Intelligent automation is the use of artificial intelligence to aggregate, extract and analyze data and make meaningful decisions out of insights. This is helping businesses automate routine tasks that otherwise take up most of their time. There are three intelligent automation technologies which are swiftly being adapted to shared services solutions. They are Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Virtual Agents (VA), and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
To know the potential impact of the new automation technologies on Global Business Service (GBS) just return to the decisions you made, or are thinking of making, to decrease labor costs. Let’s take a look at a few of these:
To lower the cost associated with the paradigm, rule-based, repetitive processes for years companies have turned to BPO solution providers. BPO solution providers, as a return, shifted their service centers to developing countries where there was low labor cost. But what if the processes included could be automated via RPA bots? This will actually decrease the need to outsource selected processes or would impact the decision as to which BPO service provider to use, insofar as many providers are working to apply the new automation technologies to their solution offerings.
The ability of RPA to automate repetitive process transactions has a number of ERP implications. For example, whether to move to a single-instance ERP solution or deal with the headaches of multiple ERP solutions across their global footprint is one of the daunting tasks faced by GBS executives. The decision can be stepped aside by RPA solutions and they serve as an unsophisticated “integration” tool. If the customer service representatives are logging currently onto one system and then using that data to input into another system, it may be quite cheap to automate this activity via RPA rather than just moving to a single ERP solution.
Particularly, GBS support hubs have been settled in specific countries or key regions in order to make use of local language employees and even service availability could be provided in local time zones. But, what if 30% of the call volume could be handled by Virtual Assistants, immediately interpret any language, and do this on a 24/7 basis? Country and regional service hubs can be actually made near the company’s headquarters where technology solutions, quality control, intellectual property and privacy issues might be better managed.
Love what you read? Then grab a fresh copy on latest tech right here.
Below are some steps which you should consider if you want to move forward. This is based on the experience in guiding companies through the acceptance of automation technologies into their GBS organization.
Designating a digital leader or team to assess automation technologies is quite vital to understand their potential impact on your businesses.
The potential benefit of applying automation technologies should be documented and management support should be obtained for moving forward.
On clean and well-structured data all of the automation solutions are reliant. The absence of this can actually result in more problems than fixes. Questions about the ownership and use of data can also impede the process.
Also Read: Application and Benefits of Artificial Intelligence on Automation
A pilot GBS business process should be selected where favorable results are present and can be more willingly achieved. The pilot should be used to build support and better understand the degree of disruption inherent in these new technologies.
If the pilot business process is selected appropriately then this actually take three to nine weeks.
From the “project” environment to an ongoing “operations” environment, a move is required which should be stuck.
Regardless of whatever thoughts you inculcate, you can’t ignore that these new technologies are going to basically affect how GBS organizations deliver their services in the upcoming period. Whether they offer a problem or an opportunity, it is better to face them now rather than putting off the inevitable. By successfully calculating your opportunities, building the case, and piloting the technologies, you will raise the likelihood of implementing an effectual solution to make better the GBS operation for the further zone.