Hyperautomation Supports Business Resilience amid Economic Uncertainty in Second Half of 2023
Five-step Assessment Framework Ensures a Successful Implementation
Hyperautomation Supports Business Resilience amid Economic Uncertainty in Second Half of 2023
Five-step Assessment Framework Ensures a Successful Implementation
Key Hong Kong industries, including tourism, aviation, retail and hospitality, are gaining momentum following the re-opening of the border in early 2023. Even so, the outlook for the second half of the year remains in flux amid global economic uncertainty, high inflation and the risk of a hard landing for the U.S. economy.
Against this backdrop, enterprises are continuing to invest in digital transformation to achieve business objectives such as profit growth, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Technologies have proven to be a force for competitive advantage rather than a cost centre over the past three years of pandemic-driven change. Gartner forecasts that global IT spending will grow by 2.4% in 2023[1], while IDC is predicting that spending on digital technology by APAC organizations will grow at 3.5 times the economy this year[2].
How is "hyperautomation" better than automation?
In a quest to optimize operations, enterprises deploy business process management (BPM) platforms, which continuously monitor, analyze and adjust their business processes, and adopt robotic process automation (RPA) to automate a number of single tasks within these processes. However, RPA only automates repetitive tasks in isolation. It fails to consider the business environment as a whole, requiring manual intervention for analysis and decision making.
Conversely, hyperautomation combines a range of technologies, including BPM, RPA, artificial intelligence (A.I.), machine learning (M.L.) and low-code platforms, to automate a series of tasks that make up a workflow or process under the same ecosystem. It can thus handle higher level tasks, even incorporating some degree of reasoning, judgment, decision-making and analysis. In the uncertain economy of 2023, deploying innovative technologies like hyperautomation is a way to empower enterprises for speed and resilience.
How does hyperautomation enhance risk management?
Businesses of any size or industry can use hyperautomation to improve workflow and operational efficiency.
One mid-sized client company in the financial services sector adopted hyperautomation to conduct background checks for loan applications. This previously required heavy manual research, with staff consulting a variety of different types of information, from the Companies Registry to legal documents, land records and more. This conventional manual procedure was notoriously slow and error-prone.
Hyperautomation overcomes these deficiencies by utilizing intelligent capture to extract data from digital records, such as bank statements, as well as handwritten paper forms, such as tax documentation. Applying RPA to this digitalized data automatically completes the whole client onboarding process such as a media search, anti-money laundering check and criminal background investigation. The results are then complied for the compliance team to make the final decision, enhancing the overall risk management and compliance work.
What does a successful hyperautomation project look like?
While automation offers significant benefits, few enterprises have sufficient experience or resources to implement the entire technology project. We suggest using a “Hyperautomation Assessment Framework" – from plan, define, measure, analyze and finalize – to guide you throughout the whole roadmap.
Objectives and scopes have to be precisely defined at the initial stage. Good communication with all stakeholders should then be cultivated to identify business requirements and calculate total costs. Once the project is underway, enterprises need to consistently evaluate the overall performance of the new systems to identify and improve on shortcomings.
Technologies are important for enterprises seeking to adopt a Smart Workstyle and establish more efficient work models. But leaders must recognize that technologies are ultimately insufficient without a comprehensive deployment plan behind them.
[1] Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 2.4% in 2023
[2] Spending on Digital Technology by Asia/Pacific Organizations Will Grow 3.5x the Economy in 2023, IDC Predicts
