Ross Tisnovsky shares an informative article on selecting the right platform for IT automation.
Selecting a platform to support automation has significant repercussions that business leaders often miss.
From help-desk chatbots to the autonomous processing of complex security incidents, the application of intelligent process automation (IPA) is becoming more mainstream in enterprise IT organizations. Indeed, most IT transformations today include some form of IPA.
McKinsey estimates that companies across all industries are already automating 50 to 70 percent of tasks, driving both operational and cost efficiencies. No wonder. IPA promises to reduce complexity, replace manual processes, and improve both organizational performance and end-user experience. Companies that lag may soon find themselves in catch-up mode and at an increasing (and perhaps enduring) competitive disadvantage.
Once a company has evaluated where to start, one of the most far-reaching decisions is which platform to choose. The IPA system has an impact on speed of implementation, scope of capabilities, future ambitions, and ability to meet customer expectations, and CIOs with an incomplete understanding of the implications of each choice may inadvertently create significant issues further down the road. For example, while a ready-to-use preconfigured system is the fastest way to start the IPA journey, it may lack critical functionality for particular IT functions, such as end-user support. Companies with a universal IPA platform already working well on the business-process side, on the other hand, may find themselves locked into a specific set of bot capabilities that limit future IPA expansion.
There are three main types of IPA platforms: integrated, self-designed, and end-user focused. Each has its pros and cons, and selecting the right one for the IT organization is crucial to ensuring that the intelligent automation effort for the entire company is set up for success.
Key points include:
- Integrated platforms
- Self-designed platforms
- End-user-focused platforms
Read the full article, Selecting the right platform for IT automation, and download the PDF on McKinsey.com.