Automating your processes can be an exciting proposition in today’s hyper-competitive corporate world. In addition, business process automation solutions that are innovative and intelligent can ramp up efficiency while controlling operational costs.
Today, it’s an irrefutable fact that business automation has had a massive impact on businesses, particularly over the last few years.
Studies reveal that by 2024, 69% of all managerial work will be automated while another study shows that businesses have already commenced these efforts, intending to scale their efforts in the future.
If this sounds promising and you’re already planning for the future by investing money, time, and energy into automation, here are some trends that you should consider that are shaping the future of business process automation.
Trend #1: Voice-activated automation
Voice-activated automation has already become popular among consumers, especially with the introduction of Siri, Alexa, and Google Home. Contemporary businesses are considering voice-activated automation opportunities that are allowing them to improve workplace productivity.
Performing tasks with voice commands can help simplify business processes. For instance, businesses can use voice-activated automation to interact with customers, update planners, schedule meetings, record notes, and automate any other manual task.
In addition, many businesses find that voice-activated automation is also a great way to include consumers and employees who may have visual impairments whose disabilities could otherwise leave them behind.
One of the success factors of including voice-activated automation in organisations is to improve efficiency without making processes more complex to operate. With voice automation, businesses can also benefit from reduced operational costs and improved efficiency, making it a key trend that is shaping the future of business process automation.
Trend #2: No-code integration
No-code integrations are increasingly becoming a trend, specifically due to the barrier-less experience it entails, giving your business the capability of building, manipulating, and employing your data-driven applications to perform your work. It gets its name—no code—since it can be designed without the use of any programming or coding language.
By moving to a code-less business process automation, users that don’t have the proper technical background to build and execute their own business apps and automate workflows can create their own without training or technical skills.
No-code integrations are trending as a determinant factor in the future of business process automation as they can enable companies to develop and execute integrations quickly, reduce the resources spent training non-technical workforces to code, improve organisational agility, and decrease time spent waiting on external developers to build applications.
Trend #3: Complete organisational visibility
Businesses around the world are realising that their automation doesn’t need to be limited to selective functions and that they should instead streamline existing processes.
Understanding that the gaps in an organisation’s visibility can be troublesome, companies strive to have better insights into their business operations. The lack of management intervention, for example, can lead to minor issues in work processes going unnoticed which can result in bigger failures in the future.
Using business process automation, organisational visibility becomes a reality and interdepartmental workloads can easily be managed without any communication breakdowns or other difficulties that commonly occur during coordination.
Keeping this in mind, many contemporary businesses are searching for solutions that can provide real-time, end-to-end overviews of business processes. Due to this reason, businesses are adopting automation processes much more frequently.
Trend #4: Robotic process automation and business process automation integration
It’s a widely known fact in the business world that robots can do just about anything that employees do and give staff time to veer away from time-consuming, repetitive, and tedious tasks.
Although robotic process automation (RPA) isn’t a new technology and has been around since the early 2000s, it has created an impact in recent years, especially with the onset of the pandemic.
Businesses operating in different industries have started using RPA solutions during the lockdowns to manage their labour shortages and minimise the need for in-person contact.
Remote workplace operations have also affected the number of workers available to carry out their duties on workplace premises. RPA bots ensure that businesses reduce manually performed tasks to achieve higher ROI at a much faster pace.
Bots perform exceptionally well at what they are programmed to do, so it’s safe to assume that they bring a level of productivity and efficiency that’s perhaps not seen before.
Since many industries are embracing the concept of remote work, many businesses are solidifying their commitment to RPA and business process automation to replicate certain interactions that don’t require human intervention.
Trend #5: Hyperautomation
When it comes to relatively new trends, hyperautomation is perhaps one of the options that are newer on the list of business process automation tools.
Hyperautomation involves planning the use of multiple technologies and tools like machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), RPA, business process management (BPM), and many more.
Hyperautomation, however, does not simply depend on a single technology such as bots. Instead, it encourages a ‘blended workforce’ that’s built on human and machine interaction.
The leading reason why a combination of automation technologies is used is to ensure that the limitations of certain approaches don’t derail the entire process.
Shape the future of business process automation
Automation trends are shaping the future of work and with the number of new automation technologies being introduced, it can be difficult to manoeuvre your way through the noise.
Whether you’re looking to automate your process management, inventory management, customer service, HR management, or even sales and marketing-related tasks, you should have a well-experienced team behind you guiding you throughout your journey.
To find out how you can get the automation support you need, schedule a consultation with one of your automation experts.