The Power of Automation

In a hyper-competitive world undergoing deep economic difficulties, differentiation is the greatest challenge for companies seeking to boost their businesses and reach success.

One way to get it is through digital transformation. Most companies that have turned to automation technologies for internal processes and workflows, such as IoT (Internet of Things) and RPA (Robotic Process Automation), have got successful results both in their operation and profits.

In many, automation has become a priority tool within their business strategy, just behind the cloud and cybersecurity. It offers numerous benefits: minimizing operating errors, optimizing the organization’s activities, reducing costs, improving workflows, and raising efficiency, quality, and productivity.

Statistics speak for themselves. A huge increase in the use of RPA is forecasted for the following years. According to a study carried out by Research And Markets among companies all around the globe, RPA technology is expected to grow by 31.6% by 2028; consequently, applying it will become a standard for companies.

The use of IoT devices is also growing at a robust pace worldwide. Research done by McKinsey consultancy company estimates that, by 2030, the IoT could enable $5.5 trillion to $12.6 trillion in value, including the value captured by consumers and customers of IoT products and services.

Skyrocketing numbers

Automation has come to stay. At present, it is nearly imperative for companies to adopt automation processes in their workflows, not to leave people jobless but to make them more productive. RPA and IoT tools allow companies to free their employees from more mechanized and routine tasks and reassign them to others more valuable, such as development and innovation projects.

In our continent, the United States leads in terms of automation initiatives. According to the Association for Advancing Automation, American companies incorporated 44,100 robots in 2022, 11% more than the previous year. Also, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States was the first country to implement RPA technologies in healthcare to help companies and organizations better face the virus.

In Latin America, automation through RPA and the IoT is also at its peak. According to the State of Application Strategy Report, developed by F5, 24% of Latin American companies started to automate their internal processes in 2022.

Technology allies

As automation increases, so does the offer of world-class solutions in the market. One of the most robust ones is SAP Build Process Automation, a tool allowing business users to automate workflow processes and tasks without writing code.

SAP Build Process Automation is part of SAP Build, launched last year. “SAP Build uniquely brings together the world’s most powerful business applications with a platform that’s been truly designed to unleash business experts rapidly,” said Juergen Mueller, Chief Technology Officer and Member of the SAP Executive Board, at its launch.

SEIDOR, SAP business partner and member of United VARs, also offers various options for automating processes.

It is time to automate

Fortunately, the vast majority of companies in our region are aware of the need to carry out this transformation. Many have already started it, while many others are on their way. They know they must be more prepared during an economic recession and financial instability.

In this regard, workflow automation is paramount to increase operating efficiency, retaining talent, and, most importantly, winning customer loyalty.

The latter is an essential issue. The more employees leave repetitive, boring tasks to robots, the more time they will have to work on improving customer experience. And this, of course, will yield economic benefits for the company.