The concept of Hyperautomation
At this point we are all comfortable with what Automation is and what it can bring, but perhaps not everyone has heard about Hyperautomation? It may sound a bit like science fiction, but it has real life applications and more and more organisations are using it as we speak. Hyperautomation is a broad term for the outcome of using and managing multiple automation technologies simultaneously and often using more than one platform and technology to automate a given process. Typically organisations that have taken the "low hanging fruit" of automating simple and standardised tasks, perhaps using Robotic Process Automation (RPA) or Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) tend to move on to more complex processes to automate that require a suite of technologies to succeed. It often, and increasingly, also involves technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)
This also means that Hyperautomation, albeit a bit more complex, can be applied in nearly every aspect of the modern marketplace. Gartner Inc has estimated that the worldwide market for this technology will reach $596.6 billion in 2022.
So, what are the key components of Hyperautomation? What are the benefits? How do you get started? By the end of this article, we hope to give you a better understanding of Hyperautomation – and how it can help to increase the productivity, precision and reliability of your organization.
Why Hyperautomation
Although requiring some upfront investment and capabilities within a suite of automation technologies, Hyperautomation can significantly reduce company costs also in really complex processes. It may even improving security and free up internal resources.
Hyperautomation can help your organization to:
- Improve decision making. The insights drawn can help improve the decision-making processes and customer experiences with your organization.
- Optimize workforce engagement. This is done by ensuring that repetitive tasks are completed consistently and efficiently.
- Cobining traditional automation with low/no code. This can help you automating tasks that would otherwise need human intervention (human in the loop).
- Increase agility. This is achieved by providing more accurate, faster insights for better decision-making.
Key components of Hyperautomation
Hyperautomation is somewhat of a broad umbrella. The term encompasses multiple Automation technologies, tools and Automation platforms, which is also what makes it such a useful concept. Chance is that you already are familiar with some of the technologies presented here. Let's take them one by one.
1. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Robotic Process Automation is a software technology that helps you to automate repetitive tasks in business processes. RPA can be used for procurement, pricing, billing, quote request, follow-up, data input and system maintenance and repair. RPA software bots interact with any application or system in a similar way as humans, with the exception that RPA bots function around the clock, significantly faster, and with complete dependability and accuracy.
You can read our educational article explaining the concept of RPA in further detail.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a diverse field of encompassing predictions, categorisation and data mining. It is concerned with creating intelligent computers capable of undertaking actions that would otherwise require human intelligence. Machine Learning (ML), covered more below, is a very common one but AI is also very helpful for detecting patterns (data mining), advanced semantic analysis as well as supporting more advanced implementations of Natural Language Processing (NLP), RPA, Chatbots etc. You could even argue that they are all extensions of AI technology, fulfilling varying tasks and requirements. AI algorithms can typically optimize processes by coordinating computing resources, analyzing historical and real-time data, and taking automated actions
3. Machine Learning (ML)
The goal with Machine Learning is to make machines more intuitive and adaptable to changes. Machine learning allows computers and robots to make data-driven decisions, based on an algorithm being trained with human verified data to take human-like decisions. This is instead of being specifically programmed to perform a particular task as with RPA.
4. Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Natural language processing (NLP) may feel as if it has been around for a longtime, but only recently has it started to fulfil its potential as more and more computing power becomes available. Modern NLP enables computers to process and evaluate vast quantities of natural language data including semantics and context (e.g. if the word bass is seen in a text, is it about the fish or the sound frequency). This technology is applicable to both spoken and written input and is therefore tightly linked with voice recognition, chatbots and intelligent document processing (IDP)
5. Intelligent Document Processing (IDP)
Intelligent document processing is the more modern variant of what is commonly known as OCR(optical character recognition or optical character reader). It is the electronic or mechanical translation of pictures of typed, handwritten, or printed text into machine-encoded text. The source of the text could be a scanned document, a snapshot of a document or subtitle text overlaid on an image.
IDP is a cornerstone technology as it often serves as one of the first parts of a process and typically one that captures and generates a lot of data that subsequent technologies rely on.
Hyperautomation benefits
As you start moving from "traditional" Enterprise Automation to Hyperautomation you will start seeing more benefits from your increasing automation capabilities and investments.
1. Enhanced productivity and agility
Hyperautomation is perfect for maximizing productivity. It is possible by delegating low-value tasks to automation tools, which allows employees to devote more time to higher-value jobs. It enables you to benefit from an efficient and agile decision-making capability while growing your business.
2. Optimizing ROI and lowering costs
Integrating Hyperautomation can increase earnings while decreasing costs. Improved staff morale, higher productivity, and revenue, as well as happy customers, all contribute to the financial benefits of Hyperautomation. Gartner predicts that businesses will be able to decrease operational expenses by 30% by 2024.
3. Acceleration and accuracy
Hyperautomation enhances the speed and accuracy of work processes and enables the Automation of complex business processes. The use of AI, NLP, deep learning, and predictive analytics allows end-to-end Automation. It provides robots with the ability to imitate human intelligence, while reducing human error and fatigue. Thereby substantially boosting speed and efficiency.
4. Better customer experience
Hyperautomation delegates complicated and time-consuming work to bots. This enables employees to dedicate their attention to enhancing customer experience, by understanding the preferences of their customers. It also allows them to provide tailor-made solutions which are unique to each customer.
Use cases for Hyperautomation
Hyperautomation can be utilized in any industry as it is agnostic to tools and platforms, often combining them. It has the flexibility to provide customizable solutions that fit the needs of a particular business or industry, enabling digital transformation. Let's provide you with some examples of how Hyperautomation can be applied.
Hyperautomation in healthcare
Hyperautomation offers Automation opportunities with tangible benefits and values to the healthcare industry. One of the main reasons is that healthcare often make use of a lot of repetitive processes, but then with increasing complexity in the shape of contractual obligations and regulations. Hyperautomation, with technologies such as natural language processing (NLP), combined with RPA and perhaps IDP could provide automated services, speed up processes and reduce operational costs.
Hyperautomation in finance
Financial services often involve calculations, transactions, and interactions with consumers, vendors, asset managers and other entities. This can be highly standardised but also very complex and require human intervention. Here, Hyperautomation can be used in conjunction with technologies like Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), Chatbots, NLP etc. It should decrease manual efforts and errors, and speeding up processing times.
How to get started with Hyperautomation
Like with every business effort, the measure of success it determined by the quality of planning. Creating a Hyperautomation plan requires planning and analysis as it typically involves high impact automation projects and multiple technologies. Here are steps to get you started with your Hyperautomation roadmap:
1. Identify a good starting point
Moving from automation to Hyperautomation is more likely to succeed if you pick the right project / process. You have probably tried various automation approaches but perhaps not moved ahead with more comprehensive projects. As you now embark on Hyperautomation, selecting a project previously put on could be a great starting point. Perhaps you did not have the appropriate skillset or maybe missing one automation technology in your "toolkit". These could be ideal starting point to start moving to Hyperautomation.
2. Solve the business case
Finding a business case requires research and analysis. You may need external support or you may need new licences that you previously did not have. Although that increases the upfront investment the payoff with Hyperautomation projects could be exponentially higher, so make sure you do the maths. It's unlikely you have all the data at your disposal as you may venture a bit into the unknown, but doing your homework always helps.
3. Process, pilot and implementation
At this stage, businesses ensure that the necessary workforce is educated and ready to carry out the chosen automation deployment and hyperautomation is no different. It includes processes that are required in order to support and test the IT infrastructure. All implementation actions are recorded, tracked and carried out, following predefined standards. This stage also typically features technology demonstrations and assessments of selected providers that act as a proof of concepts (POC's) and knowledge-gathering platforms.
Still unsure about Hyperautomation for your business excellence? Connect with Turbotic for a consultation.
