Tag: RPA

IT Modernization Investments to Dominate 2018 | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

What are the major areas where companies will focus their spend on technology or third-party services this year? What challenges will impact those investments? In reviewing the trends in 2017, I believe we’ll see more of the same this year and an increase in digital adoption. However, I believe we’re at the beginning stages of a megatrend for the next five years, and I’m calling the start of this phenomenon: I believe 2018 will be the year of IT modernization.

Over the next five years, large enterprises will drive relentlessly to modernize their IT environment. This activity will range from moving workloads out of legacy environments into the cloud, adopting agile and DevOps and investing much more deeply and thoroughly in world-class security.

I differentiate modernization from digital transformation. I see a different set of initiatives occurring often in the same companies, which I characterize as digital transformation. These initiatives often use some of the same technologies; however, they arise from the business and are focused on achieving competitive advantage. The funding, project management, and impact on change management are different in kind and scope. The rise of IT modernization will not slow the need and velocity of digital transformation, which I believe will continue to grow as well.

With respect to digital transformation,  we can expect the 2017 trend of digital pilots moving to much bigger programs to continue. However, change management and business model redesign will be a major constraining factor for successful digital transformation, and I believe we’ll see companies start focusing more on managing digital change.

As IT organizations prepare for modernization, they increasingly focus on three main journeys:

  • The journey to cloud resulting in establishing cloud as the infrastructure of choice
  • The journey from waterfall to agile
  • The journey to implement adequate security.

IT modernization will sweep across an organization’s entire IT portfolio, rethinking and restructuring infrastructure, networks, applications, and the process and policies that govern them. I expect IT modernization to drive a profound rethink of the enterprise IT structure as it will both collapse the IT stack and cause organizations to align services by end-to-end functions rather than horizontal functions. In contrast, digital transformation goes end to end and integrates the portfolio. In digital transformation, a company considers pulling workloads and activity out of the enterprise IT function or segmenting it into a different organization that is run end to end.

The results of this modernization will lead to a dramatic decrease in IT costs, while significantly increasing the speed and agility of IT’s ability to react in a timely fashion to business demand. This sudden increase in efficiency will have a dramatic effect on the service provider community, shrinking their existing revenue streams while demanding new skills and capabilities.

The new business models that emerge from this transformation are unlikely, at least at first, to be as profitable as the existing business models based on labor arbitrage. The combination of reduced revenues and lowered margins will place the incumbent service providers in a dilemma with very substantial conflicts of interest. The necessity to protect revenues and keep margins high is likely to make the incumbent service providers poor partners in the emerging digital marketplace.

One potential bright spot for the imcumbents, at least in the short run: although the overall legacy services segment will shrink, I believe IT modernization will result in a set of workloads with new workloads for service providers. For legacy workloads that have not been outsourced and are not ready to be modernized, companies will need to put them into a stable environment. I believe some of those workloads will move to the services market so companies can focus on modernization rather than legacy. This new work for service providers will partially offset some of the runoff that is happening because of IT modernization.

As I look forward to spending trends and challenges for this year, I think Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is hot and will continue to grow in adoption. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is starting to build momentum, and I think it will be red hot in 2018. I see AI being more disruptive than RPA and, therefore, causing greater change management and business model changes than RPA. RPA adoption already was constrained by change management issues in 2017, and I believe AI will be even more constrained by these issues because of its deeply disruptive nature.

We will also see blockchain technology grow in adoption. Although blockchain is truly a disruptive technology, its disruption will focus on specific areas where a distributed ledger can be applied (in comparison to AI, which has a broader set of uses than blockchain). 2018 will see a greater number of blockchain pilots, and some pilots will become programs. However, like AI, RPA and other new technologies, disruptive business model changes will be a major constraint to adoption.

RPA & AI Germany Forum — April 13 | Event

Research VP Sarah Burnett will be a keynote speaker at the 2018 RPA & AI Germany Forum in Berlin held on April 13. Sarah will lead a session titled RPA and AI: The Power of Two.

Summary: RPA and AI are very different types of technologies but when combined, they can help organizations get significantly more value out of automation. In this session, Sarah Burnett, lead automation analyst at Everest Group, will talk about:

  • The differences between the two types of technologies
  • The suitability of the two for automating different types of processes
  • Automation technology adoption trends – how enterprises are using RPA and AI for process automation
  • How to get started on each and combine the two for end-to-end automation

The session will help organizations look beyond tactical deployments to develop automation capabilities that deliver business outcomes.

When

April 13, 2018

Where

VKU-Forum, Invalidenstraße 91, 10115
Berlin

Speaker

Sarah Burnett, Research VP, Everest Group

Imagine London — March 14-15 | Event

Research VP and automation expert Sarah Burnett will be a key speaker at the 2018 Imagine London event hosted in by Automation Anywhere in London on March 14-15. Sarah will lead a session on March 14 (14:00) where she reveals exciting results from our Enterprise RPA | Pinnacle ModelTM Assessment.

Summary: Join Sarah Burnett of Everest Group as she reviews this newly completed Pinnacle ModelTM assessment, a study commissioned by Automation Anywhere to uncover the key drivers of ultra successful companies and their use of RPA today. Be among the first to see this study.

When

March 15, 2018 at 14:00

Where

InterContinental London – The 02

Speaker

Sarah Burnett, Research VP, Everest Group

Learn more and register
Learn more about our Pinnacle ModelTM assessments

IRPA AI Automation, AI and Innovation Event — March 13 | Event

Vice President of Research Sarah Burnett will be a key speaker at the Institute for Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence’s (IRPA AI) March 13 Automation event. Sarah will host a session on How AI can complement RPA for better results.

About the session
RPA and AI are very different types of technologies but when combined, they can help organizations get significantly more value out of automation. In this session, Sarah Burnett, lead automation analyst at Everest Group, will talk about:

  • The differences between the two types of technology
  • The suitability of the two for automating different types of processes
  • How to get started on each and combine the two for end-to-end automation

When
March 13, 2018

Where
Paris, France

Speaker
Sarah Burnett, Research Vice President, Everest Group

Learn more and register to attend

The Robots are Coming – Should You Fear or Welcome Them? | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

How does your enterprise compare with peers?

A few weeks back, we opened our Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Pinnacle Model study to enterprises to compare their RPA adoption performances head-to-head. Everest Group Pinnacle ModelTM assessments are unique in that they correlate quantified outcomes and capabilities with a special spotlight on the Pinnacle Enterprises that are outperforming their peers. As part of the study process, we also interview select participants to gather qualitative information about these same enterprises.

Having completed a number of these interviews and looking at some of the early tabulations from those have completed the RPA adoption survey, I’m sharing some of my early thoughts below.

Four thoughts on our RPA Pinnacle Enterprise survey results

  • The robots are truly coming, but the fears about the impact on jobs is way overblown – it is clear from our conversations that RPA is going to have an impact in many different parts of the organization, including both front office and back office, but the number of jobs being impacted is not going to be the primary value proposition. Yes, cost take out will be part of the equation, but it is highly likely it will impact slices of jobs and/or departments that will allow for those employees to be transitioned to higher-value tasks.
  • Improving the job for employees – One of the clear messages that we have heard so far is that employees are embracing RPA. In fact, the branding of these initiatives is about getting rid of the worst tasks of their current jobs and includes names like “Smart Automation” and “We Innovate.” In fact, many of these employees are already implementing their own home automations like Nest, Alexa, Google, Rachio, etc. and are becoming quite comfortable with these quality of life improvements automations. One of the enterprises we spoke with actually talked about seeing improvements in their employee retention rates when they were included in these initiatives and allowed to improve their own jobs. However, change management has not been “easy,” and companies have adopted various ways to create awareness about the benefits of RPA and how employees can use it to be more effective in their jobs. Some of the examples of approaches include workshops, training programs, newsletters, project of the year, and hackathons.
  • The real skirmish is between the business units and IT for ownership – one of the interesting aspects of this analysis is to see where the study participants reside in their organizations. In the conversations, it becomes apparent the business is the one driving the conversation and IT has been the reluctant partner. But I got the sense this was changing pretty quickly, and IT was beginning to see the light that they have to be part of these implementations for a variety of reasons. Also, organizations have internally gone through a debate as to whether to approach this is an IT project or a business process redesign. We will be interested in hearing how your organization is thinking about this. Participate in the study.
  • We are just getting started – we can see it in the data and with our conversations, enterprises are running multiple RPA initiatives and projects are spread across RPA implementation stages. At least 65% of respondents are in the process of scaling up their RPA efforts or running steady-state automations. However, the majority of enterprises are still in their rookie year when it comes to setting up RPA CoEs (or expanding existing automation CoEs). The implications is that the initial proof of concepts projects are seeing enough promise that formal teams are being stood up to begin the scaling process.

We will be analyzing the data over the next several weeks so watch this blog for more interesting tidbits from those results.
Join the party … it is not too late for you to participate. Take the survey to compare your enterprise RPA adoption to others in the industry.

Related: The Evolution of RPA Adoption

UIPath Forward India — January 17 | Event

Vice President of Research Sarah Burnett will be a key speaker at the 2018 UiPath Forward event held on January 17 in Bengaluru, India.

Sarah will unveil ground breaking research and recommendations for the next phase of enterprise RPA adoption in her morning session titled Making Enterprise-Grade RPA at Scale.

About the Event
#UiPathForward India is focused on strategy and interaction. It attracts some of the best professionals and leaders to speak freely amongst each other and learn new ways to differentiate through intelligent automation.

When
January 17, 2018

Where
Shangri-La Hotel
Bengaluru, India

Speaker
Sarah Burnett, Research Vice President, Everest Group

Learn more

RPA & Cognitive Congress — January 17-18 | Event

Key leaders from Everest Group will lead sessions at the RPA & Cognitive Congress held in Dallas on January 17-18.

Partner Cecilia Edwards will host a keynote session on January 18 focused on helping business leaders align AI with business objectives. Attendees will get a clear idea of how to pursue AI adoption with a strategic plan, rather than letting the technology do the driving.

Cecilia will also moderate a Fireside Chat on January 18 titled, The Holistic Digital Transformation: What is the Roadmap? She will discuss how to achieve seamless end-t0-end digital efficiency in the age of constant  transformation.

Chief Research Guru Michel Janssen and Managing Partner Eric Simonson will lead a pre-conference workshop on January 16 on what it takes to successfully set up an automation Center of Excellence (COE)

About the conference
RPA & Cognitive Congress Dallas is assembling leading service delivery and automation professionals for frank and pragmatic discussion about RPA, the benefits and opportunities of this technology, and the real-world challenges they’re facing in implementation.

Use cases from early adopters will demonstrate how machine learning technology and digitization solutions, such as OCR and NLP, can take out the human touchpoints of a process and supercharge RPA. This discussion will be framed within analysis of the organizational transformation that is necessary to fully maximize the ROI from process automation and future technological innovations.

When
January 17-18, 2018

Where
Dallas/Plano Marriott at Legacy Town Center
7121 Bishop Road
Plano, TX 75024 USA

Speaker
Cecilia Edwards, Partner, Everest Group
Michel Janssen, Chief Research Guru, Everest Group
Eric Simonson, Managing Partner, Everest Group

Learn more and register

Don’t Be an RPA Loser – Making the Most of Your RPA Deployments | Virtual Roundtable

Thursday,  December 14, 2017 | 11:00 a.m.  – 12:30 p.m. ET

Register for the Virtual Roundtable

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) offers great potential for efficiency and yet many organizations fail to move beyond a simple Proof of Concept (POC). Everest Group research shows that many POCs do not represent the full complexities of deploying RPA in real operational environments, leading to difficulties in scaling up. And yet, it is only by scaling up RPA that organizations can maximize its benefits. How do organizations address this problem and get the most value from their RPA investment?

Following introductions, we will offer a very brief, context-setting best practice session on how we have seen organizations accelerate RPA benefits. The bulk of the time will be dedicated to group discussion, with participants sharing how they are approaching their automation programs, including the role of POCs, deployment approaches, and other relevant topics as they arise.

Who should attend

Enterprise global services and outsourcing executives who want to share and discuss practical hints and tips to move beyond the POC stage to make the most of their RPA deployments.

What you will learn

Learn about the typical challenges peer organizations have faced in deploying RPA and how they have overcome them
Share thoughts on best practices for deploying RPA

Presenter

Sarah Burnett, RPA Research Lead, Everest Group

Register now for the Virtual Roundtable

RPA & AI Summit — November 27-29 | Event

Vice President of Research Sarah Burnett will be a key speaker at this year’s RPA & AI Summit held on November 27-29 in London. Sarah will host a session on Day Two from 11:15 am – 12:40 pm titled “How to make the most of your RPA and cognitive automation.” She will discuss three key points during this session:

  • Differences between RPA and cognitive automation technologies
  • What types of processes to automate with each
  • How to combine the two to get the most out of your investment

The world decision makers in process excellence and shared services will meet in London to collaborate on the direction of Robotics Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence, share best practices, and to discover the strategies, tactics and initiatives industry leaders are already implementing for business success.

When
November 27-29, 2017

Where
ExCeL London
One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock
London E16 1XL

Speaker
Sarah Burnett, Research Vice President, Everest Group

Learn more and register

UiPath Forward Americas — November 16 | Event

Vice President of Research Sarah Burnett will be a key speaker at the 2017 UiPath Forward event held on November 16 in New York.

The advancement of automation technology is happening faster than its adoption globally. Now is not the time to sit on the fence.

It’s time to learn about the achievements of early adopters and the ongoing industrialization of RPA from your peers, about the trends in the marketplace from analysts and advisors, and it’s time you put all of this into perspective with your own plans for intelligent automation.

Attendees will experience a full day of insight and collaboration with senior RPA industry professionals and experts.

When
November 16, 2017

Where
New York Marriott Downtown
85 West Street
New York, NY 10006

Speaker
Sarah Burnett, Research Vice President, Everest Group

Learn more and register

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