“Our discussion a few months back on implementing Digital Workforce for core process automation is all the more relevant in these COVID induced troubled times,” said one of my LinkedIn messages today from a CIO of a leading Insurance company. I have been working very closely with him for the past few years on a large digital transformation implementation. This message prompted me to jot down some of my POVs in the form of this blog. A very relevant question in the current scenario is, “What about focusing more on arriving at the optimal combination of Digital Workers augmenting the human workforce, thereby elevating the human efforts capital in higher value chain activities and possibly substituting them in the times of uncertainties and crisis like the one we are facing currently?”
In this era of Digital Transformation, Customer eXperience (CX) takes precedence on every possible avenue of business process automation, ably supported by Digital Process Automation platforms that leverage Agile, DevOps and CloudOps methodologies to gain optimal implementation and operational expense. Most of these implementations, while considering the functional and non-functional traits for design, mostly overlook the scenario of the non-availability of the human workforce, which can impede timely completion of the end to end core processes. Many Robotic Process Automation platforms positions Bots as a quick fix gadget for automation of repeated tasks with flavors of AI/ML induced cognitive intelligence, than focusing on implementing an end to end core process flow. Here comes the significance of Digital worker implementations versus leveraging bots for performing repeated tasks.
For example, in supply chain financial management related end to end process scenario of Procure to Pay (P2P) or Order to Cash(O2C), using the available RPA bot licenses to automate AP /AR processes only or by implementing OCR based interface integrations for ERP update of data will be a sub-optimal implementation design. It is always a best practice to automate an end to end process flow for an identified user persona. In the case of O2C process, the “Customer Relationship Manager” can be in charge of the end to end process. In many cases, the platform capabilities of the product can be a deterrent for this. So ideally a DPA platform in conjunction with associated RPA and cognitive AI capability components should be selected for effective creation of such Digital Workforce.
As very evident from industry trends in the Digital automation space, where most of the DPA vendors are augmenting their process automation capabilities with the acquisition of robotic process automation tool platforms for bot creation capabilities along with strengthening their AI /ML-based cognitive intelligence modules, it is the right time to implement the Digital Workforce for an end to end core business processes using single Digital process automation platform. This will create a group of digital workers at the disposal of process owners, who can utilize their human workforce for new process optimization or reengineering initiatives. Whether Pega’s path-breaking adoption of Openspan RPA into its fold a few years before or, APPIAN’s new RPA offering by seamlessly integrating Jidoka RPA into its fore and IBM successfully pioneering Digital worker implementations in its automation platform leveraging Watson APIs, all these are testimony of a successful Automation strategy of enterprise core business assets being implemented through the right mix of “Phygital (Physical + Digital) Workforce.
How have Happiest Minds been helping?
At Happiest Minds Technologies, we are equipped with the right credentials in creating a digital transformation roadmap for “Digital Workforce” implementations. Our Hyper Intelligent Process Automation offering focuses on framework components to create Digital workers through the right mix of Bot implementations using Robotic Process Automation platforms like UiPath,
Automation Anywhere, Blue prism, Appian RPA, Microsoft Power Automate etc. We implement core process orchestration and dynamic case management using industry-leading intelligent BPM platforms like Appian, Pega and IBM with our tried and tested AI /ML /DL based cognitive models to support cognitive intelligence at all relevant process avenues. Security and Infrastructure automation to optimize and secure IT landscape comes as an embedded offering in these implementations. Agile process implementations in DevOps mode ably supported by cognitive Test automation suites ensure reduced cost of ownership for all our enterprise automation initiatives.
Sanjeev is a former Happiest Mind and this content was created and published during his tenure.