Automation Heroes, Sidekicks & Stragglers

HFS Research in partnership with Blue Prism surveyed 200 senior automation leaders across Global 2000 enterprises to understand how major enterprises are organizing their automation software efforts, their approach to enterprise automation in the new climate, level of adoption, success and challenges, opportunities, and desired outcomes when it comes to scalability.

Automation is a higher priority for nearly 90% of the respondents post the pandemic shock. However, the value created from automation solutions varies dramatically across companies creating automation heroes, sidekicks, and stragglers. Comparing the automation heroes with stragglers reveal 7 important lessons on realizing strategic value from automation investments.

HFS Research: 7 Lessons for Automation Leaders

Comparing the automation heroes with stragglers revealed seven important lessons on realizing strategic value from automation investments: 

1. If you wish for a band-aid, you will get a bandaid
2. Automation, the cloud, and the nexus of data are all vital for success
3. Automation needs a C-level push and an employee-level pull to be successful
4. Automation success requires diversified investments across the technology stack
5. Use automation to “automate.” 
6. A unified workforce mindset is a prerequisite to automation success
7. Engage with an expert when help is need

Lesson #1 - If you wish for a band-aid, you will get a band-aid.

The #1 automation priority for heroes is “digital transformation” compared to “optimizing legacy systems” for stragglers. 40% of the stragglers are pausing to reset to figure out their next steps compared to 73% of heroes who are rushing ahead to deliver on future plans.

Lesson #2 - The automation, cloud, and data nexus are vital for success.

Post Covid-19, the stragglers are trying to get better value from their previous investments compared to heroes who are aligning process automation to their data and cloud strategies.

Lesson #3 - Automation needs a C-level push and an employee-level pull to be successful.

The C-suite drives automation for heroes. The heroes believe in the democratization of automation compared to stragglers who are trying to manage automation with central control systems.

Lesson #4 - Automation requires diversified investments across the technology stack.

Automation heroes are making more diversified investments across automation technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning, workflow suites, ERPs and RPA products compared to stragglers.

Lesson #5 - Use automation to "automate".

Heroes use automation to automate specific tasks compared to stragglers who are using it to extend the life of legacy systems or virtualize the workforce.

Lesson #6 - A one-office mindset is a prerequisite to intelligent automation success.

Internal silos are the biggest factor that has limited the success of automation for stragglers. Heroes expect to get more value from their automation initiatives if they can get a better handle on change management.

Lesson #7 - Call for expert help.

Only 7% of heroes are using internal teams for their automation journey compared to 32% of stragglers. Automation companies can give you the help you need to succeed with RPA and Intelligent Automation.