Recent research suggests that 94% of SMBs engage in repetitive tasks, while automation has improved job satisfaction for 90% of knowledge workers and productivity for 66% of them.

Various types of automation exist, such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Business Process Automation (BPA), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven solutions. Identifying the most suitable automation strategy for your business and executing it correctly is key to making it a winning strategy. 

Revolutionizing Business Efficiency 

Automation enhances workplace efficiency by streamlining operations, mitigating bottlenecks, and minimizing errors in repetitive tasks, ultimately enabling employees to focus on high-value, specialized work. Moreover, it facilitates better data management and utilization, empowering businesses to make data-driven decisions and optimize their overall performance.

As renowned management consultant Peter Drucker once said, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” With diverse automation options available, businesses can strike the perfect balance between efficiency and effectiveness in their quest for operational excellence.

The following are the most common automation technologies, each having its own competitive edge when implemented optimally:

• Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Automating manual, repetitive tasks such as data entry or invoice processing.
• Business Process Automation (BPA): Streamlining complex, multi-step workflows that involve multiple systems and stakeholders. 

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML): Applying advanced algorithms and learning capabilities to tasks that require decision-making or pattern recognition.
• Cognitive Automation: Incorporating natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision to automate tasks that require human-like perception or understanding.
• Internet of Things (IoT) Automation: Connecting and automating devices, sensors, and systems for data collection, monitoring, and control. 
• Desktop Automation: Automating tasks on individual computers, such as file management or data manipulation. 

Each type of automation is a unique tool that provides different benefits. Understanding your needs, your team makeup, and the best solution means having both an overview of the options and a sense of the methods of implementation. Making an informed choice sets up a given automation solution for success.

Automating Business Processes 

While automation can offer numerous benefits, it is not without its challenges. In some cases, automation implementation may not yield the desired results due to factors such as inadequate planning, poor alignment with business objectives, or insufficient employee training. 

Additionally, unexpected technical issues, lack of interoperability between systems, and resistance to change among staff can hinder the success of automation initiatives.

Technical issues are responsible for 90% of automation project failures, with implementation costs accounting for 37%, and a lack of overall vision or strategy responsible for 25%.

Hence, to ensure a successful implementation, businesses must carefully assess their automation strategy. Here are the four key steps to consider when devising a strategy for automating business processes: 

1. Identifying areas for automation: The first step in automating business processes is to identify areas of the business that are repetitive, time-consuming, and can be automated. It is essential to assess the current processes and workflows to identify areas that can be streamlined and automated. By analyzing the business processes, the organization can identify which processes are most suitable for automation. 

2. Evaluating potential automation tools and technologies: Once the processes are identified, it’s essential to evaluate the potential automation tools and technologies that can be implemented to automate the business processes. This involves researching different automation tools and technologies available in the market, understanding their capabilities, and assessing their suitability for business processes. 

3. Implementing automation in a phased approach: After identifying the areas for automation and the tools to implement them, the next step is to implement automation in a phased approach. This means introducing automation gradually and testing it to identify any potential issues or obstacles. This approach also allows the business to ensure that the automation is functioning correctly before rolling it out across the entire organization. 

4. Measuring the results of automation implementation: The final step is to measure the results of the automation implementation to assess the benefits of the automation. It’s essential to monitor the results of the automation in terms of time and cost savings, increased productivity, improved quality, and customer satisfaction. These metrics will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of the automation and help identify opportunities for further optimization.

Overcoming Challenges in Automation Implementation

As briefly discussed above, implementing automation in the workplace can present several challenges that need to be addressed through intelligent strategies to ensure a successful implementation. 

One of the most significant challenges in implementing automation is integrating it with legacy systems. This is because legacy systems often have complex and customized integrations that are difficult to replicate in automation systems. To overcome this challenge, businesses need to invest in custom integration services or migrate to new systems altogether. For example, Walmart implemented an automation system for its supply chain that required custom integration with its legacy systems to ensure a seamless flow of data between the new and old systems.

Another challenge in implementing automation is addressing the impact on the workforce. Businesses need to invest in upskilling and reskilling programs to help employees adapt to the changing work environment. This isn’t entirely a new concept. In 2019, Amazon implemented an upskilling program to help employees acquire new skills and transition into new roles as the company automated several processes in its warehouses. This not only helped Amazon retain its workforce but also increased employee productivity and job satisfaction.

Automation Will Continue to Grow

As we move into the future, leveraging the power of automation will be the cornerstone of success for forward-thinking businesses. Maximizing productivity with automation and implementing process efficiency in the workplace will unleash untapped potential, redefine the role of human talent, and unlock unprecedented growth opportunities. By strategically adopting automation technologies, businesses can position themselves at the forefront of innovation, setting new standards of excellence and shaping the future of their industries. 

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What is Low-Code Development?

Low-code development is an approach to software development that speeds up the process. Developers do not need to write complex code from scratch to complete an app, as most of the application’s functionality is created using pre-built components and visual interfaces. Many of these platforms include pre-built app templates and components that are easy to use.

Low-code software typically provides integration capabilities that enable users to more easily connect to databases, other software solutions and workflows. This means that developers can easily integrate their applications with business processes and other software solutions, such as CRM or ERP systems, without writing complex code.

Compared to traditional development methods, low-code development provides several benefits, such as: 

1. Faster Development: Low-code development speeds app building by eliminating the need to write code from scratch and providing components for routine coding tasks.
2. Reduced Technical Expertise: Low-code development allows users with limited mobile app development expertise to create cross-platform apps that run on many smartphones and tablets, reducing the need for mobile developers. 
3. Improved Collaboration: Low-code development allows developers and business users to work more closely to solve business problems, improving collaboration and reducing development time around such tasks as requirements gathering. 
4. Increased Flexibility: Many low-code platforms provide pre-built app templates that kickstart development and components that ease complex development tasks, making it easier to create custom applications that meet specific business needs. 
5. Accelerating Time to Market: Low-code development allows developers to create applications quickly and efficiently, which can reduce development time and speed up time-to-market for new applications. By accelerating the development process, businesses can stay competitive in the market and meet changing customer needs. 

Streamlining Workflow with Low-Code

By leveraging the integration capabilities of low-code software, companies can improve information sharing to power better inventory control, risk mitigation, or customer service. For example, when you integrate low-code apps with existing systems, you can trigger alerts or events and streamline workflows. 

By tying low-code apps directly into existing processes and systems, you can share information quickly. This will improve processes, reduce manual tasks, enhance collaboration and communication, and accelerate time to market.

1. Improving Processes and Reducing Manual Tasks: Low-code development provides automation capabilities that allow developers to create workflows that trigger actions based on specific events. This can automate repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and save time. For example, a low-code platform can automate a company’s employee onboarding process by automatically creating new employee profiles, sending welcome emails, and scheduling orientation meetings, which can reduce the need for manual data entry and ensure consistent communication. 
2. Enhancing Team Collaboration and Information Sharing: Optimizing connections between teams and information allows them to work together better, take action quicker, and understand the priorities every step of the way. 
3. Reducing Risk or Seizing Opportunities: Accurate data makes it easier to act quickly. When a safety issue triggers an alert, the manager can resolve the problem faster because they have the right information to act on. This is also true when using integrated systems to restock an inventory item ahead of time to avoid rush order fees when running out of materials.

Best Practices for Implementing Low-Code Successfully

Implementing a low-code platform for workflow and efficiency requires a calculated approach to achieving success. Here are some best practices to consider: 

1. Assessing the current workflow and processes: Different low-code tools’ functionality are more applicable to certain areas of a business and certain types of processes. Finding a solution that builds apps that best meets users’ needs is crucial for integration and automating tasks. Needs and use cases will be different for sales reps, HR departments, or marketing teams, so alignment is key. 

2. Choosing the right low-code platform: It’s important to choose the right low-code platform that meets your unique technology needs. This includes evaluating the platform’s capabilities, scalability, security, and support. It’s also important to consider the match between the development environment and the skill level of the person(s) developing your apps.  Implementation is vastly different depending on whether you’ll use internal developers, business users, or an external development team. 

3. Building a cross-functional team: To ensure the successful implementation of a low-code platform, it’s important to build a cross-functional team with expertise in different areas of the business. This can include representatives from IT, operations, and business units. Having a diverse team can help to ensure that proper business requirements are gathered, the right team is user testing, and the low-code platform is aligned with business goals and objectives. 

4. Defining goals and KPIs: Setting clear goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) can help managers measure success properly. Depending on who is using the software, the goals, and KPIs will likely be quite different. For existing teams, it might be a measurement on improved collaboration or levels of adoption. On the other hand, management might want to know how many or how much manual tasks have been decreased. 

5. Continuous improvement and iteration: After the initial implementation, it’s important to continuously improve and iterate these apps for the dominant user or teams who regularly use them. You’ll also want to make sure the app keeps up on the evolving needs of the business – from business processes to integration, to workflow,  to security. This can include soliciting feedback from users, monitoring performance metrics, and identifying areas for improvement.

Boosting Efficiency with Low-Code: Real World Results

Low-code development can be applied to a wide range of use cases to boost employee productivity and competitive advantage. For example, Building Engineering Company built a mobile app that saved each inspector 15 hours per week doing home energy inspections. These kinds of cumulative gains have a massive impact in the long term. 

By replacing its paper warranty process with a mobile field app, GBS Enterprises increases the productivity of its field team by 80%. It’s these kinds of real world results that drive the market. 

Delivering a 23 tier-one corporate application, Bendigo Bank, one of Australia’s major retail banks, completely changed the way customers interacted with them. They were able to release more than one app per month because they were all created utilizing ta low-code application development platform.

These are some of the reasons that Gartner predicts that by 2023, over 50% of midsize to large companies will use a low-code solution as one of their strategic application platforms.

In Conclusion

Low-code development has become a popular solution for streamlining app development and boosting efficiency within companies. When you build powerful mobile apps that can tie directly into business systems and daily workflows, the solution becomes even more powerful. As the demand for agile and efficient solutions continues to rise, low-code development is expected to play an increasingly important role in transforming businesses and driving growth.

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