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;Well if you wait 12 months I&rsquo;ll be better at the role and&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">cheaper to hire.&rdquo;</span></p> <p paraeid="{48a7008a-7edd-4cc2-9d71-7406d4943cce}{217}" paraid="1756956618" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&ldquo;Oh&hellip;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">well now I don&rsquo;t&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">want</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;to hire you, but what about the work that needs doing&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">now?</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rdquo;</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{48a7008a-7edd-4cc2-9d71-7406d4943cce}{243}" paraid="1910965128"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Whilst you&rsquo;re unlikely to hear&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">this exchange in the human world</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">, it&rsquo;s a real&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">consideration</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;when it comes to the <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/robotic-process-automation-rpa-drives-value-and-saves-money-but-it-is-not-a-magic-wand" target="_blank">Robotic Process Automation (RPA) market</a>.&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Why should I pick (&lsquo;hire&rsquo;) something now when there is something better and cheaper&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">coming down the line in two&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">years</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rsquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;time?&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">At the same time, how do I meet my short-term automation needs?&nbsp;</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{e6001792-af95-4986-a97b-c94e766f125a}{14}" paraid="1182760161"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">The marketplace</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">looks as if it&rsquo;s going to&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">get</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;more cut-throat as RPA tools become cheap</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">er and more effective. So as&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">the&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&lsquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">price per bot</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rsquo;&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">falls fast</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">,&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">flexibility has a key role to play in</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;making the best use of&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">you</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">r</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">RPA capabilities.&nbsp;</span></p> </div> <div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{e6001792-af95-4986-a97b-c94e766f125a}{54}" paraid="602317561"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">However, t</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">his flexibility can&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">suffer</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;when</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;companies insist on viewing</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">RPA</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;as something that can only be obtained through an <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/automation-an-inevitable-reality-for-procurement" target="_blank">IT procurement&nbsp;</a></span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://outsourcemag.com/automation-an-inevitable-reality-for-procurement" target="_blank">process</a>. Whether due to perceived complexit</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">y o</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">r a fixation on short term&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">financial incentives,</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">treating the acquisition and management of your digital workforce in the same way you t</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">reat, for example, your CRM, could</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;prove to</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;be a little&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">short-</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">sighted.&nbsp;</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{e6001792-af95-4986-a97b-c94e766f125a}{96}" paraid="1644625696"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Making business-oriented hiring decisions is the cornerstone of human recruitment, so why should it be any different for RPA bots?</span>&nbsp;L<span xml:lang="EN-GB">et&rsquo;s look at this more as a business question and less as&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">an IT-centric decision.</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-GB">Here are the two most common misconceptions that lead businesses to lump choosing RPA tools in with traditional IT procurement:</span></p> <ol> <li paraeid="{e6001792-af95-4986-a97b-c94e766f125a}{96}" paraid="1644625696">&lsquo;Our team should be trained on one tool&rsquo;<br /><span xml:lang="EN-GB">Rubbish! T</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ech developers in all walks of life&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">are</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;able to switch between languages and development environments with li</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">ttle or no difficulty. RPA can be seen as a development system like any other. Even if you have to invest in a couple of weeks&rsquo; extra training for your team, their increased business flexibility will pay you back with interest.&nbsp;</span>&nbsp; &lsquo;We want to access volume discounts&rsquo;</li> <li paraeid="{e6001792-af95-4986-a97b-c94e766f125a}{96}" paraid="1644625696"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&lsquo;We want to access volume discounts&rsquo;<br />While you might be able to reduce initial costs by investing in just one tool, you are at the same time&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">significantly</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;increasing risk by putting all your eggs in one bask</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">et, so to speak.&nbsp;</span></li> </ol> </div> </div> <div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{e6001792-af95-4986-a97b-c94e766f125a}{160}" paraid="2133701317"><span xml:lang="EN-GB">It&rsquo;s essential in the current market that companies have a virtual&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&lsquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">quiver</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&rsquo;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;of RPA tools that</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;is kept under review on an annual basis at the very least.</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;One of the beauties with digital workers is that you don&rsquo;t&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">feel guilty about firing them after</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;a year when a more capable digi</span><span xml:lang="EN-GB">tal worker appears on the scene!</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p>We need to let business units choose the most efficient RPA tool for them and ensure that&nbsp;behind it all there is an RSO (Robotic&nbsp;Service Orchestration) platform to provide governance and control across the&nbsp;entire digital workforce.</p> </div> </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/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0" 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/digital-workforce" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Digital Workforce</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/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/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="Robot Workers and Human Problems: Hiring (and firing) your digital workforce - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/robot-workers-and-human-problems-hiring-and-firing-your-digital-workforce"><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, 06 Jun 2018 21:38:58 +0000 Kit Cox 1189 at https://futureofsourcing.com https://futureofsourcing.com/robot-workers-and-human-problems-hiring-and-firing-your-digital-workforce#comments Will Machine Learning Save Procurement Millions a Year? https://futureofsourcing.com/will-machine-learning-save-procurement-millions-a-year <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="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Machine%20Learning%20Savings.jpeg"><a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/Machine%20Learning%20Savings.jpeg" title="Machine Learning Cost Savings" class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1184-i3rHMDuFnZA"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/Machine%20Learning%20Savings.jpeg?itok=zqWdEcWm" width="960" height="640" alt="Machine Learning Cost Savings" 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 style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{252a1f88-bfb4-4889-bd2d-6394c4e4d082}{178}" paraid="214901348"><span xml:lang="EN-US">When it comes to <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/orchestration-vs-integration-finding-the-best-way-to-manage-automation" target="_blank">automating processes</a>, procurement organizations are no slouches. Long ago, chief procurement officers automated administration, payroll processing, material-resource needs calculation, invoice generation</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;and material flow tracking. The function has, for the most part, eliminated redundant work to dedicate more time toward more strategic activity</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;and transitioned the collaboration to business networks</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">.</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{252a1f88-bfb4-4889-bd2d-6394c4e4d082}{190}" paraid="23532045"><span xml:lang="EN-US">Y</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">et, exception handling seems to be at an all-time high as companies try to get a better handle on their suppliers and partners to gain a competitive edge.</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;And</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;p</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">rocurement professionals</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;are now stretched to their limit, bombarded with a steady stream of requests &ndash; each one requiring analysis of massive volumes of documents.&nbsp;</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{252a1f88-bfb4-4889-bd2d-6394c4e4d082}{206}" paraid="307436765"><span xml:lang="EN-US">O</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">rganizations</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">, on average, waste between 3 and 4 percent of overall external spend on unnecessary transaction costs, excessive inefficiency</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;and regulatory noncompliance. For an organization with an annual procurement spend of $2 billion, cutting off such leakages can add $70 million a year back to the bottom line.</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;But there&rsquo;s good news.&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&ldquo;Thinking&rdquo; algorithms &ndash; known as machine learning &ndash; can speed up the process of exception handling with significant payback.</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;And they literally do all the thinking &ndash; and work &ndash; for you.</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <h1>Machine learning: Overcoming common barriers to full automation</h1> <p><span xml:lang="EN-US">Unlike&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.digitalistmag.com/finance/2017/05/31/robotic-process-automation-procurements-next-big-thing-or-next-big-hype-05116066" target="_blank">Robotic Process Automation</a>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">(RPA)&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">and preliminary use cases for <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/artificial-intelligence-whats-now-and-next-in-iot-driven-supply-chain-innovation" target="_blank">Artificial Intelligence</a></span><a href="http://outsourcemag.com/artificial-intelligence-whats-now-and-next-in-iot-driven-supply-chain-innovation" target="_blank"><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;(AI)</span></a><span xml:lang="EN-US">,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.digitalistmag.com/machine-learning-ai" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank"><span xml:lang="EN-US">Machine Learning</span></a>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">(ML)&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">handles activities that call for complex rules and pattern recognition. By demonstrating a basic level of human judgment, machine learning can, for example, assign transactions to formal spend categories and subcategories. This critical first step in uncovering sourcing opportunities can transition from a traditionally time-consuming, manual task to a real-time, automatic response.</span></p> </div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{252a1f88-bfb4-4889-bd2d-6394c4e4d082}{234}" paraid="100239535"><span xml:lang="EN-US"><img alt="" src="http://outsourcemag.com/sites/default/files/Machine_Learning1.png" /></span></p> <div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{7a6edab5-4a5e-4b10-96af-3f7d6c04469e}{16}" paraid="1358780850"><strong><span xml:lang="EN-US">And easier</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;categorization is just the beginning.</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">Machine learning can further automate procurement and enhance its strategic reputation across five major aspects of the function:</span></strong></p> <ul> <li paraeid="{7a6edab5-4a5e-4b10-96af-3f7d6c04469e}{16}" paraid="1358780850"><span xml:lang="EN-US"><a href="http://outsourcemag.com/software-supplier-management-the-gold-standard" target="_blank"><strong>Supplier management</strong></a>.</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">Procurement organizations</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;want to make sure that their suppliers are financially viable and stable. Procurement can apply machine learning to determine the most competitive rate to negotiate</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">,</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">and also</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;discover the best contract terms that&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">will</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">help the partnership become more successful through as-promised delivery and on-time payment.&nbsp;</span></li> <li paraeid="{7a6edab5-4a5e-4b10-96af-3f7d6c04469e}{16}" paraid="1358780850"><span xml:lang="EN-US"><strong>Capabilities matching</strong>.</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">All buyers want their&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">supplier</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">s</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">to</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">fully meet current and expected needs&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">and deliver exceptional service</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">.&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">But it can be tough to separate&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">marketing hype from reality. By scanning the industry for new competencies and aligning them with business requirements through <a href="http://artificial-intelligence-and-the-insurance-industry-the-journey-has-just-begun" target="_blank">machine learning</a>, procurement can develop processes to continuously test the ability of new and existing partnerships.</span></li> <li paraeid="{7a6edab5-4a5e-4b10-96af-3f7d6c04469e}{16}" paraid="1358780850"><span xml:lang="EN-US"><strong>Efficiency monitoring</strong>.</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;Machine&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">learning can</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;efficiently&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">track and monitor the efficiency of every entity of the&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">supply chain&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">and rate&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">suppliers</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">based on their performance, enabling procurement to</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;hold vendors accountable while helping to ensure that operations run at peak standards.</span></li> <li paraeid="{7a6edab5-4a5e-4b10-96af-3f7d6c04469e}{16}" paraid="1358780850"><span xml:lang="EN-US"><strong>Compliance enforcement</strong>.</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;Machine learning can pick out hidden patterns that&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">indicate whether a supplier is not meeting business and regulatory requirements</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;and can do so</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;faster and more efficiently than any human</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">. With the data on hand, the procurement function can engage</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;in</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;difficult discussions with greater ease and in a&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">manner</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">that is&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">both&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">productive and decisive.&nbsp;</span></li> <li paraeid="{7a6edab5-4a5e-4b10-96af-3f7d6c04469e}{16}" paraid="1358780850"><strong><span xml:lang="EN-US">Value creation</span></strong><span xml:lang="EN-US">. Every area of the company demands quality and maximum value to the bottom line. Using <a href="https://www.udemy.com/topic/machine-learning/" target="_blank">machine learning</a>, the procurement function can&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">deliver it,&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">automat</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">ing</span>&nbsp;<span xml:lang="EN-US">balanced&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">score</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">carding</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;to track the efficiency of the supplier relationship and the effectiveness of a purchased good or service</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;on all transactions</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">. Plus, machine learning can empower the team to develop rules that permit flexibility and responsiveness while controlling risk.&nbsp;</span></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div> <div style="clear:both;"> <p paraeid="{7a6edab5-4a5e-4b10-96af-3f7d6c04469e}{175}" paraid="1148350487"><span xml:lang="EN-US">While technology will undoubtedly continue to&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">evolve,</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;and deliver more value and opportunity, it&#39;s impossible to ignore machine learning as a transformational stepping stone toward providing quick value&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">that benefits</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">&nbsp;the entire company and its customers.&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">And p</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">rocurement leaders that adopt and embed this next-generation form of artificial intelligence in their processes can&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">lead the way and&nbsp;</span><span xml:lang="EN-US">position the function as a powerhouse of strategic influence on business success.</span></p> </div> </div> </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/machine-learning" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Machine Learning</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/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0" 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/value" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Value</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/cost" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Cost</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 Machine Learning Save Procurement Millions a Year? - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/will-machine-learning-save-procurement-millions-a-year"><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, 31 May 2018 20:36:10 +0000 Marcell Vollmer 1184 at https://futureofsourcing.com https://futureofsourcing.com/will-machine-learning-save-procurement-millions-a-year#comments IT Outsourcing: Changing Landscape https://futureofsourcing.com/it-outsourcing-changing-landscape <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="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/IT%20Outsourcing_Changing%20Land%20624.jpg"><a href="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/articles/IT%20Outsourcing_Changing%20Land%20624.jpg" title="Adjusting to IT Outsourcing is a process." class="colorbox" rel="gallery-node-1180-i3rHMDuFnZA"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://futureofsourcing.com/sites/default/files/styles/juicebox_medium/public/articles/IT%20Outsourcing_Changing%20Land%20624.jpg?itok=KNNaBpEF" width="624" height="325" alt="Adjusting to IT Outsourcing is a process." 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>The last few years have triggered dramatic changes in the way <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/5-common-outsourcing-misconceptions" target="_blank">IT outsourcing</a> arrangements have been made by enterprises. As expected, some of the changes are taking time before they become center stage. In addition, some of the triggers did not live past their hype and fizzled out before they could deliver the promised value sought by enterprises.</p> <p>While several triggers have endured and driven changes in the last five to eight years, the rate of change has been gradual due to the multi-year nature of most outsourcing contracts. This meant that any change had to be incorporated during the life of the existing contracts. Another reason for the slow adoption is the collective wisdom of enterprises, which helps them wait out a new change before deciding to adopt and include them in their IT strategy.</p> <p>The good news is that in this wave of change, the triggers are actually leading to higher cost savings, accelerated rate of return on investments and far more simplification than ever before in the IT landscape. These triggers are also largely technology agnostic and in many cases have been led by a set of new players who hitherto were not involved in enterprise IT deals. So, what are these triggers and how are they changing the outsourcing arrangements for both enterprises and existing service providers?</p> <p><strong>Cloud Computing</strong><br />While <a href="http://outsourcemag.com/node/939" target="_blank">cloud computing</a> has been on the horizon for almost a decade, it has become a serious game changer in IT outsourcing deals in the last five years. Enterprises have incorporated cloud solutions initially for non-core areas and more recently for core areas. More critical applications are now moving to cloud across various flavors of cloud implementations from public to private to everything in between.&nbsp;</p> <p>Moving to the cloud has helped enterprises realize business benefits ranging from reduced capex expenses, vastly improved agility and overall reduced cost of operations. This has made a huge dent in traditional data center services revenue of service providers who rode the wave of helping clients manage complex systems in data centers. The new entrants to the game here are companies like Amazon and Microsoft that provide enterprise-grade cloud solutions and services.</p> <p><strong>In-Sourcing</strong></p> <p>The last decade has also seen a more rational view of IT outsourcing by enterprises. From the previous decades of outsourcing as much as possible in IT to maximize business benefits, the trend is shifting to outsource commoditized non-core services. Initially led by large enterprises, the trend to move key business-associated functions back in-house has now picked up steam. A lot of the application development of core functions, architecture services, security and consulting have moved in-house.</p> <p>Another dimension to this is the increase in the number of&nbsp;<a href="http://outsourcemag.com/node/941" target="_blank">Global In-house Centers (GICs)</a>&nbsp;that enterprises are leveraging to access talent pools and gain cost-efficiencies at similar offshore locations as their erstwhile service providers were using. Again, this has a big impact on revenues for service providers as more and more meaty scope has been taken away, resulting in lower revenues and profitability.</p> <p><strong>Automation</strong></p> <p>Automation technologies have now moved mainstream in several areas where labor intensive efforts were required to deliver services with low decision-making processes involved. Several large pieces of work around basic service remediation, patch deployment, standard operating procedures execution, etc., are now being automated with technologies like&nbsp;<a href="http://outsourcemag.com/robotic-process-automation-rpa-drives-value-and-saves-money-but-it-is-not-a-magic-wand">Robotic Process Automation (RPA)</a>, which mimics human action through software code that executes with great speed, almost no errors, at a fraction of the cost and without bothersome human resource issues to be handled!</p> <p>Though the efficacy of such technology depends on how well the initial assessment and implementation are done, there are several case studies where these have moved to mainstream services. For service providers, this gives an opportunity to deliver superior service quality, but with a reduced dependency on labor, which in turn reduces their revenues in the long term.</p> <p><strong>Hosted Apps</strong></p> <p>Most of the IT landscape for enterprises has traditionally revolved around developing and then maintaining applications relevant to their business. Along with this came the necessary evil of managing associated hardware and systems to support these applications. A major spend for the software license of various components, applications and databases also exists. In the last few years, companies like Salesforce, Workday and others have dramatically transformed the enterprise IT landscape by providing cloud-based hosted applications specific to common business functions like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Financial Management and Human Resource Management. These hosted applications have done away with the need for developing, maintaining applications and managing infrastructure to support them, resulting in huge savings for enterprises. The charges are usually subscription-based, helping enterprises control the spend each month instead of trying to manage through chunks of multi-year capital investments. Microsoft&rsquo;s Office productivity software, one of the most used desktop-based applications, has embraced the hosted app bandwagon with its Office 365 offering.</p> <p>In summary, traditional IT service providers&mdash;whose revenues are, for the most part, declining as an overall category&mdash;have never had it so bad. Cloud computing, hosted apps and in-sourcing have reduced the most profitable scope of work that enterprises were outsourcing. To add insult to injury, the pieces of work now being outsourced have a low value commoditized scope, but these also happen to be the best candidates for the automation that enterprises rightly expect. This has resulted in additional investments by service providers to stay in the game&mdash;the outcome of which is mostly to further reduce their revenues.</p> <p>The counter offensive adopted by most IT service providers is to brand a new set of offerings that are more business aligned under the umbrella of &ldquo;digital services.&rdquo; Most now pride themselves in reporting how &ldquo;digital revenue&rdquo; has been increasing. Services clubbed under this are now being pitched to sales, marketing and customer experience leaders with technologies around analytics, social media and mobility. These opportunities result in smaller programs with much lower revenue per contract than traditional contracts. The quest for stickiness by service providers has never been as intense as it is today. In all this, enterprises are surely benefiting by getting a lot more done with a lot less than before.&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/cloud" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Cloud</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0" 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/global-in-house-centers-gics" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Global In-house Centers (GICs)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" 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 even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/outsourcing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Outsourcing</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 Outsourcing: Changing Landscape - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/it-outsourcing-changing-landscape"><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, 24 May 2018 19:19:18 +0000 Ashutosh Agarwal 1180 at https://futureofsourcing.com https://futureofsourcing.com/it-outsourcing-changing-landscape#comments Live Wires #7: Giant shoulders https://futureofsourcing.com/node/737 <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>A lot of the talk of RPA today is about bright new names challenging the established order: plucky newcomers forcing their way past the giants of outsourcing and technology. But what do the giants themselves have to say about this? Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is one such business, and it turns out they are not sitting around waiting for their business models to be hollowed out. Live Wires met Vijay Damle, VP and Head of Business Process Services, to get the TCS perspective.</p> <p>TCS is at the opposite end of the spectrum to our most recent profiles &ndash; emerging names Blue Prism and Genfour. TCS&rsquo; 350,000 staff are involved in IT development, software, consultancy, outsourcing and many other endeavours. Vijay notes without irony that their automation heritage goes all the way back to Pune, India, in the 1970s. RPA is certainly new, but for TCS it is also simply the latest leg in a 50-year automation odyssey.</p> <p>For Vijay, automation is a fundamental, and compelling, force in business: &ldquo;Organisations cannot keep throwing people at problems; people are a very expensive resource. It just doesn&rsquo;t make sense to do the same work manually, over and over. Repetitive work means boredom and attrition. A lot of our workforce is in their mid to late twenties and will not stick around for this.&rdquo; RPA is the latest tool to address this problem.</p> <p>Vijay and his colleagues are already very busy making RPA happen for clients. So far TCS has configured, implemented, and run robotic software in banking, education, health, retail, manufacturing, life sciences, and professional services. This is consistent with the wave of RPA activity that I and other advisers and commentators are seeing across business. Vijay notes that as of today, &ldquo;there is more demand than we can supply.&rdquo; The talk about robotics is turning into action.</p> <p>TCS has been rolling out RPA for a number of years, making it one of the earliest movers in this nascent technology. It targets 20-40% efficiencies for the processes it automates, in areas such as Accounts Payable or Operations. After initial pilots, live implementations follow, with eventual headcount savings anywhere between 50 to 1,000 roles over 9 to 12 months.</p> <p>The potential benefits extend beyond efficiency. &ldquo;RPA results in cost savings for sure. But it also frees up money for other things, such as innovation. So if I am a CIO or COO, I can now access so much new, granular data. I can see new patterns in transactions and operations. Every RPA transaction has an audit trail, so I get a new ability to get insights and data to regulators.&rdquo;</p> <p>To date TCS prefers to respond to demand amongst its outsourcing client base. This may change as its capabilities continue to develop. Some TCS RPA deployments have used third-party RPA software, such as Blue Prism, or Openspan, while others have used the home-grown TCS RPA platform based on Microsoft architecture. The TCS product uses four robotic &lsquo;siblings&rsquo;, each specialising in a different type of activity: one robot that moves content between systems, a second that consolidates information, a third that produces reports and analysis, and the last that organises the other robots. (For the record, TCS has also launched a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool for infrastructure automation, with about a dozen installations. More on AI in future posts).</p> <p>So when it comes to RPA, what value would a company like TCS add? Vijay sets out a few reasons. Firstly, as noted, RPA is one part of a spectrum of automation and transformation activities. These can be joined up, consistent and reinforcing &ndash; or not. In theory working with a large, experienced partner promises more joined up thinking than a best-of-breed approach. If you are buying RPA, you might also need to buy OCR, re-engineer some of your processes, and change your organisation. A start-up RPA provider will not be able to cover the bases; a global systems integrator and outsourcer might.</p> <p>Secondly, there will always be people somewhere in the process. Today&rsquo;s buyers of RPA are very unlikely to be able to completely automate a given process. The reality is that your RPA solution will still entail handoffs, authorisations and large chunks of manual processing &ndash; so if not you, who will deliver this? &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t come across a single process where end-to-end, &lsquo;virtual outsourcing&rsquo; is possible. You still need the people element.&rdquo;</p> <p>Thirdly, getting RPA right is not as easy as you might imagine. &ldquo;Most clients underestimate the prep needed before you switch RPA on. People are sold RPA as if you are installing MS Office on your home laptop. Very often clients have progressed with RPA without support &ndash; and we&rsquo;ve been brought in to clean up the mess.&rdquo; Specifically RPA implementation requires excellent design, but also very strong change planning and management. Vijay asks &ldquo;How do you teach people to manage a mixed team of people and machines?&rdquo; A good question, and the answer is not obvious.</p> <p>In summary it seems the role of an organisation like TCS is in fitting RPA into a broad agenda for transformation. Do you see RPA a point solution, or is it part of something bigger? If as a company you have a great handle on the improvement opportunities in your IT, Finance, HR, Operations, Contact or other departments, and you understand how to go after them, then fine. But RPA will not help you to get there. In situations where you are looking for help, you might need to work with a global outsourcer, or &ndash; god forbid &ndash; the consultants.</p> <p>Looking forward, Vijay notes that RPA may not always be a key part of the automation agenda. Today it is the latest tool, but over time it may be replaced by smarter, more integrated technology. &ldquo;RPA is sophisticated, it is quick, but at the end of the day, it is a band-aid.&rdquo; In two or three years&rsquo; time AI or other tools may push it aside.</p> <p>But by that stage, the impact of RPA could already have been profound. Looking at TCS itself, Vijay sees it as part of a switch to becoming a &lsquo;non-linear&rsquo; business. &ldquo;In the past, we have grown only by adding people. RPA and other automation helps us to change this. We will continue to grow in terms of the value we deliver, but we will not need to add as many people as before. It will free up people to get closer to our clients.&rdquo;</p> <p>TCS could be at a turning point in its RPA journey. It recently sold its own RPA software product to an insurer that was not an outsourcing client &ndash; in other words it is a&nbsp;<em>de facto</em>&nbsp;entrant into the RPA software market, totally separate to its legacy outsourcing business. It seems that the full impact of RPA on the outsourcing landscape is only just starting to emerge.</p> <p>&nbsp;P<em>aul Morrison is a Partner at Aecus, the specialist outsourcing, shared service and automation consultancy. Follow him on Twitter at @MorrisonPaul1 and at aecus.com.</em></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/artificial-intelligence-ai" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Artificial Intelligence (AI)</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/manufacturing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Manufacturing</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/professional-services" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Professional Services</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/retail" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Retail</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0" 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/technology" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Technology</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 #7: Giant shoulders - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/node/737"><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, 15 Jul 2016 12:53:37 +0000 Paul Morrison 737 at https://futureofsourcing.com Looking at outsourcing through a crystal ball https://futureofsourcing.com/node/966 <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>Throughout the last ten years of my career as part of Capgemini&rsquo;s BPO unit I have seen digital innovation transform our personal lives exponentially in terms of smartphones, streaming services and access to real-time information updates. The natural consequence is that we now expect the same level of responsiveness, quality and dynamic interaction in our professional lives as we&rsquo;ve become accustomed to outside of work. This has resulted in a plethora of changes in terms of what is expected from outsourced services</p> <p>In my experience, BPO providers must continuously adapt and innovate, or face finding themselves out of sync with their customers. An example we often refer to in our team to keep this hunger for innovation fresh, is that of the video and DVD rental chains. A number of them famously failed to keep up with the digital revolution and are no longer with us.</p> <p>To survive, and accommodate this new trend for &lsquo;instant demand&rsquo;, I believe the sector needs to consider three things when working with clients:</p> <ul style="list-style-type:square;"> <li>Eliminating activities that do not add commensurate value.</li> <li>Optimising their investment in their existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.</li> <li>Automating remaining activities wherever possible by the use of supplementary tools enabling large scale machine-to-machine processing and robotics to enable smaller scale mimicking of human operator activities.</li> </ul> <p>The next level of outsourcing will be enabled by cutting-edge ERP, Internet of Things and &ldquo;machine telepathy&rdquo;, and will change our world dramatically again.</p> <p><strong>Meeting the need for speed with next-gen ERP</strong></p> <p>ERP systems have already transformed business processes by allowing high data volumes to be processed efficiently within a fairly rigorous and controlled framework. However, I believe that to keep up with customers&rsquo; changing needs, BPO providers must look at how else their clients can optimise existing investment in their ERP and ensure they are using the functionality already embedded to its full effect.</p> <p>Another option is to look at other tools which may augment existing ERP systems to manage increasingly complex services. There are some great examples out there of systems that enable improved customer collections by providing integrated views of credit/collections data by tying together customer service, billing, sales, collections and credit management. The net result is a better customer experience, improved working capital and happy, motivated operators.</p> <p><strong>Incorporating robotics process automation and the rise of the Internet of Things</strong></p> <p>Where optimised ERP cannot help, automation can help to solve specific challenges; for example, leveraging business networks to drive higher volumes of machine-to-machine interaction. Embedding better ways of working like this will make companies more efficient and effective by reducing the total cost of service and response times while improving the quality.</p> <p>Robotic process automation (RPA) is having a significant impact on the service delivery, just as it did in manufacturing. The service industry can learn some important lessons from it.</p> <p>For example, an industrial robot can be trained to do very specific tasks such as spray-paint a car door again and again with incredible accuracy, but this is just a one-point solution on an assembly line. A business should liken the ERP to the assembly line and consider where it is appropriate to use robotics for repetitive, specialised tasks that support the core.</p> <p>There&rsquo;s also a lot of talk about the Internet of Things and we&rsquo;re seeing some interesting applications in certain industries, such as field service workers using sensors to help predict maintenance issues. Increasingly, BPO providers are looking at how their clients are already using the Internet of Things, and how they can help to drive out even more efficiencies and transform data flows to have a positive impact on the back-office. I&rsquo;m convinced that companies which take advantage of these artificially intelligent processes stand to gain a significant advantage against the competition. It is true machine-to-machine interaction that is changing the nature of the transactions and removing the requirement for human involvement.</p> <p>These heightened expectations for new and dynamic services from consumers are changing dramatically the way companies structure their data flows. BPO providers need to embrace what is happening, and recognise that in the next few years that they will best meet their client&rsquo;s needs through innovation, use of technology and transformational skills.</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/customer-experience" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Customer Experience</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 class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/digital-transformation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Digital Transformation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0" 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="Looking at outsourcing through a crystal ball - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/node/966"><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> Tue, 21 Jun 2016 13:10:11 +0000 Christopher Stancombe 966 at https://futureofsourcing.com Make webinars, not war https://futureofsourcing.com/node/969 <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>Those of you who were unable to attend yesterday&rsquo;s Outsource Talks webinar &ndash; and, sadly, there are well over 7 billion of ye poor unfortunates &ndash; missed possibly the best installment yet, with four of outsourcing&rsquo;s finest coming together to discuss our writing competition, GBS, the value of education and networking, analytics &ndash; and, mostly, RPA and its transformative impact upon the global outsourcing space.</p> <p>One of my favourite aspects of the Outsource Talks series is that you never know at the start which way the webinar&rsquo;s going to go: the topics for our one-to-ones in the first section are agreed in advance but when we get to Q&amp;A in the second half it&rsquo;s anyone&rsquo;s guess &ndash; though yesterday, with half of the panel &ndash; both Richard Jones (of Genfour, Proxima and many more) and Paul Morrison (of Aecus) &ndash; opting to address RPA in their solo spots, it was perhaps not surprising that robotics came to dominate the discussion &ndash; with our other two panellists (Atul Vashistha of NeoGroup and SIG University&rsquo;s Mark Pollack also both contributing sterling work in this field.</p> <p>As is customary with these write-ups I&rsquo;m not going to go into much detail about what was discussed, because you can hear it for yourself:&nbsp;<a href="http://go.pardot.com/l/34562/2016-06-15/m13jxt" target="_blank">the recording of yesterday&rsquo;s webinar is now live and can be accessed here</a>. Suffice it to say that if you want an excellent overview of the RPA space right now and what its ramifications are for the outsourcing industry and business as a whole, you need look no further&hellip; Even if RPA&rsquo;s not your thing, hearing from these four most esteemed panellists is a pleasure in its own right, so settle down with a mug of cocoa/frighteningly potent martini according to preference, and enjoy Outsource Talks #4 in&nbsp;<a href="http://go.pardot.com/l/34562/2016-06-15/m13jxt" target="_blank">all its recorded glory</a>.</p> <p>Time waits for no webinar, of course, and with yesterday&rsquo;s panel bid a fond farewell we shift our attention to next month&rsquo;s installment, featuring another raft of industry grandees: BLP&rsquo;s Mark Lewis, Alsbridge&rsquo;s Mario Vollbracht and long-time BPO advisor (and&nbsp;<a href="http://outsourcemag.com/author/howardspode/" target="_blank">Outsource columnist</a>) Howard Spode taking their places on the metaphorical sofa. It promises to be another fascinating encounter &ndash; so&nbsp;<a href="https://sourcingindustrygroup.webex.com/sourcingindustrygroup/onstage/g.php?MTID=e69480398716a4405f1aca6c2561b64fb" target="_blank">register here</a>&nbsp;and clear your diaries for 3pm UK/7.30pm India/10am Eastern/7am Pacific on July 20 for&nbsp;<a href="https://sourcingindustrygroup.webex.com/sourcingindustrygroup/onstage/g.php?MTID=e69480398716a4405f1aca6c2561b64fb" target="_blank">Outsource Talks #5</a>. I look forward to seeing all 7 billion+ of you there this time round&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/automation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Automation</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/innovation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Innovation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/robotic-process-automation-rpa-0" 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/webinar" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Webinar</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tags/leadership" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Leadership</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="Make webinars, not war - Future of Sourcing" addthis:url="https://futureofsourcing.com/node/969"><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> Thu, 16 Jun 2016 18:41:39 +0000 Jamie Liddell 969 at https://futureofsourcing.com