A new report finds three times as many organizations worldwide are deploying automation at scale now compared to only two years ago. The research, from global consultancy Deloitte, confirmed what other studies have shown: Covid-19 has forced organizations to radically alter their operations, making efficiency and resilience increasingly important. The study also identified a “clear difference between organizations piloting automations and those implementing and scaling their efforts.”
According to Automation with Intelligence: Pursuing Organization-Wide Reimagination, more than two-thirds of executives polled in the survey used automation to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. And 13 percent said their organization has implemented more than 50 bots, up from eight percent last year and four percent in 2018.
While adoption is up, however, Deloitte cautions that implementation of an enterprise-wide intelligent automation strategy will become necessary to leverage the technology optimally. One-third of organizations polled in the survey indicated they have such a strategy in place.
“The study shows that, while organizations are widely adopting automation and using it to increase productivity, reduce costs, improve accuracy and enhance customer experience, IA tools and techniques have yet to be used to their fullest potential,” said Gina Schaefer, managing director and US intelligent automation lead at Deloitte. “To drive better outcomes, businesses should ensure they have a clear vision for their automation strategies, eliminate barriers such as process fragmentation and lack of information technology readiness, and train their employees to work with machines in order to achieve the best possible outcomes.”