Are you ready for the hyperautomation wave?
The hyperautomation wave and its inclusion on Gartner's list of Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020 confirms our view that automation—especially intelligent automation—can change the way we work, for the better.
At its core, hyperautomation focuses on maximising the potential for automation in any enterprise. Many companies want to scale automation quickly but get stuck when they realise that complex processes and knowledge work can't be automated using one technology alone.
As Gartner points out, "no single tool available today can replace humans in the workplace". Hyperautomation is a response to this challenge—bringing together different tools, technologies and techniques to amplify every company's ability to automate more processes, more rapidly, with better results.
From automation to hyperautomation
Until recently, automation has typically focused on using technology to execute rule-based, repeatable tasks that require considerable manual effort. Automating these tasks saves valuable time for employees—and increases productivity, process speed and accuracy.
Hyperautomation builds on that business value. It begins with a foundation of process automation technologies and expands their capabilities with AI, the ability to discover, prioritise, and track automation ideas in one place, process mining, analytics and more. This means that more types of processes can be automated and optimised.
Let's take a closer look at the components of hyperautomation
Process automation
Robotic process automation (RPA) and digital process automation (DPA) technologies allow you to automate routine work efficiently and integrate automation with existing business systems.
Artificial intelligence
AI capabilities are now easier to access. Computer vision, optical character recognition, natural language processing, sentiment analysis and machine learning, for example, give RPA software bots the power to read content, decipher language, extract meaning from unstructured data and predict outcomes. Because these tools mimic human abilities, they make it possible for software bots to automate more work, more intelligently.
Process discovery tools
These tools use evolving AI and automation capabilities to swiftly and automatically identify automation opportunities across all the processes in a business. They look at the digital footprints left by employees as they work, map out processes and identify work that could be improved through automation. This allows you to understand the true scope of automation possibilities in your enterprise.
Empowering everyone to get involved
Hyperautomation empowers everyone in an organisation to contribute toward—and benefit from—automation. Beyond IT teams, developers, automation experts and software bot engineers, you need to get your subject matter experts, business analysts and business users involved in driving automation forward.
"Everyone in an organisation who can now contribute to getting automation going, can be given the tools to do so," explains Shaun Leisegang, rapidMATION's CEO.
Human-machine collaboration
In the hyperautomation environment, employees can delegate robotic work to digital twins; augment their data-processing, analytical and decision-making abilities with AI; and focus on work that is more fulfilling, creative, strategic and value-adding.
A digital twin is a software bot that acts as a virtual personal assistant. You can instruct this software bot to automate the routine tasks that tie you down, enabling you to work faster and smarter.
A continuous improvement effort
Importantly, hyperautomation drives a nonstop business optimisation cycle. The platforms involved provide powerful embedded analytical tools that allow you to track performance, identify areas for improvement and measure how successfully automated processes are delivering the desired business outcomes.
Better together
Working together—these readily available tools and technologies can power faster, more effective intelligent automation at scale. They can also support an organisational culture where more people can flex their skills, knowledge and experience; and play a more meaningful role in automation.
