In these unprecedented times, RPA is a game-changer
In an economy struggling to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, emerging technology – such as robotic process automation (RPA) – will be a game-changer.
The majority of employers in Australia believe automation will scale up the digital transformation of businesses as seen during the pandemic (80%), and give companies a competitive edge (78%).
“COVID-19 has put a spotlight on just what a digital workforce can do for business continuity, but it is just the beginning,” said Jason Kingdon, CEO of Blue Prism, which led the study.
Automation in the current business climate serves to augment work that would otherwise pile up and slow down a company already operating at a reduced capacity during these challenging times.
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“This is about using intelligent automation to empower the non-technical knowledge worker to do more, faster and more efficiently, without having to rely on IT,” Kingdon said.
Even before the outbreak, however, business leaders reported they were already struggling to meet customer demand (58%), and the majority believed an automated process would be the most effective solution to it (76%), the study found.
More leaders are now rethinking their tech investments – given the recent setbacks that companies faced in transitioning out of a centralised worksite and into a distributed/remote operation.
“Organisations have recognised the operational agility that RPA has been able to deliver during this unprecedented time and are fast-tracking plans to augment and scale their automation programmes,” said Greg Eyre, vice president of Blue Prism for Australia and New Zealand.
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Four in five business leaders, for example, are counting on automation to give them an advantage, whether in the form of time and cost savings or improved accuracy and quality of output.
Because of these targets, 91% of leaders in Australia are preparing to expand the use of automation across the business and championing greater acceptance of nascent tools.
“Fear of automation is diminishing as there’s a growing level of trust with more organisations adopting digital colleagues. Australian knowledge workers are becoming increasingly comfortable with RPA, just 32% worry about related job losses in the next three years,” Blue Prism reported.
