Binding Strategy with Implementation
New process automation technologies are allowing companies to transition from being process-focused to customer-focused. Gone are the days when corporate weekly meetings involved figuring out how to accomplish business tasks. Today’s corporate discussions are centred more around the customer and how to retain them for the long-term — this is in large part thanks to the intelligence-specific workflows brought about by Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) and related cognitive technologies.
One of the primary motivations for companies adopting transformative technologies such as IPA in recent times is the need for a clear perspective on strategy, which was lacking due to the disproportionate amount of time spent trying to drive business processes to close the supply-demand gap.
However, if companies are embarking on a digital transformation journey, even if they begin with targeted improvements, they must outline the end-goal of automating that process or function. Not knowing what you want to achieve out of modernizing department functions is one of the primary reasons why automation projects fail.
“...IPA enables businesses to develop a thought process that naturally transitions towards strategic planning and customer focus — you are saved from spending countless hours on the ‘process’ itself and more time on your end-goal. IPA brings faster, crystal clear, and more gauged interaction with both vendors and customers. More importantly, this transformative technology facilitates a greater degree of engagement at both ends of the commerce chain than ever before…”
Your corporate strategies must revolve around this end-goal, which for companies usually means focusing on the customer. With IPA, you will be prioritizing the strategy rather than the process, a natural progression towards achieving customer focus.
In essence, technology aids in business strategy in that the way you manage your current processes using technology will tell you what your strategy for business growth will be.
Suppose you are applying Intelligent Process Automation to a part of the procure-to-pay function, say, vendor invoicing. Once you streamline this process, you will find ready answers in the form of vendor engagement and payment frequency, enabling you to make an informed guess regarding the state of your purchasing and whether you need to change it.
IPA enables businesses to develop a thought process that naturally transitions towards strategic planning and customer focus — you are saved from spending countless hours on the ‘process’ itself and more time on your end-goal. IPA brings faster, crystal clear, and more gauged interaction with both vendors and customers. More importantly, this transformative technology facilitates a greater degree of engagement at both ends of the commerce chain than ever before. This in turn helps organizations combat competition better as they will be more focused on learning what the customer wants than learning how to manage processes.
IPA opens up a smooth channel of engagement and fulfillment — the awareness you develop of both your own state of finances, operations, and business trajectory as well as that of your external stakeholders is amplified, so much so that now you know which vendors to keep in the loop and which customers to target for a more productive experience.
The result of process implementation using IPA is one that can be measured for effectiveness and viability — for instance, automated invoice processing gives measurable outputs like invoicing cycle times and Days Payable Outstanding (DPO), which can be used as levers to improve accounts payable.
Companies using IPA for process implementation of routine, manual tasks have witnessed a few common, immediate benefits:
See a real-world example of process improvement using Intelligent Process Automation to get the full picture of why more and more businesses are transitioning towards this new age technology — IPA Success Story.
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