Greater volumes of data than ever are being created, and the average business isn’t equipped to handle such volumes. Even with automation, companies need to take it one step further to collect and process this much data accurately and quickly. Consequently, businesses are searching for new solutions to handle data volumes and expedite operations. Fortunately, technology is constantly developing, and recent trends in automation, RPA, and AI can help companies keep up with growing data sets and stay competitive.
Automation
Automation is instrumental in modern business for numerous reasons. First and foremost, it drastically accelerates the rates at which companies can operate. Tedious and repetitive tasks traditionally performed by employees can now be automated. While some fear that this will replace the roles of employees in the workplace, it actually does the opposite. In taking over these menial tasks, employees can focus on more strategic and pressing operations, leaving the mundane stuff to the technology.
As a result, employees face significantly less burnout as they can contribute more significant value to their organization. With less burnout and higher value contributions, employees are more productive when supplemented by automation. Additionally, as these tasks are delegated to automated machines, they eliminate the risk of human error, significantly improving accuracy and speed. Companies can then churn out products and value faster - and at higher quality.
Speed is a defining attribute of automation. With businesses collecting, processing, and churning out larger volumes of data than ever, they need to have the infrastructure to accommodate the data. With automation, this can be easily handled, much faster than a human is capable of. Not only is data increasing in quantity, but also diversity. Automation technologies have the means to process diverse sets of data accurately, ensuring that errors are reduced, and data remains organized and flowing, reducing data bottlenecks as well.
There is no question that automation has revolutionized the world of IT and nearly every other industry as well. But still, basic automation can only take companies so far. As customer demands rise, businesses need to handle data faster than ever before, and automation itself may not be enough. For this reason, companies are looking at new trends in automation, one of which is hyperautomation.
Hyperautomation allows organizations to automate from a macro-level, essentially automating everything that can be within their company. This concept is possible through AI, RPA, and more technologies, allowing companies to scale their automation efforts upwards tremendously. At the rate that data collection and processing is growing, organizations need to create fully automated value chains for speed and efficiency, and hyperautomation can achieve this.
Another significant trend in automation is sustainability. While automation is all about speed and optimization, it also helps businesses to become more environmentally friendly. If your organization isn’t already looking for more ways to “go green,” you should be. Even if your company doesn't have a personal interest in sustainability, your customers do. Many companies recognize this and have begun to introduce the role of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) to their organization as a result.
The CSO is responsible for helping organizations to become more sustainable. Not only is this better for the environment (and their brand image), but it can actually save companies significant amounts of money - and automation is an easy way to achieve sustainability. Data centers are a major contributor to companies’ carbon footprint, but by automating their data center, businesses can significantly reduce this. Automation can power down data centers when they aren’t needed, drastically reducing electricity and carbon emissions. As sustainability grows as a pressing issue, it is expected for CSOs to become a permanent fixture in 2022 and beyond.
RPA
Within the overarching realm of automation is RPA, robotic process automation. As we mentioned previously, RPA is one of many technologies that make innovations such as hyperautomation possible. Even beyond that, RPA can help businesses expand opportunities for new applications and trends, expediting operations.
Perhaps the most prevalent use of RPA is as automation fabric. Automation fabric is a framework from which companies can weave together all automated components of their business processes. For companies looking to implement as much automation as possible, it is critical that these processes can work interoperably, which RPA enables. As such, automated processes can work together seamlessly, ensuring optimal speed and accuracy in data processing.
To handle RPA implementation, many organizations are adopting RPA Centers of Excellence (CoE), in which all RPA related tasks can be handled. In doing so, companies can standardize and scale their RPA solutions more efficiently. This is crucial as RPA technologies are no small feat, but they are well worth the effort.
That being said, many companies don’t have the means to take on an investment as significant as an RPA CoE. Fortunately, there is a way that organizations can still reap the benefits of RPA technologies without making a major investment. By partnering with an RPA-focused MSP, companies can offset the cost of RPA automation while reducing the time to solution roll-out.
In offering RPA as a service, MSPs can handle all of a company’s automation capabilities without them needing their own RPA infrastructure or training. As a result, companies get all of the benefits of well-managed RPA technologies at reduced cost and internal efforts.
AI
Similar to RPA, AI is another concept that largely contributes to the capabilities of automation. One of the most popular growing trends in AI is cloud-based AI. By merging AI technology with cloud computing systems, businesses can handle larger quantities of data in one centralized location. To take things even further, some organizations have integrated their AI solutions with edge computing, which enables even faster access to data within the cloud.
Another way that companies are utilizing AI to improve their low-code and no-code technologies. These coding methods already expedite the coding process for developers, but with AI, they can save even more time. Coders can simply describe the problem they’re looking to address, and their conversation AI program will create the code. As a result, the final product can be delivered much faster.
Perhaps a less exciting but equally important trend in AI that we can expect to see in 2022 is more rules and regulations. When AI was first introduced, there were few regulations to manage it, but today, as AI is a prominent tech solution, governments have begun to step in. Certain AI-enabled technologies will need to follow strict regulations in order to remain compliant. Fortunately, this is another area where MSPs can help. MSPs can help organizations follow regulations as they implement new automation and AI solutions, ensuring that they avoid any fines or penalties.
The Growing Rate of Automation
Developments in automation will only continue to progress in years to come. As volumes of data grow more significant, companies who have yet to implement automation will soon have no choice. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 75% of organizations will have deployed multiple data hubs to drive data and analytics sharing. For organizations to keep up with this, they must automate their operations, and implementing technologies such as RPA and AI will help them do so.
Automation is a solution to be embraced - not feared. While there are concerns that automation will replace our human workforce, automation is actually designed to supplement, not replace. Through automation, organizations can boost employee productivity, as well as accelerate operations, improve accuracy, and reduce costs. Through automation, companies can handle vast volumes of data with speed and efficiency - providing them the means to stay competitive for years to come.
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