Intelligent automation of routine processes is on the mind of decision-makers and leaders around the world and across industries right now. An organization’s every department is trying to figure out a strategy for intelligently automating repetitive processes. Yet no other area is as blatantly affected as IT. The business environment is drastically changing, so IT managers around the world feel more and more compelled to deal with the subject of intelligent automation. The digital transformation is necessitating new IT models. Prozesses need to be linked and automated coherently. Yet very few IT decision-makers are getting around to earnestly tackling the issue.
IT processes: So much admin, so little strategy
IT managers are way too involved in ongoing business. Instead of applying themselves to the company’s strategic IT concept, they are busy dealing with administrative tasks, for the most part.
Specifically, IT departments’ capacity is largely taken up by:
- Keeping business applications up and running (80% of working time)
- Maintaining IT infrastructure and platforms (73%)
- Initiating and realizing new infrastructure projects (76%)
- Organizing employees and conferring with others (76%)
- Researching and planning daily tasks at hand (69%).
By contrast, only 21% of businesses utilize fully automated and rule-based allocation of resources, 17% have automated live migration and workloads, and 12% rely on automatic self-diagnosis and self-recovery.
Rising pressure on IT departments
The numbers speak for themselves: IT decision-makers are doing much of the work that could in fact be accomplished by intelligent software. Crucial know-how goes to waste. However, in the course of digital transformation, the pressure on IT infrastructure and operational processes continues to rise. IT departments are already feeling the undeniable effects. Some of the biggest challenges in the daily operation are: controlling IT infrastructures (76%), increasingly complex hardware and applications (68%), shortage of skilled workers, and ever growing dependence on manual processes and customer-specific scripts. What’s more, troubleshooting, unceasingly implementing new applications and constant updates are taking up a lot of time. Businesses that are passing up on intelligent automation of processes now will struggle even more with those challenges in the future.
Intelligent automation: Why IT managers are reluctant
Fortunately, many IT managers are aware of that. Most do see the solution to their problems in automating IT processes and are critically assessing circumstances in their own departments. Many decision-makers recognize they should work less administratively and instead invest more time in strategic planning and exchanging ideas about new IT models with colleagues. Thus, they are up for change. What’s lacking is adequate funds and time to coherently automate an increasingly complex IT landscape. But these very factors in particular — cost, time and complexity — are what should motivate organizations to seriously consider intelligent automation of their processes.
Exciting developments for AI and CX
After all, businesses who automate processes are demonstrably increasing productivity. Intelligent, coherent automation accelerates business processes, reduces the error rate and creates transparency within the organization. What’s more, employees are relieved of routine tasks, which saves considerable resources. Even the widespread concern about automation eliminating jobs is presently proving unjustified. As have found analysts at ISG Information Services Group have found in a comprehensive study of IT outsourcing contracts and automation assessments. The research result: Organizations are using human resources freed up through automation by assigning higher quality tasks to those employees.
Finding new IT models
The intelligent automation of IT processes is no longer optional — it’s critical. In no other area is the digital revolution felt more profoundly. IT landscapes are facing constant transformation; the development is rapid. Decision-makers in IT know that. The pressure on the operational business and the IT infrastructure is simply too great to be ignored. Tight budgets, little time and ever more complex applications are keeping businesses from strategically thinking about intelligent automation of IT processes. But the time and cost pressure will continue to grow. And thus, hopefully, IT decision-makers will realize that intelligent automation leads to significant increase in productivity in the medium term. A thoughtful investment today will save businesses resources in the future. They will make fewer mistakes, work more transparently and, thus, will save costs.