What is hyperautomation?
Also known as “digital process automation” or “intelligent process automation,” the concept of hyperautomation is an extension of traditional automation (the deliberate use of technology to automate as many tasks as possible).
How it works
We are talking here about the combination of several technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Machine Learning (ML), allowing the analysis, processing, measurement, design as well as the permanent re-evaluation of unstructured and undocumented data.
Ultimately, one objective: to optimize and harmonize business processes, while reducing manual tasks within the various departments of a company.
The Birth and Development of Hyperautomation
Hyperautomation is not new and has been a feature of some businesses for around ten years now. However, the health crisis has given new impetus to its development.
In a 2020 report, Gartner explains that the crisis has motivated many companies to invest more in the hyperautomation of their organizational processes, without necessarily following through with the process. Thus, although many business processes have been automated, they still need to be linked together to create a coherent whole.
Having enabled the promotion of the DTO (Data Transfer Object), whose role is to simplify and make visible all data transfers between the subsystems of an organization, this “end-to-end” automation has offered companies a way to identify and automate all interactions between processes, functions and KPIs, previously out of reach.
Its advantages
Applicable to services (production, finance, etc.), the implementation of hyperautomation in companies requires a complete overhaul of procedures. The latter optimizes all organizational processes in order to reduce costs and improve competitiveness.
Although expensive, this investment provides many long-term benefits:
- Better task execution: Based on machine learning and AI, business processes are now streamlined, triggering the completion of tasks (often low added value) in an automated, continuous manner. Between automatic execution and communication, business processes are optimized.
- A digital right-hand man: While not replacing humans, hyperautomation aims to assist them in improving their performance. By developing an intelligent digital workforce, it becomes possible to analyze and propose avenues for development, thus improving the overall vision of the company.
- Greater profitability: Adopting complete (end-to-end) automation represents a significant initial investment (time, financial, human costs), but ultimately contributes to improved employee performance, increased process analysis and better decision-making.
Hyperautomation yes, but for which sectors of activity?
With this approach, it becomes clear that every industry can opt for a hyperautomation strategy :
- Industry sector: Optimization of all industrial production actions and their interactions, including automation of the supply chain, order management (processing of purchase orders, supplier accounts, etc.), or customer demand planning.
- Healthcare sector: Improving the patient and staff experience through enhanced security and protection of internal systems, medical data analysis or automated equipment inventory management.
- Private sector : Transformation of all business processes through automation and connectivity of the performance of all departments (human resources, finance and accounting, production, IT, purchasing, etc.). All use cases are possible.
And what about paying bills?
CThis level of advanced automation can of course be integrated into financial processes. Indeed, hyperautomation offers endless possibilities for optimization, thanks to the use of a processing account that simplifies the management of collection flows and, more broadly, the invoice collection cycle (reminders, accounting reconciliation, transfer reconciliation, internal alerts, etc.).
All these hyper-automated tasks offer nothing but benefits to finance departments: reduced payment times, increased sales volumes, lower processing costs, and much more.
The concept of hyperautomation is powerful and paves the way for the development of tomorrow’s organizational processes. By observing the creation (or non-creation) of business value in real time, companies can now react quickly and make informed decisions, while continually identifying new opportunities in their market. A new era is dawning and looks more than promising!
