Digital businesses often require the implementation of intelligent and adaptable processes, with a focus on automation to improve customer experiences, manage orders, boost sales and marketing efforts, and streamline finance and supply-chain operations. Automation is a key aspect of many digital transformation programs.

‍Priorities are shifting

As digital transformation continues to evolve, the pressure on IT teams has become more intense. This has led many companies to realize that automating IT processes is crucial in order to keep up with the demands. The shortage of IT skills and resources has further exacerbated the issue. Many organizations were struggling with a high volume of manual and repetitive tasks, which ultimately hindered productivity. As a result, backlogs became a common problem. Additionally, the tools used to manage IT infrastructure, services, providers, and workloads were often not connected, making it difficult to work together to solve problems or capitalize on new opportunities.

‍

‍Modernization and acceleration drive automation initiatives

As a result of this issue, numerous companies are updating their IT systems and planning to speed up automation initiatives throughout their enterprise and different departments. To gain insight into these efforts, we conducted a survey of 566 global business and IT professionals from various industries to inquire about their IT budget priorities. We discovered that out of the participants, 47% stated that automating IT infrastructure and 42% stated that automating business processes were among their main IT budget priorities.

Automating IT processes presents unique challenges due to the complexity of managing multiple platforms and technologies. Various IT tools from different vendors are often used to manage physical and virtual resources, but these tools often do not have the ability to exchange data with one another. As a result, IT organizations have accumulated large and diverse collections of tools. In today's digital business environment, it is crucial for these tools to work together seamlessly and interoperably to enable the automation of IT processes. Leading companies are recognizing this need and are actively pursuing IT process automation and toolchain integration as a way to maximize the use of their existing IT skills and resources.

‍

IT centers of excellence improve and automate IT processes

The process of improving and automating IT processes starts with the creation of an IT center of excellence (CoE). The Coe's main responsibility is to catalog, document, and organize IT processes within a specific framework. It then manages these processes as strategic assets within an IT process portfolio document or data repository. This document captures information about the value and importance of the processes, their role in operations, and the resources they consume. Next, the IT CoE utilizes process discovery technologies to visualize and analyze IT processes and workforce activities, identifying opportunities for automation. These data-driven analytic techniques are used to intelligently design automation using robotic process automation (RPA) technology.

‍

RPA augments IT skills

Robotic process automation (RPA) utilizes software robots, also known as bots, to automate repetitive tasks within and across IT processes. These bots can be programmed to handle data and process flows at a granular level, such as forms and data fields, allowing for seamless integration between different systems. Additionally, RPA can employ various forms of artificial intelligence (AI) to extract meaning from unstructured data, assist in automation design, and enhance the capabilities of IT professionals by providing intelligent recommendations, predictions, and decisions. Overall, RPA can help IT organizations become more efficient and versatile by creating digital workforces that augment their capabilities.

Leading companies in various industries are turning to RPA to enhance collaboration among IT professionals, minimize errors and costs, and streamline processes. By incorporating RPA into IT process automation, these organizations are able to improve their overall performance and achieve specific goals more effectively and efficiently. Additionally, implementing RPA allows IT organizations to maximize the value of all other IT investments.